Today I am excited to be taking part in the blog tour for Romy Hausmann’s new novel, Sleepless. Read on to find out what I thought…
Title: Sleepless
Author: Romy Hausmann
Publisher: Quercus Books
Synopsis:
It’s been years since Nadja was convicted of a cruel crime. After her release from prison, she’s wanted nothing more than to live a normal life.
But then a murder occurs and a remote house in the woods becomes the scene of a bizarre game – because Nadja’s past makes her the perfect victim. And the perfect murderer…
My Review:
Sleepless is an interesting, gritty thriller. I loved Dear Child, Romy’s other novel, so I had very high expectations for this novel. It took me a while to get properly into the story – the first third of the book was a little bewildering as the reader meets lots of different, seemingly unconnected, characters and storylines, and I was desperately trying to work out how they all fit in. But my main advice would be to sit back and enjoy the ride; don’t overthink it. Keep on reading and you’ll find yourself completely sucked in as you start to realise that not everyone is as they seem…!
A lot of this novel made me consider how someone’s past can affect their future so deeply, and whether people can really change. The main character Nadja was convicted for a very serious crime as a child, and is living in fear of her past being ‘discovered’ as an adult. The novel jumps from past to present as we start to unfurl what really happened back then, and how this past life is getting Nadja tangled up in something very serious without her even realising…
There are surprises in this novel, and it’s very readable. Although not an easy read, as you need to try and keep track of who people are and what’s going on, I found myself getting lost in the action, and the way that different threads came together at the end was an extra bonus as it all became clear (or clear-ish – not sure I grasped everything!).
This novel does a great job of really inflicting a sense of unease and atmosphere, and I loved that the characters were flawed – no one was perfect. I really enjoyed this fast-paced thriller and would definitely read more of Romy’s novels in the future.
Rating: 4/5
Many thanks to the publisher, Quercus Books, for providing a copy of this novel on which I chose to write an honest review, and for inviting me onto the blog tour!
About the author:
Romy Hausmann was born in the former GDR in 1981. At the age of twenty-four she became chief editor at a film production company in Munich. Since the birth of her son, Romy has been working as a freelancer in TV. DEAR CHILD is her thriller debut, and her second mind-bending thriller SLEEPLESS publishes in 2021. She lives with her family in a remote house in the woods near Stuttgart.
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