Review of Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I am struggling to write this review so please forgive me in advance. For some reason it took me a long time to get through this book. Likely because I’ve been busy with my family and we traveled out of state last weekend. I think that has skewed my opinion of this book because my reading of it was disjointed. Also, Behind her eyes is one of my fave books ever and nothing ever holds a candle to it. My overall impression for this one when I finally finished it yesterday was I liked it. I liked it more then her last one before this. I vacillated between 3.5-4 stars. I liked how creepy it was and if you’re looking for a super unreliable main character this is it. As always it has one very unique twist that I’ve come to expect from this author. She will remain an auto buy for me.

Quick synopsis: Emma is about to turn 40. This is exactly when her mother had a breakdown and tried to kill her older sister. Much to Emma’s horror she is beginning to experience insomnia and other similar symptoms to her mother in the days leading up to her birthday. Then Emma is accused of the unthinkable and she must quickly solve the mystery of the both the past and the present

A huge thank you to @netgalley and @williammorrowbooks for a copy of this one that comes out this Tuesday April 12!

And I thought I was crazy!
Emma's mother went mad on her fortieth birthday and did something horrible Emma could not forgive her for. Leading up to her own fortieth Emma develops many of the symptoms her mom had before she went mad. The sudden onset of insomnia along with ticks and delusions led Emma to believe she is doing what her mother told her she would do and is also going mad. It's in her DNA. When Emma's sister, Phoebe, shows up trying to convince her it would be good for her to see her mother after her mother tries to take her own life in the mental institutions she's been housed in for thirty-five years, it compounds her symptoms. She doesn't want to remember the events of that night her mom lost it, the night she went into foster care, the night that would lead to what's happening to her now.
This is one twisty, mind bending psychological thriller. Emma's experience of what she's going through is so well described I could feel her angst, self doubt and confusion. The chapters are a countdown to her birthday so the suspense ramps up as the days get closer to that fateful day. The ending for me was a mix of emotions. The reveal was okay but the reasoning behind it was suspect and went into a supernatural space that didn't work for me. It's for that reason this didn't achieve the full five stars.
All in all though, this was a well written foray into the mind of a woman struggling with the feelings of going mad. A story that I'm sure will appeal to those familiar with the authors work and those who enjoy good storytelling.

Rating: 3.5
Author: Sarah Pinborough

Hmmm… I’ve heard such great things about this author. I haven’t read ‘Behind Her Eyes’ but I enjoyed the Netflix adaptation of it. I liked how creative and well thought out it was. I did enjoy reading Insomnia but it was a little too slow and repetitive for me. The prologue was fantastic and was such a great way to start the story. It literally started with a bang that left my stomach in knots. It continued to be good, having a steady pace that I could tell was starting to build. Sadly, I was wrong. The first half was so incredibly slow. The first few chapters were fine but after that nothing was happening. Everything that was happening didn’t seem important to the overall plot. It just felt like filler that was trying to mislead the reader. You get some clues here and there but not enough to truly hold your interest. This story was also very repetitive in certain sayings, character’s actions, and events that took place.

I have mixed feelings about the main character. I honestly didn't feel bad for her nor could I connect with her. She was extremely selfish and really self absorbed. While I did see some twists coming, it was nice to still be surprised by others. I thought the story was a little too predictable in my opinion. The last eight chapters were probably my favorite and are why it has a little higher rating. Overall, this book was good but wasn’t for me. I think fans of this author will probably enjoy this one. I would still recommend it because I enjoyed most of it. If it wasn’t so slow I would have enjoyed it more.

Thank you so much @williammorrowbooks & @netgalley for a #gifted copy on #Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

#Insomnia

Hello. All aboard to frustration station. This book follows Emma, who is a very successful business woman. She’s about to turn 40, which is basically a curse in her family. She stops being able to sleep and can’t really decipher what is real or if her mind is playing tricks on her.

The first 30% of the book was very gripping and I wanted answers. From there, it just was repetitive and not really getting the plot moving. I wanted to DNF this after 30%, but honestly, I needed to know if Emma truly was off her rocker like her mom, if Robert was a gaslighting POS, or if Phoebe was really trying to take her place. While none of those reallllly ring true, I can’t say I enjoyed it or will remember it. I was so frustrated with Emma and her family. Like holy crap y’all, stop being brats for two seconds.

