Reviews tagging 'Grief'

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.

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schnaucl's review against another edition

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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.

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looseleafellie's review against another edition

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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.

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toopunkrockforshul's review

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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.

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ollie_again's review against another edition

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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.

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mar's review against another edition

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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!)

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