Cover Image: Don't Go to Sleep

Don't Go to Sleep

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Member Reviews

Don't Go to Sleep by Bryce Moore throws you into a mystery set in 1918 New Orleans. The city is on edge, not just from the looming Spanish Influenza outbreak, but also from a serial killer – the Axeman – who terrorized the streets years ago and seems to be back. Seventeen-year-old Gianna is haunted by the Axeman's attacks from her past. When the murders start again, and her nightmares become disturbingly real, Gianna teams up with her friend Enzo to stop the killer.

The book blends historical fiction with a suspenseful thriller, offering a glimpse into a dark chapter of New Orleans' history. Some readers might find the large cast overwhelming, but the creepy atmosphere and determined protagonist will keep you hooked until the final reveal.

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DNF at 30%. For a story based on the axeman of New Orleans this is terribly boring. The characters feel flat and it’s just generally not engaging.

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The ending was kind of ridiculous and all-around disappointing. I'm just glad I was able to get through this quickly and not waste too much time on it. Certainly won't be reading more from this author.

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Regrettably, this book didn't resonate with me. The synopsis piqued my interest, and the cover was impressive, prompting me to pick it up. However, I found Gianna's character to be poorly executed, and overall, the story failed to capture my attention. The plot had significant holes, and I wasn't a fan of the writing style. Unfortunately, it just wasn't my cup of tea, and it took me 4 months to finish the book.

This review is based on an ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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A fun and fast paced book. An excellent book for teens with likeable characters and easy to read language. It wasn’t too graphic in regards to the axe murders. A book I’ll highly recommend.

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Gianna has the stress of every teenager in 1918 New Orleans but with an added stress of staying alive because of a murder loose on the streets. Don't go to sleep will definitely put you to sleep with the slow plot and bland characters. It was torture to try and get through this book. Nothing really pushes the start of the book and it is hard to engage in the plot at all. Listening to the audio made the experience worse.

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I really wanted to love this book more as the premise was really awesome. Not to mention that I love any stories set in New Orleans. However, this didn't keep my interest as much as I had hoped.

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I really, really wanted to love this book. I was very intrigued from the premise, especially as a person with a chronic sleep condition who also deals with very vivid dreams. I also love the location and the time period. New Orleans is fascinating to me, and I love the WWI time period. It was really fun to read about about a new place during this time and what life was like. The people in New Orleans were dealing with a plague as well as the murderer on the loose (in the book), and also with the cultural war going on, it seemed like there was maybe too much going on.

This may have been a case of this just not being the book for me, and I did really appreciate the writing style and the characters, but I think there was just too much crammed into the story, at least for me. But I do know that teens will enjoy it, and I really did enjoy the mystery aspect and the setting of the book.

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I was so excited to read Don't Go To Sleep, but was a bit disappointed. Let's start with the things I liked: the cover immediately drew me in and I liked the description because it was fitting. The world building was okay and the pacing was decent. What made this a challenge to finish was that the characters were a bit dull. The mystery and suspense were okay, but I couldn't imagine myself buying a sequel with such under-developed characters.

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Thank you NetGalley and SourceBooks for this e-ARC.

Unfortunately, this book was not for me, it was a bit slower than I would like and it just didn't hold my attention.

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Truthfully the only way to get me into historical fiction is through a horror thriller and wow did I love this one. Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire for the gifted ARC my honest review.

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Don’t Go to Sleep could have been a good historical-crime-thriller, but slow paced procedural action and minor plot holes diminished that potential! Got some thrilling twists though.

Thank you Sourcebooks Fire via Netgalley for the arc.

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This was an interesting read. The subject matter, a serial killer loose in New Orleans, was extremely interesting, but the main character, oh....my.....WORD! Super annoying. Super noncommittal. Super flaky. Super....teenagy. Gianna just thought she knew what to do even while saying she didn't know what to do. She consistently put herself in dangerous situations without thinking about the consequences. I get that she had a bond with the Axeman, but what I didn't understand is why. Also, it talks about her friend 'Jake', but in the book all of a sudden it's 'Enzo'. She's the ultimate dunce when it comes to her relationship with him. One thing I can say is that Gianna does grow on you as well as grow in her character development through the book. I like that Bryce Moore seemed to try to meld a few genres together, paranormal, true crime, thriller/mystery, as well as detective, and almost YA genres. Kudos to that. A good first book, and will definitely look for his next one to see where he goes from here.
*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. This review is my own opinion*

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The New Orleans axe murderer is a subject most of us know next to nothing about. It makes for compelling reading, especially when you add in the war and the beginnings of a pandemic. Gianna is a solid character, determined and self-possessed. The secondary characters could use a bit more depth but they are enough for a straightforward tale. For the most part, this book is more entertaining than deep. The ending leaves us with nearly as many questions as answers. Even so, it's an atmospheric tale with some basis in history. The pacing is spot-on, drawing us along but still allowing space for reflection.

