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talonsontypewriters's review
mysterious
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Drug use
Moderate: Death, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide
Minor: Medical content, Alcohol, and Sexual content
Memory loss. Discrimination against and supremacist attitudes within an in-universe faction.vulgarboy's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This was... definitely interesting! Not my usual flavor of book, but I can't say I didn't enjoy it. Slow in some parts, some complicated inner workings someone with a larger brain than mine would most likely devour. Jamie sucks, I won't lie! He tries his very best then makes some bad choices, which I LOVE to see!! A lot of the characters felt so human and real, and I was surprised how much representation there was (I see you, NB character!!). I didn't find the ending super satisfying, but it was more of a critique of the world of capitalism and consumerism. This takes place about twenty years in the future, and the development in the world felt believable (and a tad depressing, heho)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Sexual content, Drug use, and Violence
jbergin's review
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
“My visor tells me it’s about 82 yards from the door to the tree line, accounting for the slope. That’ll take about a minute to sprint”
82 yards in a minute? You mean 4.1 feet per second? 2.8 miles per hour? You mean slightly below average walking speed? To sprint?
On the surface I should have loved this book; sci-fi noir with cyberpunk tendencies and a twisty mystery. But I guess you just can’t save bad writing.
82 yards in a minute? You mean 4.1 feet per second? 2.8 miles per hour? You mean slightly below average walking speed? To sprint?
On the surface I should have loved this book; sci-fi noir with cyberpunk tendencies and a twisty mystery. But I guess you just can’t save bad writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
jojo50's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Blood, Death, Grief, Addiction, and Violence
hal00alex's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The ending is a bit dense and too convenient, so I couldn’t give it my normal 4 stars. Everything else is great. Especially love how they talked about grief and imagined the world without sleep - non stop hustle.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Drug use
Moderate: Hate crime, Violence, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Confinement, Blood, Alcoholism, Dementia, Grief, Kidnapping, and Murder
siriface's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Murder, Death, and Suicide
schnaucl's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This was a very depressing read, in part because of how realistic it was about what would happen if a portion of the population really was able to forgo sleep entirely.
I don't think I've ever read a book before this one that dealt with that topic that considered the great environmental impact a sleepless population would have. I think fiction generally is more inclined to think about that aspect of any profound societal change.
I'm not sure if people would take second and third jobs or (if the sleepless population were large enough and people were out about being sleepless) if they'd just be expected to work longer hours for their primary jobs. I can definitely see where someone who was sleepless would get hired over someone who wasn't. And I also believe there are people who become sleepless who would work themselves to death because lack of need for sleep doesn't mean other human limitations go away.
And I absolutely believe there would be tremendous pressure to take a pill to make yourself sleepless even at the cost of being able to form new memories. Again, if a company has a choice of hiring someone they can work for 18 or 20 hours instead of 8 or 10, why wouldn't they hire that person?
And as more people became sleepless, I think that extra time that the naturally sleepless had used for things like socializing or learning new skills or hobbies would no doubt be expected to be used for work instead.
It's really depressing that the news about the exploitation would have very little effect. But it makes sense that the rich people at the top would get away without facing real consequences. I've no doubt that the choice would shortly become already be independently wealthy or take the pill to become sleepless or not be able to afford food and shelter. It's already not possible to afford those things on minimum wage today. What an awful dystopia.
I don't think I've ever read a book before this one that dealt with that topic that considered the great environmental impact a sleepless population would have. I think fiction generally is more inclined to think about that aspect of any profound societal change.
I'm not sure if people would take second and third jobs or (if the sleepless population were large enough and people were out about being sleepless) if they'd just be expected to work longer hours for their primary jobs. I can definitely see where someone who was sleepless would get hired over someone who wasn't. And I also believe there are people who become sleepless who would work themselves to death because lack of need for sleep doesn't mean other human limitations go away.
And as more people became sleepless, I think that extra time that the naturally sleepless had used for things like socializing or learning new skills or hobbies would no doubt be expected to be used for work instead.
It's really depressing that the news about the exploitation would have very little effect. But it makes sense that the rich people at the top would get away without facing real consequences. I've no doubt that the choice would shortly become already be independently wealthy or take the pill to become sleepless or not be able to afford food and shelter. It's already not possible to afford those things on minimum wage today. What an awful dystopia.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief and Suicide
thegothiclibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
If you like thoughtful, near-future science fiction, anticapitalist critique, and a good murder mystery, definitely check out The Sleepless.
See my full review: https://www.thegothiclibrary.com/review-of-the-sleepless-a-debut-sci-fi-thriller/
See my full review: https://www.thegothiclibrary.com/review-of-the-sleepless-a-debut-sci-fi-thriller/
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
city_girl_writer's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
This was a really good thought experiment set in our near future. Loved the concept and liked the execution. I am still not quite sure if sci-fi thrillers are for me, but this book lets me gauge my expectations. I got kinda bored halfway through, but it didn't deter me from dnf-ing. It was very interesting to follow a somewhat unreliable narrator without knowing the MC was unreliable for half of the story. It ends quite realistically but left room for more thought. Definitely an underrated gem!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Death
Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Mental illness, Murder, and Violence
looseleafellie's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
In a world where a quarter of the world’s population has lost the ability to sleep, journalist Jamie Vega finds his boss dead in his office. Suspecting foul play, Jamie must investigate the true cause of death — and in the process, he discovers the sinister truth behind how he himself became Sleepless.
I loved the premise of this story, and I’m also a sucker for science fiction mysteries, so this was right up my alley! The hints of how the epidemic of Sleeplessness has changed the way the world works made me feel immersed in the story. It gives the sense of a world slipping toward dystopia, especially with some of the reveals toward the end.
This book was quite slow paced, but I also don’t know if it could have been any other way. I loved that the reader experiences the events on the night of the murder the same way Jamie did, so there’s a sense of solving the mystery along with him when he realizes his perception of what happened might not match with reality. Still, this book took me ages to read — partly because I was busy with college, and then hit a reading slump, but the pacing definitely didn’t help.
The big mystery was of course solved by the end, but a lot was left open about the future of Sleeplessness and Jamie’s health. However, I’m learning that I quite like books that don’t tie everything up neatly — it makes the world feel more expansive and realistic if not everything can be tied up in a neat little bow.
CWs: Suicide, Murder, violence, blood, grief, depression, amnesia, self-harm, drug use, incarceration, mental torture.
Spice level: Non-graphic, brief.
I loved the premise of this story, and I’m also a sucker for science fiction mysteries, so this was right up my alley! The hints of how the epidemic of Sleeplessness has changed the way the world works made me feel immersed in the story. It gives the sense of a world slipping toward dystopia, especially with some of the reveals toward the end.
This book was quite slow paced, but I also don’t know if it could have been any other way. I loved that the reader experiences the events on the night of the murder the same way Jamie did, so there’s a sense of solving the mystery along with him when he realizes his perception of what happened might not match with reality. Still, this book took me ages to read — partly because I was busy with college, and then hit a reading slump, but the pacing definitely didn’t help.
The big mystery was of course solved by the end, but a lot was left open about the future of Sleeplessness and Jamie’s health. However, I’m learning that I quite like books that don’t tie everything up neatly — it makes the world feel more expansive and realistic if not everything can be tied up in a neat little bow.
CWs: Suicide, Murder, violence, blood, grief, depression, amnesia, self-harm, drug use, incarceration, mental torture.
Spice level: Non-graphic, brief.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Grief, and Drug use
Moderate: Death, Murder, Violence, and Self harm
Minor: Medical content and Blood