"Emma Averill worries that her crippling insomnia is a sign that she's slowly going insane--like the mother she's worked so hard to leave in her past"--
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"Emma Averill worries that her crippling insomnia is a sign that she's slowly going insane--like the mother she's worked so hard to leave in her past"--
Read Less
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Seller's Description:
Good. Cover art may not match stock image. Products and packages may require more time to be delivered due to limited transportation availability as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 impacts. Fast Shipping-Safe and Secure Mailer!
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Very Good. Very Good condition. Very Good dust jacket. A copy that may have a few cosmetic defects. May also contain light spine creasing or a few markings such as an owner's name, short gifter's inscription or light stamp.
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New in new dust jacket. New, Publisher overstock, may have small remainder mark. Excellent condition, never read, purchased from publisher as excess inventory.
This is one of those books that you are either going to like or not ... for me, I liked it. It's a proper mind-messing read where you don't know what's real and what's imagined.
Emma, the main character, is not what I would call a particularly likeable one; mind you, not many of the characters in this book are if I'm honest but that doesn't really matter to me that much and, if anything, it makes it even more intriguing as you don't know where the story is going to go.
It does start off pretty slowly while the scene is being set but during this time, there is the slow drip, drip, drip of information and the creation of tension, suspense and misdirection that all comes together in the end.
This is a complex and original story which uses a touch of the "unknown"; it's dark, unnerving and unsettling and I would recommend to anyone who enjoys something a bit different in their psychological thrillers.
Many thanks to HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.
KindigBlog
Mar 7, 2022
A chilling & unsettling psychological thriller
As someone who finds it incredibly easy to sleep anywhere and everywhere, I have a worry that one day I'm going to find out I have used up all of my sleep and end up with insomnia! Therefore, Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough seemed like the perfect, unsettling read for me.
We meet main character Emma who is worried about turning 40, as that's the age her mother was when she stopped sleeping and started having mental health issues. We watch as Emma starts to battle with insomnia and deal with her life unravelling around her in the week leading up to her birthday. I enjoyed the unreliable narration of the novel, with events being missed out from Emma's perspective and being revealed later on. This really kept the reader on the back-foot at all times, unsure what was real and unable to fully trust our narrator. Emma isn't the most likeable of characters though, keeping a lot of memories private and making some really silly decisions.
Although there's a lot of twists and reveals through the book, I did feel that it got a bit repetitive in places. There's a lot of night-time chapters where the same unnerving things happen to Emma which I think could have been edited down. I like the progression of the story though and the stakes are kept high throughout. I didn't have any sympathy for the rest of the family - I would have liked to think that if my husband noticed any worrying change of behaviours, particularly insomnia that he would talk to me about it with compassion, unlike Robert who just seemed to accuse Emma of things without any love or care. I think a lot of the issues in the book could have been made 100 times better with some basic communication between the characters which stretched my suspension of disbelief a little.
The end twist was a good one and although I had guessed who the person responsible was, I hadn't really been able to work out how they slotted into the story. Although it seemed a little convenient, it was a good idea and made for a satisfying reveal. I'm finding it hard to read about books that make mental health their punchline twist or main storyline at the moment as it seems a little dated for the 2022 climate. However, adding an almost supernatural element to the story helped to not make the story as controversial as it could have been. This does however, leave the reader with more questions than answers by the end.
Overall, Insomnia is an unsettling and chilling psychological thriller with a supernatural twist. Thank you to NetGalley & HarperCollins UK - Harper Fiction for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
