I have swithered over what rating to give this book. It did draw me in and have me following this story avidly. A terrifying concept and it would give me pause for thought if any drug trials were on offer! As someone who struggles with one sleepless night, the whole concept of not sleeping worries me. A real roller coaster, Thea doesn't know who she can trust. Does this show the lengths big business will go to? Some humorous touches with Vivian and the Menopausal Army, but overall a gripping, terrifying thriller. I would say far fetched, but my worry is that isn't the case. #netgalley #sleepless

I enjoyed Sleepless - a very cool concept executed very well with characters you can relate to.

Lacking sleep is a horrible experience which we've all faced at one point or another but imagine it every night all the time. If someone offered you a lifeline you would take it..

The lifeline offered in Sleepless is a cleverly crafted idea and the author puts a human face on it whilst telling a twisty and compelling tale. I wont give too much away but it is a page turner with some decent obfuscation which keeps you interested.

Overall my only bugbear was that I personally found it a bit predictable in its finale, however overall a very good read. Recommended.

Rating: 2 🍷 🍷
Book: Sleepless
Release Date: Available Now (December 10, 2020)
Author: Louise Mumford
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers/Sci Fi & Fantasy/General Adult Fiction

Sipping Synopsis: Thea, an insomniac, will do just about anything to get more than 3 hours of sleep a night. She ends up hearing an ad about a sleep study. She joins the study with some apprehension and her mom’s trepidation. Once Thea starts the study, she gets more sleep and feels rejuvenated but she cannot think of anything but at what cost?!

Final sipping thoughts: I so wanted to enjoy this book. I liked the synopsis and was interested to see where the book would go. Unfortunately, that was no where for me. The first 30% was interested then it reached a climax and quickly fell from there. I am still not a hundred percent sure I understood what happened.

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley and @HQDigital for an advanced copy of @Sleepless

#Sleepless #HQDigital #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #AmazonReads #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdagon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #bookreviewer #SciFi #Fantasy #AdultFiction

Sleepless’ is the latest book by Louise Mumford.

Thea 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. But it soon becomes clear that the trial doesn’t just want to help Thea sleep. It wants to control her sleep.

‘Sleepless’ is an unsettling story that is cleverly crafted to keep the reader on their toes.

The story is seen mostly through the narrative of Thea, who hasn’t had a proper night’s sleep in years. Admitting defeat and after seeing the clinic advertised a number of times, Thea signs herself up to Morpheus, which guarantees her a cure for her sleep deprivation. The clinic is on an remote island and even though her mother was convinced she’s joining a cult, Thea wonders if her mother is correct when her new friend called Rosie is brutally attacked and Thea finds herself the subject of unwanted attention with her sleep issues.

Right from the offset, this book is an uncomfortable read, from the claustrophobic island to the secretive testing, it’s obvious that something sinister is happening to the participants of the clinic but as Thea delves into the clinic’s work, it brings up some nasty surprises.

The story is vividly written and descriptive from the description of the island, the metal discs that are stuck to the participants head and are unable to be removed to the vivid dreams the keep the people awake.

Thea is an interesting lead as she is determined to find out what’s really happening at the clinic and seems to be able to thrive on little or no sleep. Other elements from the story are seen from the perspective of her mother Vivian. I loved Vivian with her viewpoints and outspoken behaviour and determination to save her daughter.

With a gripping and unsettling plot line that hooks the reader in, ‘Sleepless’ is a chilling thriller with suspicious characters that will leave the reader unable to sleep until they reach the final page.

You can buy ‘Sleepless’ from Amazon and is available to buy from good bookshops.

I read this for a blog tour.

Note to self: never accept an invitation to anything that takes place on an abandoned island. See also And Then There Were None, Last Resort.

This however is not a revenge fantasy enacted over dinner but a "sleep study" gone insane.

As someone who suffers from insomnia, I was intrigued by the premise of this novel, an elite study into sleep, taking place in a purpose built facility on an island that once housed a monastery. An enigmatic founder, a brilliant scientist, high tech used to understand a very basic need - the vital necessity of sleep.

Thea finds herself trapped, they don't want to help her sleep, they want to manipulate her brain into never needing sleep - so she tries to escape. But on a small island, there's nowhere to hide.