Overall, this is sadly a miss. As someone with diagnosed insomnia, the frustrating helplessness and paranoia that comes along with it was accurately portrayed. I was excited for the first half, but just felt pretty repetitive in the second. Thank you so much @wm for the gifted copy. Insomnia is out 4/12!

Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough tells us the story of Emma, a mother, wife, and lawyer struggling as she gets closer to her 40th birthday. Madness follows the second born children in Emma's family. Her mom had warned her for years before going mad herself, ending up in a mental hospital. As the days tick away, Emma can longer sleep and it is making her feel even more mad. The scary thing is, it reminds her of her mom's last days before having her breakdown. And then things start to happen leaving Emma as confused as everyone else. Her sister shows back up, her husband starts looking at her differently, strange things begin happening at work. Is Emma really going mad like her mother?
I really enjoyed the basis of the story but I can't say the suspense kept me guessing. By the halfway point in the story, I tired of the storyline. I was ready to find out the "mystery" behind her madness. This is the first Sarah Pinborough book that I have read and I would like to read other work by her. Special thanks to NetGalley, Sarah Pinborough, and William Morrow and Custom House for the advance digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion. 3.5 stars for me.
#Insomnia #NetGalley

This was my first book by this author and I was pleasntly surprise I really enjoyed the book. It have plenty of twists and turns and kept me guessing up until almost the very end who the guilty person was. I would recommend this book to others.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher William Morrow and the thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.

Insomnia was a little slow at first. I personally saw the plot twist coming still and enjoyable read for me

Insomnia, by Sarah Pinborough, is a twisty psychological thriller with a large dose of domestic drama and a taste of the supernatural added.
As Emma’s fortieth birthday approaches, she is haunted by memories of her unhappy childhood and her mother’s insanity, which manifested on her fortieth birthday. Emma’s older sister Phoebe arrives, which complicates her life, and her mother dies while in a coma at a local hospital.
There is certainly a lot of intrigue and psychological tension throughout this novel. All of the characters have secrets, including Emma’s husband Rob and children Chloe and Will, and Emma seems to be an unreliable narrator. Of course, it’s hard to have a clear head with days on end of no sleep at night and an occasional daytime nap.
The writing is skilled and nuanced, and I appreciated the references to Fate and the psychic overtones as the complicated plot unfolded.
I recommend this novel to readers who like twisted plotting, complex family relationships, and persistent literary tension.

I enjoyed this suspenseful thriller. This is not my first book by this author but it is one of my favorites. One of the things I enjoy about this author is their writing style that brings so much to the story. I was pulled into the story by the author's attention to details that made the story realistic. The characters are connectable and kept the story engaging. Their twists and turns had me sitting on the edge of my seat just waiting to see what would happen next. This is a story about Emma and how she tries to balance her past with her present. What happens next you dont want to miss. This is a great story that has great plot growth that made the story easy to read and entertaining. You don't want to miss this book. It ticks all the boxes and hard to put down. I highly recommend this book.

𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝:

I didn’t see the twist coming

the way in which the characters were connected was very creative

the psychology behind it was so twisty, but the human mind is a very complicated thing

I didn’t know who was in the right or in the wrong

𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐟:

it was a very slow build and then, once the action got going, it didn’t let up

Overall, I definitely enjoyed it! Thank you @netgalley and @williammorrow for my eARC!

