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A review by ojtheviking
No Sleep Till Wonderland by Paul Tremblay
4.0
3.5 rounded up.
So, in this case, I'm sort of going to present the conclusion first: I enjoyed this book. It was a fun, quick read, and as this is the third of Tremblay's novels I've read, I can still firmly say that I am a fan of his writing.
With that said, this was one of those experiences where, while the overall impression was positive, it left me with a few minor gripes. I suppose there's nothing inherently wrong with generally loving an author and still picking up on some flaws, so the question is, how much did the negatives take away from my enjoyment?
No Sleep Till Wonderland follows the format of the first novel, The Little Sleep, exploring Mark Genevich's somewhat desperate attempt at juggling between his struggles with narcolepsy, his job as a private detective, and at times his personal life. He's caught up in a new case, but as I mentioned in my review of the first novel, I sometimes feel like the crime mystery is often the B-story whereas Genevich's condition is the main focus. Weirdly enough, while I for the most part liked this fact in the first book, it could almost get a little bit in the way in this one.
Because so much time is spent on the aforementioned struggles with narcolepsy, this occasionally disturbs the flow of the crime mystery part of the story, and the feeling of neo-noir isn't as present this time. The group therapy sessions especially make this book more of a psychological study of Genevich's character than a plain crime novel, and I asked myself if this could risk not fully living up to the reader's expectations. I think it was the balance between the character development and the plot that could come across as making the pacing a bit uneven at times.
However, the quality of Tremblay's writing, the mere talent and his own brand of humor are all what ultimately saves this from being tacky, and I still maintain that the reading experience is more pleasant than I'm making it sound.
Speaking of the humor, one thing that was very noticeable in this book, is that Tremblay has a knack for seamlessly weaving pop references into both the narrative and the dialogue, like quoting a line from a song's lyrics as a reply to someone else's statement, and so on. To me, pop references can at times come across as forced and cheesy, but for the most part, I'd say that Tremblay's approach is much smoother.
Also, I do feel like we did get a bit more into Genevich's backstory in a way that was important for his overall character. That's something I appreciated. Since there is currently not a third book in this series, some of the details that were revealed in this one (assuming they are completely reliable due to the way they were revealed) could function as a way to conclude his character arc, although I also wonder which direction Tremblay would take things if he ever decided to continue this series.
Thus, we come full circle and arrive at the conclusion at the top: Despite some gripes about pacing and balance, I can still confidently say that I enjoyed this read. Tremblay has a very clever way of stringing sentences together, and he is a master of deadpan, neurotic humor. I am curious to explore more of how this talent lends itself to his books that are more steered towards horror.
So, in this case, I'm sort of going to present the conclusion first: I enjoyed this book. It was a fun, quick read, and as this is the third of Tremblay's novels I've read, I can still firmly say that I am a fan of his writing.
With that said, this was one of those experiences where, while the overall impression was positive, it left me with a few minor gripes. I suppose there's nothing inherently wrong with generally loving an author and still picking up on some flaws, so the question is, how much did the negatives take away from my enjoyment?
No Sleep Till Wonderland follows the format of the first novel, The Little Sleep, exploring Mark Genevich's somewhat desperate attempt at juggling between his struggles with narcolepsy, his job as a private detective, and at times his personal life. He's caught up in a new case, but as I mentioned in my review of the first novel, I sometimes feel like the crime mystery is often the B-story whereas Genevich's condition is the main focus. Weirdly enough, while I for the most part liked this fact in the first book, it could almost get a little bit in the way in this one.
Because so much time is spent on the aforementioned struggles with narcolepsy, this occasionally disturbs the flow of the crime mystery part of the story, and the feeling of neo-noir isn't as present this time. The group therapy sessions especially make this book more of a psychological study of Genevich's character than a plain crime novel, and I asked myself if this could risk not fully living up to the reader's expectations. I think it was the balance between the character development and the plot that could come across as making the pacing a bit uneven at times.
However, the quality of Tremblay's writing, the mere talent and his own brand of humor are all what ultimately saves this from being tacky, and I still maintain that the reading experience is more pleasant than I'm making it sound.
Speaking of the humor, one thing that was very noticeable in this book, is that Tremblay has a knack for seamlessly weaving pop references into both the narrative and the dialogue, like quoting a line from a song's lyrics as a reply to someone else's statement, and so on. To me, pop references can at times come across as forced and cheesy, but for the most part, I'd say that Tremblay's approach is much smoother.
Also, I do feel like we did get a bit more into Genevich's backstory in a way that was important for his overall character. That's something I appreciated. Since there is currently not a third book in this series, some of the details that were revealed in this one (assuming they are completely reliable due to the way they were revealed) could function as a way to conclude his character arc, although I also wonder which direction Tremblay would take things if he ever decided to continue this series.
Thus, we come full circle and arrive at the conclusion at the top: Despite some gripes about pacing and balance, I can still confidently say that I enjoyed this read. Tremblay has a very clever way of stringing sentences together, and he is a master of deadpan, neurotic humor. I am curious to explore more of how this talent lends itself to his books that are more steered towards horror.