“I can’t sleep. Not since June 16th, 2018. Not since what happened.”
Traumatised by the events of her past, exhausted by insomnia, Becky Braithwaite believes that a new start will help her to recover. She leaves home to fulfil her brother’s dreams, and honour the life he never had but she soon finds that escaping from the past is not as easy as she imagined.
Is her fatigued mind playing tricks … imagined.
Is her fatigued mind playing tricks on her, or is danger really lurking in the shadows?
This unputdownable psychological thriller will keep you turning the pages to find out the truth.
SHUTTER ISLAND on sleeping pills.
“a cracking thriller with a killer twist” – Stuart James (author of ‘Apartment 6’)
Goodreads reviewers say:
“A quick read, one of those books you started and needed to finish to find out the what, why, how and when.”
“I was immediately hooked from the first page until the last and found it a true page turner. It is filled with suspense and mystery and leaves you questioning who is behind it all. I was not expecting the ending at all which gives it bonus points from me.”
“I was delightfully on edge the entire read. Not usually something I say with a smile on my face, but I am apparently here for the heart-pounding thrill.”
“Great book that really makes you think. I thought I would just dip in and out of this one whilst reading other things, but I was very wrong – I couldn’t put it down and finished it in one afternoon.”
“I love thrillers but a lot seem to be the same generic plot retold. However this book is different in a good way. Kept me guessing right till the end. Loved the ending.”
“If you are someone who likes a good mystery and are looking for an intriguing, adrenaline filled read definitely pick this one!”
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Received as a review copy, this is an honest review. Becky is haunted by an experience she would rather not recall and cannot sleep. She struggles to open up to therapists and have a normal life while attending college. The brilliance of the story it’s a jigsaw puzzle of what caused her insomnia that slowly unfolds with several shocking twists that give this work an unnerving thrill. Highly recommended.
As some of the reviewers have said, this book will leave you thinking…….Sleep deprivation. Not good for body or mind. Becky is trying to function normally at university without sleep. It’s not working out so well.
I felt the book drug on at times. And was just too depressing for me to enjoy. The story was interesting with good characters. The narrator did a nice job of relating the characters and their attitudes. There just wasn’t anything exciting going on.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book from Story Origin.
This was a frightening story. Becky is trying to deal with her brothers death. She thought leaving home & going to school would help her but it didn’t work out that way. Her phone kept ringing but nobody was there. She kept seeing someone watching her outside her home. Then she had an experience in the library that creeper her out. This story will draw you in. The ending really surprised me. Great story that is well written and keep you guessing.
Lack of sleep can really mess with the health of your mind and body. Becky is struggling to deal with a past “incident”, but she can’t help but feel there’s something more going on…
J.E. Rowney really did a fantastic job of hooking me with this story. The tidbits of information that were shared throughout the story all came together in the shocking ending. I have to admit, I didn’t see that ending coming!
Kate Parry’s narration was so well done. She did a great job of bringing out Becky’s paranoia and anxiousness.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and I have voluntarily left this review.
Suffering from insomnia is not only frustrating but if you suffer from it long term, it can also have a detrimental effect on both your physical and mental health. I think one of the most frustrating aspects is when you struggle to stay awake before you go to bed but the minute you lie down,you are wide awake and your brain insists that you stay that way,right up until the moment that your alarm is due to go off. That scenario is difficult to live with but at least you do actually manage to get some sleep but just imagine if you had to live without any sleep. Imagine spending night after night after night, wide awake, lying in bed,counting down the hours until daybreak.
