If you have already read (or watched) Sarah’s brilliant BEHIND HER EYES, then you will know you are in for a twisty story that is part psychological thriller and part WTAF.

INSOMNIA is a difficult book to review without giving away spoilers so bear with me whilst I try to think about what to say.

Emma is our main character. She’s a very successful divorce lawyer, seemingly happily married to Robert who is a stay-at-home dad and mother to a teenage daughter, Chloe and a cute 5 year old son, Will.

Her 40th birthday is fast approaching and whilst most people have mixed feelings about this day, Emma is dreading it, because her own mother had a breakdown on her 40th resulting in Emma and her sister Phoebe being put into care and hasn’t seen her mother since that fateful day. Feeling nervous, anxious and stressed about the impending “BIG DAY” Emma starts to suffer from Insomnia, a condition that her mother started with just prior to her breakdown.

With lack of sleep, Emma starts to experience blackouts, extreme paranoia and slowly starts to lose her grip on reality, so when her sister Phoebe contacts her out of the blue and tells her their mother is in hospital dying, Emma’s life spirals out of control.

This is a book that centres about the stress and pressures of a working mother who is trying to do it all and is slowly falling apart. Without any support from her husband, who appears to be having a mid-life crisis himself, Emma has to face up to her past in order to deal with the present.

As usual with any Pinborough book, you should expect the unexpected.

Emma is worried that, as her 40th birthday approaches, she is likely to share the same fate as her mother by going mad. She starts to suffer insomnia and paranoia and starts to alienate herself from her family. As the days pass and the 40th birthday approaches she finds herself suffering the same bizarre behaviour she saw her mother displaying. Has she really inherited this behaviour or is someone really out to make her look deranged? A new friend seems to be someone who will listen and understand but is she really who she seems? The ending invokes a slightly supernatural climax but not in an unbelievable way and it is certainly an unusual outcome.
I could not put this book down.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for approve me for this arc

I really enjoyed this and loved the twist at the end because I was really starting to believe that Emma was at fault but also knew that wouldn’t be the case.

It was a very fast paced novel which I love for

I always enjoy reading Sarah Pinborough’s books and this was no exception. The plot is tight and the characters are well defined. I’ve never suffered from insomnia but I got a very realistic and vivid picture of how easily things can spiral, especially with paranoia setting in and a complete lack of support from friends and family. Despite her descent, I really liked Emma and was rooting for her to sort everything out. This was probably because the book is written in the first person ie Emma’s point of view which made events much more personal. A cracking read and being greedy, I’m already looking forward to the next one.

I really enjoyed this, a tense, pacy thriller with dark and unsettling undertones. Emma is approaching her 40th birthday and she can't sleep. Previously, her mother also had insomnia and went mad on her 40th birthday. The way the past and present collide is brilliant and the sense of dread as Emma's birthday nears builds so well. The compulsions she deveops become more and more overwhelming, as do the strange and unaccountable events that seem to be happening. She is plagued by memories from childhood, or are they real memories? The twists are fantastic the sinister intent is laid bare. Brilliant and highly recommend.

Emma is a successful lawyer, with a lovely home and great family but as she approaches the age of 40, she suddenly cannot sleep. She is worried, as the same thing happened to her mother, before she lost it and she was warned it could happen to her. As unusual things start to happen around her, Emma begins to think she is losing her mind and question how she can survive like this, with no sleep.

This one was terrifyingly real in some ways, for someone who has gone through a long period of sleepless nights with a long child. In some other ways, you will need to suspend your belief and go with it for the story to work for you. I really enjoyed the characters and considering who was on Emma's side and what may be lurking ahead. Initially it took some time to get into it but once I did I was hooked. Another one I recommend.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and HarperCollinsUK for this gifted advance review copy

Insomnia is a psychological thriller that I did enjoy. Admittedly I found it quite slow at first but I mainly listened to it and the narrator was very good. I actually preferred the times I spent listening rather than reading it . Once I settled into the book I was hooked.

Sarah Pinborough strikes again with a great thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. Normally, I like to provide a review with my own thoughts about the plot, however, I don't want to give anything away on this one. If you're a fan of twisty thrillers with a plot that runs away with you then go for it.

Emma suffers from insomnia and is worried that this is a sign that she is going insane - just like her mother. Is she losing her mind or is someone out to get her and her family?

