An enjoyable and tension filled thriller but for me it wasn’t quite the same enjoyment as previous book from this author that I read.

A bit of a stop start thriller for me that took a while to get into, I dont know if it was a different writing style to what Im used to, or something else, but I wasnt really captivated as I like to be by a crime thriller. But one of those books where im sure lots of people will love it, just not for me so a 3/5

I’m disappointed in Sleepless as I expected it be be as compelling as Dear Child, also written by Rome Haussmann. However, I found the plot to be disjointed and lacking in structure; there are too many backwards and forwards in time extracts; and altogether, it wasn’t an enjoyable read for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and HQ for the complimentary copy of the book.

I absolutely loved Dear Child and when I saw a new book from Rosy Hausmann I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. Sadly I have to say this 1 didn't live up to the 1st 1 for me. I found the story disjointed and it didn't flow like Dear Child. Maybe it is just me. I might give this another read at a later stage to see if my opinion will change.

There are 2 common themes throughout the book. Dreams, or more accurately nightmares and then the references to a 1944 movie called "a Woman in the window" (not to be confused with the more resend adaptation of the movie based on the book by AJ Finn) I don't know the movie and that is maybe why I didn't always understand the references.
I did get more into the story the more I read but it didn't wow me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Quercus Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

I found this book really tough going. From the start I felt thrown in to something that I did not necessarily understand, and I was confused, for the entire book. A popular one among readers, I just felt lost and could not connect with this story on any level. So frustrating for me!

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book for an honest review.

What did I just read???? Way to many storylines and plots that branch out to sub-plots. Confusion reigns!! I really don't get the epilogue...it made no sense to me! Disappointing read after the authors last book.

I had high hopes for this because Dear Child is one of the best psychological thrillers I have ever read. Unfortunately, Sleepless feels like it was written by an entirely different person.

The story was too confusing to be enjoyable. There were so many different timelines, all of which seemed disjointed and irrelevant. Even now, I'm not sure how the Peter x Nelly storyline relates to the main plot.

I think this could have been a good mystery because what little I did understand, I actually liked. But my confusion overshadowed everything. Reading this on a Kindle didn't help either since it's hard to flip back and forth like you would on a physical book.

The story started making sense about halfway through but by then, I wasn't invested enough in the characters to actually care what was going on.

However, I will still read this author's future works because I loved Dear Child's writing and story.

How good a friend are you? Would you do anything for a friend? When they ask you to help get rid of a body, do you draw the line?
Well those are the questions Nadja has to ask, when Laura asks that question, and boy what a plan Laura has in store. A true thriller with an extremely creepy feel throughout.
I enjoyed Romy's style a slow description of the characters past with the action packed delivery of the current drama.
Thoroughly enjoyed,4*
Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus for the ARC.

This was a good read. Emotionally-charged domestic suspense. It didn’t capture me as the author’s Dear Child did and it was a bit lacking in twists, which diminished my enjoyment a little but overall, it definitely shone in its own unique way. I easily connected with the protagonist and I liked how everything connected in the end.

After reading and enjoying the first book in this series, Dear Child, I was thrilled to get my hands on Sleepless. Nadja was found guilt of a crime many years ago and has served her time. Jump ahead to the present and Nadja now finds herself caught in the middle of something dark and sinister. Is she guilty or is she innocent? And if she is innocent, then what does this have to do with her?

Parts of the story are about Nadja, parts are about another woman by the name of Nelly who is having an affair with a married man, and other parts of the story are letters written to someone, but we are not sure who they are written by or who they are written for. As you read all of these complex parts of the plot in this novel all of the pieces to the puzzle will eventually converge to give you the whole picture of what is truly going on, but you have to be patient, as this doesn’t happen until later in the novel. It keeps you wanting to know more, as you flip through the pages trying to determine just what in the world is going on. Be patient, all will be revealed.

You will devour this book as you try to guess for yourself what is going on, and be sitting on the edge of your seat as you read the chapters, Full of twists, shocking turns and dark thrills, you will enjoy this book until the very end!

Having really enjoyed reading ’Dear Child’ I was thrilled when I was approved to review ‘Slepless’. Unfortunately for me this book was no where near of the same calibre as the first.
The beginning is really confusing, there are so many characters and I couldn’t understand how they all connected to each other. I kept reading hoping for a big reveal and amazing ending, but I was let down again.
So this book was not for me, but don’t give up on the author, do read ‘Dear Child’!
Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus book for letting me review this book.

