This was another thought provoking read that made me self reflect on what I would do in the same situation. I enjoyed the multiple POVs and background stories. Grief is a wild thing and everybody processed it in a different way. I cannot wait to read her next book as so far I’m two for two. Thank you for the free e-arc, NetGalley.

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc and an alc!

4.5 stars 💗

the poppy field was a fantastic novel revolving around how people manage intense grief, loss, and depression through going into an assisted sleep, or medically induced coma, for a specific amount of time as part of a scientific study.

there was quite a lot of social commentary throughout this novel, and i appreciated the author’s thoughtfulness behind specific aspects of the commentary.

as for the audio, the narrators did a fantastic job!

The Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlick is a novel about what we risk when we try to outrun pain—and what we stand to gain when we face it. Fans of The Measure will find echoes of the same thematic richness here: questions of destiny, the meaning of time, and the beauty of human connection.

Deeply human, it explores the complexities of grief, healing, and the lengths we go to find solace. Erlick writes with quiet power and emotional insight, reminding us that even in the most desolate places, beauty and connection can still take root. This is a book that lingers—just like The Measure—and cements Erlick as one of today’s most thoughtful storytellers. Her ability to explore grief, hope, and the small miracles of everyday life is both rare and resonant.

It’s a novel that balances emotional intensity with quiet optimism—one you’ll want to recommend to everyone you know.
#ThePoppyFieldsDeluxeLimitedEdition #NetGalley #williammorrowbooks

A fantastic and thoughtful book that really dives deeply into the complex emotions of loss and those impacted. I really enjoyed the premise of the Poppy Fields and what it represents and loved the characters in the book that really adds to the story. Nikki Erlick is incredibly imaginative and her writing style really does wonders to draw the readers into the world.

What if you had the chance to erase your biggest loss? Your biggest heartbreak? Your worst experience. The Poppy Fields were created to help those suffering from all different kinds of grief. While some patients thrive after being treated, we soon see that a side effect appears in patients wiping those grief stricken memories, forever.

The Poppy Fields give individuals the option to cure any grief that they may be experiencing. Through some scientific processes, this treatment center helps those who have suffered extreme loss or heartache through weeks of sleep. Are there risks? Some say there are and a few of the sleepers wake up with a known side effect.

This story follows 4 strangers who met after a canceled flight out of the Midwest. Three of them are headed to The Poppy Fields for their own specific reasons, and a cross-country drive helps them all open up and share their own story a bit. The different perspectives help them all explore their need for healing and what they may be inclined to do to reach that ultimate healing.

Nikki Erlick has solidified herself as an instant-read. She does a phenomenal job of showing how grief can take different shapes, and it really struck a chord with me. Erlick's prose is so beautiful, and many of the lines will stick with me. I'm so glad that The Poppy Fields lived up to my expectations after reading The Measure.

I love the way Erlick weaves the story of these strangers together. Like The Measure, I had to stop what I was doing several times when a connection or reveal was made because I was knocked out by it (even when I saw the connection coming).

Would I sleep in the fields? Probably not, but the story made me ask myself the question several times and I completely understand why someone would choose to sleep there.

After loving The Measure, I was really excited to read anything by the same author and was definitely not disappointed. The story unfolded in a way that draws the read in right away. There was good character development, intrigue, and wisdom to learn along the way.

📖 Thank you to @netgalley and @williammorrowbooks for the ARC!

I didn’t click with The Measure, but early praise for The Poppy Fields had me curious—so I gave it a shot.

It starts slow. I didn’t immediately connect with the characters, but eventually the emotional threads settled in, and I began to see what the story was reaching for.

The book follows four strangers—Ava, Ray, Sasha, and Sky—each carrying their own form of grief, as they journey to a desert retreat called The Poppy Fields, where people can sleep through their sorrow. It’s speculative, reflective, and soft in all the right ways.

Each character brings something different: Ava is processing unresolved family pain, Ray’s living with quiet sorrow, Sasha mourns a future that never was, and Sky drifts with secrets and softness. Over time, their stories begin to entwine—and that’s one of the most rewarding parts. Everything connects.

