Sleepless by Romy Hausmann was a highly anticipated read for me as I enjoyed Their first book but unfortunately this was so disconnected I did not have a clue what was going on and ended up giving up 20% in.

To say the first third of this was all over the place and was incoherent is an understatement. Less sleepless and more sleep inducing. In most instances I would just have given up, but with nothing else on my virtual reading pile I ploughed on. Eventually, things start to make some sense and the book got into a bit of a rhythm at last, and eventually has a good bit of twisty cat and mouse thriller action. There is some nice stuff and an interesting theme about crimes of passion, sacrifice and regret. But, ultimately, the book is just too disjointed and the characters too unbelievable.

Book Review: "Sleepless" by Romy Hausmann

OFFICAL SYNOPSIS: It's over, my angel. Today I'm going to die. Just like her. He's won.

It's been years since Nadja Kulka was convicted of a cruel crime. After being released from prison, she's wanted nothing more than to live a normal life: nice flat, steady job, even a few friends. But when one of those friends, Laura von Hoven - free-spirited beauty and wife of Nadja's boss - kills her lover and begs Nadja for her help, Nadja can't seem to be able to refuse.

The two women make for a remote house in the woods, the perfect place to bury a body. But their plan quickly falls apart and Nadja finds herself outplayed, a pawn in a bizarre game in which she is both the perfect victim and the perfect murderer . . .

MY THOUGHTS:

The last line of the synopsis totally gives away the whole plot and spoiled my overall enjoyment of the book which is such a shame because it is a well crafted well written cat and mouse thriller, I hope the publishers will consider rephrasing it so it doesn't totally give away where the story is headed - as that for me was a great plot twist and rather unique so I would have love to have been blindsided by it.

It does jump around in timelines and POVs which creates a bit of confusion in the first half of the book but as the plot moves on and comes together it starts to make sense, although some of the backstory crimes really do feel irrelevant and a bit like add ons to the main story.

Overall I thought it was a good story which gives a harrowing view of Poland and Germany, landscape and cultures I do not know much about so I did enjoy the way the author brought the setting to life through Nadja's flashbacks and letters but the spoiler in the synopsis and somewhat confusing past POVs and flashbacks mean I would rate this a solid 3/5

Thank you to the publisher, author and @netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review - publication date: 24 June 2021.

2.5 stars

I stuck with this as it had some great reviews AND because I'd enjoyed the previous book.
However,I can't get past the fact that the first half just didn't make sense to me.
It jumped about a lot,with no evident connection between the letters and other stories.
Whilst it did all become clear,it took far too long to get there for me to say I fully enjoyed the book.

Review to be posted at later date

I found this book rather macabre, dark and disturbing being not an easy read. The first part was very muddled and I almost gave up but glad I didn't as it all started to make sense. The narrative is from several different voices and jumps about in time which doesn't help. There are many twists and turns and unexpected moments. I must confess I didn't really enjoy it and certainly not as much as Dear Child.

As much as I enjoyed Dear Child, the previous book by this author, I found this one to be an utter mess that for most part didn’t make sense. The book has several narratives and different time frames that ramble along and the closer you get to the end they start to make sense but there is a whole lot that doesn’t. I can’t even really describe the plot as I didn’t really follow anything at all, and it’s not that I don’t read this type of book, I do. I enjoy a good crime thriller and I read a lot, but would not be recommending this.
#netgalley #sleepless

I just didn’t click with this one. Too many plot threads meant I couldn’t connect with or get interested in the characters, and there’s something overly formal about the prose that isn’t working for me.

I loved Dear Child, but this book was a much harder read. The story was sketchy in places but I am glad I am stuck with it, it was worth persevering with

Sleepless- Romy Hausmann

I was very eager to read this one having seen a great reaction to Dear Child, Romy's first novel.

It gets off to a cracking start, Nadja regains consciousness after fainting at the counter in a rural petrol station, her wig has fallen off, is she in disguise? On the run?

After a great opening it settles down for the first 40%, there are different viewpoints, some jumps in time and plenty of backstory.

This is a tense and complex thriller, and once the scene has been established it really picks up the pace and ramps up the tension. I will make the comparison to Gillian Flynn's classic Dark Places, with multi-layered past and presents, and dark histories.

Nadja is great main character, a vulnerable victim / determined survivor wishing for things others take for granted, family and a social life.

