None Shall Sleep by Ellie Marney: Review

Cover of None Shall Sleep by Ellie Marney

Title: None Shall Sleep
Author: Ellie Marney
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Pub Date: 09/01/20
Genre: YA Psychological Thriller
Edition: Advanced Reader’s Copy (ARC)
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Summary

The Silence of the Lambs meets Sadie in this riveting psychological thriller about two teenagers teaming up with the FBI to track down juvenile serial killers.

In 1982, two teenagers—serial killer survivor Emma Lewis and US Marshal candidate Travis Bell—are recruited by the FBI to interview convicted juvenile killers and provide insight and advice on cold cases. From the start, Emma and Travis develop a quick friendship, gaining information from juvenile murderers that even the FBI can’t crack. But when the team is called in to give advice on an active case—a serial killer who exclusively hunts teenagers—things begin to unravel. Working against the clock, they must turn to one of the country’s most notorious incarcerated murderers for help: teenage sociopath Simon Gutmunsson. Despite Travis’s objections, Emma becomes the conduit between Simon and the FBI team. But while Simon seems to be giving them the information they need to save lives, he’s an expert manipulator playing a very long game…and he has his sights set on Emma.

Captivating, harrowing, and chilling, None Shall Sleep is an all-too-timely exploration of not only the monsters that live among us, but also the monsters that live inside us.

Review

None Shall Sleep was like Criminal Minds meets YA. It’s my favorite TV show, so I was immediately captivated by teens getting recruited to the FBI and having to interact with serial killers.

I liked Travis almost immediately because he was so sweet and sincere. I adored him and Emma’s relationship and the way that they checked in with each other to see if they could handle what was happening (“Can you run through this?”). I think one of the things I loved most about this book is that Bell and Lewis have both had to deal with trauma in their lives, and it affects the way they navigate the world and interact with others. It felt so realistic in the decisions they made and the author didn’t just brush away any problems they were having to make them seem superhuman. They were teenagers with vulnerabilities, but it also helped them in the way they put clues together and got into the mind of the suspect. The longer they worked the case, the bolder they got which was enjoyable to read. I especially loved that Emma didn’t put up with any disrespect toward her or Travis, and any time she popped off I was like yesssss. She had claws and was not afraid to use them. On the flip side, I liked her coming to the realization that some times she would have to play nice to get what she wanted. I think this book worked so well, because the main characters were either so easy to like or were intriguing enough that you couldn’t turn away from wanting to know more.

I love nature versus nurture discussions, and even when it wasn’t explicitly mentioned, I felt it was an undertone for characters like Simon. I have no idea what to even feel about him, but he contributed so much to the story and made things exciting. I kept waiting for when Emma would need to go talk to him again because their conversations were creepy yet eye-opening.

I didn’t expect to get emotional because of this book but wow the author did not hold back and was not afraid to hurt you. Also if you love the nitty-gritty about investigations, this book is definitely for you. There were times where multiple characters were all poring over the same piece of evidence trying to come to conclusions, and I was in heaven. I also enjoy books like this when I can’t figure out who’s really involved, and I start suspecting everyone.

I was so anxious and on edge the last 100 pages of this story. My heart was beating so fast and things got weird and wild but in the best way. Things you didn’t expect to happen did, and I was completely shocked.

Overall, I think None Shall Sleep is a stellar psychological thriller, and I’ve already recommended it to so many people. Especially for the YA thriller genre, this is peak literature and one of my new favorites.

Author

Ellie Marney is an award-winning YA crime author who has gone behind the scenes at the Westminster Mortuary in London and interviewed forensic autopsy specialists around the world in pursuit of just the right gory details. She may or may not know how to commit the perfect murder. Her titles include None Shall Sleep, the Every trilogy, No Limits, White Night and the Circus Hearts series. She has lived in Indonesia, India and Singapore, and is now based in Australia with her partner and their four sons.

Ellie has been involved in the creation of the national campaign called #LoveOzYA to promote and advocate for Australian YA literature. She contributed to the critically-acclaimed Begin End Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology, and co-runs the popular #LoveOzYAbookclub online. She also co-coordinates an online info-sharing group for Australian women self-publishers. She teaches writing and publishing through Writers Victoria, advocates for Australian women’s writing as a Stella Ambassador in schools, and is a regular speaker at festivals and events.