"if we're no longer shaped by the people we love... who are we?"

This book was very good. It's very similar to her previous book. However, to me, this book was very much no plot, all vibes and character-based. It may not be for everyone, but the philosophic part is something I enjoyed. I loved the discussion of grief and how far we would go for those we love. I loved Nikki Erlick's last book that also asked such a philosophic question. She does this style of book very very well.

"Here, in this room, was grief. But grief was love in its second shape."

I wanted to love this book, especially after THE MEASURE being one of my favorites, but unfortunately I really struggled with this one.

I will say, it has a really unique premise and does a very nice job describing grief. If you have suffered a recent loss, I imagine this story may help you feel seen.

For me, although there were parts I related to, I had a really hard time caring enough about the characters to want to keep reading.

Many others have loved it, so it just wasn’t for me!

This was one of my most anticipated books of 2025, and while it didn’t quite live up to my expectations, I still enjoyed it.

We follow 3 strangers and a dog to the Poppy Fields, a controversial place where people can go to cope with their grief and wake up 30 days later with less pain and the ability to move forward. Reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz, this also drew comparisons to Eternal Sunshine for me- these people will do anything, even experimental, to make the unbearable pain of losing someone go away.

I really loved the concept here although I’m the minority in saying it’s not completely unique. I had trouble really emotionally connecting to any of the characters and found myself bored over certain spans where they’re basically just on a road trip. I wish we got to see more of The Poppy Fields and how it works along the way.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Nikki Erlick follows up one of my favorite books that I’ve read in a long time, The Measure, with another beautiful story that is good but not as great as the first story. Erlick is at their best when writing human stories with fantastical elements and The Poppy Fields continues that.

In The Poppy Fields, Nikki Erlick weaves a powerful narrative that spans generations, exploring the lasting impact of war on love, family, and identity. Her writing is both lyrical and emotionally resonant, with prose that feels like poetry without sacrificing depth or clarity.

The characters are complex and layered, their stories unfolding in a way that’s both intimate and far reaching. Erlick masterfully connects past and present, showing how the echoes of history shape who we are and who we become.

The Poppy Fields was a beautifully written and deeply moving story that truly resonated with me. Nikki Erlick explores themes of loss, love, and healing with great sensitivity and grace. The characters felt real and heartfelt, making their emotional journeys incredibly impactful. It was a powerful and unforgettable read that stayed with me long after I finished.

4.5 stars - I was such a major fan of Erlick's book, "The Measure." In fact, I still find myself thinking about the premise of that book, even years after reading it. Luckily, I find myself still obsessed with Erlick's writing after her latest book. "The Poppy Fields" has a fantastic thread of magical realism, with the idea that medical technology has been developed that allows grieving people to go to sleep for 1-2 months, and then they wake up healed. The premise sparks a great conversation: would you take part in this treatment if it meant you could stop grieving a loved one's death or the end of a relationship? The downside is that there's a side effect for a quarter of the people that undergo the treatment: for them, upon waking, they have no emotional attachment (even love) towards the person they were grieving. With those odds, would you take the risk? I cried at a few scenes at the end of the book, and loved how thought-provoking the storytelling was. My only complaint is that the pacing did drag in some parts, and there was one character's POV that felt completely unnecessary. Other than that, I'll definitely be recommending this one to other readers, and I can't wait for Erlick's next book to come out!

This book began with an intriguing premise and a strong start, and I was hopeful it would deliver on its potential. Unfortunately, the second half of the story lost momentum, and the pacing slowed considerably. The ending felt anticlimactic and left me unsatisfied after such a promising beginning.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Love this one! I was hoping there would be more story at the facility, but it the story that we did get was engaging and totally had me captivated.

How far would you go to recover from a feeling of grief?? Would you be willing to spend a month or longer in a deep sleep, hoping that you are 'healed' when you awake?? Would you do it even at the risk of losing the memories and emotions associated with the person you lost??

Nikki Erlick is a definite visionary, exploring topics within her novels that incite a great deal of self-reflection. She poses questions that do not always have simple answers and presents multiple views that leave you second-guessing how you would handle the situation if faced with it.

While I loved the unique premise and enjoyed getting to know each character and his/her/ their backstory, The Poppy Fields fell a tad short in delivering the emotional punch I kept waiting for. I really wanted to connect with the characters to the point where I could almost feel the pain and loss being described - and, it just never quite happened for me.

Regardless, both The Poppy Fields and Erlick's first book, The Measure, are well-worth the read. Perfect for book club picks to spark conversation and debate.

This book left a lasting imprint on me. At its core, it’s an exploration of grief—but not in any conventional sense. It unravels the emotional terrain with depth and originality, daring to examine loss through a lens that borders on dystopian, yet never feels detached from the reality of our own emotional experiences.

