*I’m posting this as part of the XpressoBookTours Sleepless Blog Tour. I recieved a free ebook copy of this in order to do so.
**This is also posted on Fishing For Books.
Title: Sleepless
Author: Michael Omer
Series: (Narrowdale #1)
Publication date: January 10th 201
Genres: Paranormal, Thriller, Young Adult
Synopsis:
Don’t fall asleep. Don’t dream. Don’t get caught.
At the beginning of her freshman year of high school, Amy can think of nothing worse than moving to the boring, suburban town of Narrowdale. And that’s before she starts having the same nightmare over and over again, waking up every night to a creepy whistle outside her window and being haunted by a mysterious, menacing presence. Getting used to the new school becomes the least of her problems.
As she delves deeper to uncover the truth, she unknowingly edges closer to mortal danger. Terrible events that took place years ago threaten to happen again, but now Amy’s life is on the balance. Unfortunately, the one guy who is supposed to protect her, nineteen year old Peter, doesn’t believe her.
Some things seem to happen only in Narrowdale, where dark secrets hide beneath the surface…
As she confronts the mysteries of Narrowdale, Amy documents her experiences in her blog. The book contains live links to this blog.
Now for my review!
Format: Ebook
4.5/5
Sleepless is full of bravery, friendship, creepily intelligent homeless men, weird neighbors, consistent nightmares, darkness, kidnappings, and investigations. It's basically Scooby-Doo, but less cartoonish and childish and more realistic and scary. It's about Amy and how in her new home located in Narrowdale, weird things keep happening. It's about the friends she makes and what they hear or see together. It's about them trying to figure out what Amy's nightmares are about and searching for clues and trying to solve what no one else did. Plus, it's infused with paranormal-like aspects. It's great!
I'll start off with what I don't like, since there's very little.
What I Didn't Like/Had Problems With:
- The beginning.
- I wasn't really sure about Amy in the beginning, because it seemed like she was always complaining (why did we even have to move, I miss LA, the air conditioning guy should know how to do his stupid job, it's so hot, I can't sleep, I don't like most of the girls in my math class) and she seemed a little dull. Her character definitely grew on me, though.
- The pacing, for me, seemed slow. She moves in, spends a week with nightmares and unpacking and talking to her friends over the phone. She starts school, the girls are mean, she doesn't fit in, a nice girl keeps talking to her, she doesn't understand the math, she can't sleep, she forgot her lunch. I just wasn't a huge fan of the beginning because it didn't really capture my interest. I realize now though that it was needed for the story and was a rather great way of introducing the characters and getting us ready for what will soon come.
- uh, that's about it, actually.
What I like:
- Her nightmares. The way they were introduced each time was really interesting. You could feel her mind fog and as her mind turned to that of the other girl, it was a smooth transition and almost eerie.
-
It's dark. My head is pounding. Someone hit it, I suddenly remember. I'm shivering. It's so cold in here, in this dark room. How long have I been here? A day? Two? How many times did he walk in, whisper in my ear? How many times have I tried to talk to him, beg for my life, muffled by the rag stuck in my mouth? (Chap. 26 at 67%)
- The characters.
- Amy: She's brave (although some may call her stupid because she knowingly broke into a house of a kidnapper), determined (she wouldn't stop trying to figure out what her dreams meant until she finally got the answer), and fairly easy to connect with (she's a 14 year old girl moving to a new place and trying to fit in and make friends, she thinks boys are cute and she's normal {if you don't count the nightmares which are basically of the past she knew nothing about}).
- Shane: He only just met Amy, but he's there for her. He's kind, thoughtful, likes to take videos and photos, and he's basically her confident because he can hear what she heard too. He makes her feel like she isn't crazy, basically.
- Coral: She's the nice girl who kept trying to talk to Amy at first. She ends up also being there for Amy, and though she didn't hear what Shane and Amy did that night, she still sticks with them. She tries to help Amy keep up with her studies, she goes along with Amy's ideas even if they're crazy, stupid, or dangerous. They're like the Scooby-Doo gang, alright? They're a group of close friends (it doesn't matter that they just met, they're all friends) who hear and see paranormal things and decide to investigate.
- Edger: He's the creepily intelligent homeless man. Basically, he spews random things to those he meets, and Amy thinks it's because he knows things no one else does. He knew she'd become friends with Shane and that Shane liked the moon, he knew she had money (even the exact amount) even though she told him she didn't have any, and he knew about her nightmares. He even gave her clues on how to find out what they were about and so Amy, Shane, and Coral then looked it up and thus their investigation began.
- Alex: He's the weird neighbor. At first he was kinda creepy, because he seemed to know things she didn't (you shouldn't go out at night, there's thing the come out; bad things. things are best left in the past). He was a cool character though, ending up being someone who helps. I like him.
- The writing.
- It flowed well, had a great tone, definitely had me feeling scared and anxious at some points, and had a great pace (after the small part in the beginning).
-
- Overall, I really enjoyed reading Sleepless and I would recommend this to everyone. Especial if you love thriller or paranormal books.
AUTHOR BIO:
My name is Michael Omer, and I’m a writer, journalist and game designer. I wrote and published my first novel when I was sixteen, and figured I’d keep at it. Since then, I have published two more novels, and wrote… who can even count how many? I’m happily married to a woman who keeps pushing me to write more, and have three kids who insist I should stop writing and come play with them. I also have two dogs.
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