Emma Bournett seems to have it all. She's a successful divorce attorney who is about to be made partner at her high-profile law firm. Her husband stays home with their two children, 17-year-old Chloe and Will, who is five. Emma drives a new car and their house is massive. Things seem to be perfect until a few weeks before her 40th birthday. Suddenly, Emma is stricken with a severe case of insomnia. It also doesn't help that she is terrified that her 40th birthday will mean she will become insane like her mother did at that age. The lack of sleep and worry cause her to have problems in her day-to-day life. Her estranged sister Phoebe also suddenly returns after years of living abroad. When young Will begins to draw disturbing pictures that seem to imply he's afraid of Emma, she begins to worry that she's a danger to her children. Although she's told her husband Robert that her mother died when she was young, the truth is her mother is still alive but catatonic in a nursing facility. Emma and Phoebe grew up in separate foster homes after their mother was committed. Many strange and sinister things begin to happen and Emma wonders if she has an enemy that is trying to push her over the edge. While I did enjoy reading about all of the things that were happening to Emma as she neared her milestone birthday, there were many things that were quite illogical. For instance, her insomnia. While she had trouble going to sleep at night, most mornings she would be woken up by the phone ringing and realize she had drifted off to sleep. So . . . after dealing with the phone call, why not roll over and go back to sleep? This is a woman who apparently never heard the word "nap." If she couldn't sleep between the permitted hours of 11 pm and 6 am, well, there was no such thing as sleeping during the day. She also had that annoying habit that most female protagonists of thrillers of the past few years seem to have of accusing one person after another of being out to get her -- loudly and in public. I didn't really feel the explanation of what was happening to her was very satisfying, either. So while the suspense was strong in the middle of the book, the ending was a letdown.

Sarah Pinborough is the queen of creepy and weird. And this is no exception. In Insomnia, Emma can’t sleep. No worries, she’s about to turn 40. Normal, right?

Except her mother experienced the same thing. And went insane. At the same age.

This book perfectly blends a fearful atmosphere and a bit of supernatural. You don’t need to know much going into it. Just read it, and feel the chills,

Another great slow burn psychological suspense with a hint of paranormal. I love this author’s work and the latest is no exception. Emma can’t trust her own mind. She’s approaching forty, the same age when her mother tried to suffocate her sister and was sent away to an asylum. Her sister has just popped back into her life after little contact for the past several years. Her husband is resentful as the stay at home dad, her teenage daughter is rebelling in a scandalous betrayal and her son is drawing disturbing pictures that harken back to her mother’s attack on her sister. She’s up for partner at her law firm which is the bright spot in her life. She’s losing it. Ah, the joys of motherhood, marriage and career advancement. The story slowly unfolds and I even started feeling sleep deprived, the narrative gripped me that much. Loved it!

I LOVED this book! The concept of slowly losing your mind due to loss of sleep was very intriguing to me and it was carried out so well. This book was gripping, eventful, and such a great twist at the end! I loved BEHIND HER EYES but this may take the cake for me on my favorite book of hers. Her ability to play on super-natural topics and actually help you understand them is unbelievable. WOW. Glad I made this my final read of the month. Now to find a book that is worthy of following this masterpiece 😎😂

Emma is just days away from her 40th birthday and dreading it so fiercely that she falls into a bout of crippling insomnia, but not for the reasons one might think. As a 5 year old, Emma helplessly witnessed her mother spiral into a state of madness due to insomnia she also suffered leading up to her 40th, which caused her to almost murder Emma's then 8 year old sister, Phoebe. She was warned she would suffer the same horrific path as her mother and as madness and insomnia seem to swallow her whole as the milestone birthday draws closer Emma fears the prediction may be true....

What a twisty, wild, and surreal ride! But I would expect nothing less from the author of Behind Her Eyes I never truly had it figured out, nor felt like I could distinguish reality from the possible fallout from lack of sleep of an unreliable narrator. Every new detail left me unsure in the best possible way. If you love a mind-blowing twist fest that sprinkles in a bit of the seemingly impossible, you should clear your calendar and prepare to be up all night!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a chance to read this in exchange for my honest review and a run of sleepless nights. :)

😴 BOOK / REVIEW 😴

Oh. My. Word.

#Insomnia by @sarahpinboroughbooks had me feeling like I was tripping on acid the entire time I read this book 🤣 What a wild, twisty and dark #psychologicalthriller this was! #Behindhereyes was out there, but I think this one takes the cake and creativity points to an entirely new level. I loved and then hated all of the characters in this. I had no idea what was real or something concocted in an alternate reality. I also desperately wanted Emma to sleep this entire book - it made me super unsettled at certain points. You'll definitely enjoy this mind-bending read - publishing 4/12 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Yikes... This book was enough to give me insomnia.. I did not want to put it down, I could not put it down, I constantly was thinking about the book when I had to put it down.

