This is a tough review to write as I have mixed feelings about the book. It started off so strong but I lost attention and become bored on multiple occasions.

I wasn’t keen on Gia at first. She really irritated me and she wasn’t likeable at the start. However, the author did a good job with her development and was consistent with the voice. I loved her sarcasm and although I didn’t like her; she felt like a well rounded and complex character. She grew on me surprisedly, and by the 50% mark the author had me falling in love with her. It made the bond even more special because it meant Gia grew over the course of the book, and that her development was real and consistent.

Enzo was a bloody sweetheart!! I loved him from the start, and he was part of the reason I disliked Gia so much, as she wasn’t always nice to him. Both characters were so well developed and I felt like I knew them. Characters always make or break a book and the author nailed the development in this area, even down to intricate details like the lifelike dialogue and tiny mannerisms peppered throughout the novel.

I loved the setting and time period. It was your typical crime/amateur sleuth book but set in the 1900s. I mean yes, please! It was so well thought out and I could imagine where the story was taking place. Even down to the tiny details, like the dialogue and word choice, was immersive. The genre was a mix of historical fiction, mystery/suspense and also paranormal. This was super interesting and done well. A super perfect read as Halloween creeps closer, and for long, chilly October nights!

The story was cleverly plotted with reveals and secrets scattered throughout. The book is loosely based on the unsolved axeman murders, but the author took that and turned it into a unique and interesting plot. Alongside the main plot, there’s also the developing influenza epidemic. It was interesting to see about an infection taking hold of the community, as it was intriguing how they might have dealt with something like that in the 1900s vs. the recent coronavirus pandemic in modern times. We also got to see Gia’s relationship with Signora, who introduced her to fortune telling and had become like a family to her.

My interest in this book waxed and waned. Sometimes I loved it, sometimes I didn’t want to read anymore. This was a problem throughout the entire book and it made it a real slog to get through, and if it wasn’t for the fact I was reading for review, I think I would have DNF this one. There were also a ton of plot holes that left me shaking my head because they just made little sense, and things appearing out of thin air with no explanation or build up.

It was hard towards the end to know what was going on. I think the author was going for the unreliable narrator so you couldn’t tell if Gia was just going insane and imagining things, or whether the Axeman was actually stalking her. Instead of feeling tense and on the edge of my seat, it was disorienting.

* spoiler alert for the ending *


The ending was disappointing. The climax felt rushed, and it just made little sense to me. The identity of the axeman was boring. They didn’t even have a name. I expected it to be someone we knew from the book. Instead, it was a faceless stranger who posed as a police officer and got into Gia’s house. It was just not satisfying and it kind of felt like the entire book was a waste, and it was irritating.

I suggest readers make their own mind up about this one. I think some will love it, some won’t. It wasn’t a bad book, the structure just wasn’t for me! Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for a chance to read and review this book.

The story was compelling and I liked the parallels from a past pandemic to our current one. But at times it felt a bit derivative of Harry Potter with the “connection” between Gianna and the Axe Man and I had a hard time following sometimes.

That being said, I did really like Gianna as a character and felt she grew and learned in the book. Plus it’s a fun read for the fall.

I love Bryce Moore’s style of writing, and this one just solidified that I will read anything Bryce writes.

His way of story telling is so capturing to me. This one also was fast paced. I loved it and can’t wait for more by Bryce.

DNF. This is an irresponsible level of gruesome, especially for a young adult novel. Reveling in the details and sounds of such a violent and gory murder, and then revisiting it over and over is reprehensible. This is like dark web violence fetish level. Not ok.