Rebecca (becky) the narrator of this captivating thriller hasn’t been able to sleep since the terrible night, two years ago when her life and heart were shattered into tiny little pieces. Hoping to change her life and escape her past,she has moved hundreds of miles away from home and is in her first year at University studying to be a journalist. Rebecca was a hot mess which was not really surprising considering the fact that she has spent so much time surviving on short micro-sleeps. All she wants is to be a normal student,fit in and make friends but events from her past have made it difficult for her to trust people. And her feelings of mistrust and anxiety start to increase and build when strange things start occurring and she can’t escape the feeling that she is being watched. Is her sleep deprived mind playing tricks on her or is she actually being terrorised by a unknown enemy? The author has cleverly given the book a intimate feeling by writing the story as if Rebecca is telling the story to the reader personally. I had mixed feelings about Rebecca, I loved her wicked witty sense of humour, I felt empathy for her due to some of her issues but there was also the odd moment as the story unfolded where I had doubts about her sincerity and trustworthiness. Apart from Rebecca, the other character who stood out for me was Rebecca’s flat mate Sally who came across as a likeable individual and appeared to genuinely care about Rebecca’s well being. But was she genuine or was there a ulterior motive behind her actions and behaviour?
This is a extremely well written thriller that had me hooked in from the first page and glued to my kindle, I was so enthralled by Rebecca’s story that I read the whole book in one sitting. The truth about the terrible event that changed Rebecca’s life was gradually revealed like the stunning colours of the flowers in spring. The characters were diverse and realistic, the plot was intricate and gripping and Rebecca’s story had a genuinely shocking conclusion. I would love to watch a film adaptation of this intense thriller. A very enjoyable read and very highly recommended.
A suspense-filled read with great characterisation. If you enjoy a read where you’re not sure whether to trust the central character’s version of events, you’ll enjoy this one.
Becky who has suffered from insomnia since an event two years previously is starting her first year away from home at University. Bit by bit we learn of the event from her past as Becky becomes increasingly paranoid that someone is stalking her. Someone who knows her past and what happened two years ago. As her stalker plays tricks with her mind fuelling her paranoia we learn that Becky’s mental health issues started earlier than two years ago. Is any of it really happening, is it all in her mind or is she the person responsible? You won’t know for sure until the final twist.
Cliff hanger! This book left me on a ledge trying to figure out what really happened in the end. Yet, I couldn’t put it down. I definitely recommend it.
This was a struggle to read. Boring, unrealistic main character and scenario, combined with poor editing makes the book nearly unable to be rated.
After the protagonist suffers an unspeakable tragedy, she develops severe insomnia and moves away. After relocating, and trying to cope with University, and the debilitating insomnia, the protagonist begins to feel that she’s being watched and that danger is imminent. The more she worry’s and thinks about the situation, the more she wonders if the danger is real or if she’s loosing her mind , and the insomnia worsens, making her life more unbearable and difficult to differentiate reality from imagination.
The book is well written and the characters development so well done that the reader feels part of the story: the fear is real and palpable and you’ll find yourself gripped by the story and the tension woven throughout. An absolutely stunning thriller that will leave you breathless and terrified!
A gritty, intense, fast-paced, riveting, artful melding of stunning psychological thrills and nail-biting suspense. An edgy mystery full of dark secrets, shocking plot twists and pulse-pounding, palpable tension. This book brings it ALL!
*I received a complimentary ARC of this book in order to read and provide a voluntary, unbiased and honest review, should I choose to do so.
This was a big thriller to see what happens at the end and what you believe. To find out what I did at the last chapter was probably the most irritating part and sad at the same time. But I don’t want to spoil it for anyone.
Shocking struggles after deaths of a close friend, and of her brother leave a university student vulnerable
Has she gone off the deep end? Is she paranoid?
One problem with a persecution complex: sometimes when you think someone is watching you, is out to get you, someone is. Sometimes stressed out behavior makes you a target for bullying
One problem with antidepressants is that they might keep you from a manic high, but they keep you from feeling much of anything and can be quite disturbing to sleep and dream cycles.
In recent years, more attention has been paid to dome of the serious side effects of these once widely used meds, but how many suffered serious consequences ffom their use that were damaging, yet not lethal enough for someone to gile duit against prescribers or producers of the meds?
What about Becky? Is she a disturbed student who self harms? Or is there more in play?
The terror, exhaustion and frustration of Becky is painfully well written- excellently do.
A captivating psychological drama and thriller
An interesting reading with a lot of twists and turns that keep on piling angst in the reader´s mind (as well as in the characters). It certainly is a different way of telling a thrilling story with a very unexpected ending. Not everything is as it seems and sometimes you best trust your feelings than in others (even when they seem to be close to you…). A riveting book and for sure, good entertainment!
