Picture drawn by Maggie Stiefvater, 2009. Header made by S.F. Robertson, 2010.

Friday, December 6, 2013

Insomnia by J.R. Johansson

Insomnia by J.R. Johansson
"It's been four years since I slept, and I suspect it is killing me.

Instead of sleeping, Parker Chipp enters the dream of the last person he's had eye contact with. He spends his nights crushed by other people's fear and pain, by their disturbing secrets--and Parker can never have dreams of his own. The severe exhaustion is crippling him. If nothing changes, Parker could soon be facing psychosis and even death.

Then he meets Mia. Her dreams, calm and beautifully uncomplicated, allow him blissful rest that is utterly addictive. Parker starts going to bizarre lengths to catch Mia's eye every day. Everyone at school thinks he's gone over the edge, even his best friend. And when Mia is threatened by a true stalker, everyone thinks it's Parker.

Suffering blackouts, Parker begins to wonder if he is turning into someone dangerous. What if the monster stalking Mia is him after all?"- summary from Amazon

I really liked the concept of this book. It's very similar to Wake by Lisa McMann, but is way darker and more scary. Parker is an interesting character and following him through this novel is a fascinating journey. There's a real question of uncertainty- is he the stalker? Is he going crazy? What is really going on? All the answers aren't included and I'm sure more will be explored in the sequel.

Johansson does a good job with all the relationships in this book. Parker has a good relationship with his mom and I loved seeing him with his friends, especially after he told them all about his secret. There's some great interactions and real depth to their friendships.

Overall, Johansson has a great debut and I'm excited to see where the story goes from here. It leaves off with a bit of a cliffhanger so I'm eagerly looking forward to the next book.

FTC: Received e-galley from Netgalley. Link above is an Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.

2 comments:

  1. WOW, I have never even heard of this book before and it sounds totally amazing. I have to confess I wasn't a huge fan of wake but this sounds much more gripping, I'll keep my eyes out for it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This book sounds amazing! I don't usually read book reviews either because my "to-read" list is already far too long. But this one just made the cut (and the Christmas list, of course.) Thank you for a thorough and concise review. :)

    ReplyDelete