History Literature / SleepingBeauties

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: In the final conflict. The [[DesignatedHero "good guys"]], Clint Nocross made a deal with Eve Black that he would keep her alive so that she would wake up the women (on the condition that they chose to return to the waking world). So he and his followers put the prison in lockdown mode and refuse to let anyone in to talk to or even see Eve. Clint correctly fears that there might be men out there in Dooling who want to kill Eve [[NoOntologicalInertia because they hope it will wake up all the women]] or simply because they want [[TheScapegoat a scapegoat]] when she is proves unable to wake up their sleeping loved ones. On the other hand, you can't entirely blame their opponents, who want to get their hands on Eve, either. The men of Dooling are desperate to find a cure for their loved ones and believe Eve to be the key to finding one (which is technically true, though not in the way they think since Eve can't end Aurora entirely by herself). Their leader, Frank Geary, is correct about the fact that Norcross has no authority to put the prison in lockdown, and is at first willing to let Judge Silver bring in a professional negotiator to try and resolve the conflict peacefully. And of course, Norcross refusal to let anyone near Eve only makes him look suspicious.

* TorchesAndPitchforks: Discussed. Clint warns the guards at Dooling's Correctional Facility not to tell anyone about Eve Black and her mysterious immunity to Aurora, or else they "might come to prison like a torch-carrying peasants StormingTheCastle in an old Frankenstein movie".
* {{Troll}}: Eve Black really knows how to push people’s berserk buttons. It’s one of the reasons Clint doesn’t want people from outside the prison to get their hands on her; even if they initially mean well, Eve’s ability to piss people off could easily anger one of them into killing her.

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: On one end, there is Clint Norcross, who made his deal with Eve Black that he would keep her alive so that she would wake up the women (on the condition that they chose to return to the waking world). Thus, he puts the prison in lockdown mode and refuses to let anyone in to talk to or even see Eve, since he (correctly) fears that there might be men out there in Dooling who want to kill her [[NoOntologicalInertia because they hope it will wake up all the women]] or simply because they want [[TheScapegoat a scapegoat]]. On the other hand, the men of Dooling, led by Frank Geary, are desperate to find a cure for their loved ones and believe Eve to be the key to finding one (which is technically true), Geary is correct about the fact that Norcross has no authority to put the prison in lockdown, and of course Norcross refusal to let anyone near Eve only makes him look suspicious.

* BurnTheWitch: The panic caused by Aurora, combined with a fake news article that the cocoons are contagious, leads to thousands of sleeping women being burned alive.

A mysterious epidemic affecting only women has swept the world; when women fall asleep, they are shrouded in a mysterious 'cocoon' and are unable to wake up. One woman, the mysterious Evie Black, is immune to the illness and may be the only one able to stop it.

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: On one end, there is Clint Norcross, who made his deal with Evie Black that he would keep her alive so that she would wake up the women (on the condition that they chose to return to the waking world). Thus, he puts the prison in lockdown mode and refuses to let anyone in to talk to or even see Evie, since he (correctly) fears that there might be men out there in Dooling who want to kill her [[NoOntologicalInertia because they hope it will wake up all the women]] or simply because they want [[TheScapegoat a scapegoat]]. On the other hand, the men of Dooling, led by Frank Geary, are desperate to find a cure for their loved ones and believe Evie to be the key to finding one (which is technically true), Geary is correct about the fact that Norcross has no authority to put the prison in lockdown, and of course Norcross refusal to let anyone near Evie only makes him look suspicious.

* TheChosenOne: Knowing that the men of Dooling will come for her, [[TheChooserOfTheOne Evie selects]] Clint Norcross as the man responsible for defending her, giving him an ultimatum; if he can keep her alive till sunrise next tuesday, or maybe one or 2 days later, she might be able to stop Aurora.

* HealingFactor: Evie Black heals from several bruises she inflicted upon herself in a matter of hours.
* TheInsomniac: Maura, an inmate at Dooling Correctional Facility for Women, suffers from this. It protects her against Aurora at first, but Evie Black is able to make her fall asleep when she gets Maura to kiss her.

