The Anatomy of Dreams: From the bestselling author of THE IMMORTALISTS Paperback – 4 Sept. 2018

I recommend

Sylve meets Gabe when they are both students at an elite boarding school. Gabe leaves and Sylve moves onto college. However just as she enters her final year she reconnects with Gabe, she drops out and they go to work for their former headteacher who is an eminent psychologist conducting research into lucid dreaming. Sylve finds trouble sleeping properly and her research and real life start to collide as she has vivid dreams about her neighbour. Are her dreams reality or is she part of something a lot deeper?Having read and enjoyed Benjamin's previous novel 'The Immortalists' I was keen to read this which is apparently an earlier book. Benjamin has a wonderful way of writing which in this case mirrored the dreamlike quality of the story. Unfortunately I did not find any of the characters sympathetic and that made me enjoy this book less than I wish I had done as I feel Benjamin is a rare talent.

I can't really seem to get into the book, I keep trying though

I liked The Illortalists so thought I give this a go. I did fininis it but was totally bored by it.

An exploration of sleep disorders and subconscious dream activity through the story of Sylvie and Gabe, assistants to Adrian Keller, and his research into 'lucid dreaming'.I didn't find the book easy to get into, probably because of the lack of substance to the characters - never did I find I knew them well, or even particularly cared about them.However, about 2/3 of the way through, the story finally got gripping, and with Sylvie's discovery of a missing clinical study file, I wanted to find out how it was going to end.Overall - a good premise, but the lack of engaging characters made this is hard-going.

A strange blend of science fiction and romance, this is the story of the relationship between Sylvie and Gabe who first meet at school and then reconnect and rekindle their romance several years later. They both begin work on a research project to study lucid dreaming and sleep disorders , under the supervision of their former boarding school headmaster. When a new couple moves in next door, Sylvie finds herself strangely attracted , and eventually begins to question not just her relationship with Gabe, but also the potentially damaging long term impact of their work, and its not long before she discovers that things may be even worse than she ever imagined.I liked the concept of the book , but struggled to find any of the characters really likable, and that lessened the emotional impact of the conclusion. However I did like how the book ended, despite it not coming as a surprise. I felt it really fit the book as a whole. As a debut book, it is very assured, and the writing itself is often beautiful..I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own

I read "The Immortalists" by the same author and was blown away. Considered it the best book I had read for years. Expected big things from this but was disappointed. The narrative was slow, the characterisation pretty vague and the "plot twist" obvious from the start. Avoid.

Book arrived in a very tatty used condition

Lento! Muito diferente dos imortalistas.

There are five main characters, and all are sadly shallow - I get the impression the author wants me to like them, but there is just no feel. The novel is over and I still don't know them. Therefore, I don't really care about what happens to them. The scientific part is not deep either, a mumbo - jumbo. Sorry, did not like this book.

Slow paced and scattered, the book jumps from period to period in an attempt to build toward something. And yet at the end when you know the reveal is just about to happen and you think “ahh finally”, it happens and just seems a bit lacking. I wished it had been meatier. While I loved the concept, I personally didn’t feel satisfied after.

This is a stellar novel from an impressive new talent. It is character driven but not in derogation of the plot. It is informative but not pedantic. It is clever but not smug.Rather than rattle off key plot points, I prefer to describe the immersive experience of reading this book. Unsurprisingly, the novel is about dreams. Such a reductive explanation, however, does no justice to the myriad other themes that permeate the novel - notably (for me) the conflict, or, at least, tension, between reason and experience; yet, for the limited purpose of explaining what it feels like to be caught up in this work, it is sufficient (if less than satisfying) to say that it is about dreams.So, dreams. What impressed me was Benjamin's uncanny ability to deploy form so as to enrich her subject matter. Stated differently, her stylistic choices greatly enhanced the reader's experience with regard to the subject of dreams. As an example, synesthesia is deployed in describing even the most mundane of circumstances. While initially jarring, this approach yields immeasurable benefits in that it assists in creating a reality that is (or appears to be) malleable and, given the manner in which the story unfolds, this protean quality - which Benjamin takes care to nurture from cover to cover - takes center stage. Although Benjamin's world is very real (particularly her loving descriptions of San Francisco), in the margins, there is a creeping feeling that not everything is as the narrator perceives it to be. This, in turn, requires the reader to stay vigilant in policing the line between consciousness and sub-consciousness. What a delightful challenge - one that shows a profound respect for the reader's intelligence and a sophisticated understanding of what makes the act of reading pleasurable, not to mention edifying.I'm afraid that if I continue I'll reveal more than is prudent. In brief, I enthusiastically recommend this book and eagerly await the author's follow up to her fantastic debut.

I first saw this book as a giveaway on Goodreads, and ordered is once it was available. I really want to like this book more than I do. I am currently studying sleep and dreams and I did find it very informative (had never heard of Parasomnia Overlap Disorder) and am glad to have found it. As other reviewers have noted, it took a while to get involved in the story, and I never really connected with any of the characters, although the story in itself was very interesting. It always felt as if I was on the outside looking in, not really experiencing it from Sylvie's perspective, even though it was written in the first person. It almost feels like she's telling her story as if she is disconnected from it. For instance, when she finds out what was really going on, I didn't feel her anger, or what it felt like for her, I felt like an observer, watching her reactions from the outside. Overall, I think it was a good story, and would recommend it, especially if you're interested in dreams.