**Review of "Too Scared to Sleep" by Andrew Duplessie**

"Too Scared to Sleep" by Andrew Duplessie offers a rollercoaster of thrills and chills, designed to keep readers wide awake long into the night. Duplessie crafts an atmosphere rich with suspense and mystery, though the execution occasionally falls short of its ambitious promise. The narrative sets up an intriguing premise, following a series of eerie events that are initially spine-tingling.

Duplessie’s style is straightforward and accessible, making it easy to dive into the story. The characters, however, lack depth and are sometimes overshadowed by the plot’s rapid pacing. This can leave readers feeling somewhat detached from the emotional stakes of the story. Additionally, while the plot is full of potential twists, some developments are predictable and fail to deliver the anticipated shock value.

Despite these shortcomings, the book maintains enough intrigue to keep the pages turning. The setting is effectively creepy, and Duplessie uses descriptive language that successfully conjures images of dark, foreboding scenes.

Overall, "Too Scared to Sleep" is a decent attempt at a horror thriller, but it might not linger in the minds of readers after the last page is turned. It earns a solid three stars for its engaging setup and moments of genuine suspense, making it a fair choice for fans looking for a quick and eerie read.

Content Warning: Death, blood, slight descriptions of gore, violence, video game violence.

Come on, it’s horror. You know I had to give it a shot. It’s meant for teens/young adults, so it isn’t super scary – or maybe I’m just so jaded when it comes to horror that nothing really scares me anymore.

I was pleasantly surprised at the stories. A lot of the time when I find horror anthologies by authors I haven’t heard of, they’re either not good at all or there are only one or two good stories with the rest being mediocre at best. Not true with this anthology. All of the stories were really good. Again, not as scary as I’d have liked, but this wasn’t written with adults in mind, so there is that. Younger teens and tweens would probably find this book scarier than I did.

My favorite stories in the book are “The Secret Sister”, “Stage Fright”, and “The Bone Fairy”. That’s not to say the others weren’t great, because they were. But those three top my list for stories in the book.

If you’re someone who likes horror but doesn’t like it to be too scary, I think this book is a good one to try out. I also think it’s a good introduction to horror for younger audiences who might not yet be used to the world of horror.

A set of stories in one book that were enjoyed. I liked each and everyone of the stories. They were fun to read with a bit of creep to it. I like how I got goosebumps with a few.

Going into this book, I was expecting way different. Not saying that that is a bad thing. I loved most of the stories in here. Some were fun, some were creepy, some were just... There. Having the cute little videos was a fun addition and made reading less of a daunting task.

I want to personally thank NetGalley, as well as the author, publisher, and anyone else involved in providing copies, for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Reviews will also be submitted to Goodreads when possible.

I was surprised by some of these stories, which were delightfully scary, but some others were too cringey and fel;t like too much. I believe that teens will like it for a night spook.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

This book was just fun to read. I always enjoy reading short horror stories and have ever since I was a child. What made this book unique in it's entertainment value were the little short video clips at the end of each story. I think that added touch kept the creepy vibe of the story going after you read it. The darkness of some of these stories was great and not what I was expecting at all. I hope this author does more in the YA horror genre.

This collection of YA horror stories contains some of the creepiest, most unsettling things I've read in a very long time. As an avid horror reader I am constantly immersed in spooky works of fiction, but there are not many that actually leave me feeling dare I say...scared?! Do not let this being YA keep you from giving this one a read!

As with most short story compilations there were a few that didn't quite resonate with me, but there were so many more that will haunt me for a long, long time. ISome of my favorites include; Mr. Butterscotch, Bear Trap, The Geocache, and A Matched Set..

I loved several stories in this collection, but others not so much. Not that all of the stories were not well written (they were), but rather some of the stories felt blah. This is a great collection for reluctant readers or those who simply want a brief spooky read.

Its creepy & spooky and absolutely amazing! This collection of chilling tales is ideal for the Halloween season, but will scare you any day of the week!

i was so surprised by how much i liked this title! typically, i feel like YA horror can fall flat in terms of the actual "scare" in favor of unease or edginess, but these stories were genuinely scary and most of the premises were really original! being short fictions, the stories sometimes felt rushed or like there was more to be desired, but for an easily distracted teen reader, this would be a really great fit.

This was a quick read and it went well when I read it in October for spooky Halloween season. I love scary books especially at that time of the year and it was a perfect Halloween read.

