Serial meets In A Dark, Dark Wood...sign me up. This should have been right up my alley, but it wasn't. It was more of a domestic thriller and I've discovered that those kinds of stories aren't always for me. They have to be done really well. I had high hopes for this one but was a bit disappointed. It would probably be better consuming this story on audio, since it has the Serial-esque elements. But, it's not one that I would recommend reading physically, if at all.

Thanks so much to the publisher and to NetGalley for giving me access to this book. A psychological thriller about a podcast?? I was in love with this book the minute I heard about the premise. The book lived up tp my expectations. Very readable! So good

This was definitely a quick easy read. Nothing out of the ordinary with this thriller. But, I recommend it nonetheless for an easy enjoyable light read.

I've had this book for ages but only just gotten round to reading and reviewing it. I requested it based on the description and wasn't disappointed. An interesting twist on the classic running from your past concept. I'll be reading more of Kathleen Barbers work.

I think this book may have been one of the first crime novels to tap into the true-crime podcast genre before books and TV shows started delving into it! Really liked how it touches on many aspects of true crime and is a truly original and focused book.

Are You Sleeping felt very similar to many thriller books that I've read recently about women having an internal struggle over things in their past. Nothing about the plot was shocking to me because I felt like I've read it all before. However, the social media aspects were what made me keep reading. I think it was interesting to see the other end of sharing personal tragedy for clout. I actually enjoyed the interludes with the Twitter and Facebook feeds, etc. There's a lot of family drama in the book too, which was interesting to see how the survivors dealt with their shared tragedy.

ARE YOU SLEEPING by KATHLEEN BARBER is a clever, suspenseful, creative, and a somewhat predictable psychological thriller novel that was uniquely told with podcast excerpts and social media feeds which added a very interesting aspect to this storyline for me. The way that this story was told and the format of this book is what I found most enjoyable.

This was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it. thanks for letting me have an advance copy. I'm new to this author.

Note: clearing old books from before 2019

I read this book in March 2020 ahead of binge watching the apple tv series - both were fantastic, and I can't believe I actually waited so long to read this book.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

Breaking up its present-day narration with a series of transcripts from a Serial-like podcast, Kathleen Barber’s Are You Sleeping is an intriguing dive into the secrets of a suburban family that imploded.

When Josie Buhrman now Borden was a young teen she was awakened to news in the middle of the night that her father had been shot & killed. A teen neighbor was arrested & convicted.

In the years since, Josie’s mother joined a cult, her twin sister went off the rails & they stopped talking, & she spent years traveling before settling down with a man she’s told numerous lies about her family to.

Then someone starts the Serial-like podcast Reconsidered about her family & her mother commits suicide & everything threatens to open back up again.

Told in a conversational tone & featuring a young woman terrified by the possibility that the past is becoming part of her present again, Are You Sleeping has a lot to offer a reader, including a compelling mystery. I love mysteries where the family skeletons come tumbling out & that’s very much the case here & the podcast angle lends it a clever & fun angle.

Though the ending feels somewhat rushed to me, & the final chapter is a bit anticlimactic, overall Are You Sleeping kept me invested in the lead’s reconsideration of her own family.

4 ⭐️

Once in a while you come across a book that was seemingly put in your path just for you. Are You Sleeping was that book for me. So engrossing and un-put-downable, AYS grabbed at my attention and I had a tough time getting anything else done!

Picked this book up (after letting it languish on my shelf for years unfortunately) due to the new Apple TV+ show Truth Be Told, which is based on it.
This is a very fast read, although not terribly action-packed and exciting, and not overly surprising either. There's no compelling mystery to be solved because the person jailed for the crime the Podcast is exploring is not a character that we "meet" in the story and so the reader doesn't get invested in trying to prove his innocence.
I loved the addition of the Podcast/Twitter/Reddit portions. Their tones were absolutely spot on and the invasion of Poppy (and her followers) into the lives of the characters involved with the murder was very realistic. I actually read Barber's second book, Follow Me before this one, and in it she delves deeper into the dark side of social media.
I didn't find any of the other characters to be particularly realistic, especially the twins. The good twin/bad twin trope has been done so many times, it just felt very tired as a plot device.
Overall I'm glad I read it, it's an interesting book and Barber is a great writer.

I am a big fan of true crime podcasts so this book struck a familiar note with me! I really enjoyed this, even though it felt like it took me forever to finish. It's a slower read - no real big reveals and not fast-paced suspense by any means. There's a lot of character development, and it was good for the story. Overall a very good psychological thriller with superb writing by a new-to-me author.

Based on the synopsis and my love for true crime podcasts, I assumed this book would be a fantastic fit. Unfortunately, I struggled to connect with the author's style and it turns out, reading a podcast is not as interesting as actually listening. Maybe I would fair better with an audio version of the book. Based on my failure to connect, I made the decision to set the book down and move in a different direction. Thanks for allowing me access to an early copy.

I FREAKING LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH! The story was addicting. I read this in one sitting. The story keeps you guessing until the very end. Kathleen did an amazing job incorporating threads and podcast transcripts, especially those twitter tweets. This book was unique. I'd love to see this turn into a tv series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for this free readers edition. In exchange I am providing an honest review.

