4.5 rounded down

‘Sleep.
Those little slices of death....’ Edgar Allan Poe
‘Death, so called, is a thing that makes men weep,
And yet a third of a life is passed in sleep’ Lord Byron

Do you ever wonder what you might have done whilst asleep? What we might be capable of? Ben Prince is a forensic psychologist and sleep doctor on Harley Street, he becomes infamous and inextricably linked to the shocking case of Anna O, otherwise known as Sleeping Beauty. Who is Anna O? What has she allegedly done?

I love the concept and premise of the novel with the author hooking me into the mystery of Anna O just as Ben Prince is himself. Add in cleverly utilised Greek tragedy, Shakespeare, Hitchcock references and Truman Capote’s ‘In Cold Blood’ and you have an immersive slow burner mystery thriller. Woven into this gripping storyline is psychology which creates an feeling of authenticity especially Resignation Syndrome which is well worth reading about. Whilst some of the psychology references might be slightly above my head, I think they are necessary in giving credence to the character of Ben Prince who is excellently portrayed, as is Anna O.

The story is told via several perspectives and in different formats which creates a multi layered mystery locked within a mystery like a set of Russian dolls. Each perspective drip feeds and adds to our understanding and yet conversely serves to deepen the mystery which is tantalising. It also builds an aura of threat and there are some terrifying moments. Ultimately, a deadly cat and mouse game ensues which is both shocking and tension fuelled. The suspense grows, there’s a web of lies to navigate as well as chameleon characters whose deception is breathtaking. Obviously, my jaw drops on more than one occasion with the excellent plot twists and the ending is the biggest twist of all - just the way I like it!

Whilst I genuinely enjoyed this and I think the world will know ‘Anna O’s name’ it does get a bit protracted in the second half. However, it’s got bestseller written all over it. It’s different, intelligent, fascinating and well written. What more can you want?!

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to HarperCollins UK for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Benedict Prince is a psychologist specialising in sleep and works at the exclusive Abbey clinic on Harley Street. Ogilvy has been "asleep" for the last 4 years. She is alleged to be the killer of two of her closest friends but she has not been awake since the night they died. Anna is being held at Broadmoor but now the Ministry of Justice want Benedict to see if he can get her to wake up so that a trial can be held.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book - couldn't put it down. Told from several POVs it kept me gripped right from the beginning - loved it.

Thanks to Netgalley, Harper Collins and Matthew Blake for the ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

A real thriller full of twists and turns and a surprise ending. The story was very interesting and the characters were well written.

Anna O
By Matthew Blake

I’m always sceptical when a book that’s not out for 5+ months is brandished with the heading “the instant global phenomenon” because this book was waffle central and far from phenomenal read.

If we cut out the unnecessary physco-babble we could have cut a good hundred pages off the 400+ pages, it is too long for it’s own good, it is has more padding than your grans haemorrhoid pillow.

Initially I was really excited when I got this from Netgalley early, and I did finish it quickly but not because I enjoyed it, I just wanted it over and I refuse to be beaten by a book.

You don’t have to be asleep to work out “who did it” from about 20% in although being asleep would be preferable. obviously the book about a woman murdering two people whilst sleepwalking and then never waking up was really intriguing, but then spoiler alert she wakes up and it was basically 200 pages of pointless tension building that never went anywhere.

You read from multiple perspectives but none of them are really that interesting, sleep doctor Ben is just a one man pity party who loves Harry Potter references and is constantly woe is me and honestly, could have done without him in my life. His wife’s just as bad. The only half interesting character is Lola, but even then it’s a stretch and she doesn’t get much airtime.

After the murders are concluded (pretty early on in the scheme of things) there are a lot of side stories that never get closure, they played a vital role in how they lead to the big stab fest and then they’re just not mentioned again and it just feels like they were mentioned (numerous times) just to pad the story out. Because the pacing and story progression was an absolute cluster f**k.
“DEATH, SLEEPING, STABBY, WAKEY WAKEY, WHOS THAT CHILD?, SO SCARED, SURPRISE BITCH, FIN.

Now don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t the worst book I’ve read, and there were some enjoyable aspects to it, it was just very medical jargon heavy and after a while it just got a little taxing.

The concept was what drew me in, but it didn’t stick.

I was waiting for the plot twist to come and it didn’t, so when it was confirmed Person A did it all along I was just like ugh. Brilliant. That didn’t take much to work out. Unless that was the point and either I’m a sloppy reader and I’ve not picked up on how the book was meant to be interpreted or it was just really obviously written when you ignored the medical text that riddled the book.