Thank you to the publisher for an eARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

CWs: violence, gore, murder, blood and injury detail, influenza (sickness), death of a parent, child injury and death (2 year old)

3.5 stars

This was a really interesting read! The cover totally drew me in, and I thought it sounded like a fantastic mystery/horror type of read. It didn’t quite live up to my expectations, but I did enjoy reading about Gia as she tried to figure out why she and the Axeman were connected.
I wish that the visions had been more explained. They left me pretty confused the whole time, and the rules for the visions seemed to change with each one that Gia experienced. It also felt like she couldn’t decide how to feel about them, but just kept changing her mind without informing the readers even though we were in her head.
I liked Gia’s character for the most part. I found her a bit frustrating at times, but I admired her loyalty to her family and her strength in caring for those she loved. Her relationship with Enzo confused me a bit. They’d been friends for several years, but they might have possibly had some kind of romantic history that was never fully explained. I think that if their relationship had been more fully examined it would have added to the story.
The plot itself was intriguing. Not only did we have the Axeman, but there’s also the influenza epidemic sweeping across New Orleans. I wish that there had been more answers in the end regarding the Axeman, but the climax was exciting. The pacing was a bit off at times, but ultimately I was interested enough to complete the book. I found some sections read really fast, and others seemed to drag on for ages.

I thought this was really cool! I am fairly familiar with the axeman of New Orleans story, and I thought it was a really interesting idea to do a retelling of an unsolved case. This was a good retelling to, as it did have some twists and turns that don't exist in the real story. I liked the characters of this book, especially Giana. Overall I thought this was a pretty solid mystery and I really enjoyed it.

I don't usually like books set in time periods. I almost feel they are written in a way I just can't get used to. However, Don't go to Sleep is an exception. I loved LOVED the mystery aspect in this. Just the whole story on how Gianna tries to take things into her own hands. It also was interesting to see how the world reacted at the beginning of the influenza pandemic and how Gianna dealt with everything

Thank you to NetGalley for the Arc

Let's put some Content Warnings: gore, violence, mourning, trauma, parent death, epidemic.

Any true crime fan knows about the Axeman of New Orleans and I was excited to read a fictional account of the famous crimes. I think Moore did a good job with this retelling, it was compelling and left me on the edge of my seat even though I knew the story. Moore added a few twists that added to the suspense.

I only have 2 complaints. One is that the whole thing seemed a little unfleshed out. I think there was too much focus on the mysterious connection rather than the real crimes. The other is that I think it's insane that this is marketed towards teens, but I fully understand that in this world of publishing the moment a character is established as a teen the book immediately becomes YA and that really shouldn't be the case, especially with a book this graphic.

Notorious Axeman Murderer 1918... come on, do you even need my review? Isn't that enough right there?? It was for me!! What a terrifying, engrossing novel! I could not put this bad boy down.

Gianna is growing up in an era where there was a lot of segregation and italians were not treated equally. Her neighborhood was full of people fighting to survive while running their family stores and trying to keep food on the table.

Enzo is Gianna's best friend, ex, and all around partner in crime. The bond these two share makes you appreciate the people in your life who have your back like these two do for each other. When your family needs you, you step up. When you need to help someone, you do so without hesitation. I loved this aspect of the novel most of all besides all of the juicy serial killer vibes I'll share next.

The Axeman lets you see inside his head in this novel. Bruce Moore does a phenomenal job of providing enough detail to make you feel like you truly are in the mind of the murderer with the axe in your own hands. The details are gory so this is not for the faint of heart. When I say this is a thriller/horror novel I'm talking about blood, bone, guts, and enough mental imagery to make you want to vomit, it's so good.

The bloodshed is not even the worst. The terrifying part is feeling the emotions that Gianna feels. She finds she has a connection to the killer that she can't explain to anyone other than Enzo. When her family was brutally attacked she thinks it's the same person who has been doing all the killings.

Read this novel if you like horror stories, killers on the hunt, and all around being afraid of your own shadow. The settings are intriguing while the details will make you not want to go to sleep.

