A very interesting concept of a book, part mystery, hints of dystopia, a thriller towards the end and social commentary through all of it. The way capitalism shapes the world we live in, whether we know it or not. We never have enough time now, but looking at Jamie, would we really be done and satiated if we had all the time possible? With The Sleepless not taking breaks gains a new meaning all together. I truly appreciated the commentary on all of those things.

I don't read much thriller in general and I think I would prefer for it to be just the literary sci-fi focusing on the self/reflection, but the mystery in the heart of this book has its charm. For one it gives the story the sinister undercurrent throughout which fit the overall tone of the book. There are some twists and turns and while I wouldn't say it's exactly a whiplash for the reader I think they are pretty good. For a debut novel I'm actually pretty impressed and I will be looking for another book Victor Manibo comes out with.

I listened to an audiobook and while I'm not exactly an audiobook connoisseur, I enjoyed the narration by Joel de la Fuente, just enough voice acting without doing too much.

Me ha fascinado esta novela de ciencia ficción de futuro cercano, una mezcla apasionante de thriller, investigación periodística y especulación científica que se disfruta de principio a fin y que viene a hacer mucho ruido en el panorama de género.


El protagonista de la novela es Jamie Vega, un periodista con una característica especial, es un insomne. Esta hiperinsomnia es una enfermedad que se fue extendiendo por el mundo de la que se conoce poco, una pandemia que hace pocos años se estabilizó y ya no se sigue expandiendo. Las características de la enfermedad es que los afectados no pueden dormir, pero tampoco lo necesitan, por que ni sus cuerpos ni sus mentes requieren este reposo para recuperarse. Lo que en un principio provocó el rechazo del resto de la sociedad, ahora es buscado como una ventaja competitiva, ya que permite trabajar más, ganar más dinero y en definitiva, aprovechar mejor el tiempo.

La novela explora las implicaciones que tendría este cambio tan sustancial en la sociedad humana, pero a la vez enlaza esta especulación con la investigación de un suicidio o asesinato de gran repercusión mediática, con lo que consigue mantener en todo momento un ritmo muy alto. En este sentido, la narración de Joel de la Fuente es extraordinaria, consigue que te pongas en la piel de Jamie y en ningún momento notas la presencia de infodumps, a pesar de que se hace bastante hincapié en los aspectos biológicos y en las posibles consecuencias de esta hiperinsomnia.

También me parece todo un acierto que la narración esté en su mayoría situada en Nueva York, que se transforma, literalmente, en la ciudad que nunca duerme. Las posibilidades son infinitas y solo vemos la punta del iceberg, pero si las personas dispusieran de 8 horas más diarias para sus aficiones, su trabajo o lo que sea, la economía daría un vuelco, sin lugar a dudas.

Hay que tener en cuenta que Manibo no descuida en ningún momento la parte de thriller de la novela y algunas de estas escenas resultan ser cuando menos rocambolescas. Tampoco se puede negar que los malos son malísimos, un poquito más de escala de grises no hubiera estado de más para terminar de redondear una novela que a mí al menos me ha encantado, y que vuelve a poner a Erewhon Books como una de esas editoriales de las que no perderse ni un solo lanzamiento.

I really enjoyed this story. This story is a sci-fi mystery and both aspects of the story have been done really well. The story follows an investigative journalist, Jamie, who is one of the "Sleepless" folks who have no need for sleep and appears to suffer no consequence from it, and unravels a whole conspiracy while exploring what it means to be alive.
I really like the world-building of this story. I can practically touch all the fluorescent lights, hear the non-stop rushing of the city traffic through the pages, and spent half of this book fantasizing about what it could be like to be a sleepless person. I also like the diversity included in this story. You see queer characters in this story. You see mental illness issues in this story. You see big social issues in this story. But none of those elements felt like they were just added there to check off a box. They are there to either build the atmosphere, build the character, or facilitate the story.
Speaking of the story, the mystery element of this book is enjoyable. You will not be able to play detective and try to figure out what happened. This is not one of those stories. But it does offer a good enough conclusion. This is more of a "come along for a ride" kind of story. Think of "the girl on the train" kind of story where you are just following the MC and discovering what happened with them. This is that kind of story. It also has a good chase scene or two that is required for every good thriller.
Overall, this book is just a very well-rounded sci-fi-esq thriller. It might not completely rock your world, but it definitely delivers a good time.

