At its best, this book gave me "The Stand" vibes. Cool premise. Great characters. I had some issues with the structure though (and that cover is doing this book no favors).

This book jumps right on in the night everyone is going to sleep and dying. The only people awake are a motley crew of late night partiers, night-shift workers, and (most importantly for the plot) people with sleep disorders. I loved the idea of a bunch of people who are already sleep deprived and struggling being tasked with solving a global pandemic.

I appreciated the insight into all of the people who fell asleep (why and where, etc), and how doing so affected the world around them (that was the part that felt like The Stand). And I loved the adventure our core group of heroes go on to figure this out, (while trying desperately to stay awake). The interplay among characters and dialogue was snappy, witty, and compelling (more Linda in the next book, please!)

What worked less well for me was the supernatural element--the dreams of the whale, the island, the message within this worldwide incident. This seemed to be hastily thrown together in service of the plot, but I didn't necessarily buy it. While Stephen King would have written a long book, layering the mythology into the whole story, this book kind of drops it here and there and leaves it to a Book 2 to explain how all this works. That felt like a wee-bit of a cop out to me.

I wasn't a fan of how this book ended, in general. After the cool set-up, ultimately, by the end you're realizing this will be a story series about a topic we've seen before, which was a bit disappointing. (I hope the next book takes it in some different directions). And, as mentioned above, there are A LOT of loose ends to be wrapped up. I'm not a fan of cliffhanger element.

But overall, this was a great read. Thank you to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this early copy. I ended up listening to the finished copy via my local library. I wanted this to be more sci-fi than it was. I had a hard time staying engaged in the story and had to rewind to figure out what pieces of the story I'd missed.

Imagining everyone falling asleep, and most everyone not waking up again, virtually at the same time. That’s the world Dave and his ex, Katie, his best friend, Matteo, and Linda, a stranger, find themselves in. They must figure out what’s going on and how to fix it, if it can be fixed, before sleep claims them, too.

Interspersed with dispatches from others who are still awake, it reads like part adventure and part almost oral history. I really enjoyed it. The pacing was on point, and for such a large-scale event, I felt like it balanced the main story well while giving us a larger picture of what was going on. Also, some other SFF elements made it even cooler.

Compulsive and gripping! Suspenseful, addictive and complex! A very well-written book with wonderfully-interesting characters. The suspense builds at just the right pace as the story unfolds. Will keep you swiping the pages furiously. Worthy of your TBR list.

*I received a complimentary ARC of this book from in order to read and provide a voluntary and honest review, should I choose to do so.

In THE EDGE OF SLEEP, by Jake Emanuel, Willie Block, and Justin Gurley, Dave Torres is a night watchman who has always had trouble sleeping. When everyone around him who goes to sleep doesn't wake up, Dave quickly realizes something is wrong. Along with a nurse, his girlfriend, and his best friend, Dave has to figure out how to survive without sleep and hopefully find a solution before everyone in the group can no longer keep their eyes open. Dave's dreams seem to be the key, but how do you access dreams when you can't fall asleep?
The book begins simply enough: the reader gets to know Dave and his best friend, Matteo. The truth that no one is waking up begins slowly and feels like a interesting unsolved mystery. The desperation of survival slowly builds when reality sets in that once you fall asleep, you die. Survival becomes harder by the minute the longer everyone goes without sleep and the book begins to feel like a horror movie where sleep is stalking the survivors. The reader can really feel the agony of the survivor's situation and yearns for a solution along with the characters. The book takes interludes away from the survivors to portray the other people's harsh reality of death throughout the world, adding to the grim reality of the story. The plot seemed a little aimless and meandering in the middle, but the ending packs a emotional and unique conclusion to this sad, but entertaining tale.
THE EDGE OF SLEEP rewards the reader who enjoys mystery, horror, and grim dystopian realities . If there was ever another book from this same world, I would definitely give it a read.

