Wow this took a turn I was not expecting! It started off slow but then moved along after a few twists. Our protagonist is Thea, she is an insomniac; she hasn’t slept more than three hours a night for years. So when an ad for a sleep trial that promises to change her life pops up on her phone, Thea knows this is her last chance at finding any kind of normal life. Soon Thea’s sleeping for longer than she has in a decade, and awakes feeling transformed. So much so that at first she’s willing to overlook the oddities of the trial, the lack of any phone signal; the way she can’t leave her bedroom without permission; the fact that all her personal possessions are locked away, even her shoes. Thank you to HQ and NetGalley for a gifted ARC. This is my honest review.

This was an unremarkable but enjoyable thriller.

It was interesting and creepy enough to have no trouble snagging and keeping my attention. The story only takes a few shallow twists before diving right into the action and murder. It does feel a little straightforward - like two mysterious things happen, and then the main character is conveniently trapped and given all the necessary info dumps to uncover the truth - but as a quick, palate cleansing read it did its job.

This was such a surprise! I was not expecting such a surprising plot, and neither the superb writing.
This is beautifully written. It's literary fiction, for sure. A prose so engaging that feels like poetry many times.
And then you have a cleverly constructed futuristic plot that feels real and possible, adding to the claustrophobic sensation we have from the start, with Thea's sleepless nights.

I identified a lot with Thea, since I have suffered from insomnia since I was a child, and also with her sarcasm and wit. The character starts as a good one and evolves to an amazing one.

I honestly can't think of a single issue with this novel. It's for sure one of the best I"ve read this year and I can bet it'll be a success when it's released.
I am already looking forward for Mumford's next book.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Insomnia. It’s a word so many of us know all too well. So needless to say, I was highly intrigued by the premise of this book.

A woman, desperate to do something about her chronic insomnia, decides to take part in a sleep trial...on an island. Her suspicious mother disapproves, but her desire to have a normal life is more important than her mother’s fears. Is the sleep trial everything she had hoped it would be? Of course not.

I loved the idea of this book. A little sci-fi, a little suspense, a little action all rolled into one has the makings of a great read. And it was interesting for the most part. However, I felt it was lacking in the suspense department. For some reason I just wasn’t compelled to keep reading as I usually am when reading this type of book. I think a lot of people will enjoy it, but it left me wanting a little more.

Thank you to NetGalley, HQ Digital, and Louise Mumford for the opportunity to read and review this book.

A dark read which I felt was disjointed and hard to follow in places. I did read to the end in the hope it would get better. This was just not my type of book. Sorry.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

This was a great book, I loved the subject of patients with a sleep disorder all being put on an island together for ulterior motives. It was a fast paced fun read, yet it did also manage to make me feel quite sad in parts. A definite one to read over the weekend when you feel like an easy, entertaining read.

As a lifelong insomniac this premise really excited me.

An app and trial to help cure insomnia? I would jump for it!

The majority of this book is quite disjointed and suffers from trying to work out what genre it wants to be.

Stuck on an island testing this program gives a great atmospheric boost to a story that is otherwise really not very satisfying.

What can I say about Sleepless? I started this book before bedtime and remained sleepless until dawn. I loved the insomniac, Thea and her strong , activist mother. Never sign up for an experimental treatment on an isolated island!

I struggled with this book. Not my normal sort of read and found it hard going. The characters were very well formed and likeable but the subject was unsettling for me. Didn't like so many deaths I'm afraid and didn't really end very conclusively for me.
Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for the ARC.

Sleepless has an original concept and explores some interesting theories about sleep, brilliantly capturing what it feels like to walk zombie-like through a hazy world when your body refuses to give in to a few hours of suspended consciousness.

But although I really liked the concept, it didn’t progress in the way that I hoped it would. It’s much more of a sci-fi than a thriller, relying on action rather than suspense and lacking in enough atmosphere to fill you with the fear of what Thea is going through.

Described as dystopian fiction, the dystopian elements aren’t explored well enough for me to consider it one. I love dystopian societies, and there was certainly a lot of potential for Thea’s scenario to feel real. I’ve heard adverts on the radio that proclaim they can help you sleep better, and I’ve listened to a few apps myself in attempt to drift off to sleep more easily. But I didn’t find Sleepless very convincing.

There may be an organisation at the head of this trial who have bad intentions to fit in with the definition of a dystopia, but we don’t get to see enough of them to really feel their pressure. Their motives are well established through various conversations, but I wanted their presence to have a clearer face, as they felt more like a silent partner that lacked the threat of a totalitarian regime.

For me, this was due to the lack of setup. Once Thea is on the island, events progress too quickly to fill readers with a sense of dread. We aren’t given the time to worry about what’s going to happen, to predict what might be going on, or to even care about the quickly-developed relationships because the story gets right to the action, instead. And then with so much waiting around in the middle to detail what’s happening through dialogue rather than investigation, I just couldn’t invest in the story.

While I could feel that something sinister was lurking on the island and I had visions of a mysterious face creeping in the shadows, the tone of the story is all over the place. With Thea’s mother Vivian being quite a comic character, this often distracts from Thea’s claustrophobic setting. I didn’t understand the purpose in her character, either, other than to provide the story with a quick wrap-up. The story then ends quite abruptly, allowing only a brief glimpse at the aspect of the story that I wanted to see more of before taking the easy way out.

In the end, I just wasn’t interested in the story and found it difficult to connect with any of the characters. I was hoping for more of a dystopian thriller, so sadly this just wasn’t for me. If you’re a fan of sci-fi’s, however, then there is plenty of original ideas and quick-paced action for you to enjoy, instead.

