Too much going on, too many storylines and trying to keep up gave me an headache, however I did enjoy the narration. The scenic side of the writing was really nice.

The trying to stay with so many plots going on became most confusing.i have to be honest here, I know a lot goes into writing a book however, I couldn’t gel with it at all.

Wow, this book had a LOT of story lines. It was hard to get invested because it felt like it was a bit all over the place. It was a decent read but not my favorite.

Really enjoyable read. Good characters and a Good story. Well worth a read. Think others will enjoy.

Sharp, engrossing thriller within that takes place between families; Well-written, full character development and some twists that added an anxiety that you only find in the most carefully crafted books. Thanks so much!

Well, since I was reading this book back in July and August and have never gone back to it - I'm pretty sure it's not for me.

I just could not get into it. All the fighting and screaming among the family just did not appeal to me at all.

Thanks to Bloomsbury and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I am sure this book will appeal to many but I'm afraid I finished it with a sense of relief! I did persevere to the end and there were some areas of the story I enjoyed, like Catta's experiences. However the poor layout of the book, the numerous characters and the author's inability to use a capital L made this one a chore rather than a pleasure. Thanks Netgalley and the publisher- this one just wasn't for me!

This is a complex novel with many different storylines intertwining which are told partly through flashbacks.
The author writes beautifully, the descriptions of Maine are so vivid and colourful that you are transported.
Unfortunately, I found this to be at the expense of a well structured plot and rounded characters. It all felt superficial, as though the author hadn't decided where the story was going and just added threads as they went along. The adults seem to be disconnected from their lives, there is no real emotion from any of them. The children are left mainly to their own devices and whilst I realise that the 1960's were a very different time to now, I was 12 in 1967 and we did have much more freedom to just disappear for the day, the decision to leave a child on an uninhabited island for 24 hours seems crazy and not sure how it brought anything to the story.
I have to admit to being a bit bored at times.
I think this author has real talent but as debut I think it would have benefited from more editing.
My thanks to Netgalley for this copy.

We Shall Not All Sleep covers the events of three summer days in 1964, on a small island in New England. Seven Island is shared by two wealthy families, the Hillsingers and the Quicks – although technically related by marriage, there is animosity between the families and they do not mix with each other. However, the events of these three days draw them together in unexpected ways.

Lila and Hannah are sisters that have married Jim Hillsinger and Billy Quick, respectively. The sisters hold the families together, although there is little communication between them. However, on the anniversary of Hannah’s death, Lila finds herself drawn to her brother-in-law Billy – especially as her husband Jim pulls away from her. Recently ousted from his career at the CIA due to allegations of treason, Jim is desperate to control his environment, and he begins by sending his twelve-year-old son Catta to neighbouring Baffin Island to “become a man.”

The story takes place at the height of the Cold War and McCarthyism, and the historical aspects of the novel were the most compelling for me. Hannah was once a member of the Communist Party, and before her death, her past came back to haunt her – her story is told in flashbacks as she is persecuted for something she never even really believed in. There is intrigue and mystery in Hannah’s story. Then there are the more literary issues of class, wealth and family conflict on Seven Island. Finally, there is also Catta’s boyhood adventure on Baffin Island. The novel jumps between these three plots and really three different genres, and it’s sometimes hard to follow.

There is also a very large cast of characters, who are often confusing and difficult to keep track of. The narration moves around rapidly, within each chapter, and I found it very distracting. There were a lot of good parts, but ultimately there was too much going on and too many separate stories – they would have been much more satisfying if taken separately and embellished on, instead of being forced to fit together. The writing is strong and ambitious, but the narration is messy and meandering. I think this novel would benefit from having tighter focus on the main plot, but Nagy is still a talented writer to watch in the future.

I received this book from Bloomsbury and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

1964: Seven Island has been inhabited by the Hillsinger and Quick families for centuries. Each family sees themselves "as the embodiment of the true Seven spirit and the other family as more or less barbarians." Despite the rivalry, both families have come together for the Migration, an annual event invented entirely out of thin air by the Hillsinger's patriarch. It's a cause for great celebration when the Seven Island sheep are sent to another island in the archipelago to graze for eight weeks. But as family friend John Wilkie observes, "these moments of perfection come more often toward the end of something rather than its beginning, that the light of every supernova comes from an explosion." What appears to be an idyllic family retreat is actually "a fortress built on auguries of eternal war."