I downloaded a free copy of this book through Story Origin and this is my honest review.
a must read. not scary per say but for sure good. slow start for sure and i was wondering where all of this was going. about a third of the way through the book it started to pick up and slowly started to unravel. i was seriously surprised with the ending. i was not at all expecting the twist in the epilogue. for sure a good read.
J.E. Rowney has written a truly mysterious haunting novel with “I Can’t Sleep”.
From the beginning, Becky had a complex and emotional journey with so much tragedy. So much unknown danger that she had to endure in her life.
Parts of the novel were spine tingling and downright creepy.
The ending was not what I imagined at all.
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for fair and honest review.
I’m not usually a psychological thriller type reader. I’m much more of a romance reader. However, I stumbled across this book and decided it was a must-read. I’m not even sure what it was about the description, but it did it for me.
As someone who doesn’t generally read the genre, I can’t compare this story to others within the psychological thriller category. All I can do is give you my honest impression and explain how it made me feel.
So, that being said… I was on the edge of my proverbial chair almost all the way until the end. If nothing else, I’m pretty sure this book has just opened me to a whole new world of genre reading. It will not be the last psychological thriller I read. Not by a long shot.
However, once I actually got to the end, I was… disappointed, to say the very least. All the tension and drama and ohmygodwhat’sgonnahappennext that went into the first 90% of the book just fizzled out into nothingness. It all felt like it was for nothing.
***SPOILERS AHEAD***
I knew Becky had some pretty serious mental health issues. That wasn’t hard to guess, and in fact, was part of the plot. Part of what got me as the book progressed was trying to figure out how much of what was happening was in her head and how much might actually be happening. The scenarios were written just well enough to be completely implausible while also still having a note of plausibiility. I had guessed that SOME of the things were happening and it was throwing her into a tailspin so she was imagining the rest.
But when the murderous girlfriend showed up, even before the epilogue, I realized it had to’ve been all in her head. Because she blamed herself, so the angry Jennie beating her up was a part of her mind blaming her for Jordan’s death. It all came together, but also was just… meh. So when I saw the epilogue, I was like yessss. Closure. But then all it really provided was confirmation of my assumptions as well as knowledge that she committed suicide and everything that happened at the end was likely going through her head while she was drowning.
Yes, this book makes me want to read more psychological thrillers, but mostly because I’m hoping others will do the genre better justice. Because the lead up to the end was phenomenal, but it petered out to nothingness.
I received a copy of this book via the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Unless I’ve simply forgotten a previous read, I do believe I Can’t Sleep by J.E. Rowney is the first psychological thriller I’ve ever read. I absolutely adore the genre in movies, so when I saw this book featured an LGBTQ+ main character, I jumped onboard with both feet. Luckily for me, it was worthy of being my first-ever read in a genre I will likely start keeping a closer eye on.
I loved the tension weaved into this story. It kept me turning the page and the gears in my brain spinning. I guessed—to an extent—the ending fairly early on, but not exactly as it played out. And there was just enough mystery as to whether what was happening on page truly was happening or if it was all in Becky’s head, that I couldn’t be sure my guess was accurate. So, I was delightfully on edge the entire read. Not usually something I say with a smile on my face, but I am apparently here for the heart-pounding thrill.
As a completely new reader of the genre, I can’t speak to how the ending played out in comparison to other stories with similar themes and constructs. However, I’ll admit it was a tiny bit of a disappointment to me. After being on the edge of my seat the whole book, the ending felt like a clunky and disingenuous resolution. And one I guessed fairly accurately rather early on. Still, because this story was written with an unreliable narrator and left the reader wondering with every flip of the page, I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing that I was able to predict the ending. I just happened to be one of the lucky ones who decided to lean one way rather than the other based off the information provided.
I would recommend this to any psychological thriller lover, but I think it’s also an excellent gateway read for those who might be intrigued by the genre but never found themselves motivated enough to dip their toes in.