In a future where some people develop an inability to sleep, journalist Jamie Vega is one of those people, called The Sleepless. But being Sleepless becomes a lot more complicated when the death of his boss embroils Jamie in a mystery that goes a whole lot deeper than one botched story. With just a tinge of horror and dystopia, Manibo creates a story that is at times unsettling but always intriguing, aided by Joel de la Fuente’s narration.

The world of THE SLEEPLESS straddles the line between fiction and reality, creating a future that seems completely possible while being something that I would like to avoid at all costs. The reader is presented with a world where the major change outside of technological innovation is that some people don’t sleep anymore. And like a good majority of the Sleepless in the book, it seems like a decent trade. The Sleepless have more time, they can make more money, learn more skills. Manibo turns this on its head, delving into the mental and emotional strain of hyperinsomnia, and using it as a device to critique capitalism and class. At its heart, a central message of THE SLEEPLESS is that there isn’t one simple solution to the problems that plague us in society, and how blanket solutions can create their own problems.

The protagonist himself is a picture of being morally grey. By all means a seemingly normal person, Jamie Vega works, eats, dates, and uses free time like the rest of us, plus additional time every night. While he is not an everyman character, with his Filipino identity playing an undeniable role in the story, there is that quality to it. THE SLEEPLESS is not a cautionary tale, nor is Jamie Vega, but they serve as one nonetheless. There is noticeable character development, despite sometimes getting bogged down by a wealth of worldbuilding elements, though it is superseded by the plot it still manages to work.

In terms of the narration, de la Fuente created an easy to listen to book, with distinct characters throughout. Combined with my intrigue with the book, it made THE SLEEPLESS hard to put down.

Though THE SLEEPLESS is outside of what I would normally read, I still enjoyed it and found it overall pretty interesting. If you’re interested in something that’s just a little dystopian, has a good plot presence, or will just reaffirm your suspicion of mega corporations and cryptocurrency, this one’s for you!

The year is 2043 and it is a decade into a pandemic where 25% of the worlds population is sleepless. Manibo is very successful in describing this futuristic NYC, where reliance on technology is key to modern life. He reveals the tech in approachable ways, and it appears to be logical extensions of the tech we are using today. This future is believable. The murder mystery plot is less so.

Jamie Vega is a sleepless reporter for a mega-news corporation, CPN. CPN’s founder, and Jamie’s mentor, Simon, is found dead in his office. Is it suicide? Is it murder? Is Jamie implicated?

Jamie decides he needs to get to the bottom of Simon’s death. There are a lot of people who Jamie feels could be involved, and he appears to completely stop working to pursue his leads. I was not engaged in this murder mystery, unfortunately, but the book was paced well-enough to keep me listening. There is an info-dump near the end that unsatisfactorily ties everything together in an anti-climactic manner.

This audiobook was narrated by Joel de la Fuente, who I felt expressed Jamie’s frustration and fear and anger very well.

Thank you for this! I really enjoyed it. Always here for magical, witchy stories, especially by Indigenous authors

When I read the description of the book I thought right out of my league, a mysterious sickness that makes people stop sleeping, so I thought it was kind of a dystopia with post-apocalyptic settings, but it was my mistake, this book is for fans of criminal investigation, someone was murdered, and the main character (we learn the story though his words and his eyes) Jamie Vega, has to search for the truth in Simon’s death, and that is much more important for the story than the sleepless sickness, and that didn’t help me to keep interested…

The narrator of the audiobook is a bit cold, but maybe for the kind of book this is (criminal investigation) is not that bad, but again, I like it more when the narrators give a bit of themselves while reading, so I wasn't that impressed.

Thank you NetGalley for the free ARC and this is my honest opinion.

DNF @ 21%

This was just an unfortunate book choosing on my part. I think I focused more on the description of the pandemic and Sleepless concept in the book description and glazed over the part of the description where it said "corporate." I had a really hard time focusing and even following the plot on this one. I did really enjoy the parts about the Sleepless infection and it really made me think about what a world and a life would be like if people were incapable of sleeping. The author brought up quite a few great points I'd have never even considered. But on the other hand, the storyline following the suspicious suicide of the main character's boss and the corporate and legal feeling the book had in those section just didn't work for me. Very slow moving beginning.

