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.

Title: The Poppy Fields
Author: Nikki Erlick
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75

If you could go into a medicine induced sleep for 4-8 weeks to heal a heartbreak (loss of loved one, career, a curveball life throws at you), would you? Following up her thought provoking The Measure, Erlick presents this scenario to readers. We follow the paths of four individuals who have some tie to The Poppy Fields, the area in California that this medical research happens. Ellis is the doctor who has come up with a healing formula to induce a deep sleep that have three-fourths of sleepers waking up feeling more capable of handling what they applied to have some blurring of the depth of their feeling of loss. Ava is on a mission to reconnect with her sister who is at the fields. Sasha is seeking help that she was denied when she applied to be a sleeper. Ray is looking for answers that cost his brother his life after he left the fields. Ray, Sasha, and Ava decide to drive to California together after a tornado strikes the airport they were at, causing chaos in finding a timely rescheduled flight. Along the way, they encounter teenager Sky who has her mind set on traveling the western part of the country to see what’s out there.

Positives: I don’t know if I should describe the character of Sky as a whirling dervish or an old soul sent to deliver messages to the three travelers. She has a go with the flow attitude about her and is a free spirit who is a breath of fresh air. There is a transformation unique to each character as the story progresses that fills in who they are and what answers they needed that emptied their tank to bring them to this fork in their life.

Struggles: I needed more dialogue than narration. My mind would wander in parts because it was a bit dry to me. I don’t think it will stick with me in the same way The Measure did when I finished reading it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Williams Morrow Books for the advanced copy. Opinions expressed are my own. This book will be republished on June 17, 2025.

#netgalley #arc #bookstagram #ThePoppyFields #nikkierlick #williammorrowbooks

In The Poppy Fields, Nikki Erlick tells a powerful story about how people face grief, loss, and the difficult choices that come with them. The novel follows several characters whose lives are forever changed by a sudden tragedy, and through their journeys, we see the many ways people cope—with denial, anger, love, and even hope.

Erlick gives us a wide range of perspectives, each one showing a different side of human emotion and resilience. It’s heartbreaking at times, but also deeply moving and honest.

Poppyfields is a thoughtful, emotional read that explores what it means to survive, to heal, and to move forward.

Nikki Erlick's The Measure was one of my favorite reads in 2023 so I knew I had to read her new novel. I am thankful to William Morrow Books and NetGallery for the advanced reader copy to share my review.

The premise is based on a controversial treatment center, The Poppy Fields, located in California where grieving patients can choose to sleep through their sorrow and wake up 4 to 8 weeks later feeling better. The plot follows various characters and their journey to visit The Poppy Fields, each with his or her own agenda. Erlick is a thoughtful writer and the storyline immediately pulled me in to becoming invested in all the characters. I always look for character development in the novels I read and this one certainly hit the mark. I highly recommend this book to people who enjoy reading hopeful fiction with thought-provoking issues that are character driven.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of the novel and the audiobook.
___
I enjoyed this a lot. There were some Wizard of Oz moments. This novel is a deep exploration of grief and the means to which some would go to cope or forget. The audiobook was stellar.

I adored this book! I found myself pulled in immediately and really connected with the characters. Loved the unique storyline!

I was so excited to get this book and read it because I loved The Measure so much. I thought the premise of this book was very fascinating and I was really looking forward to exploring the themes of grief, regret, exhaustion, and healing. I think that this book should’ve been at least 100 pages longer and I really would’ve liked to see a better resolution at the end. I do like the author’s writing style and I was enjoyed the book. But sadly, it fell short for me.

The Poppy Fields
by Nikki Erlick
June 17, 2025
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
I have been looking forward to this release! I was able to attend a book talk the author gave and she is fascinating!

A high-concept speculative novel about heartache, hope, and human resilience, The Poppy Fields explores the path of grief and healing, a journey at once profoundly universal and unique to every person, posing the questions: How do we heal in the wake of great loss? And how far are we willing to go in order to be healed?
What I love most about Nikki Erlick’s novels is just how much they open your mind to different ideas about life and the universe, and the self-reflection this leads to. In her previous novel, the question to ponder was whether you would want to know just how much time you have left before you die. As each of the characters grappled with this themselves, I found my snap decision to be different from where I ended up by the conclusion of the novel.