There are folks that have anxiety around their birthdays and getting older and then there is Emma Averell.. she takes worrying about her 40th birthday to a whole new level. Understandable considering her mother's mental health crisis at the same age. Seemingly Emma has it all, high power career, loving husband, 2 children, a beautiful home.. but 12 days prior to her 40th birthday she starts experiencing insomnia and the cracks in her ''perfect'' life being to show.. or is it all just in her mind??

I was hooked by page 1. It was like I jumped on a rollercoaster and just held on for dear life. I can see how some readers thought parts were repetitive.. for me these were the creepiest parts. I just knew within this downward cycle the author was building a complete story. I felt Emma's frenzied perceptions of what was happening around her. The past intertwined with the present flawlessly... an edge of your seat twisty thriller. I'll be recommending this one to everyone... mark your calendars for April 12th!! You will want to grab this one on release day.

Thank you @netgalley.com and publisher, William Morrow & Company for a digital advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve seen some mixed reviews about Sarah Pinborough’s newest book, Insomnia, so I wasn’t sure where this one was going to take me…but I really enjoyed it. It was a wild ride through Emma’s insomnia and I really wanted to find out if she was really losing it or if someone was setting her up. There were so many possible scenarios as to what was really going on. I enjoy books that keep me guessing, even if they are a little far-fetched. Easy, suspenseful read!

The blurb calls this book a twisty, mind-bending thriller and yes, it's all that and more. I read this book in one sitting because I could not wait to know where the story was going to take me and how it would all unfold.

It’s twelve days until Emma Averell’s fortieth birthday which is much more significant to her than most people as it links to her childhood and what happened to her mother when she turned forty. Emma is still carrying the trauma of it as it haunts and overhangs her life.
The story focuses on Emma and her family and the days leading up to her 40th birthday. Emma is worrying about this monumental birthday as her mother lost herself to mental illness on her 40th.
Things take a turn when her sister brings her mother who till now has been residing in a mental asylum to a nearby hospital and insists on Emma visiting her.
It doesn't help that the insomnia that has come over Emma has been affecting her marriage and children, but also her sanity. She starts questioning everything. The fact that Emma’s mother always told Emma she would go crazy and that it runs in the family adds to her growing paranoia.

This is a rollercoaster of a book that sucks you in and doesn't let up. The author does a great job in mixing supernatural elements into the story.

A solid 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Will somebody please get this woman some melatonin?!

The big Four-O is quickly approaching, and no one is more anxious about her birthday than Emma Averell. While she seemingly has the perfect life as a successful high powered divorce attorney, a stay at home husband, and two beautiful children, time is not on her side.

At 40, her mother went mad and ended up in a psychiatric facility. Emma is just like her mother because she is also the second child. Is she doomed to the same terrible fate?

Twelve days before her birthday, Emma begins to suffer from terrible insomnia. She is slowly losing time and is compelled to do the same things her mother did right before she went mad.

Rattle the locks, stand at the window, mumble numbers, check the cupboard…
“Oh look, look a candle, a book and a bell, there to remind me…”

When she is accused of murdering her mother, a chain of events is set into motion that threaten to upend Emma’s perfect life.

Is Emma a murderer? Could she be going mad too?

Insomnia is Sarah Pinborough’s best thriller since Behind Her Eyes. Emma is a terrific unreliable narrator and had me guessing until the very end. While I did guess the Who, I did not figure out the Why. Some readers may feel that the book is overly repetitive, but there are frequent hints at new clues so I never lost interest. And, it is super creepy!

While I am not 100% satisfied with the reveal, I felt that it was more plausible than the plots of many of her previous thrillers. I disliked Emma’s blatant favoritism of her younger son and the gaslighting trope is becoming overused in thrillers. Once again, the epilogue is unnecessary.

However, if you are looking for a twisty, creepy thriller, I think you will enjoy this one!

4/5 stars

Expected publication date 4/12/22

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow Publishing for the ARC of Insomnia in exchange for an honest review.