What stood out most in this story wasn’t the sadness—it was the way these strangers slowly became threads in each other’s healing. Quiet, meaningful, unexpected.

It’s not fast-paced—it’s more like a quiet road trip: wide skies, slow turns, and unexpected emotion. But if you let it take its time, it sneaks up on you.

And despite the promise of sleep and forgetting, this is one story that lingers. The Poppy Fields might just stick with you—no nap required.

Also? This book had road trip playlist energy written all over it—so I made one for each character… and obviously myself. Swipe through and vibe accordingly. ✨

Which character’s playlist are you stealing first?

3.5 ⭐️

This is my bad—I went into this thinking it’d be more plot driven and lean more heavily into the sci-fi/speculative piece, versus the heavy, character-driven story this wound up being. Because of that, I kept finding myself disappointed when we didn’t get certain answers or cliffhangers from a chapter were resolved with an emotional decision (as opposed to something dramatic happening).

But obviously, yeah, it’s a beautiful story, and it seems the reviewers who knew what they were getting loved it!

The Poppy Fields was one of my most anticipated books this year; unfortunately, I’m rating it 2 stars rounded up to 2.5.

The premise of this novel was extremely unique and interesting, but the pacing felt way off. While I appreciate the character-driven style, the repetitiveness of each character’s backstory left me feeling disconnected from them. By the conclusion of the novel, I didn’t feel any sort of emotion about how any of their individual stories were resolved.

I also thought that this book was more tailored for a niche audience. It had some profound and valuable themes (i.e. grief and faith can coexist), but the story as a whole is definitely more suited for someone who is navigating their own grief journey. Otherwise, the story drags, repeats itself, and the overuse of rhetorical questions and exclamation marks throughout cheapens the writing. This was a miss for me.

Nikki Erlick’s The Poppy Fields is a speculative story of a world that feels eerily possible. Imagine a remote California desert facility where those drowning in grief can undergo a medically induced slumber that promises emotional relief on waking. It’s billed not as a cure, but as a reset. Your memories remain. The pain doesn't.

The novel opens with the introduction to four strangers and one charismatic dog as they join a reluctant pilgrimage to this place of hope. There’s Ava, traveling to confront her sister, Ellis, the facility’s elusive founder. Ray, a firefighter haunted by a brother who came back from the Poppy Fields eerily “better.” Sasha, a would-be bride with no intention of ever saying “I do.” And Sky, young and trying to outrun something she hasn’t named yet.

The Poppy Fields becomes as much a road novel as it is a speculative one. There is more of a focus about the human act of deciding to grieve (or not) than the sci-fi mechanics of the sleep solution. Erlick poses questions such as : Who gets to define recovery? What happens when grief becomes a commodity? And what do we lose when we skip the worst of the pain?

This isn’t a meditation on sadness. Some of the most unsettling moments come not from the center’s side effects, but from the realization that for some, letting go of pain might mean letting go of who they were before it.

The Poppy Fields isn’t about solving grief. It’s about making peace with the fact that some wounds don’t need to be erased to be survivable. #williammorrow #thepoppyfields #nikkierlick

Out in the remote California desert lies a radical new treatment center known as the Poppy Fields. Beckoned by the promise of their grief being erased by a prolonged sleep at the center, "sleepers" from all corners of the country flock to the Poppy Fields with the hope of awakening with more peace and less pain. The magic (or science, depending on who you ask) of the Poppy Fields is that the memories of lost loved ones aren't erased by the sleep, only the grief that encases those memories.

And so for Ava, Sasha, and Ray, three strangers brought together by fate and loss at a Midwest airport, the journey to the Poppy Fields is more than just a road trip. It's a chance to free themselves and live the rest of their lives in a different way than they could've ever imagined.

All they need to do in the Poppy Fields is sleep.

"The Poppy Fields" is the latest novel from the author of "The Measure," a top ten book of the year for me and a magical realism story that begged the question: "If you knew exactly how much time you had left on earth, what would you do?" In a similar vein, Erlick centers her latest novel on the question: "If there was a shortcut through your grief, would you take it?" While seemingly a much easier question to answer, "The Poppy Fields" presents an answer that isn't without its complexities.

