Emma's sleep problems have started before her fortieth birthday and of course without sleep, 💤 she is aware her view of reality is slipping. Her mother is in an asylum and from what we hear from Emma a truly horrible mother who set the tone years ago for their eventual estrangement. Emma's life is falling apart 😪 and as her birthday approaches, she becomes more and more irrational, unable to handle the stresses of family life and her high prestige position of lawyer in a very well-known firm. Emma feels like everyone is out to get her from her sister, to her husband, no one is spared her inability to be rational. It's a recipe for disaster 🌋 and the disasters 🌊 seemed to be headed straight for Emma's door.

Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough | Waterstones Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough | Waterstones

WHAT I ALSO LIKED: The subject matter. As a fellow insomniac, I could definitely relate to the horrible feeling of being unable to sleep and going slightly mad about it. I also know that some people are getting tired of the “is the main character going crazy or being gaslit?” narrative, but I most certainly am still a fan of this trope. I am here for the alternate reality plot lines, and the feelings of claustrophobia and terror, and the creepy dread about one’s one mental health. (Haven’t we all worried at times if we were going a little crazy?) Emma Averell loves her life—her high-powered legal career, her two beautiful children, and her wonderful stay-at-home husband—but it wasn’t always so perfect. When she was just five years old, Emma and her older sister went into foster care because of a horrific incident with their mother. Her sister can remember a time when their mother was loving and “normal,” but Emma can only remember her as one thing—a monster. And that monster emerged right around their mother’s fortieth birthday, the same age Emma is approaching now.

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EXCLUSIVE: Paramount+ has greenlit a UK original drama series based on Sarah Pinborough’s sleep deprivation thriller novel Insomnia. And the repetition. It’s been said that the pace is a little slow, I didn’t notice that as I read this mostly (or should I say, listened to it mostly) on audio. I play the speed a bit faster as I like listening to my books like this so maybe that’s why I can’t comment on the slowness. Long story short is Emma is turning 40 which apparently means she will just go mad. A few days before her 40th she is experiencing insomnia and things are happening to her that she can't explain. That's about it, there is a bit of history as her mother had similar issues so it must be genetic. There is nothing more to this then that and it just becomes sooooo repetitive. Ultimately, this story was filled with too many rehashed, overdone stereotypes. Also, characters would appear to be diabolical or ruthless, only to appear lamb-like or "not so very bad" at the end. So exhausting and annoying! And yet, the first part of this book was a riveting read - very reminiscent of the author's earlier efforts.

Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough | Goodreads Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough | Goodreads

But as Emma’s fortieth birthday approaches, her world begins to shift. Because thirty-five years ago her mother quite literally lost her mind on the cusp of her own fortieth birthday. Even worse, she had spent the first five years of Emma’s life warning her that she would lose hers as well. Now with the date looming, she finds herself unable to sleep and is plagued by terror drenched memories of her childhood. Is her greatest fear of following in her mother’s footsteps actually coming true? And that monster emerged right around their mother’s fortieth birthday, the same milestone Emma is approaching now. I enjoyed the story but didn’t guess the ending. It was a strange one. I liked it but not as much as Behind Her Eyes. It’s twelve days until Emma Averell’s fortieth birthday which is much more significant to her than most people as it links to her childhood and what happens as her mother approaches forty. Emma is still carrying the trauma of it as it haunts and overhangs her life. We’re on a countdown to her birthday and that’s a rollercoaster ride as we hurtle towards it with a number of serious incidents accumulating and careening Emma to the edge of a mentally destructive precipice. A cruel bout of insomnia exacerbates her state, is she going mad, losing her mind …. Or???The adaptation will be produced by Left Bank Pictures, the UK production company that reimagined Pinborough’s Behind Her Eyes for Netflix in 2021. Filming begins later this year. Left Bank’s parent company Sony Pictures Television will distribute. RT @ TheMysterious: We’re making plans to head out to @ HamptonsWhodun next month, Long Island’s exciting new crime fiction festival. Se… https://t.co/ra7RPgf7Fv Mar 30, 2023, 6:13 PM Emma is a successful solicitor, helping those in an unhappy marriage move on. As a divorce attorney, she's naturally made some enemies along the way. One day when she receives a haunting message from her older and estranged sister Phoebe, she rushes to her side at the hospital only to find it is in fact her mother who is ailing. Her mother, who has been in a psychiatric institution for the past 30 years, has unsuccessfully attempted suicide. All just days before Emma's 40th birthday. Three decades prior her mother in fact went mad on the same birthday, attempting to smother her older daughter. Fast forward to present day and Emma has put her family's dark past behind her with a successful career, a loving husband and two beautiful children. But on the night of the hospital visit she inexplicably encounters a case of insomnia. One night without sleep is followed by two, then three, then four, and so on. With each night Emma goes without rest, and the closer her 40th birthday approaches the more detached from reality and sanity she becomes. Strange events begin occurring, such as someone slashing her tires and keying her car, her son experiencing a trauma only he can communicate through horrifying drawings. Has someone, possibly a disgruntled former client, targeted Emma? Is her family truly in danger, as Emma believes, keeping her up all night every night, or is she simply paranoid on account of her past?

Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough | Goodreads

In this mind-bending thriller from the bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes, Emma Averell worries that her sudden insomnia is a sign that she’s slowly going insane—like the mother she’s worked so hard to leave in her past, soon to be a series on Paramount+ The conclusion devolved into chaos and it took me a little while to acclimatise to what was revealed. Once I had done so, I could only applaud Pinborough for her repeated ingenuity and the different elements she brings to the genres she pens in.This one had a similar feel to it. A suspenseful mystery thriller and I ending you don’t see coming. That ending! The author - even for very "open-minded/willing to suspend her disbelief" me - strayed so far off the path of credulity that I literally dropped the book with disappointment. (Spoiler alert: There was a major gaff in the final chapter: a lawyer, particularly a FAMILY LAW LAWYER, cannot "switch sides" and represent the spouse (i.e., the respondent) of a former client. The solicitor knows too much about her former client and such an action would be a TOTAL breach of the solicitor/client confidentiality rules. This is intro Legal Ethics 101 folks!!! Even a new, fresh out of school law clerk should have known this one and turned the client away at the door before she ever made it into Emma's office!!! What I love about Sarah Pinborough’s books is that they are wholly original, and always take big fictional risks. Sometimes the risks pay off and sometimes they don’t, but the experience of getting to the end is always a unique and wild ride. Insomnia is Sarah Pinborough’s best thriller since Behind Her Eyes. Emma is a terrific unreliable narrator and had me guessing until the very end. While I did guess the Who, I did not figure out the Why. Some readers may feel that the book is overly repetitive, but there are frequent hints at new clues so I never lost interest. And, it is super creepy! I'm going to describe this as extremely slow, and painfully repetitive. It wins for the most annoying and frustrating characters I've encountered in awhile. The constant whining was driving me crazy/mad!

Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough - Serenity You Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough - Serenity You

Any issues with the book list you are seeing? Or is there an author or series we don’t have? Let me know! The Second Humdrumming Book of Horror Stories (With: Christopher Fowler,Conrad Williams,Mark Morris,Tim Lebbon,Guy Adams,Simon Strantzas,Gary McMahon,Rhys Hughes,Gary Fry,John Travis,Michael Kelly,James Cooper,Davin Ireland,Andrew Jury,Carol Weekes,Ian Alexander Martin) The latest book in the Lincoln Lawyer series comes out this month. This will be the 7th book in that series, and the 41st book in the Bosch Universe. Harry Bosch also plays a big part in this book.

Insomnia is a twisted, dark ride that keeps you gripped, unable to look away. Utterly addictive and highly recommended’ Lucy Clarke Pinborough is most likely one of my favorite psychological thriller writers out there, and Behind Her Eyes is probably one of my top five favorite thrillers. That being said, I always look forward to one of Pinboroughs releases, finding myself getting antsier as publication day approaches. Insomnia, unfortunately, was just okay for me. I hate that it was just a little bit better than mediocre, but I can't deny the ending was a disappointment for me. At 40, her mother went mad and ended up in a psychiatric facility. Emma is just like her mother because she is also the second child. Is she doomed to the same terrible fate? From the outside, Emma has the dream life – a loving husband, a beautiful house, two gorgeous children. Pinborough’s unsettling, remorseless psychological thriller is horribly plausible and expertly plotted’ Sunday Times