Addictive and compelling reading. Highly recommend to all

Wow, one of THE best books of this year so far! Gripping, edge of the seat kind of read. A well deserved five stars.

The following review has been published to novelmom.com. Thank you for the opportunity to review the book. 

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]'ll just get this out of the way: I really liked Are You Sleeping by Kathleen Barber. In fact, I can honestly say that I haven't whipped through a book like this since I read Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll.

That's saying a lot, because I read this book on my phone after receiving an advanced review copy from Netgalley. I typically don't like to read on screens, but I couldn't wait to find out what happened in this story.

Are You Sleeping by Kathleen Barber is intense and raw and captivating. It's pure psychological thriller and honestly I could not put it down. I read all 252 pages of this book straight through, and never once did I want to skip parts or take a break.

Are You Sleeping by Kathleen Barber is due out August 1. Pre-order your copy on Amazon.
Who Should Read Kathleen Barber's Are You Sleeping?

Are You Sleeping: A NovelAre You Sleeping: A Novel
Are You Sleeping is a great book for people who are fans of Serial, the podcast. For those who are not familiar with Serial: It's a regular podcast in which the host, Sarah Koenig, investigates long-solved court cases that may not have been as clear cut as originally thought. Think Making a Murderer, only in podcast format.

Are You Sleeping follows Josie, the daughter of murdered Chuck Buhrman, as the fictional podcast host re-opens Josie's father's murder and digs up long-buried problems for Josie and her relationships with her family. Soon after the podcast is released, Josie is forced to leave New York City and return to her home town in Illinois, where things quickly turn crazy.

Why Read Are You Sleeping By Kathleen Barber

I found Barber's book to be phenomenal for a few simple reasons. I was impressed at the depth of her characters, and I was blown away by the complicated relationships she established throughout the story. Are You Sleeping is predicated on the podcast's digging of the murder, but the book itself isn't really about the podcast.

Instead, Barber creates storylines about those who are still alive at the time of the podcast's broadcast. Barber focuses not on the information dug up by the podcast's host, but instead on the impact the podcast has on the remaining members of Chuck Buhrman's family. For example, Josie and her twin sister have had a difficult relationship since their father was murdered, and they're relationship is one that readers are able to see change over the course of the book.

I liked this book because I felt like I could very easily connect with Josie as a character. Of course, I have never had the experiences that Josie had, and yet I could feel her emotions and I could understand where she was coming from. She waffled between anger and disbelief and overwhelming sadness, and all of it was understandable.

Additionally, Barber created such wonderfully rich backstories for each of the characters in the book. For example, Josie's sister, Lanie, was the reported eyewitness of her father's murder. It was Lanie's testimony that put her father's murderer in prison, but as the story wears on, it is revealed that Lanie wasn't always sober during her teenage years. The host of the podcast casts real doubt on Lanie's eyewitness testimony, which ultimately leads the reader to question whether Lanie's story is really true.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the advanced review copy of Are You Sleeping? by Kathleen Barber. I was provided this book for free in exchange for my honest review.

This book pissed me off!! It seriously did. I finished it two days ago but can't stop thinking about it. 

Josie is happily living in New York with her boyfriend, Caleb who is an international aide worker. While Caleb is out of town, Josie's carefully constructed life begins to fall apart. A journalist by the name of Poppy Parnell has been discussing the murder of Josie's father on her podcasts. A young man by the name of Warren Cave was convicted of her father's murder, but Journalist Parnell believes Cave's assertion that he is innocent. To make matters even more upsetting, Josie receives a phone call from her cousin, Ellen telling her that her Mother is dead and that she will have to return home for the funeral.

The problem? Well, there are several. Josie has lied to her boyfriend about her past. A past that Josie wanted to keep hidden, she even went so far as to have her last name legally changed. Caleb has no idea that her father was murdered or that after his murder, her Mother abandoned her and her twin sister, to join a cult. He believes that both of her parents are dead and that she was raised by her Aunt Amelia. When Caleb returns home, Josie again lies to him and tells him her Aunt Amelia died and she needs to return home for the funeral.

Another problem? Josie's twin sister, Laine. Josie has not seen her twin sister after she betrayed Josie years earlier. Josie knows nothing of her sister's life and wants to keep it that way but unfortunately, the past rears it's ugly head when Josie returns home and learns not only is Lanie married (to Josie's high school boyfriend) but they have a child together. Can you guess what the betrayal was?

