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challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed the majority of the book, but the ending just felt a little bit rushed. Would've liked to have seen a little bit more explanation of who dunnit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Murder
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was OK but got way too convoluted and unbelievable. It went on too long too and kept teasing that a character had found an important clue but then not sharing it, which got really annoying after a while.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Infidelity, Suicide
Minor: Child death
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book definitely reminded me of The Silent Patient, though I can honestly say that the slow pace hurt my enjoyment of it a bit. I really loved the ending and that kept me sticking with it, but I do wish it had been a little faster of a read. The characters were intriguing and there were several twists I didn't see coming, and overall it was a worthwhile read even though it felt quite long.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Gore
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Medical content, Murder
Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, Death of parent
Minor: Alcoholism, Infidelity
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book caught me by surprise by being so addictive. Once the story starts to get momentum I couldn't stop reading.
I love the scientific parts. All the cases related to sleepwalking, all the medical aspects of dealing with patients with this condition... it shows an interest and a well conducted research by the author.
The story is great, well thought, a lot of character with well written background stories. I love all the mid-chapters telling the passages from 'Anna's Notebook'.
Was the ending the kill the vibe of this book. Why? It makes no sense. It feels that the author was not happy with the obvious ending and decided to improvise (one thing is when we have all the clues but with don't get them, other thing is straight lie to our faces with those clues).
I love the scientific parts. All the cases related to sleepwalking, all the medical aspects of dealing with patients with this condition... it shows an interest and a well conducted research by the author.
The story is great, well thought, a lot of character with well written background stories. I love all the mid-chapters telling the passages from 'Anna's Notebook'.
Was the ending the kill the vibe of this book. Why? It makes no sense. It feels that the author was not happy with the obvious ending and decided to improvise (one thing is when we have all the clues but with don't get them, other thing is straight lie to our faces with those clues).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Death of parent, Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism, Infidelity
challenging
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was fine. The plot is a little convoluted and I don’t really feel the need to go into detail but it’s somewhat dual timeframe: the first and main one in the present where we do get perspectives from different characters but mainly Ben, a sleep psychologist, who’s been tasked with waking the infamous Anna O to stand trail for the murder of her two friends four years ago whilst sleepwalking; the second is journal entries from Anna during that time. It’s essentially a mystery/thriller-type novel trying to work out what actually went down that day, the lead up, is she the killer? and if so, why? It is quite complex and a lot does happen but I would say it goes on a bit too long to keep me interested, it needed to be more concise to have been more entertaining and impactful. I do get and understand the ending, the twists and why things panned out in such a manner but wasn’t all that keen, it made me a little annoyed especially the part the with quote ‘no evidence, never will be’ which really irked me but anyways. Some parts also didn’t make entire sense, specially with the journals how Anna was able to remember how she was feeling and the exact details of something when drugged. I also didn’t fully care for or like many of the characters. The book does read a little non-fictiony at times in describing patients like Anna and the psychology behind sleep and crime.
Overall I feel this review is a little more on the negative side but it was still a decent read and guess I’d recommend but nothing blew me away. I’ll possibly check out Blake again.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Murder
Minor: Infidelity, Suicide
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Whelp, did not see the final twist at the end, but I did see some of the earlier ones. It got a little confusing, trying to keep all the different bits of evidence together and make the story coherent. It was a pretty cool premise though
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Child death
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I feel like I’m in the minority in that I was fully engaged for most of the plot, but then the ending completely lost me. There’s suspension of belief and then there’s that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Alcohol
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was hooked! By the end, the book was going towards a dissapointing ending but then it had me pleasantly surprised.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, Torture, Death of parent, Alcohol
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Started off a bit weak, picked up pace in the middle and crashed and dragged somewhere before the end. A good read, but a tad convoluted for my taste.
The MC seems to be a self insert for the author – I don’t see any other reason why everyone (including himself) keeps going on about how handsome he is.
A big part of the narrative depends on the use of gender-neutral pronouns and assumptions about gender roles.As soon as Harriet refers to her partner by „they“, things were pretty clear and all the puzzle pieces fell into place as the narrative went on.
It’s a bit silly to expect the reader to be led astray by gendered assumptions in a book where all the leading figures are women.
(Ben is the MC but to call him leading would be a stretch)
The MC seems to be a self insert for the author – I don’t see any other reason why everyone (including himself) keeps going on about how handsome he is.
A big part of the narrative depends on the use of gender-neutral pronouns and assumptions about gender roles.
It’s a bit silly to expect the reader to be led astray by gendered assumptions in a book where all the leading figures are women.
(Ben is the MC but to call him leading would be a stretch)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Infidelity, Torture, Alcohol
Minor: Bullying, Misogyny, Classism