Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this advance listener copy in exchange for my honest review.

I despised this book. It was confusing and convoluted throughout and I ended up DNFing after about 35%. I just couldn't figure out what was going on and it was really confusing.

This story is told through alternating viewpoints and different timelines and there are clearly two distinct stories being told here, but I did not know how they tied together and by the time I gave up I didn't even care. The characters were annoying and it didn't feel realistic at all.

The premise was amazing. Two friends trying to hide a body when one betrays the other and a dangerous game of cat and mouse ensues. It should have been one that hooked you instantly, but it wasn't.

Overall, confusing and boring. One star. Very disappointing.

As for the audio, the female narration was average but the male narrator was horrible. Not a great audiobook version.

Didn’t care for it. Found no connection to the characters or the authors style.
Wanted to DNF and probably should have.
Kept waiting for something to pick up and keep me engaged and it never happened

This is a difficult book for me to review. While I enjoyed the twist and the turns along the way if I had just listened to the audio I would not have been able to keep up. But this book definitely deserves a read or listen!
Let's start with one of the main characters Nadja. When Nadja was 15 she was accused of killing her mother, while she doesn't believe it was her that it was one of her mother's "friends". However, this follows her all along with her life and haunts her even in her letters to her brother that she has not seen in over 20 years.
Now we have Laura, who is Nadja's friend and she's in trouble BIG trouble. She was having an affair with her husband's friend, but the main trouble is that she murdered her lover and she didn't know what to do with the body. Now, how the two mixes on this journey to get rid of the body by Laura shows up to the office Nadja is working at asking if Gero was back yet. Gero is Laura's husband, but he is also Nadja's employer. Remembering the kindness that Laura had given her when Nadja first started at Gero's firm, Nadja agrees to help her friend.
So while this story is unfolding in the chapters there is also the story about Paul who is having an ongoing affair with Nelly. That is until Nelly shows up at Paul's family home and when Paul tells Nelly to leave it's like a slap in the face for her. Nelly believed all of Paul's lies about leaving his family for her but then Nelly is found dead and Paul is the number one suspect.
So while all this is twisting and unfolding, the reader is also getting a glimpse into the past of Nadja and the story ones I figured out who was who is really amazing!
While I listened to the audiobook I used the book a bit when I was trying to figure out everything. Once I got everything figured out it was amazing, the audiobook was great and the narrator was amazing! I would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves twisting tales! Thank you Flat Iron Books, Netgalley, and Macmillian Audio for the opportunity to read and review this one! Look out for this story in October!

Nadja Kulka was convicted of a crime years ago and now she's out of prison. She only wants to live a normal life with a good job, a decent flat, and a few friends. But when her friend Laura von Hoven turns up crying and begging for help, Nadja reluctantly agrees to help her.

This was a complicated story. It went back and forth in time but not in a linear way and I was often left confused as to what was happening and where it fit. Most of the characters were literally awful and I couldn't find one I actually sympathized with. I listened to this on audiobook and I wonder if it would have been easier to keep up with if I had read a print copy.

The narration was good and the pacing excellent.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Available October 5, 2021.

I was pretty confused during the beginning of the book, but I caught up and ended up enjoying the book. I am definitely happy I finished! The narrator almost added a chilling, spooky vibe to the book. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for a copy of this book for an honest review.

Sleepless Reivew!

Thank you Macmillan Audio, Netgalley, and Romy Hausmann for this gifted copy, in return for an honest review!

I read Dear Child last year and really enjoyed it! It was a crazy plot and the twist was so fun! As soon as I saw that this was written by Hausmann, I requested it!!
The Sleepless was a 3.75/5⭐️ from what I got out of it. The one twist I could comprehend was amazing, wouldn’t have figured it out! Otherwise it just seemed so jumbled. I was over three hours into this book and had absolutely no idea what was going on. I made the decision to start it over completely, it didn’t help.

There are several reasons why I think this read was so confusing. I’m definitely a visual person, so I had a really hard time with all of the German names (and not being able to see them) and transitioning into the next chapter.
There were so many different characters and the transitions in each chapter where so confusing. I didn’t know who was talking half the time and what was going on. Also there was a lot of jumping of time frames and different kinds of text. I was just confused the whole time. If I had the chance to read it as a physical book in the future, I’d definitely give it another try!