A very good psychological thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat throughout as Thea realises that the magic solution for her sleeplessness may just involve more than she'd bargained for.

There's something about some books that differ them from other books, for me that's the vibe that I get from the books that I pick. This was the same matter when I started this book and just after reading 80 pages, I knew that I, again, made the right choice by choosing a good book! Author Louise Mumford surely deserves appreciation for writing such an amazing book. She has done remarkable work with the plot, characters, premise, and fast-paced execution which made this book more entertaining and thrilling!

So what was the basic plot?
Thea was an Insomniac who struggled with getting enough sleep and she signed up for a trial program for an app called ‘Morpheus’ by Moses Ing Enterprise, which promised to fix her insomnia and to give her a better version of herself. This trial took place on a very isolated island where fifty people had to live in a sleeping center for six weeks where they went through different phases of the trial. But the intention behind the trial wasn't what they promised but instead had a very sinister purpose. And our protagonist Thea got stuck in the middle of all this and then the whole story was about survival, loss betrayal, and Thea's hope to return to her world with all the secrets that she had learned about the evil intentions of the app's tech and it's owners!

I loved this book for its gripping plot; I was hooked from the beginning to the end. That was this book's fast-paced storyline which kept me glued to the screen and made me turn the pages by offering an astonishing concept. There are many reasons why this is the best psychological thriller which I have read this year but among them, its characterization and the plot development is something that makes this book phenomenal. As the story proceeds and the author puts all characters in their significant places, she starts giving the story all unexpected twists and turns. Every reality that this book tried to construct seems delusional and then with a hard blow, reality hits—eliciting everything that one may not see coming.

Thea as a protagonist was perfect, I have no complaints about her or any other characters. Thea made the story more entertaining by showing her desperate need in the beginning to fix her insomnia and to become a person she couldn't have thought of in her wildest dreams. She was charming and her sensitivity towards other characters made her more alive. Other characters like Ethan, Rosy, Delores, Moses, Rory, and Harriet were equally flawless—when I say flawless, what I mean is that they justified their existence in the story, all their actions and decisions pushed the story into the same direction, not a single aspect about their characterization let the main plot distract from its flow.

Another star of this book was Thea's mother, Vivian. Whatever part she had in this book gave another perspective to the story; the perceptive of a concerned mother who could go to any limit to save her daughter. I saw Vivian as a very independent character, from being a mother to a social activist, I must say, the author put a soul in her character.

The main theme of the book is another delightful element of the story which revolved around greedy tech companies and their self-centered purpose to influence people through advertisement. [ How? You will have to read this book to know that ]. Now, the last part... The end of the book!... I am not sure if there will be its sequel or not but the author gave plenty of hints and enough reasons to expect it. I believe that the author had a choice to end this book with a cliffhanger but she ended this book in a way, it's really difficult to make any conclusions.

Overall, it was a very satisfying and entertaining read with all its thrilling contents. It has a good story, excellent characters, and that page-turning grip we always need! Need a book you can completely lose yourself into? Louise Mumford's ‘Sleepless’ can be the best pick for you.

I am really sorry, but I didn't enjoy this book at all. The first couple of chapters were really promising, but after that I struggled to read it. I didn't find any of the characters engaging or likable. I skipped parts of it to finish it quicker as the story was too dragged out for me. I was hoping it would pick up and have a better ending, sadly it didn't.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it drew me in straight from the beginning. The characters were well written and the storyline was scarily believable, and I imagine, someone who suffers with terrible insomnia, could be driven to try anything to combat it, including futuristic sleep trials. Highly recommended, 5 stars. I’ll be looking out for more books by this author.

Wow this book had it all!! Thrills, a little bit creepy a little bit scary and romance thrown it as well. It gripped me from the first page and before I knew it t read like a James Bond film but also had all the twists and turns of a thriller, absolutely brilliant I loved it. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Sold a promise of a sleep cure for her insomnia, Thea is desperate after a near fatal car crash and unable to function so jumps at the offer of six weeks on an island clinic. I loved the character of her activist mother Vivian who was not going to give up on her, relationships are central to this story Add in a spooky monastery, eccentric leaders, an isolated lighthouse and some strong friendships. The story was fast paced with a claustrophobic atmosphere as the tension cranked up and it raced towards a climax.

Sorry, didn't enjoy this book at all. Too dark and rather boring. A really depressing read and not really got a kind word to say about it, although I did finish the book.

I am sorry this book didn't grab me at all. I had three goes at reading it but each time found it so tedious that I searched for something more interesting to read. Maybe it would have picked up half way through but I just didn't want to waste any more time trying. Reading other reviews it looks like I wasn't the only one.

It took me a while to get into this but once I did I really enjoyed it. My full review will be on the blog next month. It's a wonderful debut and I look forward to reading more from Louise in the future.

Thea just can't get enough sleep. Night after night with only an hour or two is wreaking havoc with her life. Under the circumstances the message popping up on her phone was becoming ever more difficult to resist: Morpheus. Dream your way to a better you - one sleep at a time. It's a trial of technology which might not only improve her sleep but help her improve her life in the process or maybe, as her mother suggests, it's a cult.

The technology is real enough but it does have elements of the cult about it. And then Thea's calls to her mother stop.

The technology being researched puts the book in the scifi category but it's as much a psychological thriller. I enjoyed the book but I think the scifi element was slightly awkward. I could see Sleepless as a TV drama or film. I'd definitely listen to it as a radio drama. I'd be keen to read Louise Mumford's second novel.