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A review by monarchsandmyths
The Sleepless by Victor Manibo
thank you to netgalley and rb media for providing me with an advanced listening copy in exchange for an honest review.
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character development, despite sometimes getting bogged down by a wealth of worldbuilding elements, though it is superseded by the plot it still manages to work.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!
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!