Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this ARC!

The cover is the first thing that made me want to read this book. It is gorgeous!
I’ve not read a love triangle like this and thought it was a unique take on it. I enjoyed the world building and the descriptions of the creatures.
This author is new to me and I will read more by her.

The Sleepless 🐲🐉🌸
3 ⭐️
0🌶️

Thank you to Wednesday Books for the chance to read and enjoy this advanced copy!

This book was really different! I feel like with reading right now, all of the book being published have the same feel and follow the same exact steps- The Sleepless breaks out of that box.

This book has quite a few heavy trigger warnings that I was not expecting going in- violence, death, child death, animal death, child abuse, and confinement. I think that it would have been beneficial to share these somewhere at the end of the synopsis to protect readers with sensitive minds and hearts, especially as a young adult novel.

I do love books with love triangles, along with books that have a complex magic system. This book ticked both of those boxes, and I really enjoyed that about it.

Overall, I think that this is a really satisfying young adult fantasy novel that breaks the mold, but it would heavily benefit from the addition of trigger warnings or content warnings.

Current rating: 2.25 stars

I'm free!! I was initially very excited for this, but maybe I wasn't in the right mood because I was so close to dnfing. I just pushed through for the sake of my reading goal and netgalley ratio.

Starting with some positivity, I enjoyed the worldbuilding and the concept of the Sleepless was one reason I was looking forward to reading. The gods were also interesting and I'm guessing even more will be revealed in the sequel.
In terms of the characters, I did like Elver. Her grumpy demeanor and short dialogue made sense given her background, and reading about her relationship to the wild + creatures was enjoyable. Artair was just there ig, but Lucian was definitely an intriguing character and he'll prbly be endgame w/ Elver. I'm actually glad there was very little romance in this book because the characters were all quite 2 dimensional so I would have cared even less about the story. Lines meant as ironic foreshadowing (e.g: "anyone can see we're not in love!" "haha, def not...") did not move me at all.

I also wasn't a fan of the writing style, which felt juvenile and modern in a way that didn't work for me. The short + stilted conversations (not just from Elver) and overly long descriptions just made me feel very detached from the story and its characters. There was also a lot of blunt info dumping through dialogue which felt off putting at times. Thankfully, the last 30% did manage to pique my interest a little more, as there were a few such scenes that worked for me, but the majority of the book did not have that.

Overall, the world itself still intrigues me, and I liked a few of the characters. Book 2 will likely delve even more into that, but I likely won't be reading it because I unfortunately don't care enough. This will hopefully be the right series for someone else who enjoys an interesting fantasy world, a twist on the typical love triangle and magical creatures, but it just wasn't for me.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a nice light read. It followed typical YA tropes. Nice world building. Predictable love triangle. A short book good for teens.

I really enjoyed this book. The world building was good. The love triangle was really good! Would recommend. Thank you to Netgally and the publisher for the opportunity.

I wanted to really love this book, but I was bored. The worldbuilding was very flat for me and I could not seem to get into it, so I had to DNF. I appreciate the opportunity to read though.

This will be a small review but I really enjoyed this book, very fast paced and easy to understand since it is YA. I loved how the storyline flowed and the world building was good and the story was unique in its own way.I hope that there is going to be a second book, I need to know what happens. The book was addictive, I started it last Friday and finished it today.

I wanted to like this book. I thought the magic system was interesting, as well as the pantheon of gods and the ways they showed interest in mortals. I just didn't end up liking the main characters much. Some of their character development felt contrived, and the romance between two of the three felt forced. Honestly a shame, because the story had potential.

What a fantastic read! I was completely drawn into this world, and couldn’t put the book down. A story about gods and monsters is not a new theme, but Jen Williams has written a top notch book in this genre. I was not aware of the author until reading The Sleepless and can’t wait to read more by her. Highly recommended!

**Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC**

Now THAT was a love triangle that kept me interested. The worldbuilding could use a bit of work, but I enjoyed the characters enough to overlook them.

This book is spellbinding from the first page. The prose is sharp and evocative, the world-building otherworldly and strange in the best way. I couldn’t put it down, and I never wanted it to end.