• Jim & Lila Hillisinger / Billy & Hannah Quick -  The Quick and Hillsinger families are even further interlinked when the rivalrous men happen to marry a pair of sisters. In a time where an American's life could be destroyed with the mere suggestion of wrongdoing, Hannah's dalliance with the Communist party leads to disastrous consequences for the entire family. The adults are always playing games with the each other. They manage information, sometimes strategically divulging knowledge to the right person so it will get back to another person in just the right way. Their chapters occasionally flashback to the 1950s, revealing the tragic series of events that molded them.

• Catta Hillsinger, 12 years old - Catta's grandfather thinks that if the family doesn't do their part in toughening up the next generation, the fate of the entire country is in danger of falling to the Communists. The Hillsinger men decide that it's time for Catta to grow up, so they devise a plan to abandon him on uninhabited Baffin Island for twenty-four hours. After they leave him to fend for himself, Catta is irritated with the adults for manipulating him into a situation that he would've agreed to if they had just asked. He's concerned that the "adults in his family were corrupt beyond any possibility of hope." Catta is an intense and determined child who loves exploring the outdoors. His seriousness in the face of adversity was endearing. If death ends up being the inevitable end of this grand experiment, he plans to "find a rock to sit on, open to the sea, somewhere the [ship] could easily spot his frozen corpse when they came looking for him. He would try to die upright like someone keeping watch, and with implacable scorn on his face." Will Catta survive the inhospitable environment of Baffin Island? If he passes the challenge, what kind of man will emerge?

While the adult drama is playing out, the kids run wild on the island. Their little cottage set apart from the main houses is a microcosm of the adult world. With no adult supervision, it's survival of the fittest!  The children are perceptive and already learning how to maneuver within and around society's rigid rules. As the oldest child, fifteen-year-old James Hillsinger has dominion over the kids. He relishes in his authoritarian status. He believes in rules and following orders—there's no room for nuance in his mind.

The kids were absolutely precious, except for James who I'm 95% certain is destined become a serial killer. Many of them are already weary and untrusting of the adults. Some of my favorite moments were just the kids being kids. Billy Quick's niece Penny befriends Catta early on. She's a stubborn, curious child, determined to right the injustices of her small world. In one beautiful scene, she builds a bonfire with the Quick girls. The girls are intoxicated with summer, childhood, and, in Penny's case, rage. I also loved sweet little Isa, the youngest Hillsinger. She's the most innocent of the pack, but her even her sweet little fairy world is already being encroached on by the strict rules of the adults. The Old Man is very serious about the construction materials used to build the fairy houses. Her mother Lila marvels at "how even this flimsiest of pastimes, when repeated enough, could evolve such a tangled and specific set of rules."

There was a classic quality to the writing that suited the time and setting. The perspectives alternate frequently, switching from character to character with no notice. I enjoyed all the individual parts of this book, but I'm not sure how I feel about the story as a whole. While the details surrounding Communist witch hunts and Jim's fall from grace at the CIA were fascinating, it was hard to beat the immediacy of the Seven Island chapters. Many of Jim's sections were less engaging because they were conversations explaining things that had already happened and some of the financial maneuverings went over my head. When I finish reading a book, I like to feel like I have a basic grasp of the story. However, there are so many intricacies to the story and the relationships, that I'm not sure that I ever made complete sense of it all.

The island manager Cyrus warns against "the belief that any one person’s experience was more essential, more enlightened, or more direct than that of the congregation as a whole." But for his employer, there is a right way and wrong way to do things. Even minor actions can have dire consequences in the grand scheme of things—any perceived weakness must be snuffed for the good of society. Doing something extraordinary in the name of virtue is valued, whether or not what they are actually doing is virtuous. In this complex tale, the innocent suffer the consequences. They fall victim to an arbitrary, black-and-white society that batters people until they assimilate or destroys them when they resist. What will the next generation learn from growing up in the absolutist world of their parents? We Shall Not Sleep is an interesting story, but I had trouble putting all the pieces together.

LINKS
• Overview: Anticommunism in the 1950s
• More on CIA Mole Hunters: The Life and Strange Career of a Mole Hunter / James Jesus Angleton (Wikipedia)
• When Suspicion of Teachers Ran Unchecked
• Insubordination and "Conduct Unbecoming" : Purging NYC's Communist Teachers at the Start of the Cold War
•  Ike and McCarthy: Dwight Eisenhower's Secret Campaign against Joseph McCarthy  - An interesting book I read earlier this year about the hunt for Communist spies in the government.

This is a complex closed room family tale. What's at issue here is not the outside pressures of the world on these islands in Maine in 1964 but the internal relationships between the Hillsingers and the Quicks and within each of those orbits, This reminded me in some ways of Lord of the Flies- thank goodness this take place over only three days. None of these people, with the exception of Catta, is especially sympathetic and it is his story that I clung to. Nagy has taken care with his language and the writing is fluidly precise. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Try this for a different sort of beach book- a beach where you won't want to spend time with the family! It's a good read.