Very enjoyable overall, dark, twisty and satisfying. I will definitely be seeking out Dear Child and looking forwards to whatever Romy writes next.

Sadly I struggled with this tale,. Between the random #letters and Nadja's own confession that she couldn't write them where did they come from? Yes she had a less than spectacular start in life but surely that wasn't roses shecould smell. Wasn't sure where Petre and Nelly fitted in until the end.

This psychological thriller is a translation from the German but the quality of the prose is such that there is no real evidence of this. It is the author’s second novel and I see that I made the same point about the quality of the translation when I reviewed her debut novel “Dear Child”.
The story is set in and around Berlin and concerns the interactions between three women and three men. Some events are witnessed from the perspective of more than one of the characters and there is a fair amount of flashback, some of it in the form of letters written but never sent.
Nadja was an abused child who may have killed her mother or may have witnessed the crime. In either case she is severely traumatised (PTSD or similar). Released from prison she is given a job by her lawyer, Ludwig, the head of the legal firm, as an assistant for his second in command, Gero.
Laura, a junior at the law firm, was Nadja’s friend but the relationship became strained when she married Gero and the had a child.
Nelly is a naïve young hotel receptionist having an affair with one of the guests, Paul. When she dies in suspicious circumstances, Gero becomes the latter’s defence lawyer.
Things start to come apart when Laura murders her lover and recruits Nadja’s help in constructing an elaborate plan to remove the body and dispose of it miles away in the Spreewald, a wild part of the country. ‘The best laid plans’, as we all know, are bound to run into problems but is this the best laid, could there be a better one? Is Nadya’s background a help or a hindrance?
The plot twists, and twists again, and again, and again. It’s an enjoyable read, but I felt, in the end, that perhaps plotting to achieve the desired ending had got in the way of the characters behaving consistently with their established nature.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

Many thanks to Net Galley, Quercus Books, and the author for a chance to read and review this book. All opinions are expressed voluntarily.

Have you seen colorful marble balls that children use to play and how the rainbow colors in these balls seem to reflect different colors when light falls on them? That’s what this story is about!

Till about 30% of the book, I couldn’t make head or tail of what in the world was going on? There is some sort of letters that are written, then there’s the current story of Nadja who has a severe case of anxiety and is on medication talking about standing on a cliff but she is inside a store, there is another girl called Nelly a few years before, running an inn and in love with a married man, Tabea, a lawyer assigned to the married man, then the boss in the law firm Gero Van Hoven married to Laura, and Nadja who once considered Laura to be her friend and is ready to do anything for her, honestly, that first 30% made me dizzy.

There were so many different threads running thru the story but after the first part, the tale just begins to untangle and became so compelling and I had to literally devour it one sitting. BRAVO, Romy Hausmann, and more fool me; expecting a thriller like DEAR CHILD which still gives me nightmares by the way, but this one is intricate layering at best with the kind of devious story telling that had me glued to my kindle. The spider web is intriguing and it was amazing to see the varied threads forming a cohesive plot at the end. It was simply a stunning journey unraveling the twisty story but once the truth gets revealed, the ending fell a little flat for me. Again, I think it was my expectation that played the spoilsport but I did expect a resounding finale.

Nevertheless, Sleepless is an addictive crime thriller littered with bread crumbs that is hard to pick one, from the author of the hugely successful Dear Child.

4.5 stars!

This review is published in my blog https://rainnbooks.com/, Goodreads, Amazon India, Meduim.com, Facebook, and Twitter.

I LOVED Dear Child so was very excited to see another book by Romy!

Sleepless is fantastic, really it is but it’s also confusing. I found myself getting annoyed with characters / plot up until the final third. Relationships should be clearer but other than that Sleepless doesn’t have a single fault! It’s dark, gritty and will you reading late into the night! Fantastic twists and turns. I’m now eagerly awaiting the next book!

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Quercus Books for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book, overall, but found it to be, sometimes, rather obtuse in terms of understanding the relationships and their consequences. Nevertheless, I think it is a cleverly-constructed plot with lots of twists with chilling overtones. Set in Germany.

There are several storylines which gradually converge: Nadja is writing letters to Karl, her younger brother - letters which she never sends, because she can't find the right words. By intermittent narrative we learn of her family hardship growing up and looking after her brother as their mother worked as a prostitute.

We have the story of Nelly Schutt from a country village, growing up in her parent's Inn alongside her grandfather where she acquired his devotion for old films. As she grows up she develops a relationship with a married man who regularly stays there.