The premise for the story was brilliant, but it just didn’t fully own it, the last 50 or so pages felt incredibly rushed to try and tie up loose ends and just fell a little flat. “I’m scared, I’m not safe, they’re going to kill me” repeat every fourth paragraph until the end of the book.

Yeah, don’t think this is going to be the phenomenon they’re selling it as personally.
If you like twists and turns go on a helter skelter because this was as obvious as 2+2=4 even thought the book tries to tell you the answer is 5.

Anna O has apparently stabbed her two friends to death while sleepwalking. Afterwards, Resignation Syndrome keeps her asleep for four years.
An exciting premise for a story, the book held my attention well until around halfway through when it began to drag. Sometimes the plot felt like it was going around in circles: the characters weren't likeable and just didn't click with me. There was a distinct lack of action and dialogue and the novel seemed as it if were made up only of the characters' thoughts that twisted and turned around a bizarre plot. Although it is clear that the author can write well, I didn't particularly enjoy this book and was relieved when I reached the end.
2.5 stars rounded up.

Thanks to NetGalley for an e-book ARC.

Anna O- asleep for 4 years as a result of a traumatic incident resulting in the death of her 2 best friends...but all is not as it seems.
The story moves between Annas journal and the blog of someone calling themselves suspect8 as well as current day sleep doctors Bloom and Ben, who are tasked with waking Anna.
There are so many plot twists that it is impossible to review without giving anything away, but I did find the ending unsatisfactory- I needed more!

I’m not usually a reader of mystery novels but the description of this book sounded interesting so I took a chance.

It took me a bit to get into it but when I did I found it enjoyable. I did figure out the guilty party before finishing but there was a point there where I doubted myself for a few pages!

All in all a really good enjoyable book.

I could not put this down - even when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it, and I tore through the whole thing in about 48 hours. I guessed the ending twist very early on, but the book is just twisty enough that I was second guessing myself for most of the book - by the time the ending came around I'd convinced myself I must be wrong, so it was almost a surprise when my theory from the first few pages turned out to be right after all. I finished the book days ago and have already found myself coming back to it multiple times. Possibly slightly predictable, but pulled off masterfully. It's going to be huge.

Anna O by Matthew Blake is an unputdownable book. I was enthralled by the description and was very excited to read it.

For the last four years, Anna O has been in a coma like condition called resignation syndrome. Ever since the night her two friends and business partners were murdered at a team building camp in Oxfordshire.

The story unfolds from Ben, Anna’s psychologist, perspective in the present day. Without wanting to give away any spoilers, it also unfolds from other people’s perspectives and also Anna’s in the form of her diary leading up to the night of the murders.

This is a must-read for thriller fans. There were so many twists and turns which kept me guessing right up to the very end.

I can’t wait to see what Matthew Black writes next!

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Harper Collins, for making this e-ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Well this had me gripped throughout! I could not work out who it was!

I loved how we were in the present time but also visiting the past thanks to Anna’s diary entries which helped to fill in some gaps but also gave us some red herrings.

Brilliantly written and the twists and turns just kept coming. It kept me guessing right until the end! I felt sorry for Ben as I did feel that he was a good guy but those scenes towards the end changed my mind and then I felt sorry for him again! Honestly fabulous!

Four years ago two young people were brutally stabbed to death on a farm with the murderer nearby with the knife still clutched in her hand and a message sent out to family ‘I’m sorry I think I’ve killed them’, what else would class you as guilty like this except the main suspect Anna Ogilvy aka ‘Anna O’ is in a deep sleep also known as Resignation Syndrome, which is a condition that causes long term sleep spanning from months to even years. Anna has been asleep for 4 years and until she wakes up she cannot be put on trial for the murders.. everybody is waiting for her to finally wake up and share her side of the story and what really happened that night.

Anna O is a very interesting book that as soon as you start getting further in you can tell the condition has been very well researched by the author. I enjoyed reading about this condition which I had never heard of before which really intrigued me into the premise and made me want to read further.

Told in multiple POVS as well as some of Anna’s journal entries, you learn about Anna’s past struggles from sleep walking, her home life, the struggles she is facing with her best friends and a situation between themselves and who is PatientX.. I admit I first thought I knew who they were but after getting it wrong first time I was adamant on my second pick and was glad I was finally right.

Very well written that has the aspects of a slow burn thriller that will keep you reading and wanting to know the truth of what really happened on the farm. I was very interested throughout the reading process of Anna O and really enjoyed it and would recommend to other readers.

