A fascinating concept: survivors of traumatic loss are put to sleep, in a coma-like state, for months to heal from their grief. Of course, this is controversial, and comes with a strong possibility of an unwanted side effect. We follow the stories of an unlikely group thrown together to travel to California to visit The Poppy Fields facility, each for their own reasons, as well as Ellis, the founder of The Poppy Fields.

Like Nikki Erlick's previous book, The Measure, The Poppy Fields poses some intriguing moral and philosophical questions for the reader to ponder. I really enjoyed the different characters and each of their unique stories, as well as the unlikely bonds made by these disparate people. They also encountered some interesting people on their journey (the elderly honeymooners! ❤️).

The narration of this audiobook is top notch. Marin Ireland is one of my favorite narrators, and she didn't disappoint in this story. She, as well as the other narrators, did a fantastic job bringing this story to life.

A heartfelt thank you to Harper Audio for a gifted copy of this audiobook through #NetGalley. All opinions are my own. Expected U.S. publication date is June 17, 2025.

They all wore crimson red pajamas looking just like a field of poppies.

The audio is perfect! The Poppy Fields will be sparking so many BookClub discussions. It's very introspective, well paced, and I binged it in two days. I enjoyed this one far more than her previous book, The Measure. Just as in The Measure, Nikki Erlick gives us
a full cast of characters in a speculative fiction novel. What if there actually is a place like this? Would you go for help too?

You’ll be following a group of friends’ journey to find The Poppy Fields. A controversial, experimental facility where people go to sleep, are monitored 24/7 for generally a month, and when awakened they are healed from grief. However, results are not guaranteed. The facility has gained in its popularity with a constant waitlist so much so that, more centers are needed. They come to realize the value of healing. Something that will give you emotional moderation, to feel happy and whole again. Giving the reader introspect into how each person deals with different types of grief. Not just death. Grieving a relationship? Needing some emotional recovery. Learning to adjust to life without what was lost. Helping to process and accept that loss.

Phenomenal narration. The way the cast portrays the characters’ emotions are well done. I could tell a definitive separation of characters. Clear enunciation was onboard and vocal pacing of the story is on point. I couldn’t pick up on any irritating speaking styles. I felt it was a very clean, well done performance.

Special thanks to William Morrow Harper Audio via NetGalley for providing this audiobook to read and review.

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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.

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.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by a cast primarily led by Marin Ireland who reads the vast majority of the novel. 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. These are read by other voice actors in the audio version serving as an effective transition. I highly recommend the audio version, Ireland's voice is so soothing and versatile, she is absolutely perfect for this story.

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

<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? The full cast of narrators makes this audiobook better than expected. It feels as though you are really there. 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.

I really enjoyed this! I loved the found family aspect and the contemplations and discussions on grief, life, love, and family. It definitely had a less urgent feel to the writing, but still felt very similar style-wise to The Measure, which I also loved!!

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.

The Poppy Fields is a unique speculative fiction focusing on grief and how we handle it. If you lost someone you loved and you could sleep away the pain in 4-8 weeks, would you do it? If you knew you there was a potentially life altering side effect, would you still do it? This book follows Ray, Ava, Sasha, and Sky on their personal journeys of grief and self discovery. While we watch their own journeys unfold, Nikki Erlick offers up lots of opportunity for the reader to reflect on themselves, their own experiences with grief, and what they are looking for in life. I think this would be a great book club pick because it offers up lots of opportunity for discussion.

However, I struggled to get into this story. The first half of the book I spent mostly feeling bored. It wasn't until the second half of the story that I felt my connection to the characters really developed. By the end, I felt very touched and particularly satisfied with the conclusions of Ray and Sasha's stories. I also really enjoyed the mixed media component talking about the Poppy Fields because it opened up lots of perspectives and insights into the controversial treatment. I ended up really liking this book, I just wish it didn't take so long for me to feel that way.

I did really enjoy the audiobook and recommend that as a way to get more immersed into the story. The narrators did an amazing job!