Thank you Netgalley and Bryce Moore for allowing my an advanced reader's copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

TW: Murder, gory scenes, death of child, loss of parent, death of parent

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
Gianna is the average seventeen-year-old girl living in 1918 New Orleans. She worries about her family's store, the great war, and a mysterious illness that's about to take hold of the city she loves. It doesn't help that there also appears to be a mad man on the loose in her neighborhood. The attacks started as burglaries but soon escalate to cold blooded murder. There's a killer out there, and the police can't seem to figure out how to stop him. Gianna enlists the help of her friend Enzo to investigate. And as they study the crimes, they see a common link between the victims, and Gianna can't help but wonder if it's the same man who attacked her family years before. As Gianna gets closer to the killer, she discovers a connection between them that she never would have suspected.
Release Date: August 2nd, 2022
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 320
Rating: ⭐⭐

What I Liked:
1. The cover is to die for

What I Didn't Like:
1. Tons of holes in the plot
2. The writing wasn't good

Overall Thoughts:I love that this story played on the Axeman of New Orleans.

I feel like the Spanish flu was a fill in for Covid. When she talks it's all the same things that people said about covid. It really gets annoying after the 1000 time it is mentioned. This book should have been titled “The Spanish flu during the Axeman murders because that's what this book felt like it was about”. I feel like I’ve heard more about the flu then I have about the murderer, which is odd because the synopsis makes it out like it’s murder forward and flu in the background. Feeling hoodwinked on that front.

How ridiculous is it that when Gianna is in this dream like stage that she knows to look for tattoos. Like we are in 1918 and that is not something that she would normally be looking for. Then she comes out the trance saying she had the most important piece of the clue to finding out where the Axeman is; the curtains! The curtains?..I laughed at that. Her and Enzo then find the place that has the curtains in like 3 minutes. She just HAPPENS to know all of New Orleans and they can walk it all in 30 minutes or less. She also HAPPENS to catch the wind blowing a curtain on a second floor room and sees the maroon and stripes. They enter the room and meet the landlord who tells them what the guy looks like, his profession, and that he left that day. The dude tells them that the “axeman” had a large scar on his forearm but how did she not see it?

Some of my issues with this book are the things the author put into it. It’s not from that time period. Gianna says that they have skin in the game and that wasn’t even a saying until the 80’s of the 20th century, so unless she is a time traveler then she wouldn’t be quoting that. The book did not feel as though we were in the early 20th century. The writing made me feel as though I was reading a book talking about that time period. It took me out of this historical book.

Gianna is so concerned about catching the Influenza but she just keeps putting herself outside and around as many people as she can.

So the killer is a cop that was in her house but how did she not recognize him when they had already seen each other on the road and she heard his voice? Makes little sense.

Final Thoughts: I wish this book was better but it wasn't. I didn't care for the writing nor what direction the book took. The ending was predictable and made no sense.

Recommend For:
• True Crime rewritte
• Supernatural elements
• Relatable scenes with covid

Title: Don't Go to Sleep
Author: Bryce Moore
Genre: Thriller, YA
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Gianna is the average seventeen-year-old girl living in 1918 New Orleans. She worries about her family's store, the great war, and a mysterious illness that's about to take hold of the city she loves.

It doesn't help that there also appears to be a mad man on the loose in her neighborhood. The attacks started as burglaries but soon escalate to cold blooded murder. There's a killer out there, and the police can't seem to figure out how to stop him.

Gianna enlists the help of her friend Enzo to investigate. And as they study the crimes, they see a common link between the victims, and Gianna can't help but wonder if it's the same man who attacked her family years before.

As Gianna gets closer to the killer, she discovers a connection between them that she never would have suspected.

I love historical fiction and New Orleans, so this should have been a winner. Instead, I found it slightly above average. I was fascinated by the descriptions of New Orleans a century ago, but Gianna’s habit of rushing headlong into danger without regard for the consequences was a bit too much for me. Not just chasing a literal axe murderer but running around the city in the midst of a deadly influenza pandemic. Her POV felt a little disjointed and distant, and there was never any explanation offered for her connection to the killer.

Bryce Moore lives in western Maine and is a Librarian. Don’t Go to Sleep is his newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Sourcebooks Fire in exchange for an honest review.)

(Blog link live 8/11.)

This is a murder mystery that is written very well for the target YA/Teen readers. The main characters are teenagers who are trying to investigate and resolve several crimes that have been hitting their neighborhood of Italian immigrants. There was a true serial killer, the Axeman, who terrorized the same ethnic groups in 1918. Working historical fiction into a YA title while keeping the story interesting takes some skillful writing. Overall, the book is a good one for the target readers.

