Reviews

The Insomniacs by Marit Weisenberg

moon134340child's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

THANK GOD I FINALLY FINISHED THIS IT TOOK FOREVER!!!
What was the plot of this again? Cuz i couldnt find it while reading.
Also this... " Im a diver. I’m not a regular girl'

msbandthebooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

What to say…while I liked this book, it started out very slowly. By the end, I understood the story the author was trying to tell, but I think they could have established it earlier. In the beginning and middle, the story is a lot about the main characters concussion and her not being able to sleep, then spending every night with the neighbor boy she loves. So, it seems for a lot of the book like that’s what the story is about. It’s only in the last part of the book that it is truly revealed what the book is about and what all the lead up is about. But, by the end of the story, the author establishes and makes the reader feel the trauma the main character had been through and how it has truly affected her.

taylorg_1005's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

kfanucchi's review against another edition

Go to review page

slow-paced

3.5

wrapmeupinplastic's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

missprint_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Most of Ingrid Roth's life is a mess. Her mother is barely home, always taking extra shifts at the hospital. Their house is rundown and falling apart. Ingrid hasn't spoken to any of her friends in the neighborhood cul de sac in years. And, of course, Ingrid's father is long gone. But Ingrid has always had diving under control.

Competitive diving is supposed to be a safe space--her ticket to a college scholarship, the way she'll one day get her father's attention. Diving is the one thing Ingrid always does right.

Until she doesn't.

Ingrid doesn't remember the accident. She knows she must have frozen up, lost control. She knows her head hit the board and she's supposed to be resting to recover from the head trauma.

The only problem is Ingrid hasn't been able to sleep in days.

Haunted by her lack of memory of the accident, as scared to return to the diving board as she is to fall behind in training, Ingrid spends her nights watching the neighborhood and Van--her neighbor, her former best friend, the boy she's had a crush on forever.

Then Ingrid finds Van watching her.

Van and Ingrid start spending their sleepless nights together as they both try to find a way to rest. Will the promise of answers be the thing that brings Ingrid and Van back together? Or will it drive them apart once and for all? in The Insomniacs (2020) by Marit Weisenberg.

Find it on Bookshop.

The Insomniacs is a heady blend of the vague menace reminiscent of the Hitchcock classic Rear Window and the summery nostalgia and romance in The Summer I Turned Pretty. Ingrid's narration is choppy and tense as she tries to put together the pieces to explain her accident.

While both Ingrid and Van are focused on fixing their insomnia, the lack of sleep soon becomes a stand in for other problems. After years of letting her athleticism and physicality shape her daily life, Ingrid is paralyzed in the face of so much introspection as she has to confront her feelings about diving and, worse, the memories she can't quite summon of the moments leading up to the accident. Van, meanwhile, struggles to understand what secrets his girlfriend and best friends seem to have been keeping from him and what they have to do with the abandoned house on the cul de sac.

The Insomniacs is an atmospheric story filled with secrets and suspense. Ingrid and Van drive the story but their neighborhood is as much of a character in this tense story where both characters have to confront some hard truths--including acknowledging when they need to ask for help. Ideal for readers who like their protagonists to have a lot of chemistry and their suspense to have tension thick enough to cut with a knife. Highly recommended.

Possible Pairings: Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett, The Vast Fields of Ordinary by Nick Burd, The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han, The Last Time We Were Us by Leah Konen, The Sullivan Sisters by Kathryn Ormsbee, Tonight The Streets Are Ours by Leila Sales, How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford, We Are the Wildcats by Siobhan Vivian, Rear Window (1954)

*An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*

annaalsup's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful medium-paced

5.0

kerrexomerrick's review against another edition

Go to review page

slow-paced

2.0

bookworm123456789's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

katcountry0913's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5