Ten Sleeps is a lyrical, dreamlike audiobook that pulls you into a world of memory, emotion, and introspection. Nicholas Belardes’ narration is raw and poetic, making the experience deeply personal and immersive. A unique and haunting listen—perfect for fans of experimental, reflective storytelling.

I finished this book a few days ago and thought I had done this review, but I must have spaced it... I enjoyed this audiobook. The story pulls you in. I listened to it mostly at night in the dark while everyone was asleep, so it amped up the spook that this book is already full of. I loved it.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC opportunity.
I think I enjoyed this book? I know that sounds weird but that's honest.
I felt like I was a little thrown off in the beginning and then the chapters in the animals POV confused me, but as I continued to read/listen I was able to pick it up better, and the animal chapters started to become some of my favorite parts.
I don't know what I was really expecting to be the 'big bad creepy' in the story, but it sure wasn't what it was. lol.

If I could give the story 4.5 stars I would! My only complaint was the confusion in the beginning! Other than that this was a very original story about a topic I don't read often and I really enjoyed it! I might pick up more western type books now moving forward.

good pacing and mostly good writing, though some character quirks grew repetitive and annoying rather than endearing. Some memorably gruesome deaths as well as on point messaging about the current (and past) state of the world.

I have been trying to search for a truly scary book and I was hoping this would be it but unfortunately it fell a little flat. I thought it would just be me because the story has potential but seeing others reviews I am part of the consensus.

Thank you to RBmedia, NetGalley & Nicholas Belardes for the audioARC in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 3 stars.
Genre(s): horror.

Overall impression: I really wanted to love Ten Sleep because the blurb was so intriguing. But unfortunately, the pacing and repetitive inner monologue were really off-putting for me. We heard a lot about Greta's missing ex who may or may not have ghosted her. It didn't add much value to the rest of the story, so made parts of the book drag. The story was definitely saved by the world-building and complex lore surrounding mother canyon including the taxidermy/animal POVs, giant flying bird monster and ghost train. It had an open-ended conclusion which left me feeling a bit unsure on how to feel about it all. We went through a lot with Greta and it was a bit dissatisfying to not know what happened after all of the sacrifice.

Tropes:
➵ Cattle drive
➵ College friends
➵ Forced proximity
➵ Location with bloody history
➵ Taxidermy comes to life
➵ Stalked or protected by animals?
➵ Ghost train
➵ Giant killer bird
➵ Betrayal
➵ Animal & human sacrifice
➵ Open ending

⤷ Plot:
The main bulk of the story followed the trio along a 10 day cattle drive. It started off normal but slowly descended into madness with an increase in supernatural events, dying cattle and a progressively agitated drive leader Tiller. There were a few plot twists and betrayals along the way that I didn't anticipated and kept things exciting. But otherwise, it went along pretty steadily.

⤷ Characters:
I had a difficult time connecting with any of the characters. They were all flawed and spent a lot of time reflecting on the past but didn't go through much character development. Tiller remained standoffish and weird the entire book, and Greta thought about her ex that had ghosted her until the last page. By the end, I had stopped caring what was going to happen to any of them - so didn't feel much suspense or urgency, even when the horror was unfolding en mass.

⤷ World-building:
I thoroughly enjoyed the world-building. We got to explore a part of the world I've never been to before. The arid landscape with canyons, dried river beds and open plains was really interesting. Towards the end, I had a bit of difficulty picturing the cave system with interconnected paths and rooms, but otherwise it was pretty well explained.

The mother canyon lore was fascinating and spanned many generations. I wasn't 100% sure if the giant monster bird was 'good' or 'evil' by the end of the story. But I vaguely understood that the egg was related to the continuation of the canyon's spirit. The rest of the animals were fascinating and I loved the way the author changed the writing style to suit the different species. So much time was spent creating the complex world of taxidermy animals and it paid off.