The title of this book made me think it was going to be a lot creepier than it actually was. Actually, I didn't find the story creepy at all. I'm not sure if Barber meant it to come off creepy but the title and the cover art would certainly lean that way.

Jo, Josie, has spent the last ten years of her life being a different person. In her mid-teens her life fell apart when her father was murdered in their kitchen, her twin sister went off the deep end, and her mother left the family for a cult. You can't make this stuff up. Finally, one incident pushed Josie to break away. She legally changed her name so she couldn't be found and set off overseas to disappear for awhile...or forever. During her travels she meets Caleb and settles into a life with him. Fast forward to 2015. Caleb is on a business trip and Josie overhears her father's name mentioned on the train. Uh, how? Turns out there is a new podcast called Reconsidered and the murder of Chuck Buhrman, Josie's father, is the topic. Did Warren Cave, serving a life sentence for the murder actually do it and if not who did? This news sends Josie into a panic - sure she changed her name but she knows she will be found. And what do they mean "did Warren Cave do it?" Of course he did, her twin - Lanie - saw him do it.

As Josie grapples with what this podcast means and could potentially end up doing to her reconstructed life, she gets news that her mother has killed herself on the cult compound she's been living at the past decade. Caleb, who knows nothing and believes Josie was an only child and has two dead parents, can't find out. She needs him. She has to go back to her hometown and take care of this as quickly and quietly and she can and hope that Caleb doesn't hear of or listen in on this podcast. But as the old adage goes, weave a web of lies and you'll be caught - Josie is discovered. Returning to her hometown to face her past, her twin sister, and the unease the podcast has stirred up is almost too much for Josie but when Caleb shows up on her Aunt's doorstep with no warning or hint he was following her she almost loses it completely. Now what? She really can't lose him too.

On top of everything, this podcast is making her actually rethink the night and the days leading up to her father's murder. Her twin, Lanie, is acting really strange again and Josie wonders - did Lanie really see Warren Cave that night or is he serving a life sentence for a crime he didn't commit, as the podcast is postulating?

What's that other adage? The truth will set you free. Josie needs to be set free.


This title was enjoyable. It read really quickly and kept me interested. It wasn't, however, gripping. I figured things out pretty quickly from the get go. What always gets me is the lie these characters weave. Why cover up or lie about your story, your history? It's going to get uncovered at some point. You cannot hide from your story, it will always find a way to be revealed. And to share your story doesn't mean you have to share all the nitty gritty details. It's just weird to me. And it may be weird because at this point in my life I know the wasted effort those lies or cover ups are. Just be truthful from the get go, it's better for everyone - especially the person who is living the story. Anyway...that's just my life experience two cents. Ha.

I liked the format of this story, how current social media played such a big role through podcasting, Reddit, and Twitter. And fortunately in the galley copy I read, it came through in that format. Sometimes in the galley it comes across all funky but this was formatted as it should be for readability and I liked that. One thing this story did was make me think, again, about the families who get their stories all stirred up again by renewed public interest. I guess I just hope that they are treated in real life with more sensitivity than the podcaster in this story did with Josie and her family.

Great story by Kathleen Barber!! Really thrilling read, great characters and an enjoyable story. Highly recommend to others!!

This is a mystery/thriller book built on family drama, suspense, suspicion and a murder. Josie is forced to revisit her childhood home after the death of her estranged mother and and thereby forced to see the sister she cut from her life to prevent her from breaking the illusion of the new life she built after that night it fell apart; the night her father was murdered in their house. To make matters worse a reporter has reopened their fathers murder case for a scrupulous analysis on her hit podcast. Now Josie must relive the most terrible time of her life in the age of social media where everyone has an opinion and is anything but courteous.

This was a good book. I put it more in the range of 3.5. The pacing and certain predictable parts of the story was what the rating is based on. I found this to be a slow-burn mystery and wished it could've been a bit quicker in some parts. That said, there were some areas were the pacing worked to the stories advantage. My favorite thing about the book is the way this story is told. The podcast format that this is told in is reminiscent of the true crime podcast, Serial. It pulls you into the story and makes it seem like what's being discussed is a true crime story. I would love to revisit this as an audiobook.

All in all, this was a good debut novel creatively written. I would recommend this book to people trying to get started in the mystery thriller genre.

This book was very... Making a Murderer. It looks at the subjective nature of people's experiences and wraps it all up with the influence of social media.
Poppy's podcast re-examines solved cases with fresh perspectives and Josie's father's murder is her next topic. It was an interesting premise, but one that I found myself trudging through. For some reason, this book never sparked that part of me that must turn the page to keep reading. I wouldn't necessarily call it a thriller, it was too light for that. Maybe someone who enjoys the spirit if a thriller without the intense suspense would enjoy this book, but it just wasn't for me.

This reminds me of "A Head Full of Ghosts" by Paul Tremblay and "Night Film" by Marisha Pessl with the popculture/social media inclusion of the podcast. I think this psychological thriller would be naturally suited to a TV mini-series.