Confronting the past and dealing with the present are difficult enough by Poppy Parnell is still investigating the murder and trying to find out what really happened the night in question. The continued podcasts and attempts at gaining an interview are stressful and only serve to create more drama. Then Caleb, trying to be a loving and supportive boyfriend, shows up to be a support for Josie only to learn that she has lied to him about her past and who she is.

Lanie, Josie's twin sister, was not a very likable character for me. After betraying her sister when they were younger, I thought it was disgusting that she tried to confuse Caleb by pretending to be Josie. Plus, she has mood swings and has a penchant for throwing things at people's heads (lasagna, pitcher) Also, she is a terrible mother. In a way, she is very similar to her own Mother. She forgets to pack her daughter lunch, forgets to pick her up from school and even sends her on an "adventure" where the child talks the mail main into driving her somewhere. Boy, the mandated reported in me wanted to report her for neglect. 

This story is told narrative, twitter messages, reddit threads, the podcast and comments from listeners to the podcast. If Warren Cave did not murder Josie and Lanie's father then who did? Plus, Lanie testified that she saw Warren being shot..was she telling the truth? If Warren is as innocent as he and his Mother claim...then who is the killer? Why would Lanie say she saw him shoot her father if he didn't do it?

This book was addictive and I could not read it fast enough. In the end we learn the truth and it was not so much of a stretch and explained a lot of strange behaviors. I really liked the characters in this book. I enjoyed Josie. I felt for her for most of the book. Although I did find it a little extreme that she changed her name and did not tell the truth about her life, I can appreciate her reasons for doing so. She never thought she would see Caleb again when she first told him both of her parents were dead. Once you start down a path of lies is it easier to keep walking along that path or do you come clean with the truth?

Speaking of the truth..if you question what you saw or what you believe you saw, shouldn't you tell the truth about that? How do you live with yourself and your actions when you know you are wrong? This book is about many things: dysfunctional families, sibling relationships, betrayal, lies, grief, moving on and finding the truth. This book had some twists and turns which kept the pace moving and things interesting. What pissed me off - the betrayal, the "sudden" remembering of events from the past. I kept thinking seriously?????? Is she just remembering now or does she HAVE to remember because there is a journalist investigating the murder so either "remember" or have the journalist bring things out in the open? The sudden remembering was a little too quick for me but overall a very enjoyable read that left me thinking about it for days.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from the Publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Josie Buhrman's father was shot and killed 13 years ago, and Warren Cave - the goth teenage boy next door - was convicted of the crime. Afterwards, Josie's already troubled mother fell apart, and ran off to join a cult. To top things off, Josie's rebellious twin sister, Lanie, betrayed her in a very hurtful way. So at 18, Josie left a goodbye note for her beloved Aunt Amelia - with whom she'd been living - and left Elm Park, Illinois. 

Josie backpacked and hitchhiked around the world, supported herself with low-paying food service jobs, and invented a fake history to tell new acquaintances. After years of roaming Josie met Caleb, a handsome international aid worker from New Zealand. They fell in love and eventually settled in New York, where Josie got a good job in a bookstore. Josie never told Caleb the truth about her past, which is about to come back and bite her in the butt.

A reporter named Poppy Parnell is making a podcast about the murder of Josie's dad, Chuck Buhrman. Furthermore, Parnell is questioning Warren Cave's guilt and looking at possible alternative suspects. The re-opening of the case generates a lot of interest among the general public, who proceed to talk and post comments about the case and everyone connected with it.

Josie is terribly anxious about Parnell's podcast, which reminds her of painful events. Additonally, the idea that Warren Cave might be innocent is anathema to her. After all, Josie's sister Lanie said she SAW Warren shoot her father. Who else could have committed the crime? Podcast groupies are ready with lots of suggestions, including Josie's mother, Warren's mother, Lanie, and others. 

The podcast and the renewed publicity is apparently too much for Josie's mother, who commits suicide. As a result, Josie has to return to Elm Park, where she'll attend her mother's funeral, comfort her Aunt Amelia, and see her estranged sister Lanie. Caleb thinks Josie's mother is long dead, so she tells him it's her aunt's funeral, and convinces him to stay behind in New York.

