I'm torn with my review of this book. It started so well and it was engaging. I found that the different POV and timelines worked well to provide detail and the whole storyline was intriguing.
However as the book progressed I found myself becoming a little jaded with the amount of psychological information I was reading that sometimes made it feel more like a non fiction book. I understand that to deal with the subject matter there needed to be context and background but it did slow the pace down somewhat.
Despite that it was an original and twisty mystery that did not give up its answers easily.

An unusual storyline. Anna O has murdered her two best friends but whilst she was sleep walking (or was she?)
A sleep doctor is employed to attempt to wake her from a four year long sleep in order that she can be tried for the crime. I found the characters really interesting although some quite complex and the ending was something completely different from what I was expecting.
A compulsive read.

There’s a well-known expression, when you’re explaining, you’re losing, and when a writer spends the last twenty pages explaining what has happened over the previous 400, well, I’m afraid they’ve lost me.

Anna O is billed as *the* thriller of 2024 - the author himself describes it as a “major publishing event” in the acknowledgments. I’m delighted for him but I don’t share his excitement on this occasion. I was thinking of Gone Girl, or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, in other words, an unputdownable pageturner, but this missed the mark.

In brief, Anna O is a young woman who allegedly committed a double murder before falling into a deep sleep, Sleeping Beauty-style, for four years. She has come under the care of Dr Benedict Prince, who specialises in sleepwalking and sleep disorders, and he believes he can bring Anna around and solve the mystery of what really happened on that fateful night.

There is a level of complexity to the story that many readers will lap up, and others will decide they just can’t be bothered with. I had no investment in any of the characters so fell firmly into the latter category.

Lots of readers will love Anna O but it lacked finesse, brevity and cleverness for picky old me. A tedious read overall. Many thanks to @harpercollinsire for the arc. As always this is an honest review. I’m interested to see how well this one is received by readers. 2/5 ⭐️

I was intrigued by the cover and concept of this story - the psychology behind a person’s actions and how the mind can tell another story.
What could have been a fascinating insight, for me, ended up being quite tedious and technical. I was interested enough to get to the end just to know the outcome, but sadly, I did feel it was quite the struggle to finish.
Good twists and developments but could have been condensed in places.
3.5*

‘Believers in her innocence call her Anna O. Believers in her guilt call her Sleeping Beauty.’

My thanks to HarperCollins U.K. for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Anna O’ by Matthew Blake.

In August 2019 Anna Ogilvy was found asleep in her cabin at a farmhouse retreat, wearing bloodstained clothing. A large kitchen knife was close by. In a nearby cabin the bodies of her two best friends, Indira and Douglas, were found. Forensics identified the blood on Anna’s clothing as theirs and her fingerprints on the knife. Yet Anna hasn’t opened her eyes since.

Given Anna’s privileged background and the nature of the crime, it became a media sensation. Four years later and the CPS want the case to go to trial but Anna has to be awake and competent to do so. As a result, she is being transferred to the Abbey Sleep Clinic, under the direction of Professor Virginia Bloom.

Prof. Bloom calls in Dr Benedict Prince, a sleep doctor who studies people who commit crimes when they sleep. Ben hopes to use his innovative techniques to wake Anna. No further details to avoid spoilers.

This work of psychological suspense is Blake’s debut. I found it a fascinating, twisty thriller that kept me guessing. Blake refers to a number of Hitchcock films along the way as Ben often watches them and compares himself to various of Hitchcock’s male characters.

Blake also examines the rise in popularity of True Crime, including some of its darker elements. Anna herself was researching an investigative piece for the magazine she cofounded on the case of Sally Turner, who in 1999 was accused of murdering her two stepchildren in Stockwell with a kitchen knife. At her trial Sally had claimed that she was sleepwalking. Clearly there are echoes of Anna’s case twenty years later.

There is a lot of information about the psychology of sleep and sleep related disorders within the narrative. While I have been interested in dreaming, much of this was new information.

