What a read! Great storytelling, fast paced and has you hooked from the first chapter. I HAD to know what was happening next and where the story was going. The story follows Anna, who kills her two best friends allegedly whilst sleepwalking and hasn't woken up since. Dr Ben Price is brought in as he has a reputation for working with people who claim to have committed crimes whilst sleepwalking - can he solve the mystery? Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for this ARC.

With its intriguing premise about a murder suspect who has fallen asleep after the crime and cannot wake, I was drawn to the charming and interesting lead character, Benedict Prince. But despite his 'groundbreaking' theories on how to wake people from Resignation Syndrome (a form of trauma related, prolonged sleep), which sound to me like simple common sense, it is actually Dr. Prince's success that ultimately killed my interest in Anna O as a thriller. Once the inevitable wakening occurs the book becomes fanciful and frankly quite dull as we led on a merry chase following half clues and guess work. The final payoff did make me glad I stuck with the book until the end, but I do think the tale is a huge missed opportunity after such good groundwork in the first third.

What a thrilling read! The pace of this novel is incredible, and it has you hooked from the very first page. I loved the concept but did feel as though the first half was a lot better than the second, but I think that's purely down to how gripping the beginning is.

I was so excited to get a copy of this book after reading a lot of rave reviews and the Sleeping Beauty murder premise sounded brilliant.

The book started really well and had me hooked at the start but then it just fell flat for me. It became way too drawn out and lost momentum and repetitive before getting to an ending I had predicted pretty early on.

I'm disappointed as it had such potential at the start.

This one was definitely different and had great potential..but was too drawn out for me to be honest. I got a tad confused as things were going in circles. Hate to say I didn't love it.

Anna Ogilvy seemed to have the world at her feet, she had a history of sleepwalking going back to when she was a child. One night she killed her two best friends, allegedly in her sleep & after four years she has never woken up. Dr Ben Price is a forensic psychologist & sleep expert. When Anna is brought to the sleep clinic where he works. He has a reputation for working with those who have claimed sleepwalking is to blame for crimes they seem to have committed. Can he solve they mystery of 'The Sleeping Beauty'- or even more exciting- get her to wake up.

Told from various points of view this is a really interesting premise. Although I was engaged with the story I felt it dragged a bit. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book. It was a 3.5* read for me.

This has been a highly anticipated read for me this year. I was thrilled to get access to the ARC having seen multiple outstanding reviews on bookstagram.

Anna O is a very interesting character. Her whole demeanour was questionable and the topic of sleep psychology very intriguing. It is something I have always been very interested in so to read about it within the book and it be very focussed on was great.

The premise was so intriguing and I was gripped from start to finish. Blake had done his research and this was shown throughout the book. Thank you to Netgalley and Matthew Blake for allowing me access to this ARC.

I was delighted to get an ARC of this highly anticipated thriller following Anna O who was found asleep next to her friends dead bodies. Dr Benedict Prince is given the opportunity to try and wake Anna which could be career defining for him. I was intrigued and gripped throughout the story and enjoyed all the twists and turns. It is a very hard novel to review without giving spoilers but if you enjoy thrillers, you should enjoy this.

I was so excited to read this book as the premise sounded fantastic!! Also, I had read ALOT of rave reviews.

Unfortunately it just didn't work for me. As much as I was intrigued by the concept I found it a bit of a chore overall. The author has obviously done alot of research about sleep psychology , and I know alot of people will find it interesting, however I didn't enjoy all the related minutiae ....there was just too much and for me it detracted from my main interest, the murders.......I just wanted to know who killed who and why and have a bit of excitement turning the pages until all was revealed.

I did like how it all turned out, I thought the reveal was great......just not all the complicated, overly analytical, laborious process to get there.

I think I might be in the minority here, I know many loved this book, but when I read a book I want to read a story, not attend a tutorial and for me that's what it felt like at times

I don't normally go into books blind, and when I was accepted to read Anna O, I was excited and apprehensive as I just didn't know what to expect. Well, I was not disappointed. Dr Benedict Prince is tasked with the classified job of awakening Anna O, but all is not what it seems. Mysteries are there to solve but are all secrets meant to be uncovered. I loved the twists and turns and I thought Matthew had an engaging way with words. I also have to admit to going down the rabbit hole of resignation syndrome myself. It's quite fascinating

Interesting concept for a thriller book, the fmc is found sleeping next to the bodies of her two best friends who have been stabbed to death.

Anna is suffering from a sleep disorder and has somehow committed a crime whilst asleep. From a bit of googling this is actually a real thing?! So reading this story I was very critical of the information given but I have to say it’s obviously been very well researched as it the author has written this spectacularly.