Being back in Elm Park is very stressful for Josie. She's still furious with her sister; her cousin Ellen, a fashionista, is critical of her appearance; the viewing and funeral are difficult; and Caleb shows up and learns that Josie is big liar. Moreover, Poppy Parnell keeps trying to corner Josie, to get an interview for the podcast.

The story is told as a narrative interspersed with excerpts from the podcast, plus Tweets, Reddit threads, and comments from the public. This style works well for the book, and some of the 'messages' are very entertaining. (Sadly, it's a realistic portrayal of how insensitive people can be on social media.)

The basic plot - is Warren guilty? If not, who is? - is compelling. The main characters, though, are somewhat unsympathetic and/or unrealistic.

Josie, for one, is an irritating protagonist. She's whiny, overly emotional, and even after 10 years can't get past Lanie's 'betrayal' which - after all - wasn't that earth shattering. And Josie does some business with her hair - she has her luxuriant black tresses chopped into a bad pixie cut and dyed platinum.....then gets it fixed - which seems pointless. Also, in real life, men aren't as understanding or forgiving as Caleb.

As for Lanie, some of her obnoxious behavior as a teen - hanging with a bad crowd; using drugs; not showering; wearing dirty clothes; and so on - is understandable in the circumstances. However, one of Lanie's actions is a serious crime, and there are no appropriate consequences. I wondered what her family was thinking!

In a way Poppy Parnell is the most authentic character in the book. She's irritating but behaves like a real journalist - chasing people for comments; saying outrageous things for publicity; not caring about the harm she's doing to the families; and so on. 

By the end of the book the truth about Chuck Buhrman's death emerges, which some readers may suss out long before the characters do. 

Overall, this is an okay book that shows how 'true crime' stories can devastate the families involved.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for a copy of the book.

Years earlier a man is murdered and his family disintegrates.  His wife abandons her twin daughters and joins a cult.  The girls finish high school while living with their maternal aunt.  One, our protagonist, is the "good twin"; the other not so much.  When she finishes school Josie, the good twin, leaves and loses contact with her family.  She is living in New York when she learns that her mother has died and that she needs to return to her childhood home town for the funeral.  Meanwhile a blogger has taken it upon herself to investigate the murder and subsequent conviction of a neighbor boy for it.  All of this comes together in the small town where it all took place.  It is the well written study of the disintegration of a family coupled with all the guilt that results from such disintegration.  The characters are believable and well developed.  All in all this was a novel well worth reading.  Thanks to Net Galley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC for an honest review.

I haven’t read this book yet but it’s the kind of novel that I love; dark and suspenseful, maybe a little scary. If a book is compared to Gone Girl, In A Dark, Dark Wood, or Girl on the Train, chances are I am going to want to read it.

Here’s what you need to know about Are You Sleeping:

Josie Buhrman has spent the last ten years trying to escape her family’s reputation and with good reason. After her father’s murder thirteen years prior, her mother ran away to join a cult and her twin sister Lanie, once Josie’s closest friend and confidant, betrayed her in an unimaginable way. Now, Josie has finally put down roots in New York, settling into domestic life with her partner Caleb, and that’s where she intends to stay.

The only problem is that she has lied to Caleb about every detail of her past—starting with her last name. When investigative reporter Poppy Parnell sets off a media firestorm with a mega-hit podcast that reopens the long-closed case of Josie’s father’s murder, Josie’s world begins to unravel. Meanwhile, the unexpected death of Josie’s long-absent mother forces her to return to her Midwestern hometown where she must confront the demons from her past—and the lies on which she has staked her future.

Due out in August.

Oh my, did I love this book. I wasn't sure what to expect, and sometimes the intro paragraph is more of a tease when the book does not deliver. Not the case here. 

The story was great; a nice life built on a foundation of tragedy and lies.  All quite understandable as the story is told. But someone comes along to unearth secrets and questions from years ago, despite who it might hurt. This character is venal, I could find no redeeming qualities, and had one of those personas where they are very sanctimonious and made of teflon, nothing sticks to them. 

As the story is told we get to see the various recollections of Josie's family of the same event, which is quite different for each of them. As the layers are peeled back, pieces of a puzzle she didn't even realize she was putting together being to fall into place. 

The characters are well- described, the back and forth absorbing.  How things could be so different than she thought? How could so many others have little pieces of the story, but they don't get put together? 

