Hello everyone! Welcome to yet again another edition of Friday Reads! This week's first entry is another recommendation by the quite awesome Alyssa from The Eater of Books, and one that had been on my TBR list for quite a while, and as such is part of my 2014 TBR Pile Challenge!
Insomnia by J.R. Johansson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a very interesting read! I had it in my TBR list for a while, and when I got approved for the sequel in NetGalley I knew it was the right quick to get to reading it already!
Insomnia is the story of Parker, a teenager that cannot sleep, he doesn't have his own dreams, he ends up inhabiting the dreams of whomever he made eye contact last. No sleep is taking a horrible physical toll on him, and a mental one too, since he hasn't told anyone around him for fear of being thought insane and sent to a padded room. It all changes when he meets a girl with different dreams, the kind of dreams that allow him to sleep for the first time in forever. But instead of things getting better for him, it all starts going downhill from there.
This book was fantastic at building the suspense and to make me feel all the creepy-ness in it! I could really feel for Parker and how he suffers, how torn he is about all his choices. His descent into certain degree on madness and obsession is written so well that you feel like you're going downwards with him!
The other characters were also great, I loved Finn as main sidekick/best friend/comic relief, he never felt like an add-on but always had a voice that served as a contrast of normalcy with Parker's increasing otherness. Mia was a great character, even if at first we aren't sure how important she'll really be. Addie is a bit of an odd one here, she's Finn's sister and Parker seems to have a crush on her, but we never really get to know her too much or feel for her much until the very end.
The mystery and the twists in the book were fantastic, but the one thing that annoyed me and that actually costed this book one star was the lack of answers we get. We only know what Parker has somewhat figured out about his "curse" or "ability" and although we suspect something bigger is at stake and we're even teased at and hinted at more answers coming we are not given any in this book, and that really irked me!
This was a very engaging book that kept absorbed and intrigued, turning page after page, and I give it well deserved 4 stars. I'm only annoyed at the lack of answers by the end of the book about the bigger picture! Hopefully I'll get some of them in the sequel!
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Insomnia by J.R. JohanssonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a very interesting read! I had it in my TBR list for a while, and when I got approved for the sequel in NetGalley I knew it was the right quick to get to reading it already!
Insomnia is the story of Parker, a teenager that cannot sleep, he doesn't have his own dreams, he ends up inhabiting the dreams of whomever he made eye contact last. No sleep is taking a horrible physical toll on him, and a mental one too, since he hasn't told anyone around him for fear of being thought insane and sent to a padded room. It all changes when he meets a girl with different dreams, the kind of dreams that allow him to sleep for the first time in forever. But instead of things getting better for him, it all starts going downhill from there.
This book was fantastic at building the suspense and to make me feel all the creepy-ness in it! I could really feel for Parker and how he suffers, how torn he is about all his choices. His descent into certain degree on madness and obsession is written so well that you feel like you're going downwards with him!
The other characters were also great, I loved Finn as main sidekick/best friend/comic relief, he never felt like an add-on but always had a voice that served as a contrast of normalcy with Parker's increasing otherness. Mia was a great character, even if at first we aren't sure how important she'll really be. Addie is a bit of an odd one here, she's Finn's sister and Parker seems to have a crush on her, but we never really get to know her too much or feel for her much until the very end.
The mystery and the twists in the book were fantastic, but the one thing that annoyed me and that actually costed this book one star was the lack of answers we get. We only know what Parker has somewhat figured out about his "curse" or "ability" and although we suspect something bigger is at stake and we're even teased at and hinted at more answers coming we are not given any in this book, and that really irked me!
This was a very engaging book that kept absorbed and intrigued, turning page after page, and I give it well deserved 4 stars. I'm only annoyed at the lack of answers by the end of the book about the bigger picture! Hopefully I'll get some of them in the sequel!
View all my reviews
Ahhh, yes, so glad that you loved this one as well! I was so impressed by this debut! I don't usually like "scary" books, but I really liked the story in this book. I had a lot of questions too, by the end of the book, but there is the sequel! I hope you like Paranoia!
ReplyDeleteFabulous review, Pili!
Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!
Yep, this was so tense and creepy! Awesome book, just very aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah about not getting more answers, but yeah, I'm now reading Paranoia! ;)
DeleteThanks for your recommendations, as always, Alyssa!
Great review Pili! I totally agree that there were too many questions left unanswered. The concept of this series is very intriguing to me so I really can't wait to read the next book and see what more we find out about Parker's ability!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Liliana! YAY for having the next book!
DeleteAwesome review Pili. <3 I'm glad you enjoyed this book :D I do own both books. Well, I have pre-ordered book two, lol. I'm hoping to read them soonish :D And hoping I will enjoy them too :) Fingers crossed you will like the sequel as well. <3 Thank you for sharing sweetie :)
ReplyDeleteI hope you will enjoy them both, Carina! Thank you for visiting and being so awesome sweetie!
DeleteI am so happy you liked this one, Pili. I read it 2 years ago, I think? Or a year ago, right before it was published, and loved it! I agree with you that the author was successful in building up suspense and the creepiness factor. That's the number one reason why I loved this one, although the reveal of the mastermind/antagonist was quite anticlimactic ^^;; I didn't request the sequel yet as I have so many on my plate at the moment, so I'll wait until it's released!
ReplyDeleteFaye at The Social Potato Reviews
I'm hoping to finish the sequel this weekend, so far the suspense and creepiness are building up pretty well already and I'm only at 11%!
DeleteThank you, Faye!