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Sleeping Giants
From the bestselling author of The Child Finder and The Enchanted, a compelling and poignant story of sibling bonds, monsters masquerading as caretakers, terrifying secrets, and the power of love to right even the most egregious wrongs.
Twenty years ago, a nine-year-old boy was swept away by powerful waves on a remote Oregon beach, his body lost to the sea. Only a stone memorial remains to mark his tragic death.
For most of her life, Amanda Dufresne had no idea she had an older brother named Dennis Owens, or that he had died. Adopted as a baby, she learned about him while looking into her late birth mother, and is curious to know more about this lost sibling. A solitary young woman, Amanda has always felt distanced from the world around her. Her brain works differently from others, leaving her feeling set apart. Her one true companion is the orphaned polar bear she cares for working at the zoo. By getting to know her birth family, she hopes to understand more about herself.
Retired police officer Larry Palmer is a widower with nothing but time and in need of a purpose. He offers to help Amanda find answers. The search leads to shocking and heartbreaking discoveries. Dennis Owen had been a forgotten foster child abandoned to a home for disturbed boys off the coast. As Amanda and Larry dig deeper into the past, the two stumble upon decades of cruelty and hidden crimes—including a barbaric treatment still used today.
Told in Rene Denfeld’s inimitable style, Sleeping Giants is an enthralling and heartbreaking novel that burrows deep in the heart and will leave no reader untouched.
Twenty years ago, a nine-year-old boy was swept away by powerful waves on a remote Oregon beach, his body lost to the sea. Only a stone memorial remains to mark his tragic death.
For most of her life, Amanda Dufresne had no idea she had an older brother named Dennis Owens, or that he had died. Adopted as a baby, she learned about him while looking into her late birth mother, and is curious to know more about this lost sibling. A solitary young woman, Amanda has always felt distanced from the world around her. Her brain works differently from others, leaving her feeling set apart. Her one true companion is the orphaned polar bear she cares for working at the zoo. By getting to know her birth family, she hopes to understand more about herself.
Retired police officer Larry Palmer is a widower with nothing but time and in need of a purpose. He offers to help Amanda find answers. The search leads to shocking and heartbreaking discoveries. Dennis Owen had been a forgotten foster child abandoned to a home for disturbed boys off the coast. As Amanda and Larry dig deeper into the past, the two stumble upon decades of cruelty and hidden crimes—including a barbaric treatment still used today.
Told in Rene Denfeld’s inimitable style, Sleeping Giants is an enthralling and heartbreaking novel that burrows deep in the heart and will leave no reader untouched.
293 pages, Hardcover
First published March 26, 2024
About the author
Rene Denfeld
14 books2,362 followersRene Denfeld is the bestselling author of THE CHILD FINDER, THE ENCHANTED, THE BUTTERFLY GIRL, and SLEEPING GIANTS.
"Rene Denfeld is one of the handful of living writers I most admire, and Sleeping Giants may be her masterpiece. Haunting, frightening and moving in equal measure, her new novel is a sublime page turner, evoking beauty and terror in the same moment. I read it in an afternoon, enthralled, and am still under its spell."
— Elizabeth Hand, author of A Haunting on the Hill and Generation Loss.
Rene's poetic fiction has won numerous awards including the French Prix, an ALA Medal for Excellence and an IMPAC listing. Rene works as a licensed investigator, including exonerating innocents from prison and helping rape trafficking victims. Rene is the happy mother to several children adopted from foster care. In 2017 she was awarded the Break The Silence Award for her advocacy work, and the New York Times named her hero of the year.
To book a 1:1 convo with Rene reach out on https://www.skolay.com/writers/rene-d...
"Rene Denfeld is one of the handful of living writers I most admire, and Sleeping Giants may be her masterpiece. Haunting, frightening and moving in equal measure, her new novel is a sublime page turner, evoking beauty and terror in the same moment. I read it in an afternoon, enthralled, and am still under its spell."
— Elizabeth Hand, author of A Haunting on the Hill and Generation Loss.
Rene's poetic fiction has won numerous awards including the French Prix, an ALA Medal for Excellence and an IMPAC listing. Rene works as a licensed investigator, including exonerating innocents from prison and helping rape trafficking victims. Rene is the happy mother to several children adopted from foster care. In 2017 she was awarded the Break The Silence Award for her advocacy work, and the New York Times named her hero of the year.
To book a 1:1 convo with Rene reach out on https://www.skolay.com/writers/rene-d...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 304 reviews
April 13, 2024
I’ve heard of letting sleeping dogs lie, but awakening sleeping giants, that disruption will unleash nightmares.
Dennis, a 9 year old boy, passed from parent to foster to institution. The darkness that accompanies abandonment and loneliness compounding into hardness. Death follows but leaves in its trail a mystery.
Fast forward twenty years. Amanda has discovered Dennis was her brother. She yearns to learn about him, as she too, was adopted. On her quest to discover more, the truth unravels about the institution and its methods for reforming these children- specifically the Holding Method. An ugly history where sleeping giants are awoken.
This wasn’t flawless- there were some character inconsistencies but no denying Denfeld does dark disturbingly well. In reading the acknowledgments, she survived her own darkness.
4⭐️
My fave still remains The Enchanted
Dennis, a 9 year old boy, passed from parent to foster to institution. The darkness that accompanies abandonment and loneliness compounding into hardness. Death follows but leaves in its trail a mystery.
Fast forward twenty years. Amanda has discovered Dennis was her brother. She yearns to learn about him, as she too, was adopted. On her quest to discover more, the truth unravels about the institution and its methods for reforming these children- specifically the Holding Method. An ugly history where sleeping giants are awoken.
This wasn’t flawless- there were some character inconsistencies but no denying Denfeld does dark disturbingly well. In reading the acknowledgments, she survived her own darkness.
4⭐️
My fave still remains The Enchanted
April 14, 2024
Before I get into the review of this book, I want to state that I think Denfeld is an underrated author. This is the third book that I’ve read of hers, and once again I was captivated from the first page all the way through until the last page. The author writes about subjects that aren’t easy to read about, yet they are topics and subjects that take place around the country today and in the past. They are topics that need to be somehow treated and solved, yet they are somehow always overlooked. Slips through the system… I was both angered and sad after having read this book.
In this story, we have Amanda Dufresne who shows up in a town off the Oregon coast in search of her brother that she never knew she had. As both Amanda and her brother were adopted, she has just found out about having a brother named Dennis Owens.
Amanda teams up with, and becomes friends with Larry who is a retired police officer. Larry is a lonely widower, and having Amanda around to help has suddenly given him some new purpose in his life as well. We learn of Amanda’s current job at the zoo in working with Molly, the lone polar bear and her mission to help this lonely bear. We also learn of both Larry’s and Amanda’s backstories, and how maybe they just happened to find each other at the right time.
In searching for Amanda’s brother, Dennis- we find out that he died in the ocean running away from the horrible boy’s home he was living in. The Brightwood Center for boys was run by a woman who did treatments on the boys that were supposed to “break” them of whatever behavior issue that she thought they had. As Amanda and Larry start to uncover some of the horrific truths and secrets that happened at the now closed down Brightwood Center, someone out there is not happy that the past is being uncovered…
There were some shocks and twists that did make this a bit of a mystery, but for the most part it was a read that broke my heart a bit. I learned some things that the media NEVER talks about. I also loved the author’s Acknowledgment at the end. It was such a pleasure to read. And with that I will leave this review with a quote from the author in her acknowledgments- “In books I found understanding, hope, and belonging. I hope you find understanding in this book, dear reader. I hope you find love.” ❤️
This is one book that I highly recommend, as well as Rene Denfeld’s other fantastic books!
In this story, we have Amanda Dufresne who shows up in a town off the Oregon coast in search of her brother that she never knew she had. As both Amanda and her brother were adopted, she has just found out about having a brother named Dennis Owens.
Amanda teams up with, and becomes friends with Larry who is a retired police officer. Larry is a lonely widower, and having Amanda around to help has suddenly given him some new purpose in his life as well. We learn of Amanda’s current job at the zoo in working with Molly, the lone polar bear and her mission to help this lonely bear. We also learn of both Larry’s and Amanda’s backstories, and how maybe they just happened to find each other at the right time.
