I'm not entirely clear on how you can take such an intriguing concept and make it so, so boring. There are so many missed opportunities in this book which is sad because it could have been amazing.

I really enjoyed Chloe Benjamin’s other book ‘The immortalists’. While this book had a good premise I found the characters weren’t as engaging and I struggled to get into the story.

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

An exploration of sleep disorders and subconscious dream activity through the story of Sylvie and Gabe, assistants to Adrian Keller, and his research into 'lucid dreaming'.

I didn't find the book easy to get into, probably because of the lack of substance to the characters - never did I find I knew them well, or even particularly cared about them.

However, about 2/3 of the way through, the story finally got gripping, and with Sylvie's discovery of a missing clinical study file, I wanted to find out how it was going to end.

Overall - a good premise, but the lack of engaging characters made this is hard-going.

I've wanted to read The Immortalists for ages now, and I never realised The Anatomy of Dreams is actually Chloe Benjamin's first novel.

The story of The Anatomy of Dreams follows Sylvie and Gabe, two students who are helping one of the teachers at their school, Dr Keller, with his lucid dream and sleep disorder research. The chapters switch between the couple's time at school, and later on when they reconnect to carry on the scientific work with Dr Keller. Once I'd got used to switching between the different time periods it was fine.

It was a bit of a slow burner to begin with, but it was so beautifully written that I was really enjoying reading it. I kinda saw the big twist coming, but it was executed really well, and all the different layers of not knowing who to trust and what's real and what's not really added to the atmosphere of the book. (It's very hard to write about this book without giving away spoilers, but it builds up to such a great ending).

Definitely looking forward to picking up the Immortalists soon!

I found this book too slow for me.... I'd be on the verge of giving up,then something would happen... and I'd carry on a while longer.
I didn't find any of the characters appealing enough to make me care what happened to them either.
The subject matter of lucid dreaming was interesting,but as not of the book covered it,I just found myself wishing something new would happen.

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