**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this title in exchange for a fair and honest review**

When I requested this book, I wasn't aware that it was based on a real case but as I read I remembered the basic story. What has always fascinated me about this time is that people were terrified of an axe murderer but they were also facing the onset of a flu pandemic.

The main characters were likeable, I particularly enjoyed feisty Gia, I found the drama built convincingly and I was rooting for Gia and Enzo as they faced down the dangers lurking in New Orleans.

Ummmmmm.........

I was hoping I'd like this one becuase the plot sounded incredibily intriguing and the fact it was a historical thriller peaked my interest as well.

But I had some issues. Firstly, I couldn't connect with any of the characters; especially Gianna (whose our protagonist) who I found to be incredibly naive.

And the pacing was slow for a thriller. To me, it felt like I'd been reading this book for 84 years, while I'd only been listening for about an hour. Nothing really picked up until the last 20% and by that point, I'd already lost interest.

My only postive was that I LOVED the New Orleans setting and the historical elements; like having this be set in 1918 and during the start of Spanish Influenza?! I've never read a book with that back drop, so I thought it was different on that front.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

An interesting YA spin on the historic true story of the New Orleans Axe Man murders, with some 1918 flu pandemic elements thrown in.

Concept: ★★★★
Plot/Pacing: ★★★
Characters: ★★★

New Orleans, 1918. Giana is a teenage Italian American living in the city, plagued by nightmares of her parents' brutal axe murder several years earlier. Her recurring nightmare of that fateful night never changes... until it does. "I'm coming," the dream spells out in blood.

As Giana tries her best to ignore her terrifying dream, people are starting to die from influenza. And to make matters worse, the New Orleans newspapers are talking of a deranged killer on the loose. With an axe.

Giana's nightmare might be more than a childhood fear after all...

With her friend, Enzo, Giana decides enough is enough—it's time for her to confront her past demons by catching this new killer on the loose. Retribution and revenge, all in one. But what exactly is waiting for Giana at the end of this deadly puzzle?

Whew, what a doozy of a plot setup, y'all. Don't Go to Sleep was a novel that I was quite excited to read. I'd enjoyed this author's previous book on the horrors of H.H. Holmes and his murder hotel in Chicago, The Perfect Place to Die, so when I heard that they were tackling the Axe Man I signed right the frick up to review this one. I loved the modern take in the American Horror Story TV show (season three is my favorite, where it's New Orleans and Axe Man and witches) and thought this would deliver on more of those vibes.

This was a lot of fun.

I will admit, I think a portion of this story did not work for me due to its age range and writing style—despite Giana being 17 years old in this story, the writing and emotional palate made it seem like it was made for a younger YA audience. So I struggled to relate to a lot of the dialogue and emotions. As a late 20-something reader, this was a me issue and not the fault of the book meant for actual teens, but it did affect my ability to connect with the characters and larger emotional storyline.

I think there's a market for readers who enjoy the macabre history of our American true crime past and are craving more adventure stories like Stalking Jack the Ripper, etc. Don't Go to Sleep is the perfect read for Maniscalco fans—especially the younger ones.

Definitely pick this up for yourself or the young historic crime reader in your life!

Thank you to the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

Eh, it wasn't my favorite. I found it really hard to want to read this book. It just didn't grab me like I wanted it to. I liked the premise just something was missing for me.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Bryce Moore for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for Don’t Go to Sleep coming out August 2, 2022. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I’ve read the the Perfect Place to Die, so I was intrigued to read another book by Bryce Moore.

Don’t Go to Sleep takes place in 1918. WWI hasn’t ended yet and a Spanish Influenza outbreak begins. In the midst of the outbreak, families are being terrorized and people are murdered by the Axeman.

17 year old Gianna and her friend Enzo are two Italian immigrants living in New Orleans. Her father is a store owner. As they investigate the crimes and come closer to catching the Axeman, Gianna realizes she's connected to the killer in a way she could have never imagined.

