The Sleepwalker by Chris Bohjalian
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Date read: January 29 to February 1, 2017
3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars
Well that was a mind-blowing and unsettling read that all came together in the end to make me think……huh, that was actually a really good book!
So not knowing exactly what parasomnia means or entails I looked it up and gathered this information from the web. What is parasomnia?
Par·a·som·ni·a
Definition: A disorder characterized by abnormal or unusual behavior of the nervous system during sleep.
Parasomnias are a category of sleep disorders that involve abnormal movements, behaviors, emotions, perceptions, and dreams that occur while falling asleep, sleeping, between sleep stages, or during arousal from sleep. Most parasomnias are dissociated sleep states which are partial arousals during the transitions between wakefulness and NREM sleep, or wakefulness and REM sleep.
THE SLEEPWALKER by CHRIS BOHJALIAN was a well-written, fascinating, and suspenseful thriller about the disappearance of a woman with a parasomnia disorder that sleepwalks.
Reading this book via e-book THE COVER did not come into play for this novel although I do find the cover appealing and fitting.
THE SLEEPWALKER is a fitting TITLE for this mystery and is the main reason that I chose this novel to read as I was extremely intrigued with the premise of this story. I’m fascinated by sleepwalking so the subject matter alone held my interest throughout this novel.
This novel was filled with likeable and plausible CHARACTERS and I enjoyed the relationship between Lianna and Paige as they were coping and learning about the disappearance of their mother. The grief and emotions are very touching and made me want to know what happens to them and what ultimately happened to their mother. I also really enjoyed Lianna and Gavin’s relationship throughout this story.
“I vowed to stop sleepwalking through grief.”
CHRIS BOHJALIAN delivers an impressive and suspenseful story here with a few good twists that had me questioning and guessing what actually happened and who was involved. I did find the beginning and the middle of the book slow-paced but the ending was definitely a page-turner that I couldn’t read fast enough!
What I particularly loved about this book was THE ENDING as it was one of those books that makes you realize that everything you just read now makes sense! It might not be realistic but it was extremely satisfying!
To sum it all up it was an entertaining, enjoyable, suspenseful, slow-paced, quick and easy read with a very satisfying ending. Would recommend!!
Penny For Our Thoughts 