Monday, July 15, 2013

How Insomnia Kept Me Up All Night

Book:  Insomnia
Author:  J.R. Johansson
Publisher:  Flux
Date:  Now available
Source:  Publisher via Netgalley
My grade:  A

Her eyes saved his life.
Her dreams released his darkness.

After four years of sleeplessness, high school junior Parker Chipp can't take much more. Every night, instead of sleeping, he enters the dreams of the last person he's made eye contact with. If he doesn't sleep soon, Parker will die.

Then he meets Mia. Her dreams, calm and beautifully uncomplicated, allow him blissful rest that is utterly addictive. But what starts out as a chance meeting turns into an obsession; Parker's furious desire for what he needs pushes him to extremes he never thought he'd go. And when someone begins to terrorizing Mia with twisted death threats, Parker's memory blackouts leave him doubting his own innocence.

Initial reaction
Thank goodness there’s a sequel….this book was creepy good!

Cover story
Creeptastic!  I love this cover.  I think it also has great “boy appeal”.  I like the title too.  I mean, we all know how horrible it is to suffer from insomnia, so it’s relatable.  And it makes me want to pick up the book and see what’s what.

What’s the Story?
This book was really cool.  I really liked it.  It’s about this boy, Parker, who basically hasn’t slept in 4 years.  Why?  Because when he goes to sleep, he actually just enters the dream of the last person whose eyes he met.  And so he watches that person’s dream or nightmare all night and wakes up the next morning with no sleep of his own.  But then, miraculously, one night he meets eyes with a girl he doesn’t know because he almost hit her car on his way home.  And he’s able to enter her dream and go to sleep in it!  It’s the first time he’s slept in 4 years!

Of course, she shows up the next day as a new girl at his school.  So he basically goes all stalkerish on her as he tries to look at her eyes every day so that he can sleep.

Now, at the same time, he seems to be developing that alter ego that he calls Darkness.  It’s him, but with a dark side.  And as he stalks Mia more and more, she becomes afraid of him because she is actually being stalked by someone.  So all these mysterious things start happening and Parker isn’t sure if it’s him or not and he thinks he’s blacking out and doing stuff and…….you get the picture, right?

I thought this book was a great thriller.  I was on the edge of my seat trying to figure out who the mysterious people were, who the stalker was, if Parker was a good guy or a bad guy or what.  I couldn’t put it down.  So I guess it gave me some insomnia!  But seriously, if  you like paranormal thrillers that are a little on the creepy side, I suggest you pick this one up.

The Soundtrack

Every Breath You Take by The Police


I Will Possess Your Heart by Death Cab for Cutie


Sleeping Sickness by City & Colour


Insomnia by Faithless


Burn by Nine Inch Nails


Perfect Insanity by Disturbed


Welcome to My Nightmare by Alice Cooper


The Final Grade
My final grade for this book is an A.  It’s a paranormal psychological thriller that had me turning pages as fast as I could.  I liked Parker a lot and I can’t wait to see what is going to happen in the next book.





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