Three things happen - Nadja is arrested and convicted of her mother's murder.
Nelly Schutt is murdered, apparently by her married lover.
Nadja's current boss's wife Laura kills her lover Aron in their marital home.

Laura seeks out Nadja for help. She feels she cannot refuse: she suffers from panic/anxiety attacks; she has no other friends; she needs to help Laura - and does.
They have a plan to get rid of the body. However, someone else has an alternative plan.
Nadja was once a murderer - what better person to set-up?
Gero, her boss, and Laura's husband, was such a nice person..........................

Then strands of relationships between the characters begin to emerge to a more fully round-out picture.
There are twists and surprises - who can you trust to be telling the truth? Will Nadja survive this?

A good read.

Wow. What a ride that was. I have just finished reading Sleepless and I feel slightly unstable, a little dizzy and confused but also with a sense of awe and delight that I have witnessed something incredible and been allowed on this wild ride.
Dear Child taught us that Romy Hausmann was an incredible storyteller who could keep you guessing until the last minute, providing a plot twist you never saw coming but in this, her second novel she has mastered her craft completely. Not one twist, or two but the constant shaking of a snow globe with you the reader tumbling as a flake of snow along with the characters of the novel, for no one knows which way is up and where the pieces will settle except our omnipotent author.
Throughout the novel which shifts from timeframe to timeframe with little warning, our one constant is the protagonist Nadja a well drawn character who I liked from the outset. Nadja has a dark past but a resilience that you can’t help but warm to. Surrounding this central thread are other characters, Nadja’s boss Herr Van Hoven and his wife Laura (Nadja’s only friend) her brother Janek, Paul Heger and Nelly and Tabea Lenggries all connected in some way by the legal practice of Her Van Hoven and Ludwig Abramczyk. Tiny subplots draw these characters together and affect, if not directly then in some way, Nadja’s story.
I rarely re-read novels but having just finished this book I now realise how many threads there were that I don’t think I fully understood at first reading. So many little crumbs left for us the reader to follow.
If this is Hausmann at the beginning of her writing career then I can’t wait to see what she produces as an experienced author!


A huge thank you to Hannah of Quercus Books who invited me to read an advanced copy of this novel, I am honoured to be one of the first British reviewers of it.

Thanks NetGalley for my copy of sleepless. A chilling thriller that I could not put down. The book contains stories that collide like an explosion. The characters are intertwined and cleverly connect the stories that run though the book. Well written and highly recommended.

After being in love with Dear Child, I was disappointed with this book for the first hour. Then it really came into its own and I couldn't put it down!

Another dark and disturbing thriller from Romy Hausmann.

The story is told in pieces by different characters and in different times. I found it hard at first to keep straight who belonged to who! Once the characters show how they are linked, it becomes a little easier to keep track of them all. It’s an interesting premise with an unsettling feel throughout.

The book is well written and paced with some great twists and turns. I particularly enjoyed the end chapters as it tied the story together nicely!

I will definitely read further books by this author. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy of this book.

Unputdownable.
Romy Haussman does it again with her compelling style of writing, thrilling plot and intriguing characters.

There are a few characters to remember but the book and plot is easily followed throughout. Mostly the story revolves around Nadja and the author takes us into a suspenseful ride full of twists that I did not see coming.

It was gripping from the first chapter and, albeit slow paced it was so addictive that I just couldn’t stop reading until I find out what the end had in store for me.

Romy Haussman is an incredible story teller and I look forward to reading more of her books in the future.

I would like to thank Quercus and Netgalley for an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Romy Hausmann is back with this excellent new thriller Sleepless.
When Nadja was fifteen she was convicted of murdering her mother Marta. Leaving behind her five year old bother.
To say that they had a hard childhood is a understatement Martha was a prostitute and regularly had 'guests ' over and the children were left to fend for themselves.
But what really did happen on the 17th June 1999? Only Nadja can tell that story.
After being released from prison all Nadja wanted to do was leave the past behind her and start again.
With a new job in a law firm she soon found friendship in a coworker Laura but when Laura leaves to marry her boss Nadja is left alone again with her struggling anxiety and her past.
When Laura suddenly gets in touch to ask for Nadja's help little did she know that she was going to help Laura to cover up her killing her lover before her husband returns home.
What happens next will absolutely blow your mind.
Bow down to Romy for the best twists and turns I've read in a very long time.