Having read the authors other book Dear Child and loved it I was really looking forward to this one. I'm sad to say it didnt live up to my expectations, I'm not sure if it was the translation from German or just the fact it felt a little disjointed and complicated to follow at time. This would not put me off reading again from this author as I said before I loved her other book, this one just wasn't for me

To call this novel dark would be a huge understatement. Covering guilt, retribution, family and sacrifice this is quite a read. It has a murder at its heart, but there are so many twists and different narrators that the book sucks you right in and doesn’t let you go. This is a book I will not forget in a hurry and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Although I enjoyed this book I found it a little disjointed. It flits from past to present and from 1st person to an unsent letter written from the main character to an unknown character
2 separate storylines, which both feature the main Character Nadia. One from her childhood, explains how she comes to be where she is and 1 from the situation she now finds herself in, which centres around her boss and her friend, his wife. Just as I thought things were making sense and coming together it became all jumbled again.
I did wonder if this was more to do with the translation from original language to English or how it was written
That aside I did like this book and the story it tells.
Looking forward to reading more from Romy

I almost never look at reviews before starting a book. But I had a funny feeling about this. And luckily I had a glance and realized this book was different.

The first one third was a hotch-potch of scenes which felt to be 3 parallel plotlines. It was only in the latter half that they were connected to form the foundation of the story with thrills and twists.

The writing style too needed some warming up as thoughts and actions were kept intermingled and most times felt to be on a tangent and quite rambling.

But the book soon adjusted itself to be a thriller that it was. There was a pulse spike – mine with time jumps – the book’s. Yet the layered storyline grasped my interest to lead me to a finish which again fell slightly flat.

Some of the writing had the smooth intricacy that was a pleasure to read. But only some parts of it in latter sections. This surely was a roller coaster ride with highs and lows and everything in between and some unlikable characters of different shades.

Maybe this style of writing would take some getting used to…both by the author and readers to pull it off.

I always feel conflicted by books like this! It was well written, but I feel like I’ve read it before.

Translated from its original German, this one is a classic European thriller. Which I usually love, but the plot was so predictable. It wasn’t bad at all, but didn’t have that kick to separate it from the many other thrillers I’ve read. I definitely think something that made other readers love this one was lost in translation for me.

The BIGGEST issue I had was with the tag-line on the cover. In one sentence, it ruined the twist and any semblance of mystery, taking this book from a thriller to a lack-luster character analysis. Such a bummer.

I hope you all like it more than I did! 💛

Having previously enjoyed Dear Child, I was so looking forward to reading Sleepless. Unfortunately, I found it to be a disappointing read. The beginning was too convoluted, with far too many characters and storylines that don't tie together till halfway into the book. Although the story started to improve, by then I found it to be too predictable thereafter.

I absolutely loved Dear Child and couldn’t wait to read Romy Hausmann’s newest book Sleepless.

Our main protagonist is Nadja Kulka who was convicted of a crime many years ago as a teen. Is she a murderer or not, something to ponder for now!

Nadja was jailed and served her time and is now working in a steady job as an assistant for a criminal lawyer. When her boss Gero’s wife Laura gets involved in a murder and asks Nadja for help Nadja finds herself desperate to please and then in a situation where she finds herself struggling just to survive.

There is a further thread in the story where there are extracts of letters written to somebody but they are never sent. I think the story would of made more sense at the beginning if we knew who was writing these letters.

There’s another additional thread about a married guy Paul who is having an affair with a young woman that is obsessed with old films and dies horribly in a forest.

This was not an easy read, it was a slow burn and I honestly enjoyed Dear Child much more. It took about halfway through the book before I could connect all the seemingly discordant threads together from the present and past timelines and make sense of it all, so have patience it will be worth it.

Sleepless is cleverly written and is an engaging and complex story. I admire this author’s extremely dark and extraordinarily writing style. I’m looking forward to what she publishes next.

Publication date 24 June 2021

Having read and enjoyed Dear Child by Romy Hausmann I was delighted to be given the opportunity to read Sleepless, a very different book. It is well written and compulsive reading but unfortunately rather confusing. Having reached the conclusion I felt I needed to look back over the book again to understand everything and get it ordered in my mind, which did detract slightly, hence only 3 stars.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Romy Hausmann/Quercus Books for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

I really enjoyed this book, if you are looking for a dark read then you need to give this a try! I do like this author and I'm looking forward to reading more!