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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
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
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
toopunkrockforshul's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Interesting premise but the writing was a bit clunky for me and the story dragged. Didn't feel like there was much point to the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Blood, Alcohol, Addiction, Confinement, and Suicide
Moderate: Death and Murder
Minor: Sexual content
ollie_again's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.0
They say that if you’re Sleepless, you can think of the future in one of two ways: tomorrow never comes, or, tomorrow’s always today. Either way, there are no tomorrows.
A very interesting concept of a book, part mystery, hints of dystopia, a thriller towards the end and social commentary through all of it. The way capitalism shapes the world we live in, whether we know it or not. We never have enough time now, but looking at Jamie, would we really be done and satiated if we had all the time possible? With The Sleepless not taking breaks gains a new meaning all together. I truly appreciated the commentary on all of those things.
I don't read much thriller in general and I think I would prefer for it to be just the literary sci-fi focusing on the self/reflection, but the mystery in the heart of this book has its charm. For one it gives the story the sinister undercurrent throughout which fit the overall tone of the book. There are some twists and turns and while I wouldn't say it's exactly a whiplash for the reader I think they are pretty good. For a debut novel I'm actually pretty impressed and I will be looking for another book Victor Manibo comes out with.
I listened to an audiobook and while I'm not exactly an audiobook connoisseur, I enjoyed the narration by Joel de la Fuente, just enough voice acting without doing too much.
Thanks to RB Media for providing me an audiobook through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Suicide
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Drug abuse, and Gun violence
Minor: Blood, Medical content, and Sexual content
mar's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I love a sci-fi book that takes a simple "what if?" scenario and then just RUNS with it like this. The Sleepless is a fun blend of near-future sci-fi, thriller, and mystery that reminded me a bit of Michael Crichton's technothrillers (but, yknow, more diverse and with less focus on the science and more on the characters).
The story's compelling and immersive from the beginning and only gets more exciting as the pace slowly picks up. It keeps you guessing till the end, and all the threads pull together into a satisfying conclusion (though I did feel like everything following the climax was a bit too drawn out, making the ending less punchy than it could've been). Jamie's a great, well-rounded protagonist - messy, unreliable, driven; I'm not sure if I'd call him likeable, but he's interesting as hell and I love how his tireless persistence in finding the truth drives the story. Love the worldbuilding, too - not just all the Sleepless stuff, but also the technology like drones or VR, even details like the outrageous price of coffee - the 2040s world of The Sleepless feels like such a seamless, believable extention of our times. I found the exploration of the consequences of Sleeplessness under capitalism - how some people found it desirable not to have more time to learn or pursue hobbies or anything like that, but to *work* - particularly interesting (and painfully realistic).
Also, I wasn't expecting so much casual queer rep, so that was a pleasant surprise, and I really liked Jamie and Veronica's friendship - it's rare to see close, platonic friendships between men and women in fiction like that.
Overall, if you enjoy multilayered, slowly unfolding thriller mysteries with a sci-fi flair, I definitely recommend this book :)
(Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!)
The story's compelling and immersive from the beginning and only gets more exciting as the pace slowly picks up. It keeps you guessing till the end, and all the threads pull together into a satisfying conclusion (though I did feel like everything following the climax was a bit too drawn out, making the ending less punchy than it could've been). Jamie's a great, well-rounded protagonist - messy, unreliable, driven; I'm not sure if I'd call him likeable, but he's interesting as hell and I love how his tireless persistence in finding the truth drives the story. Love the worldbuilding, too - not just all the Sleepless stuff, but also the technology like drones or VR, even details like the outrageous price of coffee - the 2040s world of The Sleepless feels like such a seamless, believable extention of our times. I found the exploration of the consequences of Sleeplessness under capitalism - how some people found it desirable not to have more time to learn or pursue hobbies or anything like that, but to *work* - particularly interesting (and painfully realistic).
Also, I wasn't expecting so much casual queer rep, so that was a pleasant surprise, and I really liked Jamie and Veronica's friendship - it's rare to see close, platonic friendships between men and women in fiction like that.
Overall, if you enjoy multilayered, slowly unfolding thriller mysteries with a sci-fi flair, I definitely recommend this book :)
(Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, Drug use, and Suicide
Moderate: Violence
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