In a Nutshell: I liked it. I didn’t love it. There are a few novel elements in this sci-fi thriller but the rest of the plot is somewhat standard.

Story Synopsis:
2043. After a pandemic, about two billion people in the world are now “The Sleepless”, staying awake for days on end with no ability/need to sleep. This creates a new class of people who function 24x7, working all hours of the day, earning more and spending more than regular people.
Jamie Vega, an investigative reporter with a media company, is one such Sleepless. When his boss Simon is found dead in his office apparently having killed himself, Jamie doesn’t buy it. He sets off looking into what might have led Simon to this end, thereby uncovering plenty of shady dealings and corporate politics. All the while, he is also battling another issue – his Sleeplessness has created an unexpected side-effect.
The story comes to us in the first person pov of Jamie.

✔ I like the concept of the Sleepless. Rather than making this plot a typical cli-fi dystopian thriller, the author focusses instead on the impact of 24-hour-functional people on the planet. It delves into both pros and cons of being Sleepless.
❌ Because it is a novel concept, there’s a lot of time dedicated to establishing what Sleepless go through. It gets monotonous after a while.

✔ The futuristic world-building is great. Rather than making the 2043 lifestyle too outlandish, the author extrapolates from our current scientific developments and provides what might be the most realistic depiction of two decades later.
❌ A lot of time goes in explaining the tech and life of the future, especially in the first half. This kills the pacing.

✔ There is great rep in the book. Jamie Vega is a Filipino bisexual. His boss Simon is of Indian origin. There are other LGBTQ+ characters as well.
❌ While Jamie’s Filipino roots come out strongly through his family’s lifestyle and food habits (the author’s own Filipino background would have undoubtedly helped), Simon’s Indian background feels pretty vague and at times, poorly sketched. No Hindu funeral would be held in a temple, for instance. Also, Simon is a common name among Indian Christians, certainly not among Hindus.

✔ The book is tagged as a Sci-fi mystery. I’ve written about the sci-fi angle above. The mystery aspect is fairly convoluted with enough distractions to throw you off track.
❌ A great part of the book goes in establishing the mystery in the first half – lots of conversation, barely any action. The final section contains a lot of info-dumping to explain the mystery. The ending is quite sedate. I wasn’t blown away by the mystery part of the content, though I enjoyed the sci-fi parts.

✔ Jamie’s narration isn’t as rambling as first person povs usually are. His observation is more practical than emotional. While he is an unreliable narrator to a certain extent, the cause of this is explained very well in the plot, and it has nothing to do with alcohol or drug overuse. In other words, he isn’t as irritating as first-person characters in thrillers often are.
❌ Because we hear from Jamie, we hear a lot about his past as well as his present. The timeline isn’t linear but regularly goes into flashbacks. The pacing gets affected because of all the forays into Jamie’s backstory, which gets quite extended attention.

✔ At the surface level, the book appears to cover a lot of themes – the impact of the Sleepless on world resources, political and corporate profiteering methods, widespread drug abuse without guilt over usage, mental health issues, suicide, and grief handling. Most of these are done fair justice to.
❌ If you dig deep, you will see that it is just another story with an investigative journalist digging into a covered-up murder and finding out more on his own than the police forces can. It’s just the dystopian+futuristic combination that adds the novelty.

The audiobook experience:
The audiobook, clocking at almost 13 hrs, is narrated by Joel de la Fuente. He handles the reading very well and does justice to the story. Those who are comfortable with audiobooks will certainly enjoy this audio version. Can’t recommend it to audio newbies as they might get confused with the changing timelines.

All in all, there are enough reasons to enjoy this #OwnVoices sci-fi mystery, but I expected to love it a lot more. If you are looking for an unusual thriller set around the intriguing concept of “Sleepless” people, please do give this a try. For a debut work, it is quite ambitious and hits enough targets to keep you entertained.

3.25 stars.

My thanks to RB Media and NetGalley for the ALC of “The Sleepless”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.

This book is a ride. I don't read a ton of sci-fi but I love books like this. It is unique and interesting and so fucking queer.

This one takes place like 20 years in the future and it's almost scary that it's so soon in the future because you can kind of see this kind of stuff happening and that is wild. Anyway basically there is this illness that's going around that is causing people to become sleepless and it's changing everything about the world. As the number of people who are sleepless had plateaued, there was an idea that maybe it would be okay but all of a sudden numbers are on the rise again and everything is going to shit.

