Review : Anna O - Matthew Blake

 

 

 

Review: Anna O - Matthew Blake - January 2024

Thanks to HarperCollins NZ for the ARC.

Anna O had captured my attention and I was looking forward to reading it as I had read a few similar titles including A Long Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan and Stay Awake by Megan Goldin. Both books tackled events that caused trauma and the person to either fall into a deep sleep or trouble if they do fall asleep. In Anna O, four years ago Anna was out with her family and friends when a tragedy occurred - two of her friends were murdered and the main suspect was Anna. Shortly after the incident, Anna fell asleep and years later she is still asleep and hasn't awoken. It's like it is stuck in a coma. The police have enlisted the help of the Abbey Sleep Clinic where Dr. Benedict Price works and his mentor Dr. Bloom to try and wake Anna and make her fit for trial. Ben tries various techniques in the present and then in the past timeline, the book from Anna's POV talks about what led up to the incident, and then even further we read twenty years ago about a mother who was sleepwalking and killed two of her children and we learn that she had a teen child known as Patient X. Where did Patient X end up and was he/she as dangerous as their mother? Did they inherit the genetics of sleepwalking murder? This book was a great read, though I did feel overall it was a bit lengthy after she awoke. It did make this up though for the ending was like WOAH, I did not see that coming when the identity of Patient X in today's world was revealed. This was an interesting read as according to studies, we do spend half our lives asleep as there are 24 hours in a day and more often than not at least 8-10 of those hours are taken up with sleeping. This thriller also leaves the reader thinking about their sleeping patterns whether they be a sleepwalker, light sleepers,
or insomniacs.  The length of this book is what made it a 4P rather than a 5P read.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/4aDqwrj