5/5 audiobook. 3/5 story. 4/5 overall.

Thank you to HarperAudio Adult and NetGalley for this audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

The Poppy Fields review will be posted on my TikTok @alireadsanywhere after it's release date!

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.

Publishing June 17

I see Goodreads has this book in recommended Sci Fi and want to assure y'all that the science is nearly inconsequential to the story, and minimally explained.

I feel that Erlick did an exceptional job of triggering remembered experiences of grief in the reader while not really belaboring the specific causes of it for her characters (meaning that it doesn't go into any graphic detail about death). Still, be aware that this book is all about feelings of loss, emptiness, and depression. I also want to emphasize that this book didn't offer judgment on those suffering from grief who did sleep, who chose not to sleep, who chose medication instead, etc etc.

And I guess that's about all that I think you need to know going in. I believe this book will be experienced differently based on the reader's own life, and I found it to be superb perhaps because it pressed into painful places.

The narration was perfection.

Thank you to HarperAudio and NetGalley for an audiobook ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Nikki Erlick brings us another thought-provoking twist on life in her sophomore novel, The Poppy Fields. A deep look at grief and what one will do to heal, the novel follows four strangers and a dog, all on their way to The Poppy Fields, a controversial facility claiming to heal grief. Each individual has a unique background and reason for seeking out the fields. Erlick weaves a story of slow reveals as we get to know the characters and their motivations. I really enjoyed the journey.

The Poppy Fields would make a good book club pick to spark meaningful discussion.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by a full cast: Marin Ireland; Dan Bittner; Stacey Glemboski; Graham Halstead; Mia Barron; Callie Dalton; Janina Edwards; Shawn K. Jain; Christian Barillas; Jason Culp.

Special thanks to HarperAudio for the audio ARC via NetGalley.

The Poppy Fields refers to a controversial treatment where participants sleep for a number of months to heal from their grief. Four strangers converge when their flights to the Fields are canceled due to a tornado and they become road trip buddies to make it halfway across the country to the place where 'the sleep' happens. We meet Ava, Sasha, Ray, and PJ the dog whose journeys together in a yellow car called the canary, and they learn a lot about each other and themselves as the miles roll by.

Author Erlick uses beautiful prose and imagery to evoke a touching story about loss, love and life. Through memories we learn of past events and tragedies that affect, not just the travelers, but Ellis the creator of the poppy fields herself. Grief is a language that binds all together though the journeys look quite different.

I listened to this as an audiobook and if you have the opportunity to do the same, you should absolutely take it. It features a cast stacked with talent that are able to create unique characters and help evoke even more feelings that the eloquent words do on they own (and trust me they bring on all of the feels). A superb story and storytelling experience. Five stars.

I received this advance audio copy from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

3.5ish stars. How do you cope when you lose a loved one or suffer a loss in equal measure? In Erlick’s new book, you sleep. In the middle of the desert, on an application basis, you can sleep - for free, if selected - and wake up a month or two later free from constant sorrow and back to a healthy “normal.” Unless you suffer the side effect…

It’s sci fi, but it’s not too far of a mental leap to imagine this type of clinic treatment for grief actually existing.

This story follows a road trip journey of a handful of strangers seeking the poppy fields for their own reasons but forging special bonds along the way.

Overall Rating: 4 stars

Thank you so much @ HarperAudio, Netgalley, and Nikki Erlick for allowing me to listen to the audio ARC of this book!

This book was my first Nikki Erlick book and I really enjoyed it. I really liked the unique storytelling featuring the different characters and each of their perspectives before and after their paths crossed. Getting into each of their heads and understanding the reasons for seeking out the Poppy Fields was very intriguing. Nikki Erlick did a great job of keeping details of each character mysterious until it was time to reveal the information. I really enjoyed the character development of each character throughout the book, and seeing how they’ve grown from the beginning to the end. I really love how the author wrote in a lot of realistic emotions and responses to loss, grief, and broken relationships within each character. Each character was uniquely their own and they all bring something different to the table for helping each other to process and recover from their current troubled time. I also loved how the author interconnected all the stories together in small ways, even with the more minor characters of the story. This story truly is a profound but easily tangible read of what it really means to love and lose someone, and how many paths the journey towards healing can take. While it was a bit slow at times, it was still a very enjoyable read!

