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A review by rorireads_
None Shall Sleep by Ellie Marney
challenging
dark
tense
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? Yes
3.5
None Shall Sleep is a psychological thriller about two teens who (inexplicably, get over it now) end up recruited to the FBI, and end up on an incredibly high-profile case.
I'll start with the good. These characters are all believable. Many YA thrillers end up with "lead is flawed but not really flawed syndrome." These characters don't suffer. Emma, Travis, and every other character in this book felt like real human beings. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about them.
The story was also absolutely brilliant. I had literal chills most of the time, and I was amazed by the twists and turns this book took me on. It had real emotional depth, and could easily engross a reader.
I think what this book suffers with is the writing.
Marney plots a chilling psychological thriller brilliantly. Her dialogue is well-crafted, and you can tell she pours an incredible amount of effort and research into her work (despite some contrived circumstance that you have to get over to enjoy the book.)
And yet, it's moments like
"Even from the distance, Emma can hear perfectly because of the room's excellent acoustics"
(this is during a high-tension scene)
This book has a problem with narration. Maybe it's that the style is not for me, but expositional narration , descriptions, and narration are all stilted. It felt as if you had taken a "beginners introduction to writing course, used one lesson and then decided to write a whole book. Out-of place description, telling when this book has clearly shown that it can- and will not hesitate- to show. An awkward, stilted narrative voice style continually took me out of the story.
None Shall Sleep was an excellent thriller, but one setback for me took it from a 4.5 to a 3.5 easily.
3.5 ⭐️
I'll start with the good. These characters are all believable. Many YA thrillers end up with "lead is flawed but not really flawed syndrome." These characters don't suffer. Emma, Travis, and every other character in this book felt like real human beings. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about them.
The story was also absolutely brilliant. I had literal chills most of the time, and I was amazed by the twists and turns this book took me on. It had real emotional depth, and could easily engross a reader.
I think what this book suffers with is the writing.
Marney plots a chilling psychological thriller brilliantly. Her dialogue is well-crafted, and you can tell she pours an incredible amount of effort and research into her work (despite some contrived circumstance that you have to get over to enjoy the book.)
And yet, it's moments like
"Even from the distance, Emma can hear perfectly because of the room's excellent acoustics"
(this is during a high-tension scene)
This book has a problem with narration. Maybe it's that the style is not for me, but expositional narration , descriptions, and narration are all stilted. It felt as if you had taken a "beginners introduction to writing course, used one lesson and then decided to write a whole book. Out-of place description, telling when this book has clearly shown that it can- and will not hesitate- to show. An awkward, stilted narrative voice style continually took me out of the story.
None Shall Sleep was an excellent thriller, but one setback for me took it from a 4.5 to a 3.5 easily.
3.5 ⭐️