The Sleepless by Victor Manibo didn't disappoint. I loved everything about it. Thank to you NetGalley for the ARC!

This is a moody, introspective book with an interesting premise. I appreciated the representation in the book and the world building was well done. I didn’t love reading it but it was well done.

This was a thrilling near-future dystopian that had me on the edge of my seat. This book did the "I can't remember that night, is it because I'm guilty?" trope wonderfully.

A brilliant and insightful science fiction thriller. I am sure we will be seeing much more Manibo's inventive work in the future.

Contrary to its action-packed expectations, "The Sleepless" takes a contemplative and introspective route, exploring the consequences of choices in a world disrupted by extremists and corporate overlords. The narrative weaves between past and present, offering glimpses into Jamie's journey, not just as a protagonist but as a flawed individual grappling with moral dilemmas. Through the lens of a queer Filipino American protagonist, Manibo challenges colonialism and Western ideologies. A good read!

This was a really nice sci-fi thriller with pandemic topic, it may have hit a bit too close home at some points but that was kind of the thrill of the book. Also it was queer, which is overall just absolutely nice!!

I liked it, I didn't love it. The Sleepless has a novel idea for a sci-fi book - a pandemic makes part of the population hyperinsomiacs. Others make themselves that way with drugs.

Jamie is a sleepless and his boss commits suicide in the office. But Jamie doesn't believe it is true.

The Sleepless tells Jamie's life as a Sleepless person and his efforts to solve the mystery around his boss and friend's death.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Erewhon for a chance to read this one early!

If the concept hadn't roped me in, the author's writing style would have done it for sure! It was a little strange to read about a pandemic, but it was overall so much fun. I love a good thriller/mystery and this delivered at every turn. It was absolutely fantastic!

Victor Manibo’s debut novel The Sleepless is a sharp, thought-provoking science fiction mystery with an instantly compelling premise and some strong commentary on technology and corporate power. In a near future in which large swathes of the population have become physically incapable of sleeping, Jamie Vega is a journalist for a global media outlet, and a hyperinsomniac himself – one of the Sleepless. When he finds the body of his beloved boss and mentor in the buildup to a huge takeover bid, Jamie can’t believe that it’s a case of suicide, and puts his investigative skills to use in trying to uncover the truth. The deeper he digs, as he uncovers dangerous secrets and reopens old wounds, the more he realises that not only can he not trust many of the people around him, but he might not even be able to trust his own mind.

There’s quite a lot going on in this book, but the central concept of the Sleepless is straight-up cool, and provides endless opportunities for the exploration of thought-provoking questions. The novel is set a decade after the global sleeplessness pandemic that suddenly changed everything, with years of fear and unrest largely in the past, but the social and economic impact is still very much being felt, and Manibo gradually works through a lot of the implications (both positive and negative) as the story progresses. There’s a real Cyberpunk feel to the way Manibo explores questions of memory, both from a technological perspective but also a biological one – after all, one of the purposes of sleep is to help us process memories, so what happens if someone can’t sleep? And what might that mean for the processing of particularly traumatic memories, and the knock-on mental health effects?

Of course a great idea isn’t enough on its own, but thankfully there’s plenty to dig into with the plot too. Things start off quite low-key and grounded, but over the course of the book everything begins to ramp up – scale, stakes, pace, the lot – until it ends up more like a high-stakes cyber thriller than the low-key mystery it started off as. The change of tone and feel, from investigative journalism to breathless action, might not suit everyone, but the mystery is clever enough and Jamie is a sufficiently engaging and well-developed character that it does somehow work. As a queer Filipino-American as well being Sleepless, he offers an interesting perspective on this not-too-distant and remarkably believable setting, as he questions everything – the decisions he’s made, his place in the world, who and what he wants to be.