I enjoyed the premise of this book, and whilst it felt like a bit of a brain work out (lots of information, not ‘twisty’ thriller quite slow paced) that certainly didn’t detract anything from the overall story.

This was an interesting book and kept me intrigued and I had to keep reading and find out what happened. It was different which is what I was expecting from the cover and the blurb but it works in its way. It kept me involved which is what you need from a book.

I had this book to read since 2023, but when I saw that it had so many pages I postponed it until I decided it would be one of the first reads of the year. And so it was and I don't understand why I didn't read it before because the truth is that it was a roller coaster of emotions.

Anna O. tells us a story, or actually many at once. It is divided into several parts, and I feel that each of them are really super different stages of the story, of Anna, or of Benedict... one ends up confused and amazed at the same time.

A big unknown in this story and one that I felt like they never really wanted to explain to us what was happening is Anna. I feel that although answers are given to many questions, along the way many unknowns are revealed and that few of them were solved... and I don't know if it was that way on purpose or if the answers were not managed (because it is all quite intricate). .

Did you see that meme from The Office where there is a man with a cigarette in his hand and a panel full of red lines that indicate connections, while he has a totally crazy face, trying to explain something... that's how I imagined myself trying to make a summary with spoilers of this. It is impossible. One is really confused.

The theme of dreams seemed very cool to me and it even made me want to start looking for information about certain cases and topics that touch here.

Thank you HarperCollins UK for the ARC I read on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Media-sensation Anna O has been in a deep sleep for 4 years, ever since she murdered her two best friends. The time has come to find out for sure, is Anna a victim of chronic sleep-walking or vindictive killer?

I loved the premise of this book, I was so excited to receive the ARC. Exploring sleep psychology, wrapped up in a murder mystery? It sounded right up my street.

I think huge parts of this play out really well. Unfortunately, there are a few too many false-finishes. In my opinion, two of the “big reveals” were predictable from pretty early on.

I didn’t find any of the characters particularly compelling, although there were brief flashes where I was nearly invested in them as people.

Overall, a good crime read, but didn’t quite reach the dizzying heights it could’ve.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my unbiased review.

Anna O is a twisty, complex novel following the story of Anna, the well educated daughter of a minister who has been in a state of sleep for 4 years after she was found in a cabin having apparently murdering two of her friends.

Dr Benedict Prince is an expert in sleep psychology and is tasked with waking Anna in a last attempt to charge her with the murders or have to let her go.

What follows is told in multiple POV (Ben and Anna’s own amongst them) as Anna’s life and the murder are linked to another case of sleepwalking murder committed exactly 20 years before the cabin deaths.

Anna O is a gripping novel and just when I thought I had figured it out, a new clue unravelled. I needed the final chapter to tie all the loose ends and residual questions answered.

Some parts were packed full of psychological science and I will admit to scanning over these slightly but this was only because I was fully invested in the plot and needed the reveal!

I page turner with revelations right to the end.

I found myself thinking about this book long after I’d finished reading it. It had me gripped right from the start, I just had to know what was going to happen and OMG ! what a twist !

Absolutely fantastic gripping read, and I really did not see the end coming (and that's coming from someone who usually always sees the twist)

Sleepwalking Murderess?

The premise was making me look forward to a gripping read but I was sorely disappointed and found it very hard going. In my humble opinion, if after 400 pages of plot, the author feels the need to fill another 20 pages explaining what happend, something went wrong. Not for me, sorry

This book wants to be The Silent Patient, which I enjoyed, but it was such a stretch. I wasn't a fan of this one, but the writing was good, so wouldn't be put of picking up another book by this author.

✨My Thoughts✨

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The mystery and the intrigue from the opening pages had me so excited to read further and find out about Anna O.

Ben Prince has been tasked with waking up the infamous Anna Olgilvy ( Anna O) , he’s woke up one night asking to go into work ( The Abbey Sleep Clinic) immediately then he gets the news that Anna is to be moved to his place of work and he’s got to wake her up so the government get prosecute her before she’s released on humanitarian grounds.

The only problem is she’s been asleep for four years and apparently murdered two people but they think Ben and his theories could work and they want him to wake her up before it’s too late.

I can’t really describe how good this story is.

I was utterly transfixed from the first page right until the very last and even then I didn’t want it to end, it has so many branches to the main story that have you thinking how and why is this connected but I knew it was all connected somehow.

The huge twists just kept on coming, I honestly thought I had it all figured out in my head but I was oh so very wrong.

I’m going to have the biggest book hangover ever after reading Anna O

It’s only February but this will be on my list for my favourite books of the year that’s for sure and I’m sure it will be on many others too.