Overall, I found ‘Anna O’, a slow burn novel that delivered on the suspense with the kind of twists that impressed for how neatly they changed my perception of what was going on.

I was really looking forward to reading this book, the cover alone grabbed me which is a rare thing. A very different premise told from the point of view of a sleep doctor, Benedict Prince, & the sleeping patient, Anna Ogilvy.

Anna ‘admits’ to killing two people while sleepwalking but did she? She promptly falls into a deep sleep for four years & it is up to the doctor to wake her & reveal the truth. Apparently, she is suffering from resignation syndrome & may never wake to stand trial. Public opinion is split - did she kill in her sleep or was she fully aware of her actions? Of course, there is another option, was it her at all?

A very slow burn which never seemed to get to top speed. Obviously well researched, in fact a bit too techy in places which I felt was detrimental to the flow of the plot. A solid debut & an enjoyable read but I’m not sure that it lived up to the hype. Of course, all reviews are subjective & I love fast paced crime & thrillers, if slower is more your thing then I’m sure this book will be up your street.

This is an incredible book written by an amazingly skilled author!
The saying about assuming things is very true with this story, I believed I had everything figured out and the way it was written allowed that and kept me believing totally that my initial guess about X was right and then came those twists.
Such a masterful wordsmith as this has written a book where the story is engaging, the characters become almost real people and ones you believe you have figured out. Then the author explains the truth of what you have been reading and even though nothing is how you thought it was, it makes sense and everything is understandable.
This was a fascinating look into sleep disorders and the legal system, I'm so glad neither I nor my husband sleep walk! IYKYK

The premise sounded promising, and initially I was intrigued.
Sadly I ended up disappointed - it was far too long and repetitive, to the point that finishing was beginning to feel like a chore.

Anna O is a book I was looking forward to but didn’t quite deliver. My rating is a 3.5⭐️ rounded up to 4⭐️.
Anna has been asleep for four years, she was found asleep with a knife in her hand and her friends murdered, she needs to wake up so she can go to trial but can you be guilty of something you’ve done when asleep? This case has split the nation, some believe she is innocent others believe she is guilty, what do you think? She is moved to a secure unit and Dr Prince believes he can wake her up so she can stand trial but can he?
This is a debut novel for Matthew Blake and although it had a good premise and the storyline was good the chapters went on too long with too much information at times making this quite a hard read and not something you can dip in and out of at various moments of the day. I did guess who patient X was early on and hoped I was wrong and a big twist would come but sadly it didn’t. My biggest bugbear of this book were the Harry Potter references, there was absolutely no need for this and had no reason to be there.
I would like to thank Netgalley and HarperCollins Uk, HarperFiction for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

Dark and twisty, Anna O is a gripping novel that will keep you guessing.

Anna O suffers from resignation syndrome after potentially carrying out horrific murders. It is vital she wakes up so answers can be found.

The story follows Dr Prince’s attempts to wake Anna, and his ethical dilemma around this. He finds himself embroiled in more murders.

Everyone, including Anna is looking for the truth…but will they find it?

Gripping, twisty and hard to put down. A great read

A slow burner of a thriller that grips you till the end. Is Anna O a murderer whose been sleeping for four years. Good plotting and characters, will keep you guessing. Thanks to HarperCollins UK and Netgalley for a review copy

Anna O has been continuously asleep for the last four years after being found next to the dead bodies of her friends. Forensic psychologist Ben is an expert in the field of sleep and is tasked with waking Anna in the hope of uncovering the truth about what really happened.

I loved this incredible fast-paced thriller.

This book inspired so much curiosity in me that I couldn't put it down. I felt like I had to get to the end as quickly as possible because I needed to know the truth. I found myself wanting to know more about sleep conditions as the whole concept was really intriguing.

I was constantly covering up the page to stop myself reading ahead of where I should be – out of pure impatience to get to the next part! I particularly enjoyed how the story was told from different character perspectives as it worked so well for the plot.