It is definitely a science fiction novel, with that great central concept that poses a lot of questions and proves worryingly believable (and, in a post-pandemic world, very topical), but if you strip all that back there’s an equally relevant core of commentary on where the real world is going. Which is what makes great science fiction great, of course, and in this case makes The Sleepless the sort of book that will live with you for a while after finishing it. As long as you’re happy to go with the flow as the plot ramps up and the book slightly changes tone, then this is well worth picking up if you’re looking for a gripping, pacy mystery with great queer and Asian rep, a world that feels well-realised and utterly real, and a speculative concept that’s as thought-provoking as it is entertaining.

I wish I enjoyed this book more than I did. It took me a few tries to get into and then it was a rollercoaster. It had some high points and low points. I think the worldbuilding was very well done but the way there were whole passages of just explanations...it felt dragged out and I have to admit it put me to sleep a few times. I did enjoy the queer aspects of it and it seemed like a diverse read, but only way after the fact. Like, I only realized the MC was (maybe?) Filipino when his family made an appearance and there was also a dealer who was apparently black. And potentially others, but I'm not sure.

I liked it, but I didn't love it. It's an interesting read for sure. That being said, I felt like I had read it before and it was a chore to pick it up each time. It doesn't really do anything new that you haven't seen before nor does it do an old thing in an interesting way. So if you're a thriller reader that wants a comfortable, familiar book, this is it. If you're wanting a new journey, look elsewhere.

A thought-provoking cyberpunk mystery that asks interesting questions about the nature of sleep and what would happen if it went away

Unfortunately I have tried a number of times to get into this book, and now, a year after receiving it and seven months after the book's release, I think I need to call it! However, I think my difficulty is that I expected it to be a more conventional sci-fi novel, and this book, at its core, seems like more of a mystery than a sci-fi to me. (I am not a mystery reader at all; I don't think I've ever read a mystery novel all the way through.) I love the near-future New York setting, and the Sleeplessness and all its implications, but I think that ultimately this particular blurring of genres doesn't work for the reader that I am. I would, however, recommend it strongly to readers who enjoy mysteries and sci-fi novels both!

This book was darker than I expected, but I still really enjoyed it. Nothing sounds worse to me than not being able to sleep, and this book delved deeply into the paranoia and conspiracy in ways that seemed exacerbated by these worries. Unsettling! In a good way.

I found this one a little hard to get into, but once I did it was so tense and engaging! I love the unique world building of the sleepless, and how society changed to adapt to (or exclude) them!

DNF😞 Fascinating premise that didn't grasp me in its execution. The pacing is slow and the exposition is top heavy. I love the ~journalist investigating a murder~ trope and I thought this book had a fascinating and new plot, but I just couldn't stay interested. Maybe I'm just getting tired of books with a MC who doesn't sleep. There have been so many this year??
Thank you NetGalley & publisher for the free review eARC!

The Sleepless was a great genre-defying book that has thriller, mystery, dystopian, and sci-fi elements all wrapped up in a queer package. It was also very thought provoking and interesting. I would say if you have triggers, especially for mental health issues, please check out the warnings before you dive into this book.

I honestly requested this book mainly because I thought the cover art was interesting, but I ended up enjoying the book itself too! I really liked the premise, and it kept me interested throughout. This book is a futuristic, sci-fi murder mystery, where some people no longer need to sleep. I would recommend it to anyone that is a fan of sci-fi and/or murder mysteries. I'll be keeping an eye out for other books by this author in the future!

A brilliant concept, and a very poignant commentary on hustle culture. I really admire authors who pay close attention to every single detail of world-building; of how their main premise would affect every single aspect of their world. Manibo does that with aplomb: the world of The Sleepless feels lived in and believable, and it left my head buzzing with "what ifs". Would honestly love to read more in this world!

P.S. Thank you to NetGalley and Erewhon for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Interesting and well written I just personally couldn’t get into the story. Just a little slow and unbelievable at some points. A world where sleepless walk among us - not zombies just people who literally do not sleep. Had a strong start where a boss is murdered and I’m thinking this is going to be an insane who did it. Nope. Goes off in multiple tangents and way too long. Could have been way shorter and gotten the point across. Just couldn’t engage in it. Ending predictable and also way too drawn out. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.