⤷ Writing:
The pacing was slow and the story felt like it dragged on a lot. If the time had been used to progress the plot or for world-building then I wouldn't have minded as much. But the real sticking point was Greta's inner monologue which was really repetitive and seemed irrelevant to the rest of the story. She kept thinking about her ex-partner and wondering if she had been ghosted or if something had happened to her - but we didn't have an answer by the end of the book. It was brought up way too often and served no purpose, so it just felt like filler text.

I did like the multiple POV we got between Greta and the animals. It was interesting to put ourselves in the animal's place and see the world through their eyes. I also thought it was a great way to explain the taxidermy and mother canyon lore without info-dumping at the end.

⤷ Everything else:
I listened to the RBmedia audiobook version of Ten Sleep. I really liked the narrator and thought she fit the voice of Greta really well. Her speech conveyed emotion and you could feel the fear and urgency when the scenes became more gruesome. I probably wouldn't have finished the book if I were reading the print version because the pacing was so slow - but it seemed to work better on the audiobook at a mildly accelerated speed.

3.5 stars.

There were a LOT of creepy elements going on in this story! It reminded me of Beowulf, Lord of the Flies, Frankenstein, and for reasons I can't quite quantify, Annihilation, Oh, and the movie Lake Placid in a distant way. It had Indigenous lore, Mexican lore, and a bunch of cryptids I know nothing about. There's a whole "final girl" way about it, with everyone/everything being offed in grisly ways. And finally, I've been to Ten Sleep, Wyoming and Ten Sleep Canyon, which is one of my favorite places in the US, and thinking about this story taking place there is extra horrific.

I liked the story and the premise, but my tiny little brain had a hard time processing how many forces and creatures (good and bad) were out there threatening them and the cows. The flip in the end also confused me, and I was left scratching my head. I can't say much more without spoiling it so I'll just say it felt off. I think it was just a little too much for my senses.

There are some horror elements in this, and they are done very well, but they are few and far between. The majority of this is just repetition of Greta missing/bitching about her girlfriend and animals (yes, animals) talking. This started off so good and I kept waiting for that initial spark to return. Instead, I got ramblings from animals and judgmental, whiny thoughts from Greta. This needs major editing. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC

First I loved the setting in Wyoming near Ten Sleep. I lived not far from there for 12 years of my life so the names and places were putting a smile on my face.

Now for my thoughts on the book. It was weird and creepy. The bear in the story confused me at first but then things started to click as I got further into the book. Nobody is safe and there are a lot of weird creatures in the area. I like bizarro horror so this was not too different from that.

I enjoyed listening to the audiobook provided to me from NetGalley. The book was just released last week. Thank you NetGalley and RB Media. This review was voluntary.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 stars
The narrator’s voice was soothing and pulled me in more than the story itself. I found myself drifting in and out of focus—not sure if it was the pace, the western setting, or just not enough bite for my horror-loving brain. The atmosphere had potential, but it never quite hit the “tense and terrifying” mark I was hoping for.

Still, I can see this appealing to fans of quieter, slow-burn mysteries with a touch of the uncanny. Bonus points for the unique setting and dreamlike tone.

Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced listening copy!

(Advance Listening Copy (ALC) courtesy of NetGalley and RBmedia/Recorded Books.)

Rating: An exhausted 2⭐

I want to preface this review by saying that this is one of those stories where my two star could easily be your five star. This is always true with any book, but I think it's especially true of this one. The things that I didn't like will definitely be elements of appeal for others. So don't let my review run you off.

That said, why 2⭐?

The narrative felt so over-labored and gory that it exhausted me. I found myself wishing that I could read the same plot points but in a novella format and often found my attention drifting. By the final stretch, I bumped the audio to 1.5x speed just to get through it.

That said, I didn't want to DNF, because even at its most tedious, there was one specific mystery I was intensely invested in. It's what kept me going throughout this whole 12+ hour experience.

Except. Turns out… <b>there's no resolution.</b> And frankly? I'm torqued-off about it.

In addition, this book is gory… Very, very, very gory. And gory in an animal death/dismemberment kind of way that I find incredibly upsetting. I’m not a gore-lover at the best of times, but I can respect it when it’s done more sparingly—that kind of punchy gore that blindsides you and sticks with you. Since the gruesome imagery of this book started practically from page one and never let up, I was almost numb to it by the end. Almost.