What a fantastic surprising read! Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC.
The book started off kind of slow for me, but then picked up very quickly and I found myself enjoying the plot as well as the interesting romance. I never saw where the author was going until the very moment she wanted to reveal it to us readers. The amount of “aha” moments I had was surprising! I thoroughly enjoyed all the twists and turns this book took us through. It’s definitely one I will be purchasing once it is published, and I cannot wait to recommend it to others! I’m looking forward to where the author takes the sequel (there better be a sequel!)

Thank you to Net Galley and Wednesday Books for the ARC. This sounded so exciting but unfortunately it was just ordinary. I expected something more intense, but I got the most lukewarm story ever.

I really loved the premise of THE SLEEPLESS. A love triangle between daytime and nighttime beings? Count me in! Some of the side characters really stole the show. Some of the modern dialogue pulled me out of the story. The first half did feel a bit slow to me without much happening. The pacing picked up toward the end. I wish we could have seen more of the character growth on page. It seemed like the characters were having the same battles with themselves all the way until the very end and then suddenly their arc was complete. I wanted to see more of that change leading up to the finale. Loved the ending!

Very unique and enjoyable! It's categorized as YA and it is something I'd let my 14 year old read. There's a cozy vibe with a little love triangle involved. While it took me a minute to fall into the story, the descriptions were very good and once it started to pick up, I really enjoyed it.

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: The Sleepless by Jen Williams
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Fantasy
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: September 30, 2025
📖 336 pages

Religious Cults
Deities & Monsters
Dangerous Magic
(Kinda) Love Triangle
Dangerous Quests

Review: The Sleepless takes place in a unique world full of monsters, deities and violent religious cults. The world building is immersive and interesting, boasting evocative imagery that will transport you immediately. The deities all had side quests for them to complete, so it felt almost like reading about trials/tournament vibes!

I found Artair/Lucian to be very interesting, giving almost Jekyl and Hyde vibes, his "evil spirit" counterpart only coming out when Artair sleeps. Elver has been through the wringer, being a survivor of a literal human sacrifice, and I loved watching her interact with both monk and moster. The romance is almost nonexistent, but I didn't mind.

Thank you so much Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the digital review copy!

The concept of this book was something I really enjoyed. One of the main characters has another entity living in his body. When he falls asleep, the other being comes to life, and that being can be unpredictable, so he is kept locked up at night to prevent chaos. It reminded me a lot of Elspeth from One Dark Window.

However, when I wasn’t reading this book I didn’t really have the desire to pick it back up. Whenever I was reading it, it was enjoyable. I just didn’t yearn for it like I wished I did.

Given our slow and uneventful this book was, I expected more pay off at the end. I think this book needed more focus on characters, banter, and more time building realistic relationships.

Elver is sacrificed to save her town from a plague of snakes, but is saved by the Serpent Queen and transformed into one of her children. She is tasked with guarding the forest and keeping the other “monsters” of the forest safe from the humans. Altair has been cursed to have another soul or demon inside of his body and has been sequestered at a monastery for years. When the priests of the monastery are killed and the other “sleepless” are taken hostage, Altair must steal a pup from the forest to get the “sleepless” back. Will he be able to survive Elver and her poison touch? Will Elver help with the quest?

The story was intriguing and kept me reading to find out what happened.

Jen Williams nails the atmosphere and delivers a story that’s both thought-provoking and seriously unsettling in The Sleepless. I absolutely adored the characters, and I can't wait for the series to continue.

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was actually such a rollercoaster of emotion that I really enjoyed the adventure that the two main characters went on. We start the book with the prologue that sets the stage to the craziness that the reader is about to go through through the creation of how Elver became to be the person who protects the forest. Then it plunges the reader into the story of what Artair is and how watching his home, friends and mentors be slaughtered and sent on a mission to retrieve an item from where Elver inhabits. We also learn how Altair becomes Lucien who is a sleepless monster that dwells in the body of Altair. As this story unfolds, the reader is sent on a journey that is so amazing and it truly a fun read. I give this book a 3.9/5 stars. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to others.