Review: The Sleepless (The Sleepless #1)

The Sleepless, Book 1 in The Sleepless Duology by Jen Williams

Published By: First Ink
Publication Date: May 22, 2025
Date Read: October 17, 2025
Genre: YA – Fantasy
Source: Bought
Format: Audiobook
Pages: 337

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Godkiller meets Powerless in this epic gods-and-monsters romantic fantasy from British Fantasy Award-winning author Jen Williams.

Welcome to a world where gods and monsters roam the earth . . .

Elver is the guardian of the wild and dangerous monster forest. Saved from the brink of death by a god, her skin will poison anyone she touches.

Artair is on a mission—one that takes him face-to-face with Elver at her most ruthless. But her defenses are useless when she discovers he’s the only human impervious to her deadly gift. For Artair isn’t human: he’s one of the Sleepless, cursed to share his body with an evil spirit.

Lucian inhabits their body while Artair sleeps, and he is hell-bent on manipulating Elver for his dark purposes. But Elver is harbouring secrets too, and she has her own reasons for feigning an alliance with these two souls.

Caught in the crossfire of gods, monsters, and a dangerous magic they can barely understand, it is only a matter of time before the paths the three of them choose to take will set alight the very foundations of their world.

With a love triangle like you’ve never seen it, incredible world-building, brilliant writing, and a dangerous quest, The Sleepless will have you spellbound.

The Sleepless is a book I only recently discovered. I remember seeing someone on TikTok getting a very beautiful proof of it, but I didn’t really look into it until I heard that the author was attending YALC in 2025. As part of my challenge to read some books by YALC authors before attending it, I decided to pick The Sleepless up on Audiobook, as I am a paperback girlie, and I will always want paperbacks physically over hardbacks. I’m so glad I did pick this one up as I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.

The premise of The Sleepless reminded me of One Dark Window a little bit, as one of the main characters has a monster inside him, living inside his body and mind with him. This seemed similar to One Dark Window but honestly this made me a little bit apprehensive as I didn’t particularly enjoy the other book. However, The Sleepless was fantastic! I really enjoyed it! I love the premise of the sleepless being people that have monsters inside of them, and once they fall asleep the monster wakes and takes over. I was really intrigued and honestly throughout a good chunk of the book, I enjoyed Lucian (the monster) more than Artair. I ended up really liking both characters but I’m definitely Team Lucien so far. Add to that the fact that they are travelling with a monster girl who was saved by a God… the whole thing was very addictive and I couldn’t put it down.

One thing I loved about the audiobook was the superb job our male narrator did! Our narrator for Artair and Lucien really did separate voices for them which made it so easy to know when each one was awake and in control. I honestly feel like this must have been so difficult to do but honestly he did a phenomenal job and I will definitely be looking out for more books narrated by him. If you’re an audiobook listener, I definitely recommend the audio edition of this one as it really is superb.

Despite the fact that I have really enjoyed every moment of this book, there were points in the middle where I started losing focus a little bit. This is more than likely a me issue, rather than something with the book, but historically when fantasy books have characters travelling a lot, I lose patience and I’m like ‘just get there already’, and I definitely felt that in the middle of this one. I do however think it was intentional of them just feeling like it was a wild goose chase, based on events later in the book that I will not mention because of spoilers but for that part in the middle I did become a little bored. In addition to that, I do personally feel like the romance isn’t all that believable but I’m hoping this will develop more in the second book.

The Sleepless was a unique and fascinating new fantasy book. I’m really excited for the second book to release next year so I can see what is going to happen next. If you’re a big fantasy fan, I definitely recommend this one. It’s dark, mysterious and a fantastic ride. I am so glad I picked this one up and I am really looking forward to reading more of this author in the future.