As for the horror overall? It was weird and interesting. I never thought I would be freaked out by a taxidermied buffalo, but that definitely happened. The taxidermy element as a whole is genuinely cool—an unusual and effective take on the living-dead concept.

And the animal POV chapters—especially early on—were a highlight: brutal, unique, and structurally inventive.

🎧 AUDIO-SPECIFIC:
The narrator has a wonderful voice, and I really enjoyed her performance. There were a few hiccups, including a handful of mispronounced words. I wouldn’t normally nitpick because we all stumble, but one of the words was "plumage," and unfortunately, the author used this word often. There were also a couple of small audio-mixing issues, like sections that had clearly been re-recorded and not integrated back in very well, but nothing too distracting.

<b>TL;DR:</b> A gory, overly long horror novel with a compelling core. I never lost my curiosity, but I did lose my patience.

Ten Sleep by Nicholas Belardes, Narrated by Kim Ramirez
RB Media (Audiobook Version)

2⭐⭐

The setting sun cast a warm array of hues upon the landscape. The cattle drive proceeded with Tiller fully in charge. Greta, a young woman with a burdening sorrow, and their friend Scott have accepted an offer to assist Tiller in wrangling the cattle. Within a canyon, beasts stir in abundance. Strange creatures awaken to greet the group, all part of an elaborate plan to fulfill agreements made to the “Mother Canyon.” The dust spirals and conjures a vortex of unexplainable chain of events that haunts Greta. Is she seeing things?

As I walked through the forest path, I examined the audiobook at hand. At one point, I likened my experience to rushing to the kitchen and examining a bag of groceries. My mouth watered as I examined the contents on top. “Nothing here,” I thought. Surely my treat was in here. My fingers extended, like a pearl diver harvesting their bounty from the ocean floor. Again, I cast my hand down, looking to reel in my prize, but to no avail. Disappointment!

Is this a Western? A romance novel? A taxidermist’s dream and subsequent nightmare? A horror story? Quite frankly, a bit of all the above, leaving me perplexed. We invest time in learning about a recent ghosting by Greta’s girlfriend, which causes her to be an emotional wreck. However, the storyline quickly detours into firsthand experiences from animals within the canyon. The novel meanders off the path quite a bit, which had me holding out my compass to try and gather my bearings on more than one occasion. I would liken it to a drive through the fjords, winding around and through all the mountains, which, while certainly scenic, lacks the linearity I want to get to my destination quickly. A nagging thought that embodies my feelings about this novel. Yes, the book does tie the loose ends together upon its conclusion, but by that point, I was just happy to be done with it.

The narrator, Kim Ramirez, does a fabulous job. Her soothing voice kept me going in a world where I was stumbling to find a connection. Her work brought life into a rather dark and cold existence.

The tumbleweeds rolled by, as did the hours I had sunk into this story. Nicholas Belardes, our author, has created an extremely primal escapade. The tribes of yesteryear paid respect to Mother Earth. Cue the Aretha Franklin, R_E_S_P_E_C_T, and that is our lesson learned here, folks. Seeing nature and the animals that exist within its framework, coexisting in harmony. What happens when human appreciation wanes? The balance becomes unstable, presenting problems within the unwritten rules of peaceful cohabitation. Power and greed are the driving forces of such divisions.

Ten Sleep….. Oh, Ten Sleep, how I wish I loved you more. I saw a blueprint of a solid book, but unfortunately, my patience was tested one too many times.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ALC of Ten Sleep for my review.

Unfortunately I was not a fan of this book, I was very confused and just couldn’t grasp the story line.

Greta is the FMC, she’s been through some shit, needs money and joins this 10 day cattle drive. But it’s not quite what she expected when she starts to see very strange creatures. The story alternates between Greta’s POV and wild animal POVs which were somewhat interesting but also extremely weird. And the constant break from Greta’s POV made me forget everything that was going on.

The only surprising horror aspect was some of the explained gore but that was far and few between.

