Thank you to Kathleen Barber, Simon & Schuster, and Netgalley for an advanced reader copy of Are You Sleeping in exchange for an unbiased review.

I was attracted to this story's premise because it examines the social ramifications of podcasts like Serial. How does retelling and re-investigating a murder (like the first series of Serial's podcast) affect the victims involved in the case?

Are You Sleeping has a female narrator, Josie, who has tried hard to flee the life she once had growing up in a small Midwestern town. After backpacking the world in an attempt to find solitude from the trauma of her father's murder and other family issues, she finds herself in the furthest place from home and her rural upbringing: New York. She has a posh apartment, a sweet and caring boyfriend from New Zealand, and an enjoyable job at a bookstore. Things couldn't be better for Josie from an outsider's perspectives. That is, until the life she tried to escape comes back to haunt her when a blogger/"reporter" decides to reopen Josie's father's murder and make it into what becomes a viral podcast.

Things start to fall to pieces for Josie and her family as their past becomes a "commodity" (to use the author's words) to sell a podcast. Josie, who changed her name for anonymity purposes after her father's death, is forced to confront the family she left behind when her estranged mother commits suicide. She is also forced to deal with her twin sister, who has a sordid past that continues to follow Josie. Her family comes together for her mother's funeral in the town in which Josie was raised, and soon secrets are unraveled that will provide more fodder for the crazed followers of the podcast. Was her father truly murdered by the next neighbor's son, or was it someone in the family or community?

The twists and turns in this book make it fun to read, but the best part of it was the character development. Josie's character felt authentic and real as did the characters surrounding her. A really enjoyable suspense/thriller that will keep you turning the pages!

In a sea of psychological thrillers this book really does seem to stand out!
Really enjoyed the twisty and suspenseful plot!

I was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy of this book, many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. I went into this book blind having never read this author before and having no idea whether it was going to be good or not. Within the first few pages, I knew I was going to love it. Also loved the social media aspect in this book. Who killed Josie and Lanie's father and why? Was Warren guilty or innocent? It was a page turner, I read within two days and really enjoyed Josie's character as well as Aunt A and Ellen, not too sure about that Poppy Parnell though, haha. Very impressed and looking forward to more books by this author.

Talk about an addicting, compulsively-readable book. The author truly kept me needing to know what was going to happen next, with a captivating format that includes the transcripts, commentary, and social media of an investigative reporter (a la the Serial aspect of the story), coupled with the first-person narrative of Josie Buhrman, the daughter of the murdered man featured in the podcasts. Josie's storyline was immersive, fully developed, and​ she portrayed a​ like-able voice in which I was dying for a happy ending. Did I get one, you'll have to read to see. A book I'd recommend to all the thriller fans out there.

I loved this book. I couldn't stop reading. The author seamlessly integrated modern elements without it feeling forced. I liked the characters and and story was interesting from beginning to end.

I really enjoyed Are You Sleeping. I loved how it had a ripped-from-the-headlines feeling to it, and the mystery was enough to keep me turning the pages as fast as I can. I wish the ending hadn't been so abrupt but everything was resolved in a satisfying way. The social media elements (as in comments from message boards/twitter/etc) sounded exactly like what you would expect them to, well done to the author. I look forward to more from Kathleen Barber.

Thoroughly enjoyed this title - read it in less than 24 hours because it was so gripping! The unique format of interspersing Serial-like podcasts was refreshing and modern. I would have, however, preferred a bit more of an ending for the main characters and not ending on the podcasters opinions/spin on the story. All in all a great read.

Barber has written an original thriller that centers around a dysfunctional family and a murder that changed their lives 13 years ago. Well-written with excellent and believable interaction between characters. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

Are You Sleeping is well-written and compelling. I especially enjoyed how the main character leaped off the page. She was memorable and multi-faceted. Not the easiest thing to do!

As a big podcast fan (admittedly sparked by Serial), I found the premise of this thriller intriguing: a hugely popular podcast has begun exploring the murder of a young woman’s father. The young woman is Josie Buhrman – who has changed her name and removed herself from the town where it happened, cutting herself off completely from her estranged twin sister Laine and the aunt who raised the two girls when their mother ran away to join a cult following the murder of her husband. Got it so far? I admit I was sort of hooked just reading the blurb about this, so was happy to receive an advance copy from Gallery Books and NetGalley in return for my honest review.

When the book begins, we meet Josie Buhrman, who has spent the last ten years away from her hometown. Josie has finally put down roots in New York, settling into domestic life with her partner Caleb, a man she met while traveling the world in search of – what? Seems like she mostly wanted to just be AWAY and NOT the murder victim’s daughter. But she has lied to Caleb about every detail of her past, including her name and she isn’t quite sure how to tell him the truth: “There was a minefield of lies between us, and the only safe thing to do was to say nothing at all.” When she receives word that her mother has died, she heads back to her hometown, where she is confronted by the Sarah Koenig wannabe Poppy Parnell, whose podcast has stirred up a s&%storm questioning the conviction of the neighbor, who was identified by Laine who claimed to have witnessed the killing.

I enjoyed reading the story, and felt some aspects of the characters were well drawn. The author cleverly identified a hook that might entice readers, and she has a knack for creating a tense scene, as when Josie goes in search of her sister: “I could hear the feathery tops of weeds brushing against the car’s undercarriage as I slowly inched forward in the darkness, squinting to make out the confines of the overgrown road.”

I willingly suspended my disbelief about the outcome and the relationships in Josie’s life (both familial and otherwise), and just went along for the ride. Four stars.

This was a suspenseful and enjoyable book. Loved the use of the podcast and twitter remarks to add to the storyline. It kept me guessing to the end.

This book was so good!! I was completely riveted by the plot and could not read it fast enough! I was hooked by the details of Josie's life, and the tantalizing tidbits dropped selectively about her and Lanie's history.

Josie Birnmham has built a new life for herself and partner Caleb in New York, far away from her disaster of a family in the midwest. To make her life easier, she’s kept a few details of her life from Caleb. he knows nothing about her father’s murder, her mother’s membership in a cult, or her sister Lanie. But a reporter with a podcast about Josie’s father’s unsolved murder is about to change all that. Josie’s carefully constructed life begins to fall apart and when her mother dies, she has to travel home to confront her sister and the lies and secrets that have kept them apart.