* JustOneMoreLevel: After forcing officer Hicks to give her his smartphone, Evie gets hooked to a game called ''Boom Town''.

* MacabreMothMotif: Flocks of moths appear throughout the novel, as they are linked to the Aurora flu and the character Evie Black. At one point, while in prison, Evie emits a whole flock of moths from her mouth to subdue fellow inmate Angel Fitzroy.

* PatientZero: Evie Black is believed to be this for Aurora since she's the only known woman who is immune to the disease.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Evie, who recalls how she has seen dinosaurs.

* SpeaksFluentAnimal: Evie is able to communicate with and in some cases control different animals.

* TorchesAndPitchforks: Discussed. Clint warns the guards at Dooling's Correctional Facility not to tell anyone about Evie Black and her mysterious immunity to Aurora, or else they "might come to prison like a torch-carrying peasants StormingTheCastle in an old Frankenstein movie".

* ADayInHerApron: As early as day one of the epidemic, Linny Mars, dispatcher at Dooling's sheriff's department, keeps getting countless emergency calls from men who have no clue how to take care of their male children now that their wifes have gone to sleep. One even ask her if FEMA is setting up a facility to take care of the children.

* DreamLand: The "other side" where the women go to when they sleep plays with elements of this; if someone is killed in their cocoon on the other side they die in this one.

* PatientZero: Eve Black is believed to be this for Aurora since she's the only known woman who is immune to the disease.

* WouldntHurtAChild: While any woman whose cocoon is broken turns homicidal and will violently lash out at even their own family and closest friends, they still maintain enough of their maternal instincts not to harm their own children. Early in the story, a woman woken up by her 2 year old son simply puts the boy outside the house, then goes back inside to sleep.

* DrivenToSuicide: From the first moment Aurora is reported, suicide among the men of the world drastically increaases, with many men unable to live on without hope their wifes and daughters will ever wake up, or hoping to join them in the dreamland they went to. A schoolteacher named Eliot Ainsley announces his suicide on a radioshow before doing it. And after waking up from her Aurora-induced sleep, a woman named Rita Coomb finds her husband Terry has killed himself in the garage.

* DrivenToSuicide: At least several men can't handle their wifes, daughters, etc getting affected by Aurora, and commit suicide out of desperation. After waking up from her Aurora-induced sleep, a woman named Rita Coomb finds her husband Terry has killed himself in the garage.

* HateSink: Don Peters, a correctional officer at Dooling Correctional Facility for Women, who loves to abuse his authority to sexually harrass the inmates, always making sure he's not caught on camera or seen by his coworkers. In his own mind he loves to paint himself as a victim who is constantly seduced by the various inmates, while it's perfectly clear he's just a sexually perverted, irredeemable ManChild.

* InsultToRocks: Mentioned when Clint is informed how hopelessly understaffed the guards at ooling Correctional Facility for Women are due to Aurora:

* OffingTheOffspring: Angel Fitzroy got pregnant once, but hid it from everybody and killed her baby after it was born. Reminding her of this is her BerserkButton.

* HateSink: Don Peters, a correctional officer at Dooling's woman prison who loves to abuse his authority to sexually harrass the inmates, always making sure he's not caught on camera or seen by his coworkers. In his own mind he loves to paint himself as a victim who is constantly seduced by the various inmates, while it's perfectly clear he's just a sexually perverted, irredeemable ManChild.

* DepartmentOfChildDisservices: Clint Norcross recalls how he was taken from his drug addicted, teenage mother, and put through various foster homes, most of which were downright horrible and even the best were forgetable. In one of them, the foster parents even made the children under their care fight each other for a Mcdonalds milkshake. He does mention however that there are good foster homes, even more now than back in his own childhood; he just never landed in any.

* TechnicallyLivingZombie: If the cocoon on a sleeping woman is broken, they turn into this; a mindless, homicidal creature.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: The novel follows over a dozen major characters of varying importance.