In searching for Amanda’s brother, Dennis- we find out that he died in the ocean running away from the horrible boy’s home he was living in. The Brightwood Center for boys was run by a woman who did treatments on the boys that were supposed to “break” them of whatever behavior issue that she thought they had. As Amanda and Larry start to uncover some of the horrific truths and secrets that happened at the now closed down Brightwood Center, someone out there is not happy that the past is being uncovered…
There were some shocks and twists that did make this a bit of a mystery, but for the most part it was a read that broke my heart a bit. I learned some things that the media NEVER talks about. I also loved the author’s Acknowledgment at the end. It was such a pleasure to read. And with that I will leave this review with a quote from the author in her acknowledgments- “In books I found understanding, hope, and belonging. I hope you find understanding in this book, dear reader. I hope you find love.” ❤️
This is one book that I highly recommend, as well as Rene Denfeld’s other fantastic books!
June 13, 2024
The oldest monsters are unnamed. Unnamed monsters, Dennis learned before he even knew his own name, were the worst kind of all. When you gave a monster a name, you had it in hand. There, that one was anger. Rage. Sexual abuse. Dennis learned the names of all these before he was four, as items the child psychiatrists crossed off on their checklists. They were looking for answers. They were looking for monsters to blame.--------------------------------------
But the worst monster of all? That one was as cold as sleet. He climbed up the hill at night and played with your feet. He washed the tears from your face and cooed like a mother before slashing your heart to ribbons. The worst monster, Dennis knew, was like Satan from the Bible some parents read to you. He came wearing disguises, and no one knew his real name. He pretended to be a lot of things, and the worst thing he pretended to be was love.
…all the boys here were throwaways. It was like being in a giant wastebasket filled with dirty tissues. You knew you were lost.The road to hell is paved with good intentions. - Aphorism, origin unknown
Renee Denfeld - image from her site
Rene Denfeld, author of several novels (see links in EXTRA STUFF) dealing with criminal justice, and in particular the abuse of children, has returned to familiar territory, with a story about a boy ill-treated by the child-protection system, the torturous methods used to control him and others, and the impedimenta of foster care secrecy laws, designed to protect, but often used to cover up.
The idea for the scene depicted on the cover came during a trip to an Oregon beach for a mental health day when she spotted a little boy charging into the water - from the Spokesman (print) interviewIn Chapter One, we are introduced to nine-year-old Dennis Owen as he races toward the ocean, a frothy, treacherous body of water bordering Oregon, a place not conducive to family outings.
Mist struck his face with force, and the wind tore at the institutional shirt he wore…Behind him, signs littered the dunes by the beach road: WARNING: TREACHEROUS CURRENTS. WARNING: HIGH TIDE. WARNING: SHARP DROP-OFFS AND SNEAKER WAVES.Dennis plunges into this perilous Pacific, pursued by a man.
The novel looks back at the boy’s meager life and at that of the man who had been chasing him. The backstory will eventually explain all. As part of that, we see Dennis from age four. Already having been bounced from foster home to foster home, he is relegated to Brightwood, a place with a new director, Martha King, fresh off directing another group home in Arizona. Think Nurse Ratched of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest or Delores Umbridge from the Harry Potter series. Killing you with kindness.
She has ways to be mean where everyone around her stands up and claps. That’s the worst kind of meanness, son. The kind where everyone says it’s for your own good.Martha’s ability to be everywhere and see everything is too extreme to be believed, but suspend that disbelief, as her awfulness provides a strong counter to Dennis’s strength and character and the kindness of others. Renfeld does give Martha a backstory that explains, while not forgiving, her dark behavior. It seems likely that Martha King was named for Martha Welch, author of a book on Holding Time.
“Holding time” is a draconian, punitive method of treatment that sounds nicer than it is. It’s basically a physical and psychological torture that’s designed to break children down to the point of psychological collapse by physically restraining them. Some children have actually suffocated to death by this treatment. The idea is that children will somehow “start fresh” afterward, like rebooting a computer, which of course is not how humans work. If you destroy someone psychologically, they’re not reborn. They’re destroyed. Holding time has been thoroughly rebuked by scientists, and yet somehow it’s still used. - from the ZED interviewThe methodology of the novel is a contemporary investigation twenty years after Dennis disappeared, by his sister. Amanda Dufresne, adopted as a child, now twenty-six, had survived the foster care system much better than had her brother, whose existence she only recently discovered. She works as a keeper to an orphaned polar bear (Molly) at the Oregon Zoo. She is smart and dogged in trying to find out what had happened to her brother. Denfeld brings her real-world skills as an investigator to this tale, yet again, giving Amanda’s quest plausibility. She gets a boost from a retired detective, Larry Palmer, who is still living in Eagle Cove, even though his wife, who had been the one to move them here, had passed. Helping Amanda gives him a sense of restored usefulness, and a daughter figure to nurture and protect. It was important to Denfeld that her prime investigating character not be a detective, but an everyday person in search of the truth. Amanda does take the lead, but Larry helps considerably more than the prototypical police expert who helps the leads in cozy mysteries. This is a world Denfeld knows all too well, both as an abused kid, homeless at fifteen, and as a loving foster and adoptive mom.
The novel features a strong cast of supporting characters, among them employees and other children at Brightwood, residents of Eagle Cove, and the local constable.
She also offers a side-mystery. There is something hinky with the story of how Molly found her way to the zoo. Amanda conducts her solo investigation of that, because of her love for the bear. No Larry involved in that. It is a heart-warming tale, paralleling the human investigation, and will leave you in need of tissues.
The Blythe intaglios were created on the desert floor hundreds if not thousands of years ago by Native people for an unknown reason. - Image from AZcentral
Denfeld is a master of imagery. The story takes Amanda and Larry to Arizona, where they learn of a remarkable (real) local feature.
In the novel, sleeping giants are massive stone age carvings…But the real sleeping giants are the secret, hidden pains, and anger inside us that can come out in misdirected rage. In my experience, when these sleeping giants are awakened with a cause—especially one driven by white supremacy, misogyny, or other biases— a permission slip to commit harm is signed, sealed, and delivered. - from the Crimereads articleThey might also be the fierce waves into which Dennis plunges.
Renee Denfeld will break your heart. By page six, I was already feeling a welling up. Thankfully, I am not faced with the sort of sorrow Larry must endure, having retired to a remote, coastal town, and then losing his wife. My spouse is doing quite well, thanks, and is likely to be around long after I am gone, but Denfeld so captures the sadness of loss that it is no trick to summon the feelings, the awful mourning that accompanied the passing of my sisters. It makes me wonder what Larry would do with his pain. She will also bring you to tears of rage at the treatment Dennis experiences at Brightwood, and feel affection for him as human being with no control over his life. She then tugs your heartstrings again as Molly’s story is revealed. There is a core intention in this novel of raising consciousness about the plight of thousands of children in the foster care system, (Renfeld estimates that there are over 20,000 children who have gone missing) and the legal limitations that make it so hard to help, find them, or even know that they are missing
Sleeping Giants is a masterwork by one of our finest novelists. It took her several years to write this one, a longer stretch than is usual for her. It has been worth the wait. For a book that comes in under three hundred pages, it is a giant of a read.
Most crime fiction focuses on the outliers—the outright, obvious sociopaths, usually unexplainably brilliant—or else criminal underworlds, like gangs or drug cartels. This is all interesting stuff. But I think it has the effect of othering violence. It assumes there is a world full of normal people who are blameless, who couldn’t fathom the idea of committing harm even if you suggested it. This creates a false dichotomy, an us vs them that is troubling and honestly, kind of disingenuous.
It’s true, most people don’t go around committing egregious crimes. Not directly, at least. But spend a few hours on a next-door neighbor site and you can see the seething anger that boils into outright discrimination, the rage that leads people to the voter’s ballot to pass even more punitive laws, and elect officials who will do their dirty work for them.These regular, everyday citizens might not be the ones administering the lethal dose, or locking people up, or torturing children, but they are the mass behind the monsters. Collectively, they can become the monster...[but] just as we are capable of everyday evil in the name of good, we are also capable of profound healing, joy, and goodness. - from the Crimereads article
Review posted - 06/7/24
Publication date – 3/26/24
I received an ARE of Sleeping Giants from Harper in return for a fair review. Thanks, folks.
This review will soon be cross-posted on my site, Coot’s Reviews. Stop by and say Hi!