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First off, I love the cover of this book. It will catch a lot of attention--especially in the YA crowd. This title falls into the historical true crime fiction genre. I see this strand becoming more and more popular.

In this novel we meet Gianna, a young woman living in 1918 New Orleans. Gianna has had to deal with her own family tragedy and mystery deaths in her young life. There's been a mystery illness sweeping the city and there's a murder terrorizing the city. The police have no leads and everyone is living in limbo. So Gianna decides to take matters into her own hands and do something---she asks her friend Enzo to help her investigate this murderer.
The closer these two get to possibly finding the murderer, the more confusing the connection between Gianna's family comes into play.

This book will appeal to readers interested in true crime, historical retellings, and suspense. A well-told story that I greatly enjoyed---it definitely keeps you guessing.

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Thank you, NetGalley, for an e-ARC of Don't Go To Sleep by Bryce Moore.
Don't Go to Sleep is a combination of thriller and suspense and historical fiction. The premise will appeal to young adult readers as will the cover! This book is a must have for the library, but was a bit too young adult for my taste.

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This was a really interesting read! The cover totally drew me in, and I thought it sounded like a fantastic mystery/horror type of read. It didn’t quite live up to my expectations, but I did enjoy reading it and trying to figure out what would happen next. All in all, not my typical read, but one I can see people enjoying. Definitely an autumn read, gives spooky season vibes for sure.

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This is a tough review to write as I have mixed feelings about the book. It started off so strong but I lost attention and become bored on multiple occasions.

I wasn’t keen on Gia at first. She really irritated me and she wasn’t likeable at the start. However, the author did a good job with her development and was consistent with the voice. I loved her sarcasm and although I didn’t like her; she felt like a well rounded and complex character. She grew on me surprisedly, and by the 50% mark the author had me falling in love with her. It made the bond even more special because it meant Gia grew over the course of the book, and that her development was real and consistent.

Enzo was a bloody sweetheart!! I loved him from the start, and he was part of the reason I disliked Gia so much, as she wasn’t always nice to him. Both characters were so well developed and I felt like I knew them. Characters always make or break a book and the author nailed the development in this area, even down to intricate details like the lifelike dialogue and tiny mannerisms peppered throughout the novel.

I loved the setting and time period. It was your typical crime/amateur sleuth book but set in the 1900s. I mean yes, please! It was so well thought out and I could imagine where the story was taking place. Even down to the tiny details, like the dialogue and word choice, was immersive. The genre was a mix of historical fiction, mystery/suspense and also paranormal. This was super interesting and done well. A super perfect read as Halloween creeps closer, and for long, chilly October nights!

The story was cleverly plotted with reveals and secrets scattered throughout. The book is loosely based on the unsolved axeman murders, but the author took that and turned it into a unique and interesting plot. Alongside the main plot, there’s also the developing influenza epidemic. It was interesting to see about an infection taking hold of the community, as it was intriguing how they might have dealt with something like that in the 1900s vs. the recent coronavirus pandemic in modern times. We also got to see Gia’s relationship with Signora, who introduced her to fortune telling and had become like a family to her.

My interest in this book waxed and waned. Sometimes I loved it, sometimes I didn’t want to read anymore. This was a problem throughout the entire book and it made it a real slog to get through, and if it wasn’t for the fact I was reading for review, I think I would have DNF this one. There were also a ton of plot holes that left me shaking my head because they just made little sense, and things appearing out of thin air with no explanation or build up.

It was hard towards the end to know what was going on. I think the author was going for the unreliable narrator so you couldn’t tell if Gia was just going insane and imagining things, or whether the Axeman was actually stalking her. Instead of feeling tense and on the edge of my seat, it was disorienting.

* spoiler alert for the ending *


The ending was disappointing. The climax felt rushed, and it just made little sense to me. The identity of the axeman was boring. They didn’t even have a name. I expected it to be someone we knew from the book. Instead, it was a faceless stranger who posed as a police officer and got into Gia’s house. It was just not satisfying and it kind of felt like the entire book was a waste, and it was irritating.

I suggest readers make their own mind up about this one. I think some will love it, some won’t. It wasn’t a bad book, the structure just wasn’t for me! Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for a chance to read and review this book.

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The story was compelling and I liked the parallels from a past pandemic to our current one. But at times it felt a bit derivative of Harry Potter with the “connection” between Gianna and the Axe Man and I had a hard time following sometimes.

That being said, I did really like Gianna as a character and felt she grew and learned in the book. Plus it’s a fun read for the fall.

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I love Bryce Moore’s style of writing, and this one just solidified that I will read anything Bryce writes.

His way of story telling is so capturing to me. This one also was fast paced. I loved it and can’t wait for more by Bryce.

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