Scan barcode
juliaev's review against another edition
5.0
Al I can say is SO GOOD!!! I did not see the ending coming and loved every twist and turn.
kaileycool's review against another edition
3.0
The emotion just wasn’t there for me, though she was reaching for it.
megareads42's review against another edition
4.0
Four stars for plot and pacing, three for the abominable dialogue. For a while I thought I was going to absolutely hate this book. I hate any books that are predicated on the idea that if someone would just speak up, everything would be fine. When Josie started hiding her entire, um, life, from Caleb and expected it to be fine, I was about ready to launch this one across the room. It was resolved, a bit cleanly, and I did enjoy the rest of the story. Got through in less than two days, so the plot was definitely compelling. The dialogue, however, left me absolutely cold. I'm not a huge 'beautiful writing' person, but this was just beyond the pale...here is an actual quote of friends talking to each other:
"with the frequency with which I do laundry, I'm surprised she has anything to wear at all."
Really?Who do you know that talks to another human, let alone one that they are close with, like that?
"with the frequency with which I do laundry, I'm surprised she has anything to wear at all."
Really?Who do you know that talks to another human, let alone one that they are close with, like that?
aprescriptiontoread's review against another edition
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
vacantbones's review against another edition
5.0
"My mother could not be dead, not before I had the chance to tell her I was sorry. I was sorry I wasn't a better daughter, I was sorry I didn't protect dad, I was sorry I didn't know how to help her when she needed us."
As I searched through Are You Sleeping for a quote to start this review off, started typing it up, I had intentions of giving this book 4 stars. I mean, this wasn't a perfect book, surely. It's hard to be a perfect book. But I had so much fun reading this one that I said "screw it, first 5 star of 2022, let's GO."
Are You Sleeping examines the world of true crime as a form of entertainment by giving us the story of Josie, returning for the first time in a decade to the town where he father was brutally murdered. Her mother joined a cult soon after, her twin sister went off the rails, Josie ran away from her problems, and now an "investigative journalist" has launched a shiny new podcast reexamining the case.
This was the most captivated that I've been by a thriller in a long time, and the story is truly devastating. These are flawed characters, but it makes for a read that you cannot put down. Aspects of the story are comically exaggerated (celebrity sun cult, cartoonishly despicable journalist, etc.) in a good way and the insertion of podcast transcripts and Reddit threads helped hold my attention. I really just did not want to let go of Josie and Lanie by the time I was wrapping this one up.
It's also a fascinating critique of the world of true crime as we know it. So many of us indulge (I'll openly admit that I binge watch the ID channel and pay money to listen to a questionably lighthearted true crime podcast), but it would suffice to say that that the field isn't perfect. Armchair detectives are like vultures in many ways. But this book also had an interesting twist to the narrative:
Spoiler
Poppy is a cold-hearted, emotionless person exploiting a tragedy for her own benefit, but ultimately it is her exploitation that frees an innocent manI read Barber's Follow Me at the very beginning of the pandemic and did not care for it. I remember thinking that the premise was crazy (in the *best* way!) but weakened by a flimsy plot and so-so writing. It makes me wonder what changed between the publication of these books, as Are You Sleeping was published 3 years prior, but I'm so happy I picked this one up despite my reservations.
5 stars for how delightfully good it was.
lara_mac's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This was an entertaining book that I definitely wanted to keep reading to see what I could find out next. The characters were pretty difficult to like for the most part, and the podcast journalist was portrayed more like a paparazzi, which I found pretty annoying, but all in all I enjoyed this one.