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A review by brooke_review
And Then I Woke Up by Malcolm Devlin
3.0
Malcolm Devlin takes the unreliable narrator trope to the extreme with his bite-sized novel, And Then I Woke Up. And Then I Woke Up chronicles the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse ... or does it? Blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, And Then I Woke Up tells multiple versions of a similar story, leaving readers to separate the fact from the fiction. Are flesh-eating zombies taking over the world or is it all in our heads?
On a cerebral level, And Then I Woke Up is truly a fascinating tale. Our individual perception of the world is everything, so what happens when some people begin to perceive a series of events differently than others. To them it is real, but what if it isn't? How do we manage these people? How should they be punished for any action taken against those they perceive to be bringing them harm? Are they acting out of self-defense if the threat isn't real? All of these concepts and more are explored in the thought-provoking And Then I Woke Up.
On the other hand, And Then I Woke up suffers from some muddled storytelling that personally left me confused through much of the novel. I did not know if I had missed some important details that prevented me from understanding this story better, or if I was supposed to truly believe what I was reading. It required me browsing many reviews to get a full grasp on what this story was trying to do, making the actual reading experience less enjoyable. The basis for this book is strong - the execution, not so much. 3.5 stars.
On a cerebral level, And Then I Woke Up is truly a fascinating tale. Our individual perception of the world is everything, so what happens when some people begin to perceive a series of events differently than others. To them it is real, but what if it isn't? How do we manage these people? How should they be punished for any action taken against those they perceive to be bringing them harm? Are they acting out of self-defense if the threat isn't real? All of these concepts and more are explored in the thought-provoking And Then I Woke Up.
On the other hand, And Then I Woke up suffers from some muddled storytelling that personally left me confused through much of the novel. I did not know if I had missed some important details that prevented me from understanding this story better, or if I was supposed to truly believe what I was reading. It required me browsing many reviews to get a full grasp on what this story was trying to do, making the actual reading experience less enjoyable. The basis for this book is strong - the execution, not so much. 3.5 stars.