=============================EXTRA STUFF
The author’s personal, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook pages
Profile - from her site
Rene's novels are influenced by her work as a licensed death row investigator. She is the past Chief Investigator for a public defenders and has worked hundreds of cases, including exonerations and helping rape trafficking victims. The survivor of a difficult background, Rene regularly speaks on social justice issues, as well as writing and overcoming trauma.Previous Denfeld books I have read and reviewed
-----2019 - The Butterfly Girl (Naomi Cottle #2)
-----2017 - The Child Finder (Naomi Cottle #1)
-----2014 - The Enchanted
Interviews
-----The Spokesman-Review - Rene Denfeld hopes to inspire change, reflection with new book ‘Sleeping Giants’ by Emma Epperly
-----The Spokesman-Review - -Northwest Passages Book Club: Author Rene Denfeld, "Sleeping Giants" - by Stephanie Oakes – Video – 47:23
-----ZED – The Zoomer Book Club - Rene Denfeld Reveals the Sad Truth About American Foster Care in ‘Sleeping Giants’ by Rosemary Counter
-----Beyond with Jane Ratcliffe - Addressing Harm, Helping Others, and Embracing Hope: A Conversation With Rene Denfeld - there is a pay wall here
Items of Interest from the author
-----Crimereads - WHEN GOOD PEOPLE DO BAD THINGS: EXPLORING EVERYDAY EVIL IN CRIME FICTION - 3/27/2024
-----Ravishly - Born Again: Rene Denfeld on the Birth of Love - 10/25/2019
-----Washington Post - After a childhood of wishing for a new family, I found my dream in adulthood - 8/30/2017 – on her challenging upbringing
-----NY Times - Four Castaways Make a Family - 8/11/2017
Items of Interest
-----Wiki on Holding Time - Attachment Therapy
-----AZCentral - Blythe Intaglios: The 'sleeping giants' of the desert by Michael Chow and Thomas Hawthorne
-----Wiki on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
-----Harry Potter Wiki on Delores Umbridge
April 10, 2024
✰ 3.75 stars ✰
“Why are they called sleeping giants, then?”
“The myth is that if the sleeping giants are awakened, they will take revenge on all of us.”
“What for?”
“Those crimes, my friend, are no longer remembered.”
All Amanda Defresne ever wanted to learn was a little bit more information about the suspicious disappearance of her brother, Dennis Owen - who at the age of 9, is presumed dead when he leapt into the plundering waves off Eagle Cove, Oregon coast - his body never discovered with only a small memorial stone erected in his memory. With only scant details provided to her by Birchwood, the now abandoned foster care facility for disturbed and unwanted children where he grew up in - 'a center no one seems to want to talk about' - she enlists the aid of Larry Palmer in her investigation, a much older retired police officer and widower, who seems to carry his own unsettled grievances with the town and his heart. And as the two start to dig deeper into what really happened to Dennis, 'lost in the sea but not from our hearts', a whole web of hidden truths of crimes and misconduct slowly starts to surface that has Amanda questioning how far she is willing to go to unearth the secrets that the town is so determined to keep buried and forgotten. 🙏🏻🙏🏻
“It looked like a cave painting, only it had been carved into the hardpan of the desert floor
“It’s called a sleeping giant,” Martha said. “There are dozens of them around here... All of the sleeping giants are like this. They are waving, as if asking for help.
All of them alone.”
There are things in life that you don't generally know about until you read something that makes you aware of such things. It serves as an eye opener and a painful reminder of how there are things in life that are beyond the scope of your imagination, but can still exist, despite how harmful it may be. The painstaking irony to the meaning behind the title 'Sleeping Giants' - -the giant figure spread-eagled on the desert floor, his hands open as if beckoning allies from the sky. - is a truly tragic one when taken in to context of how this story sheds light on the malpractice of foster care treatment, in particular to a certain method of mental health practice that shook me to my core. 😥 It rattled me and unnerved me, but the way the author wrote it with such a sensitive and caring touch - made it all the more painful to believe that such a practice could have been used on so many unsuspecting children. 😢
Eerily haunting and wistfully disturbing yet with a tenderly poignant touch does Rene Denfield's writing guide you through the past and the present - 'those rooms whispered of a darkness older than time.' Shadowing Dennis in his days in foster care to Amanda's hopeful search to more clues and Larry's skillful keen eye to draw out discrepancies, the truth gradually converges into a startling, if not tragic reveal that makes one question who it is we are entrusting the responsibility of those innocent lives who have no one to speak up for themselves. 😟 This thought deeply wounded me for how callously one can just surmise that just because these children have no one to claim them, they can be treated like this. It is only a monster with a caring facade that can get away with such deceit. 🙁
And while it deeply angered me, I felt it also a setback to give said monster a past that painted them not entirely culpable of their actions; I know it is about justifying their decision in doing what they believe is right, but that served as a weakness - as a reason to sympathize, which, overall made them seem more human, despite their inhumane behavior - 'the only bad thing I ever did in this life was breathe.' 😢 But, it still gave them cause to have sympathy for them - that their actions were dictated by their own history, thus not making it seem all that reasonable to blame them for their actions - 'she would say we were lucky to get any help at all.' I did appreciate how much thought and research was put into making it as believable as possible with the emphasis of why it was felt needed to act upon; it made it even more heartbreaking than it already was. 💔💔
“Why do people make places like these? I mean, why not just have decent foster homes? Pay people enough to take care of kids and help them with their issues?”
“If only it was that easy.”
“Maybe it is, and we just pretend it’s hard.”
But, I yearned to know what happened - I needed to know if justice would be served - if the truth was as painful as what I thought it would be�� - that if there was any hope for a happy ending of closure - something I firmly believe should always be given, in order to move on. Larry was such a stand-up guy; helping Amanda was his penance for a life that he missed out on. He was supportive and gentle and just encompassed a fatherly role that made Amanda feel safe; that is, after all, what any child wants to have - the feeling of safety. 🥺 Amanda's side story with the polar bear was an interesting parallel - one that -- in its own way -- was a direct correlation to her own search for her missing sibling bond -- to fill the void of a person that she could have known - 'empty graves, full of secrets.' It is a suspenseful, but touching mystery that presents itself with challenges and hurdles, while also letting them get closer to the truth of the wrong that a system entrusted with innocent lives has been caught doing. It is also a touching story of healing from the hurt and pains - one that allows a beautiful growth for those who have been seeking a chance for forgiveness and a quiet escape from the demons that have haunted them for their past. ❤️🩹❤️🩹
A good book, for me, is one that teaches me something factual I did not know about before, while also telling a compelling fictional story along with it; and this was certainly a harrowing form of treatment that deeply sickened me. 😞 Knowing that the author is a foster mother, herself, I really appreciated that while informative, she really brought out the emotional range of how challenging and damaging this dangerous practice; that even with the least amount of explicit detail, she made the readers uncomfortable enough to understand that what they were witnessing - could not be permissible in the face of humanity - regardless of what may be lead to believe that it it can work. There is a lingering sadness to the truth it brings to light - one that hurts me even now to think of those poor unfortunate souls who were victims of such ill-advised and unwarranted cruelty. 😔
“Why are they called sleeping giants, then?”
“The myth is that if the sleeping giants are awakened, they will take revenge on all of us.”
“What for?”
“Those crimes, my friend, are no longer remembered.”
All Amanda Defresne ever wanted to learn was a little bit more information about the suspicious disappearance of her brother, Dennis Owen - who at the age of 9, is presumed dead when he leapt into the plundering waves off Eagle Cove, Oregon coast - his body never discovered with only a small memorial stone erected in his memory. With only scant details provided to her by Birchwood, the now abandoned foster care facility for disturbed and unwanted children where he grew up in - 'a center no one seems to want to talk about' - she enlists the aid of Larry Palmer in her investigation, a much older retired police officer and widower, who seems to carry his own unsettled grievances with the town and his heart. And as the two start to dig deeper into what really happened to Dennis, 'lost in the sea but not from our hearts', a whole web of hidden truths of crimes and misconduct slowly starts to surface that has Amanda questioning how far she is willing to go to unearth the secrets that the town is so determined to keep buried and forgotten. 🙏🏻🙏🏻
“It looked like a cave painting, only it had been carved into the hardpan of the desert floor
“It’s called a sleeping giant,” Martha said. “There are dozens of them around here... All of the sleeping giants are like this. They are waving, as if asking for help.
All of them alone.”