Overall, I loved this book! It was definitely an interesting topic, based on a true story. I love learning about the Spanish influenza outbreak after the war. The story was dark and suspenseful, but not overly gory. Gianna and Enzo are well-rounded characters and I really loved their friendship. They worked well together. I also loved the Italian immigrant experience of the book.

I was thinking there would be a little more explanation on the connection between Gianna and the axeman besides what happened to her family in the past. I thought there would be more on who the axeman really was. It was a little vague at the end.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys historical mysteries and horror novels.

Gianna is the average seventeen-year-old girl living in 1918 New Orleans. She worries about her family's store, the great war, and a mysterious illness that's about to take hold of the city she loves. It doesn't help that there also appears to be a mad man on the loose in her neighborhood. The attacks started as burglaries but soon escalate to cold blooded murder. There's a killer out there, and the police can't seem to figure out how to stop him.

Gianna enlists the help of her friend Jake to investigate. And as they study the crimes, they see a common link between the victims, and Gianna can't help but wonder if it's the same man who attacked her family years before. As Gianna gets closer to the killer, she discovers a connection between them that she never would have suspected.

This was a slow burner, but boy did it build up the tension and suspense. A nice blend of the thriller/slasher genre with some supernatural vibes gave this book a unique spin. Also being set in early 20th century New Orleans it was able to deal with issues like a pandemic (so relevant), racism and class as well as themes of loyalty, family, friendship and community.

This book was slow to start off but definitely worth sticking with because Moore’s feisty protagonist Gianna is an amazing character full of tenacity, bravery and courage. I hope he writes another book featuring her soon.

Don’t Go to Sleep didn’t quite work for me, unfortunately? I really enjoyed the premise and how Bryce Moore tackled the historical aspect bits. It was an interesting approach to the true crime stories involving the Axeman of New Orleans murders as well as the 1918 flu pandemic. I guess a content warning for discussions of and pandemic-related deaths are needed considering… the world etc.

Despite that interest, I found the execution to be lacking some. The way a paranormal aspect was introduced quite early (and abruptly) in the story rubbed me the wrong way and made it difficult for me to fully connect with the narrative. I thought that was an odd link to add and explore? Even more so considering the murders here were based on true life events.

I also didn’t like Gia as a main character. The story was told entirely from her perspective and I found her rather silly and naive at times. There were some inconsistency from her as well in regard to her internal monologues and decisions she kept making throughout and that became frustrating as the book went on.

The ending was… a big question mark and a little rushed. I’m not sure why Moore decided to wrap things up in that way. There was a lot of hand-waving in regard to the connection Gia had to the Axeman and I thought that was disappointing–why insist on that if there wasn’t going to be an explanation for it? And I guess I got too hung up on the real life aspects of the Axeman and its status as an unsolved case, so I really didn’t like how the book tried to get around that so Gia could have her big “I’m using an axe!” moment.

This book is told from one point-of-view and it comes from Gianna. Her family has already had a run-in with the Axeman and she will do anything to prevent that once again. Because of this, she is strong willed. I liked understanding her life and how she dealt with disappointment when the investigation did little to nothing for her family and the others that fell victim.

There are other characters that play parts in the plot but they feel very minor when compared to the killer and Gianna. I can’t say that I felt sad for anyone because there was a disconnect. If you want a book that feels more like a slasher than this may be for you because there is killing and the details for it are pretty up there. Not my taste but I know others will like that.

Gianna does have the ability to dream about the killer and although this was an interesting concept I felt like it was poorly executed. The reader is thrown into this knowledge right away and by the end we still don’t understand why and how it happened. It is eluded too but since the ending is so quick nothing comes from it.

With the talk of influenza we can see parallels to how Gianna was feeling when it comes to losing people because of it. We have recently went through our own pandemic and it feels all the more realistic when reading about previous ones.

My favorite part of the book was knowing that it was based on a real event in history. It always amazes me what an author can do with history.

Overall, this was a good read even with some hiccups. If you like a more violent YA Historical Fiction / Thriller than this one may be for you!