Insomnia (The Night Walkers #1)

MY THOUGHTS
Every night Parker has other people's dreams and it's slowly killing him. It has been years since he's gotten any rest, until he meets Mia. That night, Parker is able to rest for the first time. After that, Parker becomes obsessive and tries to makes sure that Mia is the last person he locks eyes with in the day. Instead, Mia becomes fearful of Parker and thinks he's a creepy stalker. Things get even worse when she begins to receive death threats and think it's from Parker. Who is terrorizing Mia? And how can Parker tell anyone the truth?

I'm really iffy about reading books dealing with books books dealing with dreams, thanks to a horrible book called Wake. Thankfully, this book did what Wake should have done and the aspect of the dreams was really well-done. It made sure to point out that seeing other dreams was not all happy and dandy. It's very interesting, but not only do you see deep secrets of possible strangers, but Parker never gets to rest. He's a watcher and has to watch the dream, so it's basically like he's awake. This leads to the major plot of the book.

Really, I could understand why Parker did the things he did. He just wanted some long-needed rest, especially after finding out that not resting will kill him very soon. He kind of begins the Mia dreams as just being friends with her, but when Mia begins to get suspicious, he does stalk her. This bothered me because, yeah, I understand why he was during this, but it was turning him into something he was not, as well as freaking everyone out. He was becoming very obsessive and it's no wonder why Mia thought he was after her. It's horrible, but that was how he began to look to her.

The mystery aspect was very interesting and very screw-with-your-mind. The whole dream aspect kind of added a blurred line and add in the fact that Parker is beginning to have 'side effects' to not resting, things get very curious.

Lastly, I would like to mention the supporting characters, Addie and Finn. Finn is Parker's best friend and Addie is Finn's sister. What's really great about these guys is that they helped Parker out when he was spiraling into a black hole. There was a lull where they couldn't really feel like they could trust Parker, Addie especially, but they were fully able to understand why Parker was doing this and wanted to help him make rights with Mia and find out who was really terrorizing Mia. Also, Parker was a really great friend to them both as well!


IN CONCLUSION
Overall, I was not disappointed by this book and I loved the dream aspect! This book does take a very dark turn, but Parker is an interesting narrator and he has really great friends! While the main mystery of this book is over, there are more answers that I need, so I am definitely going to continue this series!

A chilling thriller about a boy who enters the dreams of the last person he made eye contact with and quickly discovers the danger of his insomnia after a string of unexplained events that all point to him. Darkness, obsession and mystery. Fab debut.

Insomnia started out with my full attention; Parker’s ability to visit people in their dreams and the toll it was taking on his body, the mystery surrounding Mia’s stalker, and Parker’s increasingly unreliable narration were all interesting enough to keep me turning the pages. As Insomnia breached the halfway mark however, I found that what had originally kept me intrigued was slowly becoming more and more predictable.

As with most science fiction, Insomnia requires a certain suspension of disbelief. However, I found that some of the things I was being asked to take at face value were a bit too far-fetched. Parker claims he hasn’t slept in four years, so why has it taken his mother this long to notice the effects of his lack of sleep? How am I supposed to believe it’s taken her four years to suggest that he go to the doctor if he’s been having trouble sleeping? And considering it’s been four years, why does Parker only feel a sense of urgency about his situation once the doctor confirms that someone can die from the effects of sleep deprivation? I understand that Parker was able to get a sense of rest when he “slept” while his Dreamer was still awake, which would explain how he was able to make it so long without sleep, but I didn’t understand why his visit to the doctor seemed to increase the speed with which his body deteriorated – especially considering it was shortly after his visit to the doctor that he managed to get in a few nights of restful sleep, thanks to Mia.

Fortunately, I was mostly able to shove most of these issues to the side, because I really enjoyed Insomnia’s initial setup. Watching Parker experience dreams was fascinating, and I really enjoyed the detail Johansson went in to with describing his experiences with them. The way the Dreamer’s emotions washed over Parker, engulfing him completely in the moment, and the way the dreams were described as occurring in layers, made for such vivid imagery that I often felt like I was experiencing the dream alongside Parker. I also found that many of Parker’s anxieties over not sleeping were founded in a reality I appreciated, with his tremors increasing in frequency and his ability to focus meagre at best. When he found solace in Mia’s dreams, I understood his frenetically manic desire to experience that kind of peaceful sleep every night. While it didn’t fully excuse all of his stalkerish actions, it did allow me to empathize with the drastic measures he took in order to ensure he could sleep.

Unfortunately, after Insomnia’s initial setup, the plot took a predictable turn and stayed on a steadily typical course until its conclusion. While I appreciated Parker’s unreliable narration, I kept waiting for him to get caught being unreliable; I wanted his friends to notice that he was hallucinating, or for something big to happen which sent Parker into a downward spiral where he began to truly panic over his loss of control on reality. Parker seemed to approach his psychosis with acceptance, however, which removed a lot of the suspense and tension I had been feeling about his narration. It also made me doubt his unreliable narration, which might explain why I wasn’t surprised by Insomnia’s final twist at the end.

With a rather unique and intriguing premise, Insomnia had a lot going for it. And while certains aspects lived up to my expectations for this psychological thriller, others failed to reach their full potential. While I don’t think that Insomnia will be a read that stays with me long, I would be interested in reading the sequel in order to learn more about Parker’s father, Parker’s ability, and how the two are connected.

Insomnia brings something new and original to the table, and it is an addicting read. I didn't want to put it down and wanted to know what would happen next.
I chose to read Insomnia because I was intrigued by the concept, and jumped at the chance to review an arc ebook. I was very into this story, but its very dark. I like male pov and it was done well through Parker. It was quite an adventure being in Parker's head, and I, like him, didn't know the truth of what was going on in several instances. I didn't know if he was somehow responsible, or what was going on in those missing times. I def sympathized with him, and was confused right along with him. I think that even though insomnia brings out a darker part of his mind, good still wins out with him, even when bad things happen, he has regret, and that is the important thing for me.
His friendship with Finn was a high point in this story for me. I love to read about male friendships, listening to their banter, and ragging on each other. I appreciate the support and how he believed the unbelievable for his best friend. That he fought for his life and that he wanted to get to the bottom of things.
I also liked Finn's sister, Addie. She appeared to be a strong character, and I liked the interactions with him and Parker.
Mia was a mystery to me, and I wanted to know what made her dreams different from others, and what exactly was going on between her and Parker, and the secrets from her past.
The love in this one was subtleish, and even though I thought there was going to be a love triangle, there ended up not being one. I liked that it distinguished immediate attraction with deep feelings that develop over time.
The world building felt well done to me, I get the information I need when I need it and the pacing was good. I was never bored, and there was always something happening to keep things going.
The ending was an explosion of action and emotion. It caught me completely by surprise but it somehow was most of the things that I wanted, just not in the way I thought they would happen. It wrapped up the plot lines of this one very well, but threw in something that I know will be the focus of the sequel.

Bottom Line: Dark mystery with original concept from a well done male POV.