There are things in life that you don't generally know about until you read something that makes you aware of such things. It serves as an eye opener and a painful reminder of how there are things in life that are beyond the scope of your imagination, but can still exist, despite how harmful it may be. The painstaking irony to the meaning behind the title 'Sleeping Giants' - -the giant figure spread-eagled on the desert floor, his hands open as if beckoning allies from the sky. - is a truly tragic one when taken in to context of how this story sheds light on the malpractice of foster care treatment, in particular to a certain method of mental health practice that shook me to my core. 😥 It rattled me and unnerved me, but the way the author wrote it with such a sensitive and caring touch - made it all the more painful to believe that such a practice could have been used on so many unsuspecting children. 😢
Eerily haunting and wistfully disturbing yet with a tenderly poignant touch does Rene Denfield's writing guide you through the past and the present - 'those rooms whispered of a darkness older than time.' Shadowing Dennis in his days in foster care to Amanda's hopeful search to more clues and Larry's skillful keen eye to draw out discrepancies, the truth gradually converges into a startling, if not tragic reveal that makes one question who it is we are entrusting the responsibility of those innocent lives who have no one to speak up for themselves. 😟 This thought deeply wounded me for how callously one can just surmise that just because these children have no one to claim them, they can be treated like this. It is only a monster with a caring facade that can get away with such deceit. 🙁
And while it deeply angered me, I felt it also a setback to give said monster a past that painted them not entirely culpable of their actions; I know it is about justifying their decision in doing what they believe is right, but that served as a weakness - as a reason to sympathize, which, overall made them seem more human, despite their inhumane behavior - 'the only bad thing I ever did in this life was breathe.' 😢 But, it still gave them cause to have sympathy for them - that their actions were dictated by their own history, thus not making it seem all that reasonable to blame them for their actions - 'she would say we were lucky to get any help at all.' I did appreciate how much thought and research was put into making it as believable as possible with the emphasis of why it was felt needed to act upon; it made it even more heartbreaking than it already was. 💔💔
“Why do people make places like these? I mean, why not just have decent foster homes? Pay people enough to take care of kids and help them with their issues?”
“If only it was that easy.”
“Maybe it is, and we just pretend it’s hard.”
But, I yearned to know what happened - I needed to know if justice would be served - if the truth was as painful as what I thought it would be�� - that if there was any hope for a happy ending of closure - something I firmly believe should always be given, in order to move on. Larry was such a stand-up guy; helping Amanda was his penance for a life that he missed out on. He was supportive and gentle and just encompassed a fatherly role that made Amanda feel safe; that is, after all, what any child wants to have - the feeling of safety. 🥺 Amanda's side story with the polar bear was an interesting parallel - one that -- in its own way -- was a direct correlation to her own search for her missing sibling bond -- to fill the void of a person that she could have known - 'empty graves, full of secrets.' It is a suspenseful, but touching mystery that presents itself with challenges and hurdles, while also letting them get closer to the truth of the wrong that a system entrusted with innocent lives has been caught doing. It is also a touching story of healing from the hurt and pains - one that allows a beautiful growth for those who have been seeking a chance for forgiveness and a quiet escape from the demons that have haunted them for their past. ❤️🩹❤️🩹
A good book, for me, is one that teaches me something factual I did not know about before, while also telling a compelling fictional story along with it; and this was certainly a harrowing form of treatment that deeply sickened me. 😞 Knowing that the author is a foster mother, herself, I really appreciated that while informative, she really brought out the emotional range of how challenging and damaging this dangerous practice; that even with the least amount of explicit detail, she made the readers uncomfortable enough to understand that what they were witnessing - could not be permissible in the face of humanity - regardless of what may be lead to believe that it it can work. There is a lingering sadness to the truth it brings to light - one that hurts me even now to think of those poor unfortunate souls who were victims of such ill-advised and unwarranted cruelty. 😔
July 10, 2024
Running for his life, a little boy falls from a cliff, disappears into the roiling Pacific Ocean and is never seen again. Although the community mounts a search, it's quickly concluded that the child has drowned. No one wonders too loudly who or what he was running from.
Two decades later the boy's sister travels from Portland to a remote town on the Oregon Coast, hoping someone there will remember the brother she never met. Only an outsider—a cop who recently retired to this sleepy village—welcomes her questions. Together they peer into dark corners, the darkest of which are found at Brightwood, an institution for troubled boys long since shuttered.
This premise sounds like a boilerplate thriller, but Sleeping Giants transcends genre. Rene Denfeld, simply one of the best writers of contemporary American fiction, delivers a profound story that pulls the reader in with unrelenting tension, alternating scenes of cruelty with moments of tenderness and grace. Like all of her novels, particularly 2014's astonishing The Enchanted, Denfeld crafts fictional narratives that reveal terrible truths about failed carceral and therapy programs, systems she's worked in for decades as a death row investigator.
Abandoned by their alcoholic mother, Amanda and Dennis were raised apart. Amanda got lucky: she was adopted as an infant by a childless couple who adored and protected her. Dennis's story began and ended in tragedy. Shifted from one foster home to another until he is nearly mute with anxiety and rage, Dennis arrives at Brightwood, a residential center for boys with behavioral issues, when he is just four years old. He is subjected to a treatment known as "holding time," which has devastating consequences that no one wants to admit.
Amanda is neurodivergent, a precise and literal thinker who struggles with numbers, hates edges and corners, and is beloved by Molly, the orphaned polar bear she tends at the Oregon Zoo in Portland. As she and Larry, the retired police detective mourning his wife's death, seek to unravel the mystery of her brother's death, Amanda is also digging into the mystery of Molly's abandonment in Alaska. It's one of the most ingenious and compelling subplots I've encountered.
Denfeld's prose is spare but evocative. She conjures an unforgiving landscape—crushing waves, unrelenting rain, impenetrable forests—that seduces with a terrifying beauty and mirrors the story's villainous characters. I am reminded of Toni Morrison and Margaret Atwood, whose writing styles are clean and precise and yet gorgeously lyrical.
What I admire most is Rene Denfeld's ability to write into unsettling and important themes without forcing her characters to represent a cause. Too many authors who use justice themes in their work create single dimensional actors in their urgency to get points across to readers. Denfeld gets out of the way, crafting enthralling, brilliantly-plotted stories with rich, layered characters who are allowed to evolve as the world changes around them.
Sleeping Giants is a continuous wave of sublime sweetness and severe heartbreak; I was reduced to hitching sobs by the end.
This is one of the year's best.
Two decades later the boy's sister travels from Portland to a remote town on the Oregon Coast, hoping someone there will remember the brother she never met. Only an outsider—a cop who recently retired to this sleepy village—welcomes her questions. Together they peer into dark corners, the darkest of which are found at Brightwood, an institution for troubled boys long since shuttered.
This premise sounds like a boilerplate thriller, but Sleeping Giants transcends genre. Rene Denfeld, simply one of the best writers of contemporary American fiction, delivers a profound story that pulls the reader in with unrelenting tension, alternating scenes of cruelty with moments of tenderness and grace. Like all of her novels, particularly 2014's astonishing The Enchanted, Denfeld crafts fictional narratives that reveal terrible truths about failed carceral and therapy programs, systems she's worked in for decades as a death row investigator.
Abandoned by their alcoholic mother, Amanda and Dennis were raised apart. Amanda got lucky: she was adopted as an infant by a childless couple who adored and protected her. Dennis's story began and ended in tragedy. Shifted from one foster home to another until he is nearly mute with anxiety and rage, Dennis arrives at Brightwood, a residential center for boys with behavioral issues, when he is just four years old. He is subjected to a treatment known as "holding time," which has devastating consequences that no one wants to admit.
Amanda is neurodivergent, a precise and literal thinker who struggles with numbers, hates edges and corners, and is beloved by Molly, the orphaned polar bear she tends at the Oregon Zoo in Portland. As she and Larry, the retired police detective mourning his wife's death, seek to unravel the mystery of her brother's death, Amanda is also digging into the mystery of Molly's abandonment in Alaska. It's one of the most ingenious and compelling subplots I've encountered.
Denfeld's prose is spare but evocative. She conjures an unforgiving landscape—crushing waves, unrelenting rain, impenetrable forests—that seduces with a terrifying beauty and mirrors the story's villainous characters. I am reminded of Toni Morrison and Margaret Atwood, whose writing styles are clean and precise and yet gorgeously lyrical.
