Sleepless by Louise Mumford

Happy Tuesday, readers! Today I'm a stop on the Random Things tour for Louise Mumford's debut, Sleepless!

Thea is a lifelong insomniac. When her lack of sleep causes a three car pile up, the same day she receives a notification about trials for a new sleep app, she decides it's time to do something about it. 

Morpheus promises to fix everything. It's a six week trial that's supposed to not only solve sleep problems but everything from weight loss and stopping smoking, too. And Thea just barely makes it into the trial. 

At first, everything seems fine. A little odd, but fine. And Thea is starting to sleep. Just a little, but it's making all the difference. 

And then Thea starts to suspect something is off about the trial. They're sequestered on an isolated island with no cell service. And the company isn't researching just sleep solutions. In fact, it soon becomes clear that Morpheus can control a person's sleep as well. 

Louise Mumford's debut is a pretty terrifying read!

So let's start with the fact that I do have insomnia. A double dose in fact. The stress induced kind that keeps you up all night, watching the clock and doing the math, "If I can fall asleep now I can still get x amount of sleep."

But I did a sleep study a few years ago, on sleep meds. As it turns out, my brain doesn't actually enter deep sleep. 

So all that's to say that I'm exactly the kind of person who would jump at exactly the opportunity Thea is given in Sleepless! The promise of an app that can solve all your sleep problems, to a person who is in severe lack of sleep...

Morpheus doesn't really come across as too good to be true. So it's easy to see how Thea and the others would easily be manipulated. It all seems so very scientific. And the participants are under the company's complete control. But it seems logical: they're housed in a facility on an island, provided clothes, a schedule, healthy foods (no caffeine, for example), and they're monitored along the way. 

All in the name of science. 

All for the testing and improvement of an app that promises to be truly revolutionary. 

Obviously it is actually too good to be true. But I don't want to give anything away! Suffice it to say the true twists in this book are not the ones you expect. 

Through no fault of the book, I happened to have a pretty bad flare up on my insomnia this week. Which meant more time for me to dive into Sleepless! And yeah, it does make a perfect up-all-night read!

As mentioned, this is Mumford's debut novel. I loved every minute of this one and can't wait to see what she'll do next!

Sleepless is out now from HQ.