This is kind of creepy and dark. I enjoyed the 2 different narrators on this one too. Kind of reminded me of a Ruth Ware which is high praise in my book as she’s one of my fave authors! You’ll be wondering how this is gonna wrap up until the very end! Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this audiobook for review.

I really liked the narrators of this audiobook, and I thought the broad story of this book was really interesting. I thought it was a bit too disjointed and I spent way too much time utterly confused. I feel like we didn't learn enough about the characters to completely understand what was happening. I think this one was a miss for me but I thought it was well written and have heard good things about the authors other book so I would still be interesting in reading more by her.

This one was a little different from what I expected. And I definitely appreciated the unique aspects of the plot. It took a little effort to get into it, but it was worth it in the end.

This is a hard review to write because I had a lot of difficulty with the audio version of this. I restarted the beginning several times and I still had a lot of trouble keeping track of who was speaking and what was going on. The narrator was ok but some of the pronunciations were a little odd with the accent. I loved Hausmann’s first book so I know that she is an excellent writer. I just think that this is one of those books that you actually have to read as opposed to listen to order to keep track of everything. I am going to read the ebook version and will evaluate that separately.

I received an advance review copy in exchange for an honest review

Loved, loved, loved this book!
This author keeps getting better and better and the narration made it super creepy! Definitely worth a listen or a read.

Reading Between the Wines book review #75/115 for 2021:
Rating: 2 🍷 🍷
Book 🎧: Sleepless
Author: Romy Hausmann
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
RELEASED on June 24, 2021!!! (Audio version by Macmillan releases in October 2021)

Sipping thoughts: Let me start by saying that I really loved Hausmann’s Dear Child so I had very high hopes for this book. The ending was very good and easy to follow but it did not start that way. I think that I might have been able to follow and understand the story line better if I had the actual book instead of an audio version. There were pockets of the story that provided clarity and was very good but most of it was so confusing. The reveal and the main plot saved the story and I almost gave it 3 stars but so much if it I kept having to rewind and listen again because I was lost.

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley, @QuercusBooks and @MacmillanAudio for an advanced copy of @Sleepless

#Sleepless #QuercusBooks #MacmillanAudio #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThriller

Sleepless is one of those books that might have worked better for me in print as opposed to audio. The story jumps around and it wasn't until halfway through that I had even an inkling of what was going on. I enjoyed the narrators, but this story didn't engage me or work for me.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for this ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced audiobook copy.

I really didn’t like the narrators or the book. I was so disappointed since I really liked The Child.

I like the plot but I wish it was executed a bit better. It took a while to get into the book. It flipped back-and-forth between the past the present too often to keep up.

I loved the cover: the title, and the description. I was really excited about starting this one. Unfortunately something about this made it almost impossible to listen to.

I walk my dogs 4-5 miles a day, listening to books the whole time so I finish at least 2 audiobooks a week. I’m not super picky about narrators, but I do find that when a book is a slow start, a bad narrator absolutely kills it.

I listened to the first 15% of this book twice. The first time I realized I kept realizing it wasn’t holding my attention and my mind was wandering, so I started it over to give it a far go and made a conscious effort to pay attention. I still really really struggled.

Maybe I’ll give the print version I try when it comes out but overall the book just seemed like it needed a much more enthusiastic narrator.

I'm not entirely sure why, but I had a really hard time getting into this story. It's not a bad story line for a mystery/suspense, but I had a really hard time connecting with the characters. As we hear the story of Nadja's guilt or innocence, the reader learns more about her past and the events leading up to the murder. Give this one a shot yourself. Maybe you'll connect better.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Nadja has been in prison since she was 15 years old. Did she kill her mother or just witness the murder? Now, she’s finally been released from prison and she wants nothing more than to lead a boring, ordinary life. That ordinary life just isn’t in the cards, as Laura, the wife of Nadja’s boss begs her for help after killing her lover. For some reason, Nadja can’t say no, and the two women look for a way to dispose of the body so it will never be found. This book was difficult to get into, but once I got past the first 25% or so, I was hooked. Readers will be left guessing about Nadja’s true motives and her innocence or guilt