What I admire most is Rene Denfeld's ability to write into unsettling and important themes without forcing her characters to represent a cause. Too many authors who use justice themes in their work create single dimensional actors in their urgency to get points across to readers. Denfeld gets out of the way, crafting enthralling, brilliantly-plotted stories with rich, layered characters who are allowed to evolve as the world changes around them.
Sleeping Giants is a continuous wave of sublime sweetness and severe heartbreak; I was reduced to hitching sobs by the end.
This is one of the year's best.
October 25, 2023
One of the best books I've read all year. Rene Denfeld excels at creating intense and very real characters. A mystery kept the plot moving and the West Coast setting enhanced the plot immensely. I highly recommend this for fans of Heather Gudenkauf and Mary Kubica.
Many thanks to Netgalley, Edelweiss, Harper and Rene Denfeld for my complimentary e-copy ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Many thanks to Netgalley, Edelweiss, Harper and Rene Denfeld for my complimentary e-copy ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
April 16, 2024
Goodness!
I can’t remember the last time I read a book that caused me anxiety.
I could have finished it in less than 4 hours, but the topic was very upsetting, so I had to take small breaks.
Once again this author gives another dark and disturbing story, and she did not disappoint me.
The writing is excellent and the storyline (as well as the storytelling) is very engrossing.
The reason I’m not giving it 5 stars is because the story felt too condensed or as if I was reading a draft. I wanted (needed) more, regardless of the topic. I wanted to learn more about all characters. This book could easily have 500 pages, at least.
Also I did find a bit predictable.
But overall this was well executed.
Hardcover ((Harper Collins): 304 pages (35 pages)
e-Book (Kobo): 246 pages (default), 76k words
I can’t remember the last time I read a book that caused me anxiety.
I could have finished it in less than 4 hours, but the topic was very upsetting, so I had to take small breaks.
Once again this author gives another dark and disturbing story, and she did not disappoint me.
The writing is excellent and the storyline (as well as the storytelling) is very engrossing.
The reason I’m not giving it 5 stars is because the story felt too condensed or as if I was reading a draft. I wanted (needed) more, regardless of the topic. I wanted to learn more about all characters. This book could easily have 500 pages, at least.
Also I did find a bit predictable.
But overall this was well executed.
Hardcover ((Harper Collins): 304 pages (35 pages)
e-Book (Kobo): 246 pages (default), 76k words
April 27, 2024
"The little boy went charging across the empty hard sand of the beach. The cliffs rose high to his right; the sea thundered in large, glassy gray clouds. Mist struck his face with force, and the wind tore at the institutional shirt he wore. His face was filled with anguish. . . .
His feet left him. One moment he could feel the sand underneath him, and the next he was out in the waves, being tossed like a cork. His shirt, sopping wet, was almost pulled off his body, and the sea seemed to want his sneakers. The current was so swift, so strong--the outgoing tide grabbed the boy in delight and spun him out to sea. His face bobbed in the waves. All he could taste was salt. All he could see was sun. This is how I die, he thought."
This is Rene Denfeld's powerful opening to her latest novel Sleeping Giants. I am hooked immediately and stay that way throughout the tale.
The plot centers on Brightwood Center, a house for disturbed boys which closed twenty years ago, and the death of Dennis Owen, a 9 year old resident. There is another story arc of Molly, an orphan polar bear in a local zoo, that parallels Dennis' story. Denfeld artfully integrates these seemingly disparate threads.
Sleeping Giants is populated with lost and wounded characters. I meet Amanda, Dennis' younger sister, adopted at birth, who has just discovered that she had an older brother who was reported drowned twenty years earlier. Larry, a recently widowed ex-cop, at loose ends and feeling a lack of purpose, offers to help uncover more of the story. Ralph, the center's former custodian was the product of such a center. Martha King, the center's director has her own story. The other secondary characters also have stories which Denfeld fleshes out enough for me to get to know them.
I am introduced to a therapy called holding time, a coercive restraint therapy. A child is is wrapped tightly inside layers of sheets. At times he or she is tickled or pressed. These techniques are to reduce the child to an infantile state, to break down the child so he can begin again. Many former patients report how devastating this treatment was. It was used for children with attachment disorders in the 1980's until in 2007 when it was placed on a list of treatments that have the potential to cause harm to clients by the Association for Psychological Science.
Denfeld asks me to consider how much harm is done in the name of good? and asks me to consider the motivations that lie under the surface.
While there is a lot of darkness in this story, Denfeld includes pockets of light. There are characters who care for each other, and I see people reaching out to others and helping to catalyze positive change.
Sleeping Giants is both a propulsive mystery and an impassioned appeal to pay attention to and to protect our children. Like her previous novels, she continues to point out the cracks in our foster care system. Denfeld is an underappreciated novelist who uses her skills with words and storytelling to hit hard, emotional truths.
Publication 2024
His feet left him. One moment he could feel the sand underneath him, and the next he was out in the waves, being tossed like a cork. His shirt, sopping wet, was almost pulled off his body, and the sea seemed to want his sneakers. The current was so swift, so strong--the outgoing tide grabbed the boy in delight and spun him out to sea. His face bobbed in the waves. All he could taste was salt. All he could see was sun. This is how I die, he thought."
This is Rene Denfeld's powerful opening to her latest novel Sleeping Giants. I am hooked immediately and stay that way throughout the tale.
The plot centers on Brightwood Center, a house for disturbed boys which closed twenty years ago, and the death of Dennis Owen, a 9 year old resident. There is another story arc of Molly, an orphan polar bear in a local zoo, that parallels Dennis' story. Denfeld artfully integrates these seemingly disparate threads.
Sleeping Giants is populated with lost and wounded characters. I meet Amanda, Dennis' younger sister, adopted at birth, who has just discovered that she had an older brother who was reported drowned twenty years earlier. Larry, a recently widowed ex-cop, at loose ends and feeling a lack of purpose, offers to help uncover more of the story. Ralph, the center's former custodian was the product of such a center. Martha King, the center's director has her own story. The other secondary characters also have stories which Denfeld fleshes out enough for me to get to know them.
I am introduced to a therapy called holding time, a coercive restraint therapy. A child is is wrapped tightly inside layers of sheets. At times he or she is tickled or pressed. These techniques are to reduce the child to an infantile state, to break down the child so he can begin again. Many former patients report how devastating this treatment was. It was used for children with attachment disorders in the 1980's until in 2007 when it was placed on a list of treatments that have the potential to cause harm to clients by the Association for Psychological Science.
Denfeld asks me to consider how much harm is done in the name of good? and asks me to consider the motivations that lie under the surface.
While there is a lot of darkness in this story, Denfeld includes pockets of light. There are characters who care for each other, and I see people reaching out to others and helping to catalyze positive change.
Sleeping Giants is both a propulsive mystery and an impassioned appeal to pay attention to and to protect our children. Like her previous novels, she continues to point out the cracks in our foster care system. Denfeld is an underappreciated novelist who uses her skills with words and storytelling to hit hard, emotional truths.
Publication 2024
June 6, 2024
Wow! This book is ambitious! It’s told from multiple points of view and in different time periods and I enjoyed and admired how that was done.. It connects different losses and different reunions (including with different species.) It addresses abuses in foster care and child “treatment” and child “therapy” and some wild animal rights issues too, and a lot happens. A lot! For the most part it worked. I’ve read and enjoyed other books by this author so I knew some of what to expect. I could have done without the current time characters being put in danger (though I knew that would happen) and a few other things but I guess it all made sense. I had to suspend disbelief a time or two but what happened wasn’t so unbelievable that it was eye rolling worthy. I cared about many of the characters and was particularly happy about one happy ending, even though it was imperfect given a sad loss that pretty much simultaneously happens. The book is utterly heartbreaking at times but also heartwarming.
I thought that “holding time” had been outlawed but maybe not. I know that no place I know of allows it or is it considered acceptable practice.
The author sure understands the wounded people who think they are doing the right thing but are instead inflicting damage on others. I did correctly guess the murderer and the circumstances but I wasn’t certain until the reveal. I did not guess the surprise twist at the end.
The author’s children were adopted out of the foster care system and she knows of what she writes. I appreciate how she can make a statement about real atrocities and nearly seamlessly incorporate them into a fictional story.
