Received an ARC through Netgalley as well as a physical ARC from the author's.

I liked the premise of the book, but the many POV, the masses of unnecessary information, and the telling (Show, don't tell!) made it a tough read.

An insomnia pandemic is sweeping the globe, leaving people unable to function and society on the brink of collapse..Dr. Cooper Delaney believes he has the answer: Noctural, a new sleep-aid—one with absolutely no side-effects—which in early testing shows 100% effectiveness.
The only problem is, it doesn’t work. With no warning in this trilogy. I absolutely loved reading this book.

Thanks Netgalley for giving me an advanced copy of this book,

this has a good plot and I really enjoyed it, at the start I was a little confused because ther name of the characters but at the end this was pretty cool

I really wanted to like this book, but I had trouble getting into it. I felt like the revelations came kind of randomly, and there were way too many characters to keep straight.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this book!

I NEED to get my hands on the next book as soon as possible! I gave this one a try despite the description not sounding like something I would truly love but boy am I glad to be 100% proven wrong! First couple of pages gave me pause but then before I knew it I was completely sucked in and loving every second of it. I would absolutely recommend giving this book a try!!!

Percivious Insomnia starts out with a great premise. An insomnia pandemic sweeps the globe, and Dr. Cooper thinks he has come up with the solution that shows promise: Noctural, a sleep aid with no side effects. For some reason; however, the drug doesn't seem to work on certain people. Dr. Cooper has no clue why considering the testing showed so much promise.

I was initially interested in this book because I have (oddly enough) been dealing with insomnia starting this year. It seemed like perfect timing to read about a world where a lot of people are dealing with what I am, and to see where this sci-fi thriller went with the concept. The story follows multiple perspectives who are dealing with different aspects of Noctural's potential failure. The story started off strong and was explanatory with some sections of action. About 1/3 of the way into it; however, I felt that the pacing started to lag, and the story became more about telling the reader what each character was thinking rather than showing. The characters were diverse/unique enough that I wasn't overwhelmed with keeping track of who was who at the start of each chapter. I was just disappointed that things got kind of boring less than halfway into the story. This book is also the first in a trilogy, which seems like too much for this story.

I received an advanced copy of this title in exchange for my honest opinion.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. I had a couple of issues with the way the book was written. First, I felt that there was a lack of detail in certain parts. It almost seemed like there was an expectation of a baseline understanding of some of the topics discussed in the book. This didn't necessarily impact the storyline or my enjoyment of the book, it just made me feel like I was missing something while I was reading.

The second issue I had was more of a stylistic choice. Some of the revelations were just dropped in as if someone was saying that water is wet. There was also little impact or response to these large revelations by the characters. They just seemed to be dropped in there and then there was little to no response to them. Just seemed strange to me.

Outside of these issues, I enjoyed the book. It was an interesting storyline that leaves open the possibility for future books to build on where this book left off. The characters were interesting and showed depth in their personalities that impacted their decisions and relationships.

This book did very well developing the science behind an insomnia epidemic. There was intrigue and good character development. When Cooper Delaney was in the avalanche, I was riveted. This portion of the book made me feel like I was there and couldn't breath right along with him.

Insomnia as a pandemic is such a great idea, super intriguing especially while being in the midst of a pandemic. Sci-fi is a huge hit or miss for me but I really liked this one. Aside from the sci-fi there's also elements of romance, mystery, and a thriller. Great character development and storyline as well.

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for the advanced copy!

This doesn't have the polish of a more experienced author, but it is an enjoyable sci-fi tale overall I wasn't always engaged, but liked the premise and many aspects of the story. I hope the author writes another one. 3.5 Stars

Thanks very much for the review copy!!

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the Smith Publicity. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Percivious Insomnia

Author: J.J. and A.J. Cook

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 4/5

Recommended For...: sci-fi lovers, pandemic reads

Publication Date: August 27, 2020

Genre: Sci-Fi

Recommended Age: 16+ (violence, alternate history, drugs TW, pandemic TW)

Publisher: FriesenPress

Pages: 240

Synopsis: An insomnia pandemic is sweeping the globe, leaving people unable to function and society on the brink of collapse...

Dr. Cooper Delaney believes he has the answer: Noctural, a new sleep-aid—one with absolutely no side-effects—which in early testing shows 100% effectiveness.

The only problem is, it doesn’t work. With no warning. No explanation.

Unable to accept the drug’s inexplicable failure and unwilling to concede to the competition, lines are crossed, ethical boundaries are pushed to the breaking point, and disturbing realizations come to light that could completely unravel civilization as we know it… and throw into question humanity’s place in the universe.