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31450807-we-shall-not-all-sleep" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="We Shall Not All Sleep" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1481242713m/31450807.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31450807-we-shall-not-all-sleep">We Shall Not All Sleep</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15613172.Estep_Nagy">Estep Nagy</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1903037168">3 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Well, this just wasn't a book for me. I liked the setting on the Seven Islands, but there were too many story lines going on in the book. There were some parts that I really liked, but then the old history of these folks got thrown in and to me, it took away from the story. Too much detail.<br /><br />I would however like to thank Netgalley<br />and Bloomsbury USA for the opportunity to read this advanced copy.
<br/><br/>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/12851291-karen">View all my reviews</a>

Set in 1964, We All Shall Not Sleep, by Estep Nagy, brings forth both nostalgia and a sober reminder that our childhoods weren't as idyllic as we might remember. The setting for this novel is a private island in Maine where two families spend their summers. For the adults, it is an escape from the reality, but also a fertile playground to play complex mind games with each other. The adults see themselves as creating a paradise where their children can frolic among nature. But the children have their own secret games to play.

Although disjointed at times, I enjoyed this book. The story lured me in as I tried to understand entanglements that the adults created. This children, many on the brink of adulthood, also were fascinating. One can get glimpses of the grown-ups they will become.

What I Liked:

Setting:

I loved the dual nature of the island, a playground for some, and a hunting ground for others.


It's 1964, who wouldn't want to go to an island for their summer vacation? The two families, the Quicks and the Hillsingers, jointly own the island and bring their extended relations and friends to enjoy the fresh air, lovely accommodations, and be waited on hand and foot by a small army of servants. It really does seem perfect.



The children are mostly separated from their parents and are housed in a different home known as The Cottage. While the adults see this arrangement as a way to give their kids some independence (and a way to let the parents have some space), a 'Lord Of The Flies' type of existence develops. So what seems so lovely to the grown-ups is actually rather scary for all but the oldest, and strongest of the kids. Do the adults vaguely know this and feel it's a way to toughen up their progeny?

Characters:

Both Jim and Lila Hillsinger seem to feel trapped as events lead to accusations of communist sympathies. This is the height of the Cold War, where even a hint of Soviet collaboration could get one fired from a job, or thrown in jail. Even with his expertise on the KGB, Jim (who works at the CIA) falls into a trap and may face charges for treason. Lila, still reeling from her sister's death, has an affair. Both of these events involve Lila's brother-in-law, Billy Quick.


I liked how both of these characters were so layered. They are at a point in their marriage where they look at each other and think "How did we wind up here?" Yet they know that they are better together than apart. But that doesn't stop them from making power plays to control their kids and each other.

Story:

I think the many layers of the story show how each member of the family is going through their own evolution. I loved following twelve year-old Catta's journey from being a coddled tween to having a budding awareness of the adult world. Jim (Catta's father) is prodded by his own father to drop Catta on another (uninhabited) island for twenty-four hours so he can toughen up. While he thinks he has all the answers for surviving in the wild, Catta comes to understand how woefully unprepared he is.



And is Jim being manipulated by his own father into doing this? While he has some notion that this will benefit Catta, Jim knows that Lila will be furious at his decision. Will Jim stop letting others dictate his actions and fight back?

What I Was Mixed About:
Story Structure:

Some of the storytelling was confusing, especially at the beginning of the book. The book travels back and forth between story lines, sometimes in the same paragraph. I honestly don't know if this was due to this being an uncorrected reader's copy, or if the author meant to do this. But the manuscript that I had jumped around so much I had a hard time keeping track of the action.


Coincidences:

I also thought that many of the situations were a little too convenient to be believed. How amazing that sons from the island's two families marry sisters? I supposed one could account for this by remembering that these characters live in rarefied social circles, so it may be conceivable that this happened. But I think all the incidental situations leading to charges of treason were a little over the top to be believed.

Aside from this, We All Shall Not Sleep would be a fantastic book to read if you are on vacation. With it's complex characters and dreamlike setting, this book will keep you entertained and feeling lucky you are not part of these clans!