I don’t normally pick up domestic thrillers but I really enjoyed seeing the relationships between the family members and exploring Emma and her mother’s past. There was some parts that were pretty creepy too!

The writing is very repetitive however I feel like this was a conscious choice as it does show what happens to a mind that is very sleep deprived.

The twists at the end were definitely far-fetched. At first I was not on board as it was so out there, it could never have been predicted. But upon reflection I do feel like it was a unique take on the thriller genre, a genre that is usually full of tropes and therefore very predictable.

I did enjoy this book while reading but I don’t think it’s one that will stick in my mind for long.

Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC.

Bit of a slow start. Struggled to get into it but once the pace picked up I was hooked in and so glad i pushed through the start. On the whole this was a great well written Creepy Thriller. Each time I thought I had things figured out another twist hit me and proved me wrong. Definitely. Recommened!

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first book by this author and I absolutely loved it, I know some people don't necessarily like what this author does with her twists and whete her books go but I really did, I thought it was different and unpredictable which is what I'm looking for in thrillers. I couldn't put this book down at all and sped through it. I'm not going to tell you anything about this book as it's better to go in blind with thrillers but I will tell you that YOU MUST READ THIS TODAY!

I'm a huge fan of Sarah Pinborough and her latest novel Isomnia certainly doesn't disappoint. Readers will probably have heard of her from her Netflix smash Behind Her Eyes. This novel focuses on Emma, whose mother lost her mind when she turned 40. Emma is now approaching that age and finds out she can't sleep, Is the same thing happening to her? No-one, not even Emma's own mind can be trusted. A true page turner, I was hooked to the very last page.

The problem with Insomnia was that I did not like the main character at all and I found it hard to sympathise with her situation. The book was okay, I wasn't gripped by it but I did enjoy it and the ending definitely saved it even if it was slightly confusing. I like where the story went but the characters just prevented me from getting emotionally invested. A good thriller if you like the characters, for sure!

Emma Averell enjoys a wonderful life as a high-powered lawyer with a loyal doting husband and two lovely children. But as she approaches her 40th birthday, insomnia sets in and she has blocks in her memory. She would put it down to aging but this all seems scarily familiar. Emma and her sister Phoebe grew up in foster care due to their mother’s madness setting in just before her own 40th. Could history be repeating itself? This twisty, clever thriller is full of high drama and high emotion. I didn’t know what was real and what was all dark imagination and madness. I couldn’t stop reading it and my mind was thoroughly blown by the end. A pulse-racing, frightening read that is perfect for fans of dark fiction.

Another great book, with so many twists and turns.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

I love Sarah Pinborough’s novels so was highly anticipating this one and am so pleased to say that I loved it! It follows Emma whose mother ‘went mad’ soon after turning 40 and now Emma is around that age and she can’t sleep. Insomnia is plaguing her and no matter what she tries sleep just won’t come. I found this book so unnerving because I suffered with insomnia for years and I know how it makes you feel like you don’t even know which way is up anymore. Emma’s case is extreme but even so it’s creepy. On the surface she was a perfect life but she’s hiding things from her husband and that means she doesn’t have the support that she so badly needs. There are twists and turns in this novel, which I loved and it kept me hooked all the way to the very end. I highly recommend it!

Insomnia is one twisted, addictive thriller! You know that feeling when you need to get to sleep, but you just can't no matter how hard you try? What if it happened every night? It'll make you start to feel crazy. And if it happened to your mother around the same age you are, but hers got so bad that she did the unthinkable after going crazy. What would that do to a person? Insomnia will let you find out. The story is filled with twists and a haunting atmosphere throughout. Highly recommended!!

There was a lot of tension and suspense in this book and it kept me turning the pages to see what happened next. It was obvious to me who was doing the damage to Emma’s car but the reason why was a twist I didn’t see coming. I felt her new friendship was highly unlikely, her neediness didn’t fit with the character she was supposed to be.

I didn’t feel mental health was handled well in this book. Lock them away, section them etc. That and the bizarre explanation at the end spoilt this book for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

Definitely a twisted thriller that takes you on a tense journey of a woman losing her mind! Really enjoyed it, I was gripped and couldn't read it quick enough.

A twisty and creepy domestic noir. Divorce lawyer Emma is about to turn 40 and cannot sleep. Worryingly , the same thing happened with her mum before she was locked up in a secure unit. Is history repeating? Expect suspense, surprises and a sleepless night.