The world the author constructs is dynamic and unsettling, where societal norms and personal mourning intersect in unexpected, sometimes uncomfortable ways. It challenges the reader to reconsider what it means to grieve, and how systems—both internal and external—shape our responses to loss.

What truly moved me was how the characters weren’t just vehicles for the plot; they were intricately drawn and purposefully placed within the narrative. As the story progressed, they seemed to evolve in tandem with the reader’s understanding of grief, becoming symbols, voices, and echoes of the book’s deeper themes. Their experiences threaded together into something quietly powerful—almost as if the story itself was grieving along with them.

This wasn’t just a novel. It felt more like a mirror held up to our collective vulnerability, one that reminded me how mourning isn’t linear, and how beauty and heartbreak can coexist in a single sentence.

I had such high hopes for this book after reading and loving Nikki Erlick's first book. Unfortunately The Poppy Fields was just too slow. It took me so long to read because I couldn't get into it and I kept expecting it to pick up momentum but it never happened. I liked how some of the individual characters had intersecting stories at times, but overall this book just did not do it for me. Some of the concepts that were touched upon in the book feel like they could have been approached in a different way that held my interest better.

I agree with others that say this was a bit of a miss. It took entirely near the end of the book to connect with any of the main characters, and that really should never be the case.
Grief is such a difficult subject and is so individualized, so this had the potential to completely wreck me and it just….didn’t.
This is definitely a unique idea, though it also kind of reminded me of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but it did this concept a lot better.


Many thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an ARC and allowing me to give my honest review

The Poppy Fields explores grief through a fascinating speculative lens—a treatment that allows people to "sleep off" their sorrow, though at a steep emotional cost. Nikki Erlick weaves together the stories of four strangers on a cross-country road trip, each dealing with loss, love, and the question of whether forgetting pain is worth losing part of yourself.

The writing is tender and reflective, and the shifting POVs bring emotional depth. I especially appreciated how the novel doesn’t offer easy answers, instead inviting us to sit with discomfort, hope, and uncertainty.

The pacing felt just right—unfolding in a way that allowed each character’s story to breathe without ever dragging. I was fully immersed from beginning to end. A beautiful, thought-provoking novel about healing, memory, and connection.

Thank you NetGalley and William Marrow Publishing for my DRC!

I was a little nervous picking this one up because her last book, The Measure was so middle of the road for me. However, I loved the premise of this story so I wanted to give it a go. Again, just another middle of the road book for me. I actually enjoyed this less than I did the Measure. I just didn't connect with the characters. I thought that there were too many characters to follow, actually. I just couldn't get invested in this.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the advance readers copy in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts are my own.lley.com/member/book/587939/opinions

The Poppy Fields ended up not being for me, but I can still appreciate the book. The writing was exquisite. Unfortunately I didn't connect with any of the characters so it left me uninterested. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be wanting or looking forward to. Nikki Erlick's concepts for her books are so impressive & unique. The Measure was one of my favorite reads of 2022 & I look forward to seeing what she comes up with in the future.

I really enjoyed this book and it made me think a lot about grief, loss and love. I enjoyed the way the characters met during the journey and how their lives intertwined throughout the book. I do feel that it dragged a little bit in the middle, but the ending more than made up for it!

I was so excited when The Poppy Fields was announced. I loved Nikki Erlick's last book, The Measure, so I was really looking forward to this one. It did not disappoint! While I still feel like The Measure had a deeper connection with each of the storylines, The Poppy Fields delivered on the emotional ending in the same way as The Measure. The main issue I had with The Poppy Fields is that I felt like each of the characters didn't have the emotional depth I was hoping for, and, due to this, it didn't feel as engrossing and life or death when each turn in the story took place. While multiple points of view don't really bother me, I think the jumping around made it more of a task to really get engrossed in this particular story. I wanted to care more about each person's individual story, but it missed the mark for me. Skye was a delight of a character, and I honestly wanted more about and from her. I did also enjoy how each individual storyline connected at the end, as well as how different experiences with grief are represented in the book. Overall, it's a great story and I loved the ending. 4 1/2*

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest and fair review.

I have never read anything like this. I just want to hug Nikky for writing such thought provoking books. I don’t want to give anything away. Just read it, that’s all. Thank you so much Netgalley and the publisher for taking me on this amazing, heartbreaking yet hopeful journey. This book will stick with me for a long time.

Going into The Poppy Fields, I knew that Erlick was going to deliver a thought provoking speculative fiction piece with lots to think and talk about. and that she did. With that said, much like The Measure, I didn't love it. I was disconnected from the characters from the get go and that never fully changed for me. But also like The Measure, I hope The Poppy Fields does get chosen at some point for one of my book clubs as there is lots to unpack and discuss.