The narrator was great I think she worked with what she had very well, but at 45 minutes a chapter it was difficult to stay focused.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF at 26%.I listened to the audio and the narrator did a decent job, i was just struggling with the story. it was really slow and i had a hard time getting into it. wish I could've gotten into it more since I liked the idea behind it . But it wasn't for me . The only reason I was able to get so far was because of the narrator.

** Thank you Netgalley and publisher
For this ALC **

This was a surprising and unconventional eco-horror novel. Belardes has created a young woman’s journey of self-discovery, when Greta, down on her luck and lost after her recent breakup, accepts a job offer of a three person, ten-day cattle drive. The drive is stalked by shady men and blood-thirsty beasts, and Greta learns to forgive and to trust, to question her instincts and to stand up for herself.

The author ambitiously tackles ancient history to modern history, from dinosaurs and meteors to sheep herding settlers of the American West.

Belardes changes the POV to birds, rodents, bears, a human skin, and taxidermied animals re-animated with indigenous magic that the cattle drive interacts with. All the while, an ancient beast is slowly picking off the cattle. There is a lot going on, and though I was engaged and anxious and loving Greta’s journey, the last 20% of the book felt a little bulky, and I felt like pushing things aside to get back to the story.

Despite this, I enjoyed the book. I enjoyed Belardes’ ambition and intimacy, his grand vision and his character study. Kim Ramirez does a wonderful job narrating Greta’s aching terror and each animal’s journey.

Historical western horror with eco-elements and curses that will have you swearing off camping forever.

Full transparency, because of the name of this book I thought it was going to be sleep horror. It is not. Apparently there's a town name called Ten Sleep.

A young Mexican American woman on a 10-day cattle drive starts seeing strange creatures. As the cattle drive continues the journey becomes slowly bloodier and becomes a fever-dream of talking decapitated animals, misogynist men and infected body parts.

For me, this story was a bit too slow and I didn't care about the characters too much. If you liked the slow build and dread of Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones, then this is for you.

Already finished the book and reviewed. Listened to the audiobook, a good compelling narration of the plot. I would definitely recommend both the novel and audiobook. The book comes out on 24/06.

Thank you for the ARC and audiobook!!!

… this supernatural modern-day Western horror novel follows Greta Molina, as she helps on a 10-day cattle drive through a haunted canyon of monstrous possibilities. Along the way we get side-stories from the point of view of numerous desert creatures, as an intriguing and puzzling mystery about “Mother Canyon” unfolds; there’s also some excellent looks into racism, sexism, and how the American West has been ruined over the eons.

This is a slow burn with a lot of twists and turns, but it is an excellent tale with a wild climax. Kim Ramirez is a strong narrator but she mispronounced a few words (“plumage” being the most egregious), which is a little distracting. Regardless, this is a thrilling book and there’s a chapter about an owl that almost had me in tears.

Big thanks to NetGalley for the ALC; this should be out on June 24 and you definitely need to grab it!

Thank you to netgalley and RBmedia for providing me a copy to review.

I enjoyed the telling of the history of the location. I like plots of long treks through a dangerous landscape so the book drew me in there, especially with the supernatural elements and creepiness. Also, the narration is really good.

While I didn't mind the animal POVS much, as I did see why they were included, however, I thought there were too many and too long.

Overall, it was an okay book. I would recommend this to others.

Being billed as Jordan Peele’s Nope meets True Grit was more than enough to capture my attention. I’m a sucker for anything that mixes Western and horror. There are plenty of creepy creatures/events in this story. The problem, unfortunately, is the pacing. I don’t mind a slow build up or slow burn, and I thought the various chapters told from the point of view of the locale wildlife were interesting, but every time something creepy/disturbing got introduced and I started to get giddy that something big was going to happen, the book shifts into neutral and stalls for a bit too long for my taste. With a little editing/reworking I’d have rated this one higher. As it is, it’s still an enjoyable story it just has pacing issue. 3.5 stars. That being said, Kim Ramirez does an excellent job with the narration, making this one a pleasure to listen to. I’d like thank RB Media and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review an advanced copy of the audio version of Ten Sleep.