I read this book in two days, mostly because I abdicated most of my responsibilities and stayed home for two days and took a lot of time to read but also because the book completely held my attention.
I thought that “holding time” had been outlawed but maybe not. I know that no place I know of allows it or is it considered acceptable practice.
The author sure understands the wounded people who think they are doing the right thing but are instead inflicting damage on others. I did correctly guess the murderer and the circumstances but I wasn’t certain until the reveal. I did not guess the surprise twist at the end.
The author’s children were adopted out of the foster care system and she knows of what she writes. I appreciate how she can make a statement about real atrocities and nearly seamlessly incorporate them into a fictional story.
I read this book in two days, mostly because I abdicated most of my responsibilities and stayed home for two days and took a lot of time to read but also because the book completely held my attention.
April 15, 2024
Wow! I did not see this fantastic, emotionally haunting and layered story coming. 𝗦𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗚𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 is a mesmerizing story about loss and discovery set along the cold and at times unforgiving Oregon coast.
🌊𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆?
I was blown away by how emotionally attached I became to the characters and their situations from the very beginning. Everything they were going through (especially Dennis) was very relevant and so meaningful, and even though I knew how part of the story played out (you learn in the very first chapter), I still found myself absorbed in the mystery and still hoping that magically things would change…and, that is how you know you are enmeshed in a deeply moving book.
✔️𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲:
Multiple POV
Atmosphere
Mystery
History
🌊𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲?
This is a book that sucked me into the very pages as I kept turning the pages faster and faster.
🌊𝗗𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸?
I can’t believe I haven’t seen this book being talked about more! It is a story about darkness, but there is still so much hope to be found throughout the story.
Also, make sure you read the Author’s Note at the end. I really appreciated how Denfeld explained why she chose to address this hard topic.
💬𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤?
AOTD: Kinda. Just dreading our week of cold winter temps that are on the way.🥶
Thank you Harper for this gifted copy in exchange for my honest opinions.
🌊𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆?
I was blown away by how emotionally attached I became to the characters and their situations from the very beginning. Everything they were going through (especially Dennis) was very relevant and so meaningful, and even though I knew how part of the story played out (you learn in the very first chapter), I still found myself absorbed in the mystery and still hoping that magically things would change…and, that is how you know you are enmeshed in a deeply moving book.
✔️𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲:
Multiple POV
Atmosphere
Mystery
History
🌊𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲?
This is a book that sucked me into the very pages as I kept turning the pages faster and faster.
🌊𝗗𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸?
I can’t believe I haven’t seen this book being talked about more! It is a story about darkness, but there is still so much hope to be found throughout the story.
Also, make sure you read the Author’s Note at the end. I really appreciated how Denfeld explained why she chose to address this hard topic.
💬𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤?
AOTD: Kinda. Just dreading our week of cold winter temps that are on the way.🥶
Thank you Harper for this gifted copy in exchange for my honest opinions.
October 11, 2023
Wonderful. I read this at the Oregon coast, which welcomed me with a storm and shut off the electricity at the hotel I where I was. This all made for a perfect setting to read Sleeping Giants. Bursting with grief but with a thin layer of hope laced through the plot, Denfeld brings all the heartbreak yet manages to put bandage on it. I highly recommend this to mystery/lit lovers who give a damn about other people’s lives.
April 24, 2024
4 stars
Rene Denfeld is an author that I have liked for a long time. I believe that this book may be my second favorite of all her books, behind The Enchanted which is a one of a kind book.
I was lucky enough to see Denfeld in a Zoom interview just after finishing this book, one reason I held off doing my review. I don't believe that anything she said in the Zoom meeting changed my mind about the book, but it was nice to hear her talk about the book from her perspective.
I was able to figure out a big part of the book very early on. But I am not sure that it was not written that way due to the surprise twist that came along with the big reveal. Denfeld has a way of writing that just sucks you in and carries you along as an invisible character while she lays out the story.
I find Denfeld's characters so well drawn and believable. The abuse of institutionalized children - especially boys - has been a favored topic of many authors as of late. As it should be, since it is still going on. Just because you read about it's horrific details in a fiction novel does not make it any less prevalent. Denfeld just tells a good story- sadly an all too true story under the guise of fiction.
Rene Denfeld is an author that I have liked for a long time. I believe that this book may be my second favorite of all her books, behind The Enchanted which is a one of a kind book.
I was lucky enough to see Denfeld in a Zoom interview just after finishing this book, one reason I held off doing my review. I don't believe that anything she said in the Zoom meeting changed my mind about the book, but it was nice to hear her talk about the book from her perspective.
I was able to figure out a big part of the book very early on. But I am not sure that it was not written that way due to the surprise twist that came along with the big reveal. Denfeld has a way of writing that just sucks you in and carries you along as an invisible character while she lays out the story.
I find Denfeld's characters so well drawn and believable. The abuse of institutionalized children - especially boys - has been a favored topic of many authors as of late. As it should be, since it is still going on. Just because you read about it's horrific details in a fiction novel does not make it any less prevalent. Denfeld just tells a good story- sadly an all too true story under the guise of fiction.
April 19, 2024
4.5⭐️
“Sleeping Giants" is a heart-wrenching and riveting tale that intertwines Amanda's search for answers about her long-lost brother Dennis, who drowned off the Oregon coast decades ago, with the sinister events unfolding at the center for troubled boys. With the help of Larry, a local widower and ex-cop, Amanda delves into the dark secrets of Brightwood, unearthing chilling and sinister truths. Meanwhile, Dennis's narrative sheds light on the harrowing experiences endured by the boys at Brightwood, the monstrous acts, also highlighting his friendship with the custodian amidst the darkness. This gripping novel beautifully explores themes of family, friendship, and resilience in the face of adversity. The inclusion of Amanda’s work as a zookeeper, especially her bond with Molly the polar bear was a refreshing break and had a mysterious element that I enjoyed. Denfeld is a remarkable writer, with such beautiful prose, and slowly unfolds Amanda’s character making this a story of self-discovery.
“Sleeping Giants" is a heart-wrenching and riveting tale that intertwines Amanda's search for answers about her long-lost brother Dennis, who drowned off the Oregon coast decades ago, with the sinister events unfolding at the center for troubled boys. With the help of Larry, a local widower and ex-cop, Amanda delves into the dark secrets of Brightwood, unearthing chilling and sinister truths. Meanwhile, Dennis's narrative sheds light on the harrowing experiences endured by the boys at Brightwood, the monstrous acts, also highlighting his friendship with the custodian amidst the darkness. This gripping novel beautifully explores themes of family, friendship, and resilience in the face of adversity. The inclusion of Amanda’s work as a zookeeper, especially her bond with Molly the polar bear was a refreshing break and had a mysterious element that I enjoyed. Denfeld is a remarkable writer, with such beautiful prose, and slowly unfolds Amanda’s character making this a story of self-discovery.
April 18, 2024
TW: Language, grieving, death of sibling, child sexual abuse, child abuse, gaslighting, homophobia, animal death, death by suicide (attempt), depression, anxiety, drinking, alcoholism, miscarriages
*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
Twenty years ago, a nine-year-old boy was swept away by powerful waves on a remote Oregon beach, his body lost to the sea. Only a stone memorial remains to mark his tragic death.
For most of her life, Amanda Dufresne had no idea she had an older brother named Dennis Owens, or that he had died. Adopted as a baby, she learned about him while looking into her late birth mother, and is curious to know more about this lost sibling. A solitary young woman, Amanda has always felt distanced from the world around her. Her brain works differently from others, leaving her feeling set apart. Her one true companion is the orphaned polar bear she cares for working at the zoo. By getting to know her birth family, she hopes to understand more about herself.
Retired police officer Larry Palmer is a widower with nothing but time and in need of a purpose. He offers to help Amanda find answers. The search leads to shocking and heartbreaking discoveries. Dennis Owen had been a forgotten foster child abandoned to a home for disturbed boys off the coast. As Amanda and Larry dig deeper into the past, the two stumble upon decades of cruelty and hidden crimes—including a barbaric treatment still used today.
Release Date: March 26th, 2024
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 304
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
What I Liked:
1. Loved the audiobook narrators voice
2. Writing style is so good
3. Atmospheric
What I Didn't Like:
1. Some parts just seemed very far fetched
Overall Thoughts:
I really love the writing and this audiobook narrator. It's all so prefect.
