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When I heard about The Poppy Fields for the first time I was so hooked by the plot that I preordered it and read it almost immediately when it was released. I thought: wow that sounds just like an episode straight out of Black Mirror! I love Black Mirror! And don’t get me wrong: to me this book has elements of it - above all the idea! What a great idea! So, how if there was a cure (or treatment as one of the main characters insists on calling it) for grief? What if all the hours, weeks or years you need to mourn your loved ones can be „shortened“ with one or two months of sleep? People who cannot live on with their grief have the opportunity to apply at The Poppy Fields where they will get laid to sleep for weeks. When they weak up they feel not only better but the sadness and despair will be gone; they will be able to go on with their lives. But…and there is one big but: sometimes there is a side effect. A side effect you can not reverse. Is that side effect really worth a try? See? Doesn’t THAT sound super exciting? Well, I was quite disappointed when I found out that the main plot is kind of a road trip. A road trip of 3 people (and one dog) who all want to go to the poppy fields - all of them have their reasons. And of course all of them have their stories. So while they‘re road tripping we get to know a loooot about their pasts and families and and and. Sometimes it started even feeling repetitive. I was like: hm I‘ve read that before, we already knooow. Of course we also get information about the treatment and why and who…but it felt a bit like a side story? We only get to know the treatment center and the idea of it through interviews or application questionnaires. But that’s it basically. But I wanted more! Like how is it working? How do people arrive, how do they wake up, what happens to them while they‘re sleeping etc. Sure the evolving of the characters is nice and we get some reveals I wouldn’t have guessed. But still…yes it is a book about grief and how differently people deal with it! But in the end it’s more a book about finding a family, finding a happy place, and a purpose in life. To sum it up: it reminded me more of Little Miss Sunshine than Black Mirror
Aug 11, 2025
When I heard about The Poppy Fields for the first time I was so hooked by the plot that I preordered it and read it almost immediately when it was released. I thought: wow that sounds just like an episode straight out of Black Mirror! I love Black Mirror! And don’t get me wrong: to me this book has elements of it - above all the idea! What a great idea! So, how if there was a cure (or treatment as one of the main characters insists on calling it) for grief? What if all the hours, weeks or years you need to mourn your loved ones can be „shortened“ with one or two months of sleep? People who cannot live on with their grief have the opportunity to apply at The Poppy Fields where they will get laid to sleep for weeks. When they weak up they feel not only better but the sadness and despair will be gone; they will be able to go on with their lives. But…and there is one big but: sometimes there is a side effect. A side effect you can not reverse. Is that side effect really worth a try? See? Doesn’t THAT sound super exciting? Well, I was quite disappointed when I found out that the main plot is kind of a road trip. A road trip of 3 people (and one dog) who all want to go to the poppy fields - all of them have their reasons. And of course all of them have their stories. So while they‘re road tripping we get to know a loooot about their pasts and families and and and. Sometimes it started even feeling repetitive. I was like: hm I‘ve read that before, we already knooow. Of course we also get information about the treatment and why and who…but it felt a bit like a side story? We only get to know the treatment center and the idea of it through interviews or application questionnaires. But that’s it basically. But I wanted more! Like how is it working? How do people arrive, how do they wake up, what happens to them while they‘re sleeping etc. Sure the evolving of the characters is nice and we get some reveals I wouldn’t have guessed. But still…yes it is a book about grief and how differently people deal with it! But in the end it’s more a book about finding a family, finding a happy place, and a purpose in life. To sum it up: it reminded me more of Little Miss Sunshine than Black Mirror
Aug 11, 2025