Also just wanted to say that as an occupational therapist, I love reading books that have OT characters because they are few and far in between!

Rating: 5.0/5 Stars

Queen Elizabeth II famously stated, "Grief is the price we pay for love."


But, is grief worth it?  That's what The Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlick seeks to answer.


Four strangers, Ava, Ray, Sasha, and Sky, set out on a cross-country journey together after their plane is grounded. Their destination is an experimental facility in which a grieving person can sleep for one to two months and wake up with lessened grief. Too good to be true? Perhaps. In rare cases, patients awaken with complete apathy for the person that they were previously grieving. Ellis, the brilliant founder of the Poppy Fields, has to defend her life's work and deal with the questions surrounding the morality of her work. Each character experiences grief differently and questions if their sadness is something to be cured. Is grief a worthwhile side-effect of love? How much grief is too much grief? At what point is sadness a problem to be remedied?


I was completely captivated by The Poppy Fields. Nikki Erlick weaves a profound story with lyrical writing and richly developed characters. The reader cannot help but be immersed in each character's individual journeys. I found myself personally involved with each moral quandary that the characters battled. I was intellectually and emotionally challenged in the best way. I found myself questioning at what points I would remove grief from my life if given the opportunity. And, if grief can be mitigated, is the depth of love impacted? Wow! I cannot stop thinking about this hauntingly beautiful book!
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves thought-provoking storytelling experienced story through well-developed characters. 5 stars!!!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ALC of this title to review. I am a fan of Erlick so was very excited to see this approval. The concept of the novel appealed to me since she writes to encourage discussion about difficult choices. This book was no exception and as a reader I found myself missing the characters that we didn't know as much as had heartfelt feelings for the ones we did. If you are a reader that wants just easy breezy summer reading, this one might be one you overlook, but if you want to have some wonderful discussions about tough topics with a book club this one will be successful. I am still unsure if I would want to visit the poppy fields. Would society want to have options like this and how would they be able to select those who are able to visit? Seems like there would be competition to be one of those selected and personally I don't love things that can get twisted and sold to the highest bidder.

I would give this a strong three stars. I didn't love the book, but I enjoyed it. It's not a must read, but I would recommend it to a friend. I listened to the audiobook, thanks Net Galley and the publisher for the advance copy. This was a dramatic story bringing strangers together, who all had something in common, namely the poppy fields. As an audiobook, it was a little more difficult to get to know the characters, but they were all interesting and I could see this making a good movie.

The Poppy Fields is a thoughtful book about grief, how it shapes us and how far we as humans will go to escape the pain of it. It had me reflecting on significant losses in my life and grief in a way that brought tears to my eyes more than once. I could easily identify with each character's pain even if I hadn't experienced something similar myself, which is a testament to the writing style and character voices in this book. It that was difficult to put down and I found myself finishing it in only two sittings.

Erlick's second novel is about a new semi-experimental 'treatment' for grief. Those who are approved to stay at the facility sleep away a month or two of their lives, waking up feeling the sharp pain of loss dulled with time... But as in all good Science Fiction, this can come at a cost. This book follows multiple POVs as each character navigates their relationship to the institution that calls itself the Poppy Fields.

Read this book if you like:
-Road trips
-Multiple POVs
-A bit of a mystery
-Unlikely friends

In my personal opinion, the treatment offered at the poppy fields didn’t have a strong enough case to be as controversial as the book made it (not for lack of the author trying) I think this story offers a really beautiful perspective on the lines between love and grief. There were multiple times during the story that I felt happy to be surprised at some of the small twists.

I listened to this as an audiobook and I think the narrator did a really great job.