Instead of sleeping, Parker Chipp enters the dream of the last person he's had eye contact with. His exhaustion is crippling. Then he meets Mia, whose calm dreams allow him blissful rest. He must go to bizarre lengths to catch Mia's eye every day. Her eyes saved his life. Her dreams released his darkness. After four years of sleeplessness, high school junior Parker Chipp can't take much more. Every night, instead of sleeping, he enters the dreams of the last person he's made eye contact with. If he doesn't sleep soon, Parker will die. Then he meets Mia. Her dreams, calm and beautifully uncomplicated, allow him blissful rest that is utterly addictive. But what starts out as a chance meeting turns into an obsession; Parker's furious desire for what he needs pushes him to extremes he never thought he'd go. And when someone begins to terrorizing Mia with twisted death threats, Parker's memory blackouts leave him doubting his own innocence. AGES: 12 to 18 AUTHOR: J. R. Johansson holds a BS in public relations and is active in the writing community, teaching classes and workshops. Insomnia is her debut novel.
I liked how different the premise is but Parker was annoying at times and the idea he lasted 4 years without sleep is ridiculous. I think if the length of time was shortened it'd make more sense and would've been better for explaining Peter's actions and his mother's. It would also force something to happen on the homefront instead of being just annoying aside that shows how awful Peter can be and how passively useless his loving mother is.
The mystery of the stalker (besides Peter) is rather obvious if you think about it and I wish it was revealed earlier so we can get a better understanding of him. He becomes a psycho rather abruptly and it felt off. Like it was supposed to happen, of course but didn't come off naturally.
It makes sense to focus on the stalker as an immediate concern and then work on figuring out the paranormal aspect but given the issues with that plot line, Insomnia didn't stand out. I enjoyed it, especially the darker aspects with Parker's paranormal problem, but that's merely a plot device so far and not the star of the show. I'm interested in the next book to figure out the night walkers but even though the weak mystery is over, I'm not head over heels about it because of Parker. (His last convo with Addie...ugh. ) But here's to hoping.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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26 February, 2016:
Finished reading
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26 February, 2016:
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Started reading
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26 February, 2016:
Finished reading
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26 February, 2016:
Reviewed