The Insomniacs - by Marit Weisenberg (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

Marit Weisenberg's The Insomniacs is "a deeply beautiful story of yearning, heartache, trauma, and love" (Jennifer Niven, #1 New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places) about two teens who discover the secrets of their neighborhood after everyone else turns out the lights.

Ingrid can't sleep.
She can't remember, either.

A competitive diver, seventeen-year-old Ingrid is haunted by what she saw at the pool at a routine meet, before falling off the high dive and waking up concussed. The only thing she remembers about the moment before her dive is locking eyes with Van--her neighbor, former best friend, and forever crush--kissing his girlfriend on the sidelines. But that can't be all.

Then one sleepless night, she sees Van out her window...looking right back at her. They begin not sleeping together by night, still ignoring each other at school by day.

Ingrid tells herself this is just temporary, but soon, she and Van are up every night piecing her memory back together. As Van works through his own reasons for not being able to sleep, they're both pulled into a mystery that threatens to turn their quiet neighborhood into a darker place than they realized.

Review Quotes

Nominated to ALA's Best Fiction for Young Adults List

"This achingly mysterious romance delves into the complexities of trusting yourself after being betrayed by the person you loved the most. Marit Weisenberg shines a bright light into a dark corner and reminds us all of the power of love." --Liara Tamani, author of Calling My Name

"The Insomniacs is a heady blend of the vague menace reminiscent of the Hitchcock classic Rear Window and the summery nostalgia and romance in The Summer I Turned Pretty. Ideal for readers who like their protagonists to have a lot of chemistry and their suspense to have tension thick enough to cut with a knife. Highly recommended." --MissPrint.com

"Marit Weisenberg's The Insomniacs reads like a thriller but with the exciting elements of self-discovery and recovery. From the very first page up until the closing words, Ingrid's story captivated me, and I found myself still thinking about the novel well after the book was over." --PaperbackParis.com

"Each chapter builds up the psychological suspense and creates an intricate plot throughout the book. A great choice for anyone who loves a thriller featuring missing memories like We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. Give to those who enjoy storyline structures that fill in missing information as the story builds, such as can be seen in the shows Elite or How to Get Away with Murder." --Stephanie Johnson, YALSA.org

"A deeply beautiful story of yearning, heartache, trauma, and love. There's also a boy, a mystery, and one of the most engaging narrative voices I've read in a very long time." --Jennifer Niven, #1 New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places

"A bittersweet, mysterious romance that will leave readers yearning to discover the secrets of the seemingly normal cul-de-sac." --School Library Journal

"The Insomniacs is a novel about what we see and what we think we see--and what we remember and what we can't bear to remember. It's about the things that frighten us in our own neighborhoods, and about wanting someone who is so close and yet feels impossibly far away. It's a novel about love and secrets and bridging the divide between. Weisenberg speaks so beautifully to the risks and dangers of all sorts of yearning--readers will want to embrace her heroine." --Peternelle van Arsdale, author of The Cold Is In Her Bones

"The Insomniacs totally captures the itchy thrash of insomnia, and the secret exhilaration that comes from staring into the darkness to find someone staring back. And if that someone is hot, well, then. Not surprisingly, I stayed up way too late to finish this book!" --Kate Williams, author of The Babysitters Coven

"The Insomniacs is a deep dive into the inner workings of anxiety and how pressure and past trauma can swallow us up. And then, outside of that intimate internal with the very human Ingrid, the external world is alive with the complex stories and pasts in a neighborhood and friend groups and teams. The interweaving is intricate and realistic. The romance is palpable. Weisenberg does not shy away from the tough topics, and everything about it feels real and raw." --Bonnie Pipkin, author of Aftercare Instructions

"At times, this book reads like a languid dream, an apt mood for a book about teens who can't sleep. It was different in pace and tone and incredibly intriguing. It's definitely a deep and complex novel that takes on heavy teen issues with the gravitas I think that they deserve." --TeenLibrarianToolbox.com

"The Insomniacs is romantic, mysterious, and addictive, with enough twists to keep you up all night." --Tara Goedjen, author of The Breathless