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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.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
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
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