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A review by travelseatsreads
Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
My relationship with Sarah Pinborough's books has always been one of extreme love or hate, with 13 Minutes and Cross Her Heart in the love group and Behind Her Eyes firmly exiled to the hate category. Yes, I'm one of the ones who just couldn't get on with THAT ending. However, reading the blurb of Insomnia I was really intrigued and had to give it a try with much abated breath.
I chose to listen to the audiobook and from the first few minutes the narrator, Sarah Durham, immediately set the scene with her pace, intensity and almost disquieting narration.
The storyline line builds with an eerie yet frantic intensity that throws you firmly into a state of unease and panic that matches the terror and torture of Emma's long sleepless nights.
Pinborough firmly entangles the reader in a snare-like maze of twists and dead ends which add to the encroaching sense of restlessness. At each point you begin to feel there are finally some answers and that normality is returning and then there's yet another unexpected slap in the face. Who exactly are we supposed to believe?
I absolutely loved how Sarah looked at intergenerational trauma and at whether certain aspects of mental illness can be passed down from parent to child in such an alternative way. The plotting also has glimmers of the nature/nurture debate and questions if some things are just self-fulfilling prophecies which we have no control over.
A very eerie, meaty and unsettling thriller which put me immediately in a state of unease, performed by a narrator who really enhanced the experience.
I chose to listen to the audiobook and from the first few minutes the narrator, Sarah Durham, immediately set the scene with her pace, intensity and almost disquieting narration.
The storyline line builds with an eerie yet frantic intensity that throws you firmly into a state of unease and panic that matches the terror and torture of Emma's long sleepless nights.
Pinborough firmly entangles the reader in a snare-like maze of twists and dead ends which add to the encroaching sense of restlessness. At each point you begin to feel there are finally some answers and that normality is returning and then there's yet another unexpected slap in the face. Who exactly are we supposed to believe?
I absolutely loved how Sarah looked at intergenerational trauma and at whether certain aspects of mental illness can be passed down from parent to child in such an alternative way. The plotting also has glimmers of the nature/nurture debate and questions if some things are just self-fulfilling prophecies which we have no control over.
A very eerie, meaty and unsettling thriller which put me immediately in a state of unease, performed by a narrator who really enhanced the experience.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Car accident