Last Updated on December 27, 2022 by ThoughtsStained
I don’t think this review will ever do Wanderers justice, so I’ll come out front and say this, first: this is nothing less than a five star read, because holy shit.
So, I wanted to read this novel for two reasons: one, I fucking love Chuck Wendig’s blog and I wanted to support him. Two: it was comped with The Stand, a novel that completely terrified me and had me nervous to the core anytime I coughed for months after finishing it. I was looking for another novel to scare me in that way–not in the traditional horror sense (I usually don’t do well with horror), but in the apocalyptic, mass-epidemic sense.
Wanderers did that…in a way. It didn’t have the same shock value that The Stand did for me and I wasn’t nearly as terrified by the epidemic itself, though the fact that it was so widespread and so deadly was bloody terrifying. And yes, I’ve still had a lingering cough since I’ve read it and bats do live in my backyard and why are you looking at me like that? It’s fine, I’m fine, we’re all very much fine.
*coughs and then sneezes*
Ahem.
So yes, the epidemic scared me.
But it terrified me in ways much worse.
**Minor spoilers do abound in this review (sorry, I couldn’t help it), so please read with caution and peril*
Book Info
Publisher: Del Rey | Release Date: July 2019 | Pages: 782
Age Range: Adult | Genre: Horror | Format: Hardcover | Source: Borrowed
Shana wakes up one morning to discover her little sister in the grip of a strange malady. She appears to be sleepwalking. She cannot talk and cannot be woken up. And she is heading with inexorable determination to a destination that only she knows. But Shana and her sister are not alone. Soon they are joined by a flock of sleepwalkers from across America, on the same mysterious journey. And like Shana, there are other “shepherds” who follow the flock to protect their friends and family on the long dark road ahead.
For as the sleepwalking phenomenon awakens terror and violence in America, the real danger may not be the epidemic but the fear of it. With society collapsing all around them–and an ultraviolent militia threatening to exterminate them–the fate of the sleepwalkers depends on unraveling the mystery behind the epidemic. The terrifying secret will either tear the nation apart–or bring the survivors together to remake a shattered world.
On the Page
Referenced
Minor
Content warnings are written up by me, unless specified. Subject to being an incomplete list, though guided by referencing this list and trying to highlight as many as I can identify.
Review
Likes
- Maybe I live under a rock, maybe I’m just foolish and didn’t realize it would be so…poignant in the ways that it was, but the way Wanderers hit home on all the political bullshit we’re going through right now was…really hard to read, honestly. Don’t get me wrong, I fucking loved this book. I found myself choosing to not dive back into my PS4 in order to read more of this book and if that isn’t the biggest compliment I can give, honestly. But I read to escape…*gestures widely at the political dumpster fire that is America* because it’s draining to live in a country where your president is a lying racist who is also a rapist and white supremacist and you’re constantly combating your own depression in trying to hold onto the idea that love and goodness and common decency and hope might still win the day, in the end.
- So, to read the modern day horrors depicted so viscerally in this novel was a bit of a struggle, for me, but yet I couldn’t help but become engrossed? Like, Wendig’s writing? The voice? Holy shit, I mean, we’re talking master level stuff, here. The pacing? Incredible. The interweaving of POV within chapters, the inclusion of the interludes, the way information was revealed? Impeccable, flawless. White Mask?
*glances out back window where the bats live* It’s fine. Truly. *nervous laughter echoes for eternity* - Wendig doesn’t pull punches.
Dislikes
Rating
There are aspects of this novel that made me cringe, that made my stomach tie into knots and wish that scene didn’t happen or that character didn’t do that or humanity wouldn’t truly be a world that inhibits those kinds of responses, those kinds of beliefs. The ending, especially. I thought it was going to go one way, because surely he wouldn’t do SPOILER. But he did and I appreciated how he wasn’t afraid to show us a gritty and grim reality that, by the blessing of all the old gods and the new, still managed to make you feel hopeful, at the end?
Fucking terrifying still, surely.
But more hopeful that I felt going into it, definitely.
Wanderers is an incredible novel. If you’re a fan of Wendig, you already know that, I bet. If you’re not, well…I don’t think this is a bad place to start.
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![Not me needing to repost this announcement because my first post had a typo. I promise I can actually edit! 😅
REPOST of original message below:
I've been thinking a lot about publishing and the barriers it places, particularly on traditionally underrepresented and marginalized writers. As an editor, I wanted to try and break down those barriers a bit.
So, going forward from now and forevermore, if you identity as a queer, BIPOC or disabled writer, you'll receive 10% any full manuscript edit. No need to self-disclose how you qualify. I will trust you at your word!
Another stigma (that's being broken!) that still exists is that self-published authors write at less quality than trad--pubbed writers. We all know this is bullshit! But, to help support my indie badasses, your first edit with me for a novel you plan to self publish will be 10% off.
**Please note these discounts are for full manuscript edits, including: developmental edits, copy edits and proofreading.**
Curious? DM me or email me through my website, linked below!
Link here: https://thoughtsstainedwithink.com/editorial
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Ooh I really want to read this, even more now!!!!
It’s intense and incredible and shocking in all the best ways!
Awesome review, Nicole! I agree with everything you said. This story was so hard to read at times but I couldn’t put it down:-)
Y E S there was that one scene with the priest that I’m so glad I got a trigger warning for beforehand because whoooo howdy, that was a lot
That is the EXACT scene I was talking about!!
I loved the review but I Have a more important question. Did you get new logo art?!? Cuz I love it.
Oooh, you are observant! I did and it’s a teaser for what’s to come here in a few days… 😉