None Shall Sleep
Ratings29
Average rating4
I was really excited to read this book and I knew it was gonna be good. I was right. I thought it was really interesting and I just wanted to read more. It took me some time to finish this book just because I wasn't ready for it to end. Incredible! 4.5 stars
read for stabathon 2022: sydney prescott
this is really silence of the lambs vibes which i really enjoyed. i liked learning about a killer in a very intimate way and helping that solve a case. but i didn't get any 80s vibes which made me take away a star because if a book says it's in the 80s, that is a selling point for me, and if you don't deliver imma be upset. i also thought this was gonna give mindhunter vibes but it didn't really at all which disappointed me
Ooh this book was the best combination of Hannibal, Mindhunter, Criminal Minds and Through the Darkness but with 18-19year olds.
The first half of the book is a bit slow, a lot of interviewing and a slow buildup - you're not really sure where this book is going. Then, the novel kicks into high gear and you're in for a ride.
I loved the two leads. Emma was delightful. She reminds me of what Emily Prentiss and JJ would've been like in their younger days. Travis Bell, reminds me a lot of Morgan. But none of these book characters are a one to one copies, which I'm grateful for.
The book was lovely and gripping and thrilling. I loved it.
I think the author had written this really well as well showing that the characters have grown and learned from the experiences just within the book. It was a really good read.
That was really intense. It was a good thriller with main characters I was invested in
4.5 UFF a long time i don't read such a good serial killer book. After reading the a good girls guide to murder series, I though I would never experience what I experienced reading that series. Like NEVER ever again. BUTTTTTT THIS BROUGHT ME BACK!!
I felt as if I was watching a criminal minds episode, but make it teenagers... and I little bit more graphic. I love to experience emotions while reading a book, and this one gave it all. I was feeling anxious, mostly scared, SAD, intrigued, and confused most of the time. And I was ALSO trying to figure out all the clues and everything that was going on. I read this in a day which I guess says it all. The way that I was genuinely scared of some of the people is unbelievable. Everytime Emma would interview Simon, I had an uneasy feeling in my stomach. I didn't wanted her, or anyone near him. The author did a really good job making him psychologically, mentally unstable, (for a teenager). I remembered one page that LITERALLY made my heart stop, just one sentence. I felt as if I WAS there. Overall I just won't be able to sleep, not because I'm scared (which part of me is still traumatized), but because how GOOD this was.
ALSO I cried
3.5 ⭐️ this was fun and creepy and sure it was a little silly and unrealistic but it's literally fiction so
This was amazing. Simon instantly skyrocketed his way into my all time favourite villains list. The characters were wonderful, the writing was wonderful. I read this book in like 6 hours. Absolutely amazing.
It does the thing, with the serial killers, and the Silence of the Lambs thing, yup. Only with teenagers.
I know this says YA but it didn't feel YA to me. It reads like if Hulu's ‘Prodigal Son' tv show was remixed and adapted for teenagers
There just wasn't enough happening to justify almost 400 pages. The characters didn't change and all of the twists were broadcast so clearly to the reader that I just felt like the characters must've been idiots.
I have medium-to-good feelings on this one. I love Emma as a character, and Simon is a great antagonist, but...I don't know. I just felt like I was reading Silence of the Lambs-lite, but admittedly I am not the target audience! I would have devoured this as a teen and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to any teen reader who is interested in true crime/thrillers.
I do think that, narratively speaking, having a few chapters from the killer's POV and naming said killer was kind of a misstep, and I also wish that Bell would have been more fleshed out as a character. It really seemed like he was just there to be like “See? Emma isn't Clarice! She has a buddy!” (I haven't read SotL in a while, but I don't think she had a consistent buddy helping her). Also also, I wouldn't use the 80s setting as a selling point to anyone who likes stories set in the 80s, as it basically just serves the purpose of making sure no one has easy access to cell phones/internet/etc. Which is fine by me - I much prefer that to the text being like “Remember New Coke???” but it is something to consider.
TL;DR version: good-not-great for this reader, but I will definitely check out the next one! Overall, 3.5 fancypants pretentious serial killers out of 5. And now I want to re-watch the Hannibal show for the third or fourth time.