Life is too short to read books that don’t grab your attention within a few chapters. After about three chapters I waved the white flag. I’m just not a big fan of sci fi books
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early

What a wild and crazy ride!! The first half I was wondering wth am I reading, and in the second it started coming together and making a little more sense. The audio is the way to go as the narrators brought the story to life, and many times I was laughing out loud. (Although I was glad I had the book to follow along and clarify a few things.)

This is a dystopian / apocalyptic read, with some horror elements, it will definitely not be for everyone, I’m still not sure it was for me lol, but I was entertained and have been thinking about it long after I finished.

Thank you to NetGalley, St Martins Press, and Macmillan Audio for the copies to review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in advance of release.
Firstly, I did not realize that this book was originally a podcast? How wild to listen to this story in that format!
Secondly, I immensely enjoyed this story! From the very beginning I was drawn in to finding out who all the main characters were, and how they were all connected. My anxiety over everyone not realizing that they were about to breathe their last breath and others who were fighting to stay awake kept ratcheting up and up! OMG and the epilogue! I want to read more!

I've been enjoying sci-fi books so much more than I ever used to. That said, while I enjoyed the concept of this book, I struggled to read it, and ended up dnfing because the book couldn't hold my attention

This was a very interesting horror/sci-fi book about people who die after they fall asleep. It was a very solid read for the first 75% and then it went a little too out there for me. But I did really like what the ending was hinting at.

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the advanced copy!

Wow! This book was fabulous and right up my alley! Scary, horrifying, and just a darn great story to boot! It was on keel with books by the great Stephen King. Then I found out about the podcast and then I found out about the tv series????? When when when! Please tell me there is going to be a sequel...I wait with baited breath and NO sleep! Thank you for the ARC St. Martins press and NetGalley. I LOVED THIS BOOK!

Either I never knew or had forgotten that The Edge of Sleep is based on a well-known podcast, so that information did not color my reading experience at all. It is, however, the first novel I’ve read that was based upon that particular medium. I requested a copy of the eGalley because I was intrigued by the premise: if you fall sleep, you die. That simple. And I was instantly curious how that would play out, as everyone needs to sleep, eventually, or it does not end well. The story had a bit of a rough start, with way too many “homeys” laced in the dialogue between Dave and Matteo. A few go a long way. After that, I thought the novel gained momentum, as the two discover endless bodies of those who had the expected misfortune of simply falling asleep. The authors lighten the mood quite a bit with more humor than I would have expected given the circumstances. But I began to wonder at the repeated scenes of random people drifting off to dreamland for the final time. It’s hard to wring much suspense out of people falling asleep, especially if they are not the main characters in the tale. Of course, by the time the characters we truly care about are fighting off exhaustion, the situation comes off as appropriately dire. The clock is literally ticking on how long they can go without eventually succumbing to sleep. This is when the story is most effective.

Our heroes seem ill-equipped to handle the problems with which they are faced, to somehow solve or even truly investigate the phenomenon of global apocalypse of death by sleep pandemic. (And for a global pandemic type of story, the cast is surprising small, which might be a result of its podcast origins, I’m guessing.) While Dave, a night watchman by trade, has had a lifelong history of nightmares and night terrors, which has put him at odds with sleep in general, it hardly seems a likely resume to get him out of trouble in the long term or help in resolving the story. Matteo has a military background as a drone pilot, the consequences of which still haunt him and cause ongoing nightmares as well. Linda, a nurse who joins the crew after they visit her desolate ER, has access to meds and advice on how to keep them going without sleep for as long as possible.

Overall, this novel is difficult to review in that it withholds its answers (some of them, anyway) until the last few pages, and at that point, the story takes a couple unexpected turns (twists) which don’t completely pay off, so the reader is left hanging (kept awake!) for a presumed sequel which, without going into any spoilers, projects as a big genre shift in the storytelling. So, I’m of two minds with this book. I love suspense, and there’s plenty to be had here—even if most of it involves who will fall asleep versus who can stay awake the longest—but I would have preferred a wider net and more closure to wrap up this first volume.