I feel like I'm on the beach it's so atmospheric.
Why did the constable agree to talk to Amanda if he barely wanted to talk to her? Stupid.
Oh they mentioned Seaside, Oregon. I loved it there.
So sad reading about Dennis dealing with the foster care house.
Please please don't let the rabbit be killed by this evil lady Martha!
Oh no they are trying to change the boys that are gay into being straight. Gross. Using conversion therapy to change them.
Ahhhhhhhh they killed the rabbit nooooooo
Ralph wants to adopt Dennis. Aweeee. Of course they don't let him. He doesn't meet the requirements.
Martha killed Steven. Poor Steven. Left behind and restrained.
So it's Ike that was defending Martha at the other locations that hide the fact that Martha murdered others. So now he's out here chasing Amanda.
Loved that the joke of Sasquatch that was told to Amanda came around to Brent being drunk in the woods and thinking he saw one in the woods.
So she killed another boy.
Martha was being molested by her father.
I can't understand the point of killing Reggie when he already talked to Larry and Amanda.
Dennis got out and ran to the ocean.. Omg I hope he got to servive. I hope that Ralph hid him away and they went to live somewhere else.
Yay Dennis is alive!!
Okay so Charlie is the one that was working with Martha. Why didn't he just kill Amanda in the hotel than instead of waiting for her out by the beach? He had a key that night so he could have unlocked her door and killed her in her sleep.
Final Thoughts:
This book some errors to the plot but honestly I was so invested in Amanda finding her brother that I am more than okay with that.
I loved the characters in the story. Even the bad ones I feel were written very well.
I am a huge fan of Rene Denfeld's books so I was so excited that I loved this one too.
IG | Blog
*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
Twenty years ago, a nine-year-old boy was swept away by powerful waves on a remote Oregon beach, his body lost to the sea. Only a stone memorial remains to mark his tragic death.
For most of her life, Amanda Dufresne had no idea she had an older brother named Dennis Owens, or that he had died. Adopted as a baby, she learned about him while looking into her late birth mother, and is curious to know more about this lost sibling. A solitary young woman, Amanda has always felt distanced from the world around her. Her brain works differently from others, leaving her feeling set apart. Her one true companion is the orphaned polar bear she cares for working at the zoo. By getting to know her birth family, she hopes to understand more about herself.
Retired police officer Larry Palmer is a widower with nothing but time and in need of a purpose. He offers to help Amanda find answers. The search leads to shocking and heartbreaking discoveries. Dennis Owen had been a forgotten foster child abandoned to a home for disturbed boys off the coast. As Amanda and Larry dig deeper into the past, the two stumble upon decades of cruelty and hidden crimes—including a barbaric treatment still used today.
Release Date: March 26th, 2024
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 304
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
What I Liked:
1. Loved the audiobook narrators voice
2. Writing style is so good
3. Atmospheric
What I Didn't Like:
1. Some parts just seemed very far fetched
Overall Thoughts:
I really love the writing and this audiobook narrator. It's all so prefect.
I feel like I'm on the beach it's so atmospheric.
Why did the constable agree to talk to Amanda if he barely wanted to talk to her? Stupid.
Oh they mentioned Seaside, Oregon. I loved it there.
So sad reading about Dennis dealing with the foster care house.
Please please don't let the rabbit be killed by this evil lady Martha!
Oh no they are trying to change the boys that are gay into being straight. Gross. Using conversion therapy to change them.
Ahhhhhhhh they killed the rabbit nooooooo
Ralph wants to adopt Dennis. Aweeee. Of course they don't let him. He doesn't meet the requirements.
Martha killed Steven. Poor Steven. Left behind and restrained.
So it's Ike that was defending Martha at the other locations that hide the fact that Martha murdered others. So now he's out here chasing Amanda.
Loved that the joke of Sasquatch that was told to Amanda came around to Brent being drunk in the woods and thinking he saw one in the woods.
So she killed another boy.
Martha was being molested by her father.
I can't understand the point of killing Reggie when he already talked to Larry and Amanda.
Dennis got out and ran to the ocean.. Omg I hope he got to servive. I hope that Ralph hid him away and they went to live somewhere else.
Yay Dennis is alive!!
Okay so Charlie is the one that was working with Martha. Why didn't he just kill Amanda in the hotel than instead of waiting for her out by the beach? He had a key that night so he could have unlocked her door and killed her in her sleep.
Final Thoughts:
This book some errors to the plot but honestly I was so invested in Amanda finding her brother that I am more than okay with that.
I loved the characters in the story. Even the bad ones I feel were written very well.
I am a huge fan of Rene Denfeld's books so I was so excited that I loved this one too.
IG | Blog
June 9, 2024
What I appreciate most about Denfeld books is her spotlight on the marginalized among us and the practices our culture engages in to help create (or perpetuate) them. I appreciate how educational they can be about broken systems, misguided practices, and the potential danger and inadequacy of "diagnosis". And Denfeld does all this within a gripping story around characters you care about, so it's like that spoonful of sugar making the medicine go down...you hardly notice it, but it does its work inside you. It may open your mind or heart to a new way of seeing others.
This might be my favorite among the four Denfeld books I've read. It was easy to immediately care about young Dennis, trapped in an institution where things happened beyond his understanding. It was easy to be grateful to custodian Ralph who deliberately befriended Dennis, helping him to trust for the first time in his life. It was easy to dislike those in charge who, despite possibly having "good" motives, often added to trauma rather than reducing it. So much of this story was familiar to me and resonated at a deep level as I remembered those I've worked with. But it was also a good old-fashioned mystery that increased in suspense as it progressed, making it an excellent audio listen.
This might be my favorite among the four Denfeld books I've read. It was easy to immediately care about young Dennis, trapped in an institution where things happened beyond his understanding. It was easy to be grateful to custodian Ralph who deliberately befriended Dennis, helping him to trust for the first time in his life. It was easy to dislike those in charge who, despite possibly having "good" motives, often added to trauma rather than reducing it. So much of this story was familiar to me and resonated at a deep level as I remembered those I've worked with. But it was also a good old-fashioned mystery that increased in suspense as it progressed, making it an excellent audio listen.
June 11, 2024
Sooo slow 😭
April 15, 2024
Amanda is a 20-something woman, adopted at birth, who goes in search of her birth mother. This sets off a complicated chain of events involving everything from polar bears to murder. Rene Denfield has a way of taking wildly unrelated events, unfathomable coincidences, and her real world experience in criminal justice/foster kids/trauma to concoct beautifully written, tightly plotted, and deeply characterized stories. See two of her previous books which also add magical realism to the mix, The Child Finder and Butterfly Girl, for other examples. While the plot twist and big reveals are obvious from early in the book, the book isn't really about those or dependent on these devices so the obviousness doesn't matter. What does matter is the commentary on how we treat children and animals, often under the banner of help. My one slight criticism is setting vs language: Denfield uses British slang for some things like loo and flat instead of bathroom and apartment, which is odd for a book set in the Pacific Northwest. It's a quirk that doesn't detract from the story but distracted me as the reader. I highly recommend this book, but also issue a warning as bag things happen to both children and animals.
March 29, 2024
4/5 stars
"Unfortunately many people confuse disability with defiance."
Leave it to Rene Denfeld to tell a heartbreakingly harrowing story in the most tender way possible...
Sleeping Giants combines the tale of a sister investigating the suspicious disappearance of her brother years prior, with an intimate look into the American foster care system and child-mental health practices. It’s not an easy read, but Denfeld’s compassionate and observant writing does the topic every bit of justice it deserves.
Like her previous works, specifically The Enchanted and The Child Finder, this was a difficult book to read at times, but the authors beautiful writing (including the fantastic sense of setting near the natural beauty of the Oregon Coast) carried me through the story. It also lead me to educate myself on the topic of ; sone of those atrocities I wished had spawned from an authors imagination, but unfortunately used to be a widespread reality...
"Unfortunately many people confuse disability with defiance."
Leave it to Rene Denfeld to tell a heartbreakingly harrowing story in the most tender way possible...
Sleeping Giants combines the tale of a sister investigating the suspicious disappearance of her brother years prior, with an intimate look into the American foster care system and child-mental health practices. It’s not an easy read, but Denfeld’s compassionate and observant writing does the topic every bit of justice it deserves.