I really enjoyed reading this book, and waited for my opportunity to read each night. It was engaging, easy to read; a good pace. I often find myself skipping to the end of a book, just to see what ultimately happens- and then going back and reading the whole thing- but I had no desire to do that here. 

Looking forward to her next book.

This was a great thriller that I really enjoyed! Josie and Lanie are twins, estranged for years after the murder of their father and Lanie's eyewitness testimony that put a neighborhood teen in prison. When their mother runs off to join a cult, their lives fall apart and each twin begins a life of her own. Josie, intending to put the past behind her, changes her last name and lies to her boyfriend so she can start over. But when a rabid journalist re-opens the case with a podcast that goes viral, the family must come to terms with the truth. What is it and who has secrets? Is the man in prison really guilty or was Lanie's testimony false? Very current in terms of the social media presence, this novel kept me up at night to finish!

This fast paced read would be the perfect fit for high school students. Students with siblings will relate to the constant conflicting feelings that go along with having a brother or sister.

The pull of Kathleen Barber's Are You Sleeping is that the premise revolves around a true crime podcast, which, as most of us know, is a highly popular format these days. I myself listen to many podcasts, as the one mentioned in Barber's novel, Reconsidered, reminds the reader of Serial, with the ruminations of My Favorite Murder and its gossip-like tellings of popular murders. What could've easily been a thrown together mess of weaving a story around the latest "it" thing in popular culture, Are You Sleeping takes a different route, one where the narrative and the podcast transcript work off one another, leading the reader along a thrilling and page-turning story. Highly reccomended.

Deliciously creepy and utterly addictive, Are You Sleeping had me staying up late, reading "just one more chapter," because I couldn't wait to see what happened next. I kept thinking I knew whodunnit, only to realize I'd been led down a false path. The story kept me guessing right until the very end, and little breadcrumbs were dropped throughout without actually giving the ending away. Also, I *loved* the way Tweets, Reddit threads, and podcast transcripts were interspersed throughout the text; it was a unique structure and it kept the story flowing smoothly. I can't wait to read more from Kathleen Barber!

Thank you to NetGalley and to Gallery Books for an ARC in exchange for this review.

Josie has spent 10 years escaping her past.  Her father was murdered, her sister betrayed her, and her mother ran away.  She has found new life in NYC with her boyfriend and has been able to move on and hide from it.  An investigative reporter brings new life to the case and believes the convicted murderer is not the one who killed her father.  Josie's life begins to unravel and she has to return to her past to confront what she has been hiding from.

So this book starts off promising.  It had great promise.  However, at some point, I lost interest.  I can't exactly put my finger on it - I think maybe it was how annoying Poppy was (which I get was the point of her, to be the annoying reporter).  I did finish it, but I was not wowed.  It's not a bad read, and I almost feel bad for not liking it.  I wanted to feel great empathy for Josie, but I never quite got there. I am sure other people will love this.   Just not for me.

This was an amazing first book for Kathleen Barber.  The story flowed at a steady pace, the characters were fleshed out nicely…I even know what they look like.  I liked that it was current… a psychological thriller about a mega-hit podcast.  I also liked the use the narrative of the actual podcast, tweets, and comments.  It threw me off a little at the beginning trying to decide what it was…but I grew to LOVE it!  I found only one typo (at location 554).  I will be watching for more books from this author.

Are You Sleeping grabs your attention and keeps you involved from start to finish. Well written and paced, the plot explores the mind, interpersonal relationships and the impact of the internet on society. Usually I have mystery plots figured out within a few chapters, but this one managed to provide just enough doubt to keep me guessing. One of the best I have read in several years. Thank you to Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Loved this book.  Kept my attention and made me want to keep reading.  I really liked how it related to the podcasts that are so popular today.  It's a great read!