This was brilliant, at times absolutely brutal, and I loved the image of Thea's eccentric mother, vagina scarf flapping, sailing to the rescue with the grumpy pub landlord.

As a person who suffers with insomnia, this book spoke to me!
The main character Thea was likeable and I totally understood the feelings of delirium when she hadn't slept!
I was so intrigued by the premise of the sleep trial and loved the mystery surrounding the clinic and the patients. It was a great thriller, and I enjoyed it.
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was fantastic, keeping me engaged most of the time and eager to find out the next events. I did lose track of some of the characters a few points though.

I found the first half of this book utterly gripping in its depiction of an individual barely alive as result of years of insomnia. It was very well written and psychologically accurate. Its descriptions were evocative. But like other readers, the book lost me a little as it progressed with its twists and turns,but also as it switched into much more of a sci-fi futuristic genre. Not withstanding this, it was still a compelling and memorable read.

A really exciting premise that kept me awake until the early hours reading. Really fast paced engaging story I loved the relationship between daughter Thea and mother Vivien. The technology is believable and terrifying for an insomniac such as myself. Filled with humour and brilliabt prose. I seriously had to reread some of the writing as it was so exquisite. This is a real page turner. I was never quite sure who to trust! - a brilliant debut.

As someone who suffers from chronic insomnia (I am writing this at 2am as I’m unable to sleep!), I was very intrigued as to what lay in store. It certainly wasn’t what I expected, but I thoroughly enjoyed it nonetheless. Sinister, edgy and compelling, this dystopian/ sci-fi/ thriller has certainly put me off looking for a cure!

An ideal book for insomniacs as you will keep turning the pages throughout the night!
4.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

Many Thanks to the author and Netgalley for allowing me to read this book before being published in exchange for an honest review.

When I read the blurb I thought it was quite interesting, but when I started to read the book, thinking about Thea not being able to sleep for more than 2 or 3 hours or sometimes even less I thought it was a bit incredible. But who am I to know about sleepless nights?

So Thea can´t sleep properly and she joins a program in a very solitaire island where you don´t have access to your data or even phone calls. Only from a land line. I would´ve run straight away from that place.
So when they start to study her mind and she meets some other people attending and all the weird environment, you can see that this story is not going to end well.

The book is fast paced and you really want to know what happens at the end. It has a few turns that you don´t expect and you want to finish in one sit. For me it was a bit too explicit, the killings, quite descriptive.

A bit too much futuristic /Sci Fic for me.

Overall I did enjoy the book and I wouldn´t mind reading the next one that Louise Mumford writes.

When insomniac Thea is involved in a traffic accident, she decides she needs to tackle the issue that has plagued her most of her life. It has an impact on her social and working life and has left her drained and desperate to try anything. She joins a sleeping programme on St Dunstan island. The programme lasts 6 weeks.

She is approved and joins 50 other volunteers. But at the centre something is not quite right. Why does Thea feel like a prisoner with the lack of any phone signal and not being able to leave her bedroom without permission.

I was completely gripped by this book. The topic of sleep is a great storyline as a lot of people suffer with insomnia. I loved the use of technology to make this into a modern day thriller!!

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

Thanks to Net Galley and HQ for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
Thea is a young woman who suffers from insomnia, it controls her life, she cannot function, everything is a struggle and following a car accident when she is at the end of her tether and decides to take part in a new sleep trial programme and is being paid handsomely to do so.
From Thea arrives at the clinic the book takes a downward turn, and as chapter follows chapter it gets weirder. I kept persevering only to wonder when I got to the end - what on earth have I been reading and why did I continue to persevere to the end.
I am sorry, I just did not like the story, the plot changed several times, the characters were all as strange as each other. I do apologise that I have nothing good to say about this book.