Too Scared to Sleep is a middle-grade, short Story anthology collection. I have to say that I was quite surprised by this book. Not just the writing but the stories and themes themselves. In one of the first stories in this book, we meet a young girl who is in her room being mad as she has gotten her phone tacking away. She grabs her bear, crying telling it how unfair everything is. Falling asleep she wakes to the smell of meat cooking, goes into the kitchen, and finds her bear is cooking. Things unfold from there when she notices blood on the door frame to her parents' room and the the bear lifts a lid and there is her mother's head. And you can tell right away things are going to be weird and wild. Even though this book is chills and scary it is age-appropriate; it doesn't go into much detail or gory parts. It's all right to the point of creepy thrilling reads. The stories are all only a few pages each, nothing super long. There are a few riddles throughout and they were fun and helped break up the stories. There are QR codes that say "Scan the code for a scare." And there is one after each story and I do feel that they are scarier than the stories themselves. Overall, this was a spine-chilling read that perfect for beginner readers of horror.

I love short story collections and I really feel when it's horror short stories it's even better. There's something that is very "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" when it comes to horror anthologies, especially those centered on tweens or teens - there's a lot of nostalgia there for me before I even start reading. I found a lot of the stories in the anthology to be enjoyable, some of them not so much - but that's common with any anthology. I did really enjoy the differing formats and little additions within the anthology. All in all this is a great compilation, a fast read and thoroughly enjoyable for spooky season.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to read this book I am sorry it has taken me so long to read it as life and things have been crazy but I finally finished it and I just gotta say it was not what I expected!! I loved this book and the option to see little videos that go along with the story is absolutely amazing!!! I just wanna say thank you to the author and NetGalley for allowing me this opportunity!! This is my first arc read and it was absolutely amazing!!!

I'd like to thank, NetGalley, for the Advanced Readers Copy ARC of Too Scared To Sleep by Andrew Duplessie. I was intrigued by the synopsis and couldn't wait to read this book. When I found out I was approved to receive this book for free in exchange for my honest review, I was thrilled.

Having a QR Code to scan at the end of each story that enabled the reader see part of the plot acted out was a brilliant idea. It really made the book. Since the stories are more mature in nature, I'd definitely say it's geared more towards teens between the ages of thirteen and eighteen years of age. With that being said, adults might enjoy this collection as well.

Four out of five stars is what I gave Too Scared To Sleep by Andrew Duplessie. It's perfect to read around Halloween or Friday the 13th.

I'm sure this will be a fine book, but I definitely will not have time to get to the story before the archive date happens, in which case I will not be able to give my feedback. That would negatively impact my response ratio, which is not good, as I already missed out on giving feedback on so many books because this year has been so absolutely busy and stressful that I have not had the time nor mental capacity to get to many of these books before they are gone forever! It is as upsetting for both sides. I apologize, but I will do better for the future! I am appreciative that I have been giving access to so many great new releases.

I absolutely loved this book! It is a YA Spooky/Short Story book. The best part? After each short story, there is a QR code that you scan that takes you to a short video of what you just watched. This will truly change the way of reading one day for us visual thinkers.

Some short stories were super creepy and others were a little on the cliche side.

This book does have a very YA feel and some parts I struggled to get through, but overall I really enjoyed this book. It was perfect for spooky season!!

I've been a fan of short story collection novels since 'Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,' and this book was very reminiscent of that.

This collection of short stories touches on real world concerns (AI, social media etc.), and is definitely geared more toward teens/tweens just based on the writing alone. I think it would be appropriate for ages 9-12 depending on the child's personality.

Overall, I thought this was enjoyable!

I am torn on a rating for this one. Too Scared To Sleep is a collection of short scary stories. I found the stories to be simple but effective and a little more gruesome than expected. I'm not sure of the target audience's age, this my dilemma.

However, I've never read a book quite like this one. After each story you'll find a scannable QR code that takes you to a short creepy animation related to the story. I just thought this was really cool! I like that it sort of takes books into a new multimedia space.

Too Scared To Sleep is a fun collection of spooky stories geared towards teens and tweens. The majority of the stories revolve around main characters who are fourteen years old, getting into weird and spooky situations.
Cell phones and futuristic technology, along with the dangers of AI are also the main themes here, with cautionary tales of why you should never steal, the dangers of social media, and why you should live each day as it comes because life is too short to even wish away the bad times.
There were a few stories that just didn't work for me, but I enjoyed most of them, and I think the modern themes will resonate with kids of today.
A unique feature of this book is that a short video accompanies each story. I've read many collections that would include an illustration to go with each story, but this is the first time I've ever seen a book that provides a video via a link in a QR code. It was a clever idea that added to the fun.