If you prefer delayed gratification and subtle nuance over "in your face"pronouncements, Are You Sleeping is the book for you. Riding on the coattails of the public's fascination with "true crime" stories such as the podcast Serial and Netflix's Making of a Murderer, Are You Sleeping features "investigative journalist" Poppy Parnell trying to uncover the truth about who killed college professor Chuck Buhrman thirteen years ago. Based on eyewitness testimony from the victim's daughter Lanie, a seventeen year old neighbor is convicted of the crime and sentenced to life in prison. But there's no closure for the Buhrman family-his wife becomes a recluse who ultimately leaves her children to join a cult, while Lanie tumbles down a path of drugs, casual flings, petty crime, and is estranged from her twin sister Josie over an incident from high school. Upping the intrigue factor (and keeping the plot flowing at almost breakneck speed) is the format-alternating between transcripts of Reconsidered-Poppy's podcast, tweets from Poppy's listeners, and Josie's narration. Are You Sleeping has plenty of suspense-especially when Lanie starts questioning her memory of who she saw murder her father. When she uncovers evidence that may solve the crime Lanie rushes to the police station without thinking of the consequences (no explanation is given as to how Lanie knows where the murder weapon is or why she didn't say anything for over a decade), and she is interrogated by the police for hours without asking for a lawyer. While this is in keeping with Lanie's reckless nature it seems strange that Ms. Barber (a former attorney) would allow any of her clients (even fictional ones!) to speak to law enforcement without legal counsel. A minor detail to an otherwise compelling and timely read.

This book was PHENOMENAL!!!!!!!!!!!! As a fan of "Serial", I was instantly in the zone of the whole podcast-true crime story addiction that the characters are experiencing in this tale. I found the bits with the little sister waking up her twin with the "Are you Sleeping?" in the whisper voice to be so freaking creepy. I thought the multi-layered story aspects here worked so well and I was hooked. This was the type of book that when you had to put it down to go do real life stuff, I thought about it, waiting to get back to it, like an old friend. Fantastic!

The story itself isn't bad, it's only been done before...many times.   It was easy to figure out the who, what and why of this mystery early in the book.  The story does have some good supporting characters, such as Caleb, Ellen and Aunt A.  They are the ones that make it worth the read.

This book was not awful but not great. I breezed through it over the course of three days, but could have finished it in one sitting had I had the time. It erred more toward the fluffy and light (despite the morbid subject matter) and much less toward the edge-of-the-seat, heart-racing tension I desired. The novel itself is well-written, and the plot easy to follow. I cannot say that I was disinterested, but I figured out how the story ended long before the plot came to its conclusion. There were no red herrings, no major plot twists, and no complexity to give me pause or cause me to doubt the conclusion I came to. 

My biggest issue is that the characters, especially the women, are as shallow as a kiddie pool. I feel like Barber had a lot of space to work with her characters, but they all kind of stay the same and left me wanting to roll my eyes. This was the novel of many overdone female tropes. We have Ellen, the superficial, vain cousin who is obsessed with controlling not only with her own appearance, but with those of others in her life (such that they satisfy 'conventional' ideas of female beauty). We have Aunt A, who is just called 'A' instead of 'Amelia' and who is presented as an over-emotional mess for the larger portion of the novel. Perhaps Barber intended this to seem affectionate and endearing, but to me it seemed awkward and weird. Then there's 'bad twin' sister, Lanie, who is an addict who (shocker!) likes to dress in baggy clothes with black eyeliner and spurn authority. Erin, mother to the twins, is the flighty, free-spirited, mentally ill non-conformist who abandons her family for a cult in (again shocker!) California. There's Poppy, the investigative journalist who is (maybe?) the antagonist of the novel because she nosily and insensitively pokes and prods into the murder of Josie's father. Lastly, we have our protagonist, Josie, who came across as vaguely Mary Sue-ish: she's a pretty girl with 'inky' black hair and startlingly blue eyes, the 'good twin' with a dark and tormented past that she is still trying to run from, has a gorgeous supportive foreign boyfriend who is supportive of her even when it's revealed that she has been living a lie. 

I had a hard time empathizing with any of the women in this novel because of these one dimensional tropes. Even conversations between the women are filled with stereotypically feminine conversation topics- men, manicures, town gossip. In the face of conflict or complex emotions or anything problematic, they drink wine or have some other sort of alcoholic beverage. I would have loved if the novel had gone deeper into the relationships among the female characters. Barber had a chance to write something powerful about the dynamic that exists between sisters, between mother and daughters, among women in a family, and instead she fell back on overused tropes and ended up barely scratching the surface. 

Overall, I'm happy that I read this, but it just wasn't quite my cup of tea. I wish it had been heavier, darker, and more tense. I would happily take this along to read on a plane or while lounging on the beach in the sun.