Unfortunately, however, this novel majorly lacked both the depth and storytelling that I found and loved in "The Measure." Without spoilers, the ironic disappointment of this story is that the vast majority of the "Poppy Fields" happens outside the fields. Instead, well over half is a drawn out look-back into our main characters' backstories without much development to the concept of the Poppy Fields at all. Overall, the novel felt like the start of what could have been a brilliant idea that was never fully developed, and that left me wanting significantly more.

This book was 3.5 stars for me. I highly anticipated this story after reading The Measure a couple years ago. This is being sold as a story about a place where people can go to sleep off their grief, which doesn’t come without its side effects but really I feel like the majority of this story is a road trip book with a found family element. It didn’t feel like it had the same explorations and thoughts around our world with the little tweak that I expected. I did like how the stories ended up intertwining and the last 20% of the book were better than the first 80% but it wasn’t enough to fully redeem it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 stars

Following several characters through their connections to a new, and somewhat controversial, grief treatment where you can take a months long medical sleep to help lessen the impact of your loss. Great storytelling and thought provoking read with likable characters with various perspectives.

The Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlick is a wonderful sophomore effort, with a similar feel to her first book, The Measure, and a more positive, uplifting message. I was nervous when starting this novel, as I absolutely loved The Measure, and I often find an author's next book a little disappointing. I need not have worried, as The Poppy Fields will make you think about what level of grief is too much and what risks are worth taking to heal sorrow, simultaneously with telling a found-family road trip story that will warm your heart and make you believe in the healing power of love.

The characters in this novel are so well developed and relatable, I loved seeing the friendship develop between Ava, Ray, Sasha and Sky as they learned more about each other and themselves. I found it interesting the different relationship each had with the Poppy Fields organization, and the opposing points of view that each had and how those perspectives changed as they got to know each other as they traveled. There are humorous moments as well as heartbreaking ones, be prepared to laugh and cry. Interviews with various individuals who have slept at the fields are interspersed with the story of the travelers and Ellis, revealing the philosophy of the organization as well as the backstories of the main characters.

The writing style is similar to other novels that I have loved, as the reader learns more about each character in small bits and things all fall together as the book wraps up with a number of Ah-ha moments. Readers who enjoyed Erlick's previous novel or Anxious People by Fredrik Backman will enjoy this style of novel.

Thank you to Netgalley, and William Morrow for the digital ARC of The Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlick. The opinions in this review are my own.

This author has hit another homerun.. The deep thought provoking subjects of her books are just what I've been looking for. I received this book after losing my dad, so it was quite the challenge for me with timing, but it was somewhat therapeutic. The characters are relatable and likeable, they definitely feel like they could be real people with real stories... And of course the book makes you wonder 'what if?' Nikki may be my new favorite author. Her writing style keeps you particularly engaged.

<i>Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.</i>

5 stars

Wow - Nikki Erlick knocks it out of the park again. She poses questions in both of her books that are so intriguing and stick with you for the long haul. I love that her writing pushes the borders of reality without being too far fetched. She’s a must read for me.

The Poppy Fields is the kind of novel that lingers in the space between grief and healing.

The premise alone felt like a deep, aching question whispered to your soul: what if you could sleep away your heartbreak? What if you could hit pause on your pain and wake up when you were ready to feel again?

The writing is lyrical and atmospheric, gently guiding you through a world where grief is not erased but suspended. It shows us that healing isn’t linear, it’s a process, and sometimes we need stillness before we can move forward.

Tropes/Themes:
*Grief and healing
*Family Reconciliation
*Found meaning
*Reflective and Emotional journeys

Thank you to William Morrow, Harper Audio and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Poppy Fields is an alternative place out west that has the potential to heal you from the inside. A group of strangers from the Midwest get together and head that way. Will they make it there? Will they be healed from what plagues them if they do? This book shows the human experience of grief, disappointment, etc. A thought provoking read for sure. If you like The Measure, do not miss this one.