A jetset medical thriller meets sci-fi adventure with an unforgettable cast of characters, Percivious Insomnia presents an alternate history so compelling that it could possibly be true. The first book in the Percivious Trilogy from husband-wife author duo JJ Cook & AJ Cook, MD, Percivious Insomnia sets a unique and original course for fiction of the future, and paints a timely, prescient portrait of today’s globalized society… and what may exist beyond the realm of our current understanding.

Review: For the most part I really liked this book. The concept of the book was interesting and for the most part the character development was well done. I also liked the pacing of this book.

However, the execution of this book was a bit short. The plot didn’t keep me intrigued after a bit and the book didn’t do well at showing and not telling. The book also didn’t have that much world building.

Verdict: It was good, just needs more editing.

Thanks to Friesen Press for the DRC!
I apologize, but I prefer not to publish my opinion on public websites, since I didn't enjoy the reading and didn't finish it. The writing is good, but a bit confusing to me. I don't like the fact that each chapter is focused on a different character. It takes too long until we see the connection between them. It's a good story, it just didn't work for me.

The book started out extremely promising. I was absolutely invested in it especially during the telling of Cooper being trapped in an avalanche. This section was so extremely well written, I felt claustrophobic just reading it.
Unfortunately about one third through the book it started to slow down massively. The book emphasized character development to an end that it felt overwhelming and exhausting.
The multi POV was generally a great idea for the book, though here each dedicated chapter did not necessarily stick to that one single POV, but instead jumped from on to another, sometimes having 3-4 different POV's in one chapter. It became confusing, especially once I got to chapter 34, which appeared to have been jumbled up, making it quite difficult to follow along.
In general I think that the story and the concept were amazing. I am curious to know see how the story continues, though it would not be one of my prioritized trilogies that finish.

I really really enjoyed this book. The characters were well developed and the story kept my interest the entire way through. I thought the story was going to go one way and I was surprised by the way it did go. I am looking forward to the next in the series.

While in the midst of a pandemic, coming across the book plot of another pandemic dealing with insomnia, I was sold!
But I guess the book was just all shiny on the top and dull inside. It became cumbersome to read multiple POVs and flitting through them back and forth. The premise was unique but the storytelling got lengthy and after a while nothing was really happening.
I really wanted to like this book but I just couldn't.


Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for an e ARC in exchange of an honest review.

I got this ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this book was interesting - an insomnia pandemic and the MC, who tries to find a cure for it. Unfortunately, the execution was clunky.

The beginning of the book was very promising, but it quickly became, quite frankly, a mess.

Each chapter starts with an hour, a location and a character. This would suggest that it's a multiple POV book. Spoiler alert: it is not. Not only because further in the book we get two or three characters (or even just "A Team") at the beginning of chapters, but also because, during a single-character chapters, we still jump between different characters - we get to know their backstory, their thoughts, feelings, etc., which, although doesn't sound bad, can be distracting. Especially during a certain motorcycle chase, where it was straight-up disorienting, as we switched between three characters, while being bombarded with proper names of streets, squares and bridges.

Although some of the concepts presented in the book were interesting, the plot was quite boring in more than a few places, and I can put a finger on why exactly, at least in some of the cases. You know one of the golden rules of writing "Show, not tell"? Well, it's quite obvious that the authors of this book did not. There is so many moments, where an important event is only recalled by a character later. In some places, we are only informed what the characters are talking about, instead of getting an actual dialogue. And instead of figuring out what the characters are like by ourselves, we are being fed with "X liked to...", "Y was...", "One of Z's favourite things to do was...". This, coupled with the aforementioned POV switching and some paragraphs that just seemed a little bit random, made this book a difficult read. It was hard to focus on reading, as the narration was jumping from one character to another, from an event that happened in the past to what's happening currently, from a childhood memory of one of the characters to a conversation they're having with another of the characters.

Taking into account all of this, plus a few problematic fragments in the book, despite the good premise and interesting concepts, I cannot rate this book higher than 2 stars.

There were definitely a lot of twists in this book that kept me on my toes. I haven’t been so engrossed in a thriller book like this in a long time. I read this almost in one setting. The characters and plot were well developed that it didn’t feel drawn out at any point. Great read!

Unique premise and well-drawn characters, with plenty of "left turns" along the way to keep the reader intrigued. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and would recommend it to all readers searching for top-rate writing. Perfect summer read!

*I received this book as an ARC from the author/publisher in return for my honest review.*

This was an unexpected thriller. It is a blend of genres driven by a cast of alternating characters. I think the way the characters shifted added a lot to the tension as is moved between them rapidly. The stories of each held tightly to the plot though as if the characters were marathoners running near each other and passing off the tale as they collided. For the first part of the story I thought I had an idea of where things were going and then a wonderful turn comes along and things change, deepening the plot.

A fast-paced medical/sci-fi thriller that is sure to be way more than readers anticipate.