The perfect book if you love a unique idea.

Thank you HarperCollins for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for this eCopy to review

Anna O was a thriller unlike any I have read before, told over multiple times and points of view it was an intriguing premises was Anna guilty of murdering 2 people? Who is patient X? I was completely hooked and and did not guess who did it. There were plenty of twists to keep you guessing right up to the very end.

Anna is found fast asleep next to 2 dead bodies, 4 years later she is still asleep and Dr Ben Prince has been charged with waking her up so that she can stand trial.

A truly original and gripping thriller with excellent characters and a superb plot

An excellent and unusual premise. This compelling book had me hooked to the final pages. Absolutely thrilling.

Curiosity drew me to this book, not usually a fan of thrillers I was intrigued by the premise and the blurb enough to give Sleeping Beauty meets Lizzie Borden a try. In hindsight I should have waited for the paperback or atleast a few more reader reviews.

Now Anna O isn't a bad book, but it is filled with a complex story made more complex, and clunky, by the sleep tech medical jargon that fills the pages. In truth the tech language really put me off and made it a heavy read that dragged.
And the characters didn't improve that slog. I found them mediocre and flat in their personalities and actions.
What kept me reading? A who done it murder mystery wrapped up in a backstory story with a twist at the end that does make the book worth reading. It really is a conclusion that deserves to be read and is incredibly well thought out and well written.
The ending is worth it.

Grab this book for your work day commute, i'm sure you won't be the only person reading it on that journey.

Anna Oglivy has been asleep for 4 years. She was found with a knife in her hand and her 2 best friends dead beside her. Dr Benedict Prince has been assigned the task of trying to wake her up so she can finally stand trial for murder.
What follows is a long drawn out story of him trying to prove his research right and wake Anna, however it appears there is someone who doesn’t want Anna awake and knows more about what happened at the farm that night. Ben soon finds himself and his family maybe in danger.

I really liked the premise of this story and was keen to read, unfortunately however this dragged quite a bit in the middle and at times I felt myself drifting off and losing the plot. It picked up again towards the end and I did enjoy it, however I can’t give it more that 3 *

Anna O is suspected of committing the murders of her two friends when she was experiencing a sleep disorder four years ago. She has been asleep ever since and forensic psychologist Dr Benedict Prince is employed to assist her awakening so she can be tried for the murders.
The concept of Anna O is original and intriguing with great cinematic potential. It’s told from various points of view over several time lines with some twists.I felt that the pace was fairly uneven, there were parts where I was gripped and then it became convoluted and I lost interest. I felt that it was written with a sense of detachment and so it was easy to suspect all of the characters but challenging to feel anything for them.
An interesting and promising novel that’s worth reading but may have been better with some further editing.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.
3.5 stars

A truely interesting read. A thrilling storyline one that keeps you guessing until the very end. It’s literally not until the last few pages that the storyline comes together. In parts it possibly goes into too much detail but on the whole it’s excellently written.

Wow, I loved this book. It hade hooked from the first page and with so many twists and turns it kept me gripped to the very end.

I went into this book blind having no clue what it was about. The premise of the story was promising, an interesting concept and one I have not come across before. I was hooked and really wanted to see how the story was going to unfold. It was told through different POV and different timelines which I always enjoy in a book. The story centres on Anna O, a woman responsible for a double murder while sleep walking and then falls in a 4 year sleep and Dr Benedict Prince, the sleep specialist who tries to waken her. The narrative has led me to having some interesting conversations with other people about the responsibility of one’s actions while sleep walking.
However, there were some things about the book that did annoy me. At one point I saw issue with a timeline, sometimes it got a little too technical, and I just wanted to read a thriller, and the diary entries did not read like one.
Overall, it is a solid read, a decent thriller with a good twist at the end (though I did predict it early on) and I would recommend it to others.