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wordsofclover 's review for:

I Do Not Sleep by Judy Finnigan
3.0

I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.

Molly's son Joey went missing while on a solo sail five years ago. Now, Molly is back in Cornwall, the last place her son was, for a family holiday as what remains of her family try and get back to normal. But Molly can't let go of Joey and feels like until she finds his body, she can never be at peace. She sets out to try and bring her son home.

While this was an emotional and heartfelt read, I kind of felt like it was too much. There was such a huge emphasis on Molly's grief and how overwhelming it was. It's terrible to be judging someone's grief but it was like Molly forgot that other people had lost Joey too, and she didn't care that she was wrecking everyone else's holiday and not letting them move on. It was as if she thought her grief was far more powerful and outweighed theirs. I also felt that the hints of the 'creepiness' and supernatural element felt a tiny bit out