If you pop by my blog regularly you may have seen me say that I’m not scared by things that go bump in the night, but more by things that are potentially real and about human nature etc. Sleepless completely played on these fears for me and I was gripped from the very beginning by the intense storytelling and terrifying reality of the situation.
Sleepless is an edgy thriller with elements of sci-fi and it is superb! With a vibe of Black Mirror (which I love), it’s a story that is difficult to shake off once you’ve delved in.
The opening chapters really develop a character who is at breaking point from lack of sleep. Everything seems disjointed and slow, like moving through treacle and it’s such a clever way of giving the reader that insight into Thea’s mental and physical state. Initially, Thea seems fairly unlikeable as a character and it took me a while to warm to her but again, I think a clever way of demonstrating the effect of insomnia at an extreme level. Such brilliant character development.
The plot is fast paced, and action packed. There was never a moment where I felt I was losing interest or where something was unnecessary. I loved how nobody involved with the study was trustworthy and I was even suspicious of Thea at times as she sometimes seemed unstable and unreliable.
The first half of the book has a more surreal thriller-esq quality and then the second part becomes more like a light sci-fi action thriller. The mix of the genres means I had no idea which way this novel was going to end or which direction it would take.
Full of suspense and some really thought provoking ideas, I couldn’t put this down.

Thea Mackenzie hasn’t had a proper night's sleep in years, her insomnia is destroying her life to the point where she feels she has no life. When an advert appears on her phone with the promise to help “dream your way to a better you – one sleep at a time”, she’s intrigued to discover more. This leads her to applying for a space on a trial for a new sleep app which in turns sees her arrive on St Dunstan’s Island where the only inhabitants are the staff and patients of The Sleep Centre. Soon after her arrival, Thea realises that all is not as it first appears and the storyline takes a sinister twist. It’s not just sleep they are trying to improve, it’s the entire human mind, which turns to disaster as rather than creating better humans, they create monsters.

This was an enjoyable read with a very interesting storyline, especially as one who suffers from insomnia, although thankfully not to the extremes that Thea does. The characters were well developed and each had just the right amount of doubt in their behaviour to make you wonder if they could be trusted or not, which kept me guessing throughout. Overall this was a great writing debut by Louise Mumford, and I look forward to reading more of her work in the future.

Thank you to HQ and NetGalley UK for the review copy.

I enjoyed this book at the start and settled down for a good read.. Unfortunately my initial enjoyment subsided as the story became darker and more complicated and I became very confused as to what was actually happening.. Just over 60% and I admitted defeat as I realised this was not the genre for me. That's not to say it wasn't well.written with good descriptive text and some likeable characters. To me a book.is to be savoured and if it's not to your taste then move on to one that is.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Louise Mumford for this review copy of this book.
I loved it
A fantastic read with thrilling twists
Thea is desperate to find a solution to her sleeplessness so when Morpheus reach out to her she grabs the opportunity with both hands in desperate need of a good night's sleep.
Her mother's convinced this sleep trial is actually a cult, what could go wrong?

You will have to read it to find out!

Such a gripping book I read this in one (sleepless) session one evening. Insomniacs are generally a desperate bunch and there were so many alarm bells ringing for the reader that the characters can't see in their sleep-deprived states. Action from start to finish, the main characters act in believable ways all the way through. I'll be looking out for more by this author. Recommended.

All I can say is that insomniacs are completely unreliable narrators! Thea is going to participate in a sleep study and from there on out things get eerie and creepy... she’s not allowed out of her room or any of her belongings which is one of many red flags... sci-fi dystopian vibes but it totally works here. This book will turn you into an insomniac staying up all hours of the night to get to the bottom of the story!

Really wish i I read this sooner, such a good thriller book especially now during the circumstances. It brings dystopian and action into one

Thea is coming to the end of her tether. Trying to survive on only an hour of sleep a day or none at all is taking its toll on her, so when an ad for sleep therapy turns up she can't wait to grasp the straw held out to her.

Shipped off to isolation, when she agrees to take part in a scientific sleep trial, to what appears to be a new age health resort, Thea starts to experience the advantages of the ideas this strange cult like company suggests. However something isn't quite right in the sleep lab or with the sleep community. Something rabid lurks just outside waiting for someone or something.

I can imagine it is quite hard for someone who has never had to endure insomnia to understand what it is like to be completely and utterly exhausted, and yet unable to sleep night after night. No warm milk, honey, soft music or lavender will help. Staring into darkness as others regenerate and enjoy their slumber.

Mumford uses the utter desperation insomniacs feel as they are willing to grasp at any possible remedy and turns it into a game of illusions, control and mind games.