Sleep Like Death Readalong: Day 2!

Stunning photo by @carolynlikesbooks

Hi fairies!

Welcome to day two of our readalong of Sleep Like Death by Kalynn Bayron!  Yesterday’s section started off with a bang and I’m eager to read more to see where the story goes!

Today we’ll be reading from Chapter 6 to the end of Chapter 9.

When you’ve finished today’s section, catch up with me in the comments down below so we can discuss the beginning of the book. Happy reading!

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Please be warned, the following section will include spoilers for Sleep Like Death by Kalynn Bayron from chapters 6 – 9. Please only read on if you have finished reading this section!

–!SPOILERS!–

We continue today’s reading session with the Queen holed up in her room and refusing to leave. Rumours start to spread that she’s gone mad! Eve has been camping outside the room trying to speak to her mother. Eve later overhears her mother saying that she’s just a girl? I definitely think that some sort of deal has been made, perhaps with the Knight?

It turns out that Huntress knows exactly what that mirror is. The Queen had obtained it fifteen years ago and it’s a witch’s tool, used for glimpsing the future, past or present. The Queen is not a witch but is somehow in possession of something used by them… Is anyone else wondering how she managed to find one? 

Eve plans to sneak into her mother’s room and break the mirror, thinking that the hold it has on her will be broken. Before she can destroy it someone starts to speak to her from inside the seeing stone! 

He tells her that she doesn’t want to break it but Eve just wants to know how he is speaking to her! Funnily he tells her that he just opened his mouth and the words come out. This made me laugh, are we going to see more of this person and is he going to have more banter with Eve? 

Eve demands to know who he is and whether he is the one who her mother has been speaking to. Suddenly the man pulls himself out of the seeing stone! Omg I cannot believe that just happened!

The man explains that he’s called Nova and is a liaison for the Knight! He is his messenger and is the go between for the Knight and the ones who have made deals with him. Eve realises that this means her mother has made some sort of deal with the Knight… 

Eve cannot believe it, that her mother would make a deal with the person who has caused so much terror and the monster that they have been trying to fight against desperately. More than that, she cannot believe that her mother would keep things from her. 

In anger, Eve hits the seeing stone with a sword conjured with fire. It cracks but doesn’t shatter. Her mother comes back and catches Eve in her room again, but Eve doesn’t say a word as she is too overwhelmed. 

The next day Eve questions her mother. She asks who the man in the mirror is and how he is able to come out of the stone, much to her mother’s shock. She hadn’t known that he was able to do that. The Queen refuses to say anything and says they’ve both been keeping things from each other. 

Eve decides if her mother won’t tell her the terms of their deal, she is going to track down the Knight herself and make him tell her! Eve goes to Mekhi, Sir Gregory’s son who is a tracker and asks for his help. He agrees to help and reveals his own reasons for helping. He’d loved a girl, Fairouz, who had made a deal with the Knight. Like all his deals it ended in tragedy. I felt so bad for Mekhi while reading his story! 

Eve thinks about where the Knight has come from, there are rumours that he was cursed by a witch but no one knows for sure. I am so curious about this and where he is really from!

Nova appears and finds Eve getting ready to leave. He says he’ll go with her and Eve cannot understand why. Nova then comments about keeping the nightingale, Queen Sanaa, in a cage and doesn’t realise who she is. Eve tells him what had happened but I find it interesting that Nova, despite being a messenger, had no clue what had happened. 

Nova, Mekhi and Eve set off but Nova tells Eve that she is silly for believing that the Knight will tell her anything. He says the Knight will just think that she is trying to trick him, that she already knows something about the deal as it involves her! OMG! 

Eve still doesn’t let that deter her, determined to find out any information. Mekhi successfully tracks the castle and it’s clearly full of an ominous magic. Nova had thought Eve would want to turn back after actually seeing it and Mekhi is very hesitant to actually go with her. He does decide in the end to go with her but drawing closer, even Eve is anxious as the castle seems as though it’s alive!

They manage to get inside but it’s a maze inside and they are soon lost. After a while they find themselves inside a huge room where a man has been captured and interrogated by the Knight. The man had tried to trick the Knight who was now furious. 

Seeing the gruesome scene, Mekhi unfortunately draws the attention of the Knight. A fight between him and Eve begins, with Eve attempting to kill him to no avail. Not even her sword made of fire does any damage. If it weren’t for Nova stepping in at the last minute to buy her some time, she wouldn’t have made it out of the castle alive! Is anyone else on the edge of their seat from this fight! 

Eve and Mekhi flee, almost making it back out of the castle. Eve has made it out of the hatch and turns to see if Mekhi is still behind her but comes face to face with the Knight. The next thing she knows, there is a horrible sound and poor Mekhi falls to the ground below, lifeless. Eve loses her grip and also falls to the ground… and sees nothing but darkness as she passes out.

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This section had so many revelations and so much action. I was honestly hooked and I have so many questions! 

What do we think the actual details are about the deal with the Queen and the Knight? 

Do we trust Nova and what do we think his true intentions are? 

I can’t wait to hear all of your thoughts! 

See you tomorrow for some more reading!

Love,
Isla