Like her previous works, specifically The Enchanted and The Child Finder, this was a difficult book to read at times, but the authors beautiful writing (including the fantastic sense of setting near the natural beauty of the Oregon Coast) carried me through the story. It also lead me to educate myself on the topic of ; sone of those atrocities I wished had spawned from an authors imagination, but unfortunately used to be a widespread reality...
March 29, 2024
I was really excited for this one, having read and loved many of the author's previous books. However, this one just didn't hit the same for me and I considered DNFing several times. The parts about the polar bear were my favorite whereas the parts about child abuse and foster care were much more difficult to read. A bit dark for my tastes but still sure to move many people. Be prepared for a heavy read if you do decide to pick this one up. The narration on audio was okay but nothing spectacular for me either.
May 7, 2024
Happy to see new work from Portland investigator, foster mom and trauma expert Rene Denfeld. Here, she applies her skills and experiences to a suspenseful, dual-timeline story of a young woman searching for information about a brother who drowned 20 years earlier while living in a residential treatment center for seriously disturbed boys. I especially love the empathy and compassion Denfeld shows her characters and her great sense of place, particularly the rugged Oregon coast.
April 25, 2024
Thank you to HarperCollins for the giveaway win! Read through all of this in one sitting not because I adored it but because I definitely didn't enjoy the writing from the very get-go and wanted to know if the plot held up like all of the reviewers raving about it say it does (plus I always feel bad about skipping out on a giveaway win). It's interesting because the story is good, something very much along the lines of what interests me, but I found the writing voice to be shockingly freshman for someone who's already published previous books. It's decent quality writing, but none of the character insights feel authentic or original. There's a lot of wholesomeness and tropes that feel more as if they were in a Lifetime thriller, which starkly contended with the truly dark themes of this book. Also, the POV is third-person omniscient, but boy does it go full-omniscient, jumping back and forth between characters' perspectives even within the same excerpt. Sometimes it boggles me what gets past editors these days.
TLDR: I know a lot of my mutuals would enjoy this, especially the ones who are middle-aged mothers who are alright with reading about child abuse but want the padding of wholesomeness to comfort them after the more tragic excerpts. It's just too "safe" for me. I would've preferred reading this kind of story by a different author.
TLDR: I know a lot of my mutuals would enjoy this, especially the ones who are middle-aged mothers who are alright with reading about child abuse but want the padding of wholesomeness to comfort them after the more tragic excerpts. It's just too "safe" for me. I would've preferred reading this kind of story by a different author.
May 13, 2024
I'm the sole one-star reviewer here, which makes me feel like a terrible person, but there is no other rating for this book, for me. The writing in my opinion is just bad. It's a strange narrative voice; we have third person perspective used, but then are given random insights into each character's innermost thoughts (from the other person's perspective?). It's hard to describe, but it's awkward. The author uses furred as an adjective far too often. I felt Denfeld was often heavy-handed in some areas, and then completely oblique in others.
The plot is predictable, the characters are poorly written (a six year old sounds like a thirty year old). When I heard about Sasquatch, I thought okay - I know where this is going and I'm good.
The plot is predictable, the characters are poorly written (a six year old sounds like a thirty year old). When I heard about Sasquatch, I thought okay - I know where this is going and I'm good.
July 14, 2024
I appreciate what Rene Denfeld teaches me about the world. A consistent theme in her books are children that are left behind and unprotected. It’s not something we want to look at but it exists and awareness is important. Highly recommend anything this author has written if you haven’t yet read her writing.
November 17, 2023
Review TK
May 22, 2024
Fans of this author will recognize her signature territory - abused children broken by the very system that is in place to provide protection. I also recognize smart and soulful writing and excellent complex characters. What she does so well is tell a characterś internal story through both thought and action. Dennis, even at age 4 or 7 or 8, has such an old soul and painfully won wisdom. He touched my heart immediately. As always with her novels I was exposed to a world I have thankfully never encountered, this time with the sick reality of holding therapy (a real thing). It is not easy to read so trigger warnings are very much needed.
Alongside that story is a polar bear story (yes you read that right) which confused me at first until I understood the parallels she drew about the world of research, science and captivity. I found myself becoming as invested in the fate of Molly the bear as I was in young Dennis. Finally, I really loved how Denfeld unfolded this story is flashback and present tense. The switches added to the suspense (there is a mystery involved) and pacing, which I appreciated.
A heartbreaking and worthwhile read.
Alongside that story is a polar bear story (yes you read that right) which confused me at first until I understood the parallels she drew about the world of research, science and captivity. I found myself becoming as invested in the fate of Molly the bear as I was in young Dennis. Finally, I really loved how Denfeld unfolded this story is flashback and present tense. The switches added to the suspense (there is a mystery involved) and pacing, which I appreciated.
A heartbreaking and worthwhile read.
July 28, 2024
Sleeping Giants is about good people doing bad things. And about problems in the foster system. Amanda seeks the truth about the circumstances of the death of her brother, Dennis, who lived at a foster home ruled by a cruel headmaster, Martha King. The boy drowned (supposedly) and someone has covered everything up. The story develops in present and past using a lot of flashbacks.
I loved the writing (concise, no wasted scenes) and imagery (quality stuff here). I enjoyed the story, even though it’s disturbing in places. As a thriller / horror/ fantasy reader, I’m sued to fast pacing and this book doesn’t have it. It’s moody, dense, and slower than I would prefer. Still, it’s a great book that does its subject justice and is well-thought-out and superbly executed.
One more thing - the subject is hard (children abuse) but there’s nothing graphic or gratuitous on the page.
I loved the writing (concise, no wasted scenes) and imagery (quality stuff here). I enjoyed the story, even though it’s disturbing in places. As a thriller / horror/ fantasy reader, I’m sued to fast pacing and this book doesn’t have it. It’s moody, dense, and slower than I would prefer. Still, it’s a great book that does its subject justice and is well-thought-out and superbly executed.
One more thing - the subject is hard (children abuse) but there’s nothing graphic or gratuitous on the page.
June 24, 2024
This was a wonderful, heavy read that I could not put down. Rene Denfeld has a way of telling emotional stories and this was no exception. Set on the Oregon coast, this is a multi layered, complex plot where a 20ish year old adopted woman begins a search for her brother and it opens up so many things, aka Sleeping Giants, that run the gamut from child abuse to murder and the broken foster system. There are other elements woven in here, it is full of trigger warnings, it is an incredibly hard and emotional book to read, but Denfeld weaves it all together in what is just a phenomenal book overall.
May 27, 2024
Heartbreaking and thought-provoking. A reminder of some of the horrors in the foster care system.
Many trigger warnings, including child abuse and death. 4/5 stars
Many trigger warnings, including child abuse and death. 4/5 stars
March 23, 2024
Sleeping Giants by Rene Denfeld ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Amanda has recently found out that she had a brother who died as a child. She goes on a journey to find out about his short life, partnering with a retired police officer.
While an easy and fast read, the emotional punch is difficult. It is a hard story to read, filled with sad children and abuse of sad children. While it does end on a hopeful note, it is quite the journey to get there. Any one interested in the darker side of the history of psychology treatments will want to read this one.
Sleeping Giants comes out 3/26.
Amanda has recently found out that she had a brother who died as a child. She goes on a journey to find out about his short life, partnering with a retired police officer.
While an easy and fast read, the emotional punch is difficult. It is a hard story to read, filled with sad children and abuse of sad children. While it does end on a hopeful note, it is quite the journey to get there. Any one interested in the darker side of the history of psychology treatments will want to read this one.
Sleeping Giants comes out 3/26.
June 24, 2024
"Justice, Amanda was learning, was a concept, not a cure. People looked for the easy answers, when there were none."
This is my first novel by the author, while it is not the kind of book I normally gravitate to, I must say I really enjoyed it. Amanda is definitely an unusual and interesting character and the villain Martha King is positively vile. I specially like the part of the story about Molly the polar bear (I love them), and the descriptions of the Oregon coast and local residents.
Fair warning, child abuse and the foster care system are tough topics and are addressed extensively in this story.
This is my first novel by the author, while it is not the kind of book I normally gravitate to, I must say I really enjoyed it. Amanda is definitely an unusual and interesting character and the villain Martha King is positively vile. I specially like the part of the story about Molly the polar bear (I love them), and the descriptions of the Oregon coast and local residents.
Fair warning, child abuse and the foster care system are tough topics and are addressed extensively in this story.
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