The publication date is to be released in February 2024, a book that will keep readers intrigued.

Thank you to NetGalley to HarperCollins UK for the copy of this arc in exchange of an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC! The publication date is the 1st February 2024. This is the first book I’ve read from this author and it won’t be the last! This book is one of the best books I’ve read so far this year!

The book starts with a bang and an intriguing premise and I was hooked from the first page. This isn’t an ordinary psychological thriller, there is a lot of detail in relation to the psychology of sleep disorders. I was extremely intrigued by the plot and what the inspiration for this book was that made the author write it. I couldn't put this down, I raced through the pages wanting to know more for example who is behind the Suspect 8 blog? Also, what caused Anna to be asleep for so many years and how was Patient X related it all so many questions!!

Overall, a fantastic read and if you read this book you definitely won’t be disappointed! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read!

Sadly I could not get into this book. I must say I don’t believe it was the story itself at fault, more than my mood wasn’t right for this book. I did also struggle with the format of the kindle version. I honestly didn’t make it that far into the story so I don’t want to rate it low for what I believe was my own reading mood which didn’t suit the book the times I did attempt to read it.

A gripping, slow burn thriller perfect for fans of Alex Michaelides and AJ Finn about the complexities of the unconscious and what we will do for revenge. A bestseller in the making.

'Anna O' was well-written, though not to my tastes. The foreshadowing was very well done -- just enough for the reader to work out what was going on, but not making it too obvious. I find it difficult to review this book because, while I did not enjoy it, there is nothing wrong with it. It's original and the pacing is great.

I'd read about this book on social media and was delighted to receive an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.

Anna O is a patient who has been asleep for three years. She was found asleep beside her dead friends, knife in hand. The government wants her to wake up so she can stand trial. Ben Prince., a forensic psychologist specialising in sleep disorders has been given the task of waking her.

Told mainly from the POV of Anna (through her diaries) and Ben as well others this is a meaty book. There is a lot of psychology in it with references to Freud throughout as well as detailed explanations of resignation syndrome, a psychological (or more likely social) phenomenon where people who have lost hope withdraw from the world. It's not new. It's been written about at least from the time of WW2 where it was used to describe certain prisoners in concentration camps by Bruno Bettelheim amongst others. Bettelheim used it to explain autism in children leading to the now discredited "refrigerator mother' theory. I am a psychologist by profession so found this interesting. However overall I didn't gel with the book. The characters didn't resonate with me and I found I couldn't connect with them. There were parts that interested me but at times there seemed to be a lot of information dumping especially towards the end.

I suspect this will be a marmite book. I didn't hate it but it dragged in places for me and I didn't love it. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This is not a genre i would normally read, but i was intrigued by the blurb.

This is s story about Anna, a young woman who commits murder whilst she was sleepwalking. She has been asleep since.

Psychiatrist Ben believes he can wake Anna up to face trial and aeranges with the home office to have her transferred to his place of work, a clinic in London.

However Annas case not only challenges Bens perception of Psychiatry, but of himself.

A very twisty ending i did not see coming.

Thank you for letting me read this advanced copy, I was intrigued by the front cover as soon as I saw it. The book started off great and I thought it was going to hook me and be a real page turner, however, after a quarter of the way in I found it hard to keep reading. I was again intrigued by the outcome but it just seemed to be going a long way around to get there. It did have lots of twists and turns and kept you thinking but maybe too many for my liking.

This starts with a bang and an intriguing premise - it appears Anna O has killed two people before succumbing to resignation syndrome, falling asleep for four years. Dr Ben Prince, a sleep psychologist with a complicated personal history of his own, has been put in charge of trying to wake her. So far, so good. But after that, I'm not sure this book knows what it wants to be or where it wants to go. There are multiple points of view, none of them delving deep enough for any satisfactory character development and most of the narrative consists of inner thoughts, which tell us what characters are feeling but rarely show us their behaviour through dialogue and action. This book definitely has potential but feels like it's not quite there yet.

Four years ago two young people were stabbed to death at a rural hospitality farm, their presumed killer, found holding the bloody knife fell into a fugue state and has not woken up since. After being kept at Broadmoor she is transferred to a Harley street clinic where a young psychologist thinks he can wake her up. As his methods get closer to success, one of his senior colleagues is murdered, and as he is the one who found her, he is in the frame. As events become more and mor threatening to him the mystery of who did the original murders and why and who is now pulling the strings becomes more obscure. Some old case files from Broadmoor of the murdered senior might help him to work it out. Its a fascinating plot, utterly gripping and you won't guess whodunit.