Our MC, Jamie, is a reporter and sleepless and when he discovers his bosses dead body, he is on the hunt for the murderer even though everyone believes it was suicide. We're taken on a roller coaster of Jamie figuring out what his boss was up to who was visiting him dealing with the police. There's a lot of conversations about capitalism and what it would mean if people had eight more hours to be productive and make money during the day and how that would affect the world.

Overall I really really enjoyed this one and I think that I'm going to throw it onto my favorites list. I don't have any reason why it isn't a favorite even though I've really only seen people put this as a four star, but I love this book and it kept me hooked from the very beginning all the way to the end and as someone with ADHD that deserves a pat on the back 😂

The fact that I'll be spending 1/3rd of my life unconscious is actually a BIG existential dread thing, for me. That's SO MUCH. What could I do with all that time, if I didn't need sleep? If I could just be at an optimal mental level all the time? So, on hearing the concept of this book, I connected immediately. Gaining those hours in the day, with no side-effects, would get me out there, looking for a dose of conversion!

While this book has a scifi premise, a lot of it is more murder mystery. Jamie Vega, our narrator, is trying to figure out who murdered his boss. He's got a lot of connections, as a journalist, but he's hampered by that all-too common problem of armature detectives: he's a prime suspect.

There's a bit of tortured backstory and relationship drama thrown in, to spice things up, but a think a lot of where this book shines is how Manibo reasons out what the world would look like if we had this sudden influx of literal all-nighters. More things are open 24 hours, People up their hustle and take on YET ANOTHER extra job. Manibo even points out that people have to EAT more, because you use more caloric energy when awake! But Manibo goes on to find the all-too real dark sides to this possible world. More things open at all times mean more energy is used, making the energy and pollution crisis worse. People who CAN'T take on an overnight job are now severely disadvantaged, making capitalism even more of a nightmare. And while we already overproduce food, it's not managed well, so greater demands on the food chain mean more environmental damage and world hunger.

And yet...I would still want to be sleepless!

This is just such a realistic novel. Only one thing was changed about the world, but it's such a fundamental thing that there's HUGE ramifications.

I loved this. I've read a LOT of good scifi this year, but I think this is going on my Hugo nominee list. We need more (open) eyes on this.

Now, if you'll excuse me, it is literally my bedtime.

...damn.

This will be a short review because I don't really have much to say.
It was fine? I don't really have anything to complain about but there wasn't a time when it really gripped me either,

There were a fef things I liked:
The rep. is pretty good. Te main character is phillipino, bisexual and neurodivergent and also pretty likable. I think his inner life was explored rally well.

The whole sleepless thing also made for an interesting setting and was an interesting thought experiment.

But I think the everyday implications of being sleepless could have been explored a little deeper.

And overall the book was just a little... common?
It's your typical: Journalist gets involved in a suspicious death and uncovers big consiracy in the progress of trying to find the murderer (and trying to prove it wasn't him).
Now, if you really like that type of story you will probably love this book. Because it was well written with interesting characters and settings. but for me it just wasn't exactly exciting.

What would you do if you no longer needed sleep?

In a society where the pandemic has rendered a percentage of the population sleepless, that's become the reality in this twisty turny Sci Fi/Mystery Thriller.

Full of corporate espionage and betrayal this book will not only keep you on your toes as you and Jamie race against time to try and solve the mystery of Simon's death.

With themes of over consumption and capitalism, biohacking yourself, and the trade off of memories vs time. This book offers you some meaty topics to dive into and think about.

While the narrator did a great job as our main character Jamie, I would've loved a second narrator to do some of the flashbacks or other character's voices.

Delightfully queer and unlike anything I've read before, this book would be the perfect entry into Sci Fi for a thriller or mystery fan.

3.75 stars

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media for this Audio Arc. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this audiobook. Good narration!

It’s many things rolled into one.

Cyberpunk, Genetic Engineering, mystery, drama.

A mystery … Did Jamie’s boss kill himself?

Corporate intrigue … is more going on here than a pandemic related oddity?

Genetic engineering … would you do it if you could?

What could be the side effects to not sleeping … you think of the good things … learn more, make more, etc. but what about the costs?