I don’t even know if I have the words for this book. I thought it was going to be a thriller, but it was more science fiction.
I went into this book not knowing what to expect. The premise was interesting. I liked the beginning and how the story unraveled.
About 1/3 if the way through, I lost interest. There were too many characters introduced and the story got muddled. I did enjoy the last 50 pages. The ending was left up in the air, so so could see a sequel happening.

If you like “Twilight Zonesque” stories, you will enjoy this book!
Intentionally disjointed? Lots of scene shifts. Lots of characters; some are meshed with our main characters nicely, while others are little snippets of who they are. One of those snippets was so jarringly heart-rending that I cried. My gosh it was only one small paragraph too! An amazing amount of symbolism of which I am sure I caught only a portion.
Dave Torres is a night watchman which is fitting as he fears his dreams therefore he fears sleep. His coworker is Matteo Leon who has a charm all his own especially with all his malapropisms. As they are getting off work, they notice how quiet everything is. The streets are empty. No traffic. No people. What is happening? Dave tries desperately to contact his ex-girlfriend, Katie. Thus begins Dave’s pilgrimage to the truth.
I remember years ago watching an “artsy” TV show that reminds me so much of this book. So “way out there” that I kept reading to see what happened next. Surprise ending in store. Definitely a unique book for readers who like off the wall stories. I volunteered to review an ARC of this book through NetGalley.

To be fair I have not listened to this podcast or seen the show. The story idea is good but the execution is bad. Lots of filler and fluff and little substance. The parts about random people falling asleep shouldn’t have been included in my opinion, made the story feel more scattered. I have no idea what happened in the ending. The whole thing was unclear.

This book is super strange and very different from my usual reads, but I really enjoyed it! One night, people all over the world go to sleep and never wake up. It’s up to Dave and Matteo to figure this out before they fall asleep!

I thought the characters were well-written, the plot was CRAZY, and the writing itself was masterfully crafted.

The humor is a great combination with the overall terrifying storyline. I thought it all worked incredibly well together, because if it wasn’t humorous, I think it could have been too dark. It was a nice balance.

I thought all the random stories about some of the people who fell asleep was such a great addition to the book - and I also love how they were tied in again at the end.

I am rating this 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 simply because I think this may be the best book I’ve read this year. It loses a half star because the end opens up a whole new can of worms and there are SO many unanswered questions. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, but I DO want to see at least one more book written in this universe. I need to know what all of it means and how it is solved/concluded!

From the beginning I thought the greatest strength of this book was the dialogue, which made perfect sense when I found out it was originally a podcast. There is some good humor in that dialogue as well. My main gripe was that the story jumped around too much--something that probably worked better in a podcast. The POVs switch up often, and by the 50% mark those different characters still hadn't met up. "What if the insomniacs were all who was left to deal with the apocalypse?" Is an interesting question, but in this case death really seems unavoidable for these characters. I DNF-ed a little over halfway but might come back at some point to see how it ends.

What did I just read!?!?!?!

Overnight falling asleep overtakes the world, causing immediate death. This story follows four characters who are struggling to NOT sleep, trying to save their family and friends and ultimately finding a dream city to survive.

A bit to dystopian for me. Rating 2.5

Thank you St. Martin's Press for the complimentary copy.

Thank you to St. Marten's Press for letting me read THE EDGE OF SLEEP early. This book is out now.

This genre is hit or miss with me and sadly, this was another miss. I just couldn't connect with any of these characters and didn't want to read about them. This book came across super rigid and without any sort of flow. I was just frustrated with this one.

3.5 ⭐️

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩
𝐁𝐲 𝐉𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐄𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐥, 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤, 𝐉𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐆𝐮𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐲
𝒪𝓊𝓉 𝒩𝑜𝓌!

Don’t go to sleep! If you do you will die. If you enjoy podcasts and an edgy, fast-paced thriller, this one is for you, but you may have some crazy dreams! It definitely felt like a fever dream to me!


Thank you @stmartinspress for the gifted book and thank you @macmillan.audio for the complimentary audiobook.