Krysten’s Review

Memory. We rely on it so heavily for everything we know about ourselves and those around us, but actually we remember so little. Just wisps of emotions or a smell or a moment. Corrupted files in our heads. Pages missing, torn or burned. Disks unreadable. Memories are like time, constantly slipping from our grasp.

Ever since I read Behind Her Eyes, I’ve been a Sarah Pinborough fan. That was a major mindf*ck, and the ending stayed with me for days after I finished reading. The other Pinborough books I’ve read (including Cross Her Heart) haven’t been of the same caliber, but Insomnia really tried.

One thing that sets Behind Her Eyes, as well as Insomnia, apart from similar thrillers is the touch of paranormal. You don’t expect it, yet Pinborough has a way of introducing it so naturally that it’s easy to suspend your disbelief and accept the premise. Whereas in Behind Her Eyes, it was woven into every thread of the story, in Insomnia it’s much more subtle. In that sense, it felt a little less natural, a little less believable, when it was revealed toward the end of the book—simply because I wasn’t primed for it. It was absolutely an intriguing and thought-provoking twist, but it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. It almost felt like an afterthought. But, I would venture to guess a second read-through would reveal hints I missed the first time around.

Another hint I missed was how the prologue fit in with the larger story. There are enough mentions about Robert getting in a car accident throughout the book that I knew it had to do with him, but the relevance to the larger story isn’t revealed until the climax, and even then, it’s (again!) so subtle that it’s easy to miss—not to mention so far removed from that initial scene at the opening of the book that it’s easy not to make that connection.

In any case, this was another thought-provoking and compelling read from Sarah Pinborough, and I zipped through it in a few days. Definitely worth a read if you’re a fan of twisty thrillers with a touch of the unexpected.