Reviews with content warning for Murder - None Shall Sleep

This is perfect for fans of “The Naturals” by Jennifer Lynn Barnes and the TV Show “Criminal Minds”! I will say it is a little more gory than I thought, and it slightly leans toward horror/thriller side of mystery, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. This was a highly bingeable book that will leave you guessing and slightly creeped out in the best way. I am so excited to see that there is a sequel and I will be reading it immediately.

I also enjoyed that on the audiobook, there were multiple narrators to distinguish the changes in POVs.

Age rating: 17+ (language, violence, gore, mutilation, ptsd)

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jlorusso's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

Enjoyed the pacing, felt like a nice quick read

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samflowerv6's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

He lifts his hand, strokes a finger down her cheek. Emma feels it like a crackle of lightning.

"You, I did not anticipate." His eyes travel over her face. "How interesting. Come and visit me again sometime, Emma. We'll have croissants."

"I killed for transcendence. But I don't think you know what transcendence means. You probably don't even know how to spell it.”

I really enjoyed this!!! Final girl Emma Lewis is recruited by the FBI to interview juvenile offenders behind bars alongside Travis Bell, a Texas born teen. They bond and train at Quantico. They get tied up in an active case where Emma interviews Simon, a teenage sociopath who’s locked up in a mental institution. He’s known for being charming, brutal and manipulative. HE CHARMED ME I ADMIT IT! Icily beautiful Simon is intrigued by Emma and she shares more than she should with him all the while, trying to solve an active case he has information on. Over the book, Emma grapples with her trauma regarding escaping a serial killer in her teens and what that really means for her life now and who she’s become. Simon weirdly helps her with those thoughts as well as Travis. They have a beautiful connection and interesting dynamic (both with Emma but mostly Travis and Emma). I found myself loving Simon, Emma and Travis so much. Even Kristin was a wildly interesting character. This was such a great find and god I know Simon is insane but I think I fell in love with his crazy a bit. Also in love with Travis. So fast paced and interesting. I will be reading the second book and the new one whenever it comes out. I NEED MORE SIMON AND EMMA AND TRAVIS AND EMMA AND JUST IN GENERAL MORE BOOKS :)) I know it’s not a romance but the vibes were vibing. I love the slow burn of Travis and Emma.

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frozenheartv's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

4.5 stars
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗

🧠 My thoughts
If you are a fan of Mindhunter, Through The Darkness, or series that delve into understanding serial killers' minds, this book is for you. I'm impressed with the research that the author has put into this. As a YA adult book, it's twisted, thrilling, gruesome, and pretty intriguing. It's such a page-turner. The idea is not that new but it's well done in this book. I will definitely continue the series.

However, I felt that the serial killer part is not that in-depth, it lacks something. I think that's acceptable since this is a YA book. The story started too fast to the point that I felt there was not enough building and a lack of depth.

👍 What I like
- Fast-faced page-turner
- Great psychological thriller related to serial killers
- Convincing, twisted, gruesome and intriguing story

👎 What I don't like
- Starts too fast, not enough building
- Lack of depth in some parts

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whatsounddoesagunmake's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was a book club read so it gets a full review!! Beware of spoilers if the book club girlies are reading this review 😌

The main reason I rated this book what I did is because it does a very good job at selling what it is - which is ultimately, a YA thriller. YA being the key here - I did not expect this book to have a plot as well constructed or covered as an adult thriller would, which is why I am more lenient with it.

Parts of the book I enjoyed:
- Writing style and pacing. This will be different for everyone, but in my personal opinion, I prefer medium/fast paced books to slow ones (I HATE slow books :) ) and Marney's writing style complements the pace of the book really well - I wasn't bored throughout the book and managed to finish it much quicker than I had initially expected
- I'm no expert on these FBI terms and such so I did have to research a lot of the language and jargon used, but from my (note: meagre) research, it seems like the investigative aspect of the novel seems fairly accurate to what you would at least see in crime shows like Criminal Minds
- the ending! Usually, with tense books like these, the ending is what will disappoint me. However, I would argue that the end of this novel was well done - it was honestly just as dramatic and insane as I expected it. It did end rather quick (you could argue "rushed") but I honestly think it's pretty accurate to how Emma would have been feeling in those final scenes - with the rush of all those final events happening.
- surprising detailed gore for a YA book!

Parts of the book I did not enjoy:
- I did not care too much for any character, really. At most, I really started to like Cooper, and then he was killed so at the end, I finished the book with no real attachment or fondness for anyone. But considering that I would say this is more of a plot-driven book than a character-driven one, I'll let it slide.
- it's so incredibly unrealistic. Look, I'm no FBI expert, but I don't think they would ever let a pair of teenagers investigate and interact with perpetrators while breaking several rules to do so. But I guess all is possible in Emma's world.
- speaking of Emma, girl had it WAY TOO EASY. I swear everytime she hit a challenge, it ALWAYS worked out for her and she barely fights for it - for some reason, many authority figures just allow her to do several things she realistically shouldn't be allowed to do. A story is more enjoying when your main character doesn't get everything handed to them on a silver platter - and they actually have to fight for it.
- the time setting is so irrelevant tbh. The only reason it's set in 1982 is probably so that technology isn't as advanced and hence Hoyt couldn't be caught faster. But other than the models of the cars (I'm assuming - I am not a car person), you could've told me this was set in 2012 and it would still read the same.

Anyway, overall, despite the flaws I did really enjoy the book, and once again it delivers itself well as a YA thriller.

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aseel_reads's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Finally a good crime audiobook. While I've read the silence of the lambs, this didn't follow it completely, so it was still a pretty gripping crime thriller.

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lydiaelyse's review against another edition

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3.75

I hate the third person writing but once I got into the story I didn't notice quite as much. Really didn't connect to the characters though, probably because of the impersonal third person writing🤷‍♀️

just a heads up, this is gory and very violent (more than the typical YA thriller imo)

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