There’s also a little romance/relationship drama. (LGBTQ+)

Set in the near future. A pandemic appears to be responsible for a percentage of the population never having to sleep with no drawbacks, or is there? A lot to think about here!!

So much going on & done so well.

Available TODAY!

Thank you NetGalley & Recorded Books! Fabulous story! I love this type of book!

(Content warnings: Suicide, death, drug use, violence, grief)

I love a sci-fi book that takes a simple "what if?" scenario and then just RUNS with it like this. The Sleepless is a fun blend of near-future sci-fi, thriller, and mystery that reminded me a bit of Michael Crichton's technothrillers (but, yknow, more diverse and with less focus on the science and more on the characters).

The story's compelling and immersive from the beginning and only gets more exciting as the pace slowly picks up. It keeps you guessing till the end, and all the threads pull together into a satisfying conclusion (though I did feel like everything following the climax was a bit too drawn out, making the ending less punchy than it could've been). Jamie's a great, well-rounded protagonist - messy, unreliable, driven; I'm not sure if I'd call him likeable, but he's interesting as hell and and I love how his tireless persistence in finding the truth drives the story. Love the worldbuilding, too - not just all the Sleepless stuff, but also the technology like drones or VR, even details like the outrageous price of coffee - the 2040s world of The Sleepless feels like such a seamless, believable extension of our times. I found the exploration of the consequences of Sleeplessness under capitalism - how some people found it desirable not to have more time to learn or pursue hobbies or anything like that, but to *work* - particularly interesting (and painfully realistic).

Also, I wasn't expecting so much casual queer rep, so that was a pleasant surprise, and I really liked Jamie and Veronica's friendship - it's rare to see close, platonic friendships between men and women in fiction like that.

As for the audiobook production, I think the narrator did a great job at keeping me immersed in the story; his voice matched Jamie's narration really well, and at no point did I have any issues in figuring out who's speaking, usually my biggest gripe in audiobooks.

Overall, if you enjoy multilayered, slowly unfolding thriller mysteries with a sci-fi flair, I definitely recommend this book :)

(Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!)

Rep: bi Filipino American mc, gay scs, trans sc, Filipino scs

This book has a really interesting concept. It’s set in the near future where a virus caused people to never sleep. It really makes you think what you would do if you had that much extra time every day.

The author does a great job of showing how this affects people and society at whole. It asks a lot of questions. How non sleepless would view them, and how work life would change. Would people work more? And what about consumption? Sleepless would use more energy and need more food and every day things. How would big companies exploit them? Also, how would it affected them mentally? It explores so many possibilities.

It starts off slow, but picks up and gets really intense. You start to root for Jamie and just want answers. The author set a good pace of revealing information and clues to us. I did not expect the twists.

I love the casual queer characters. Jamie comes out to his parents, but not as queer, as sleepless lol It felt like such a queer coming out though. Great scene.

Kind of got a bit confused with the flashbacks at times. I think if I had he physical book and not the audiobook I would have been checking the dates and times at the beginning of chapters. But it’s harder to go back and check on audio. So that might have just been my fault for not paying enough attention at the start of chapters for dates and times.

I find there was a lot of characters to keep track of, so sometimes I would forget who is who and how they are relevant.

The narrator did a good job.

Overall, it’s a pretty good mystery thriller book, I would recommend it. Check out trigger warnings before going into it though.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an audio ARC of this book

I very much enjoyed the thrilling ride that this sci-fi mystery took me on. I love things set in the near future, especially when the technology is so familiar and believable. I really enjoyed the way that the information on the pandemic was dropped in along the way rather than having massive sections of info dumping. The mystery aspect was interesting and kept me guessing.

I loved that the characters were queer without any issues surrounding it coming up at all. Queerness was just casually interspersed throughout the story and I love it!

I listened to the audiobook version of the book. It was a very professional and well produced book. The narrator gave enough nuance to each characters voices to distinguish them and I didn't hear any issues with pronunciations that frequently irritate me in audiobooks!

All in all this is an excellent thriller/mystery that I would recommend to all. The only reason that it wasn't 5* for me was that it was missing that special spark that takes a book from excellent to mind blowing. I think it was that I just didn't feel a particularly emotional connection with the main character. But still, this was very enjoyable and I'll be seeking out more by the author in future.