I found this to be a very interesting and engaging read. I liked the fact that it was over three days, it gave the reader the chance to really see the relationships and characters develop and fall apart. At its centre this is a novel about class, privilege, secrets and lies. I sometimes got a bit lost in the plot and I think it would have been helpful to have the families and their relationships listed at the front of the book. The characters really burst off the page in the authors descriptive writing, the detail to their actions, interaction with each other and their feelings of each other. The descriptive writing also brought the landscape of the two islands to life, it was easy to feel you were there and part of the book.
A compelling read, a chilling tale of family feuds, betrayal, and ultimately survival.

I am not exaggerating when I tell you that this was one of the oddest, most scatter-brained and difficult to discern books that I have ever read. There were so many threads and POV that I surely missed something in this book - some significance - and generally that would mean a low rating for me but something about this also felt very good to me. The e-ARC had a lot of formatting issues such that I almost want to read a final copy to see if there are more chapter breaks. As it read, POVs were changed without break and it made the book difficult to read, at points. I also had a hard time following the chapters that were flashbacks and/or slipped into the past. Although the book more of less came together at the end with these threads and between the past and present, I'm not sure it delivered on what it promised. Yes, it was an incredibly unique setting and it certainly showed a tension and struggle between two families that own one island but I can't help but feel that I missed something huge about the moral of this story. It may just be me but I know I will think about this book long after I've finished it and that may be the true mark of a remarkable read.

We Shall Not All Sleep comes out next week on July 4, 2017, and you can purchase HERE. This book evades any genre and is definitely an interesting, if odd, read!

This is how the world crushes you, he thought. There was no announcement. There was no freakish blow or lightning or floods or even bears. There was no mystery, not even any struggle or surprise. It was infinitely simple, you were forced into a series of small bad decisions that slowly and irrevocably cut off your options. And then, once you were confused and desperate and worn down by hunger and cold and whatever else--when at last you could no longer move or think--then the crows came down from their trees.

Thought this book was just ok...would probably actually give it about 2 1/2 stars. I found there to be too many characters and I kept getting confused with who was connected to who.
The part about the FBI/CIA interviews during the Red Scare and Cold War were interesting.
I never really connected with the plot or understood why any of the characters did what they did. It was a short book, so I stuck it out.
Thanks to #netgalley for the ARC.

Not my usual type of book and required more concentration than most. Lots of information and characters but got better as the book progressed. Great ending. Many thanks

I found this book a struggle to get into, there were just too many plots and characters that I just couldn't keep up. The style of writing was very good, but it was too slow and confusing for me to find it enjoyable.

A beautifully written book but just not for me.

An average 3 star read.

I seem to be facing a rut when it comes to books: nothing I've read has turned out the way I expected. I was really looking forward to this story but it ended up leaving me dissatisfied. While the author put a lot of thought into the various descriptions, and the writing style was quite nice, the story itself failed on a lot of levels. One of the major flaws with this book is that there are too many plot lines. Each one begins at random points and they all interweave to create a confusing mess. Everything just began to meld together and make no sense to me; frankly, it was exhausting to get through this novel. the other flaw with this book is that the characters are hard to connect to; there is this distance between the reader and the characters such that it is hard to empathize or understand them. I really like it when authors pull me into the lives of their characters but that didn't happen in this story. As I kept reading, I just had this growing impression that the author was trying to hard to create a meaningful literary fiction. In the end, a simpler story with more complex and well-developed characters would have sufficed.

This book seems to be two disparate stories with hints of a third, and my main complaint is that they just don't really seem to fit together. I was interested in all of them individually but felt I had the same experience as a reader that I do when I simultaneously read multiple books.

One story is that of Russian spies and the witchhunt that went on in the 1950s and 1960s. One of the characters, Hannah, is accused of Communist ties and ends up taking her life. This is known at the beginning but the why is not discovered until later. Her dangerous job? She's a school teacher! And apparently the Dept of Education removed teachers with known Communist ties.

The second story is that of a place, a set of islands off the coast of Maine, with two feuding families. There are not many people living there that don't belong to one or the other, and loyalties are divided. Of course Hannah and Lila are sisters who married men in the two families, so that adds complexity. The story goes between the 1950s and 1960s, so the generations are the same but in one story line there are a bunch of kids involved, and in another, they're not there.

Enter story line #3 - one child being deposited on a harsh island for a coming of age experience, against his mother's wishes. That story goes a bizarre direction and felt almost like the author wanted to write a more mysterious story. But the rest of the novel is not that same tone.

I recognize this is a first novel, and I feel many of these decisions are a reflection of a lack of experience with a longer form. I would still read another book by the author, because it seems as if he is interested in topics that aren't covered every day in fiction. But I would hope to see them in their own novels or stories rather than all crammed into one.

I tried reading this book and though I think it is well written I struggled to relate to the characters so gave up at chapter five