In The Poppy Fields, we have a different issue presented to us - what if you could lapse into a deep sleep that would stop the grieving process at the end of which you would have healed from the loss that elicited those emotions, such as death, the loss of a relationship, etc. But what if there existed a possibility of a side effect that may instead wipe your memory of your feelings towards that person completely? Would you make the choice to “sleep”?
I highly recommend this book, especially for book club readers!! 5 star

REVIEW | The Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlick

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. (Out June 17) ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

#thepoppyfields #NetGalley #bookstagram #currentlyreading

—— 𝟑.𝟓 ☆ 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬. 🌺
❝ 𝑷𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒓𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒖𝒃𝒃𝒍𝒆. 𝑰𝒇 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒃𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆'𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍? ❞

📖┆𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐍𝐢𝐤𝐤𝐢 𝐄𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤
🏷️┆𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: 𝕊𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕦𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝔽𝕚𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟
📆┆𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝: 𝟝/𝟚𝟚/𝟚𝟝 - 𝟝/𝟚𝟠/𝟚𝟝
📋┆𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬
「 The Poppy Fields explores the path of grief and healing, a journey at once profoundly universal and unique to every person, posing the questions: How do we heal in the wake of great loss? And how far are we willing to go in order to be healed? 」

❝"𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆, 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆," 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘. "𝑮𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒇. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆. 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒕, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖."❞

¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸

ᴍʏ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ: ★★★½
ɢᴏᴏᴅʀᴇᴀᴅꜱ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ: 𝟺.𝟷𝟹 ☆ ꜱᴛᴀʀꜱ
ᴘᴀɪʀ ᴡɪᴛʜ: ᴛᴀᴄᴏꜱ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴀ ꜱᴛᴀɴᴅ 🌮
ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: 📻 ɢᴏʟᴅᴇɴ ꜱʟᴜᴍʙᴇʀ ♪ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴇᴀᴛʟᴇꜱ
ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ʀᴇᴄᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴅ?: ʏᴇꜱ; ɢᴏᴏᴅ ꜰᴏʀ ʙᴏᴏᴋ ᴄʟᴜʙ

ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ:
🌺 ꜰᴏᴜɴᴅ ꜰᴀᴍɪʟʏ
🌺 ʀᴏᴀᴅᴛʀɪᴘ ꜱᴇᴛᴛɪɴɢ
🌺 ᴇᴛʜɪᴄᴀʟ ᴅɪꜱᴄᴜꜱꜱɪᴏɴꜱ
🌺 ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇxɪᴛɪᴇꜱ ᴏꜰ ɢʀɪᴇꜰ
🌺 ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ᴘʀᴏᴠᴏᴋɪɴɢ ʀᴇᴀᴅꜱ
🌺 ᴀꜱᴋɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ Qᴜᴇꜱᴛɪᴏɴ “ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪꜰ”

❝𝑳𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 ... 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒔𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒖𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒘𝒇𝒖𝒍, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒊𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒏𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆'𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆'𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕... 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏. 𝑭𝒊𝒈𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒘, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏'𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒂𝒅.❞

¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸

💬┆𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
• If there was somewhere you could go to sleep away the pain after losing someone, would you do it? Sounds simple enough, right? Who wants to be in pain? But there’s a catch… when you wake up, you might experience a side effect of the treatment: no longer caring about or loving that person anymore at all. Feeling indifference towards them. Is that something you would worth risking?

• <i>The Poppy Fields</i> had all the makings of being a 5 star read. Interesting premise, wonderful writing, well developed characters. However, I could not get with the pacing. I found myself bored reading about a whole lot of.. well to be honest, nothing. 75% of the book nothing really happened; we just followed Ava, Ray, Sasha, & Sky on their journey to the fields.

• Even though I did find myself a bit bored while reading, I still enjoyed the concept. As someone who has lost two very important in her life, the topic of grief is something that will always hit home for me.

❝𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒉, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒚, 𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒑 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒔, 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒅𝒅𝒚 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒅, 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒅, 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒐 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍, 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓. 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎, 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒇. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒇 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒆.❞

¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸ ¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸ ¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸

♡ Thank you NetGalley & William Morrow for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review. Be on the lookout for The Poppy Fields, hitting shelves on June 17 2025!

This book was beautiful. It was a story with several different characters, view points, and relationships but wasn’t confusing. It told several different stories with a truly unique concept at its heart. This evokes the same feelings as The Measure for me—understanding, contemplation, sorrow, and love. I will continue to immediately add anything written by Nikki to my TBR. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Nikki Erlick’s The Poppy Fields is a mesmerizing and deeply imaginative exploration of grief, healing, and the human desire to escape pain. I couldn’t put this book down and haven’t stopped thinking about it since turning the final page. With her signature thought-provoking style, Erlick crafts a speculative world that feels both surreal and achingly real, inviting readers to ponder the cost of emotional relief. The journey of Ava, Ray, Sasha, Sky, and the pup PJ through the California desert to a mysterious treatment center is as emotionally rich as it is suspenseful, each character’s story unfolding with poignant depth. I love the Wizard of Oz allusions throughout as well. Erlick’s latest novel is not only a compelling narrative but also a conversation-starter about the nature of loss and the lengths we’ll go to for healing. A must-read for anyone who has ever experienced loss and grief.

With The Poppy Fields, Nikki Erlick delivers another stunning, 5-star read—securing her place on my very short must-read author list.

At its core, this book is about grief—raw, layered, and unrelenting. But it’s also about what grief reveals: the ways we love, the memories we cling to, and the invisible threads that bind us to others long after they’re gone.

Erlick writes with a delicate strength, unraveling the often contradictory emotions that come with loss. The cruelty of memory. The comfort and torment of what-ifs. The aching beauty of love that has nowhere to go.

And then there are the relationships—those that don’t fit neatly into timelines or labels. Where time isn’t the measure of meaning, and connection exists in the in-between.

This novel is tender, haunting, and quietly powerful. It doesn’t offer easy answers—but it does offer truth.

4.5 stars

This book will definitely get under your skin and make you think! If there was a way to alleviate overpowering grief, would you do it if there might be unwanted consequences? This book would be great for a book club because there is so much to think about. I would have given it 5 stars, except I questioned the choice that Ray took at the end. A very compelling read, might be triggering to someone who has recently experienced loss.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a digital ARC in return for an honest review

This was a quiet, character driven novel exploring themes of healing, hope and grief. Erlick's last book, The Measure, hit me over the head like a lead pipe... so I was surprised at the gentle nature of this story. I really enjoyed all the interconnecting storylines, characters and acknowledgment that there is no "normal" roadmap for grief. This book has the potential to be very healing for those experiencing loss. My only negative is that because of the gentle nature I felt there was a slight emotional disconnect to the characters' experiences. Still highly recommend!

📜Quick Summary: What would you do to overcome the pain of grief? Would you trust an experimental treatment center, and risk some serious side effects? In this remote land, patients who are suffering greatly can sleep off their grief…but at what price? Will they wake up the same person? Will they have the same memories? Feelings? Will it work? Four strangers- Ava, Sasha, Ray, and Sky-will journey to this mystical center from the Midwest out to California. Will they find this center before all of their secrets and individual motivations are exposed?

❣️Initial Feels: I am a deep feeler, and most things make me cry ,so I’m hoping for a tear jerker!

👀Trigger Warnings: grief

🌶️Spice Level: nada

📖Read if you want: a journey to healing, many different point of views

🗨️Thoughtful Words: “I guess I’m afraid of looking back on these years and feeling like I wasted that time. I’m afraid of missing out on life.”

💡Final Sentiments: Overall, I enjoyed this book. I did put it down a few times and then go back to it, and once it was about 60% of the way through, I felt like I couldn’t put it down. I also loved The Measure, so I was super excited to receive this arc and spread the news of her latest hit novel! The premise of this novel is super intriguing! Almost everyone can relate to grief at one point in their life, or know someone closely who has dealt with a loss. I love how everyone has dealt with grief in various ways in this novel, because it shows that grief can hit you on different scales, and that it’s okay to experience grief differently. One thing that threw me off was this book seemed more concentrated on the road trip, rather than the Poppy Fields itself. Yes, we jump into different points of views and we glimpse into their life, but I was hoping to see more of the scientific side, see the deep valleys of grief of those staying at the fields, and the founder more. I think that would have driven home the story more. When I got to the end, I was almost like wait, this is it!? Now I want more!

🌟Overall Rating: 3.75 stars

🔉Special thanks to Nikki Erlick, William Morrow Publishing, and NetGalley for this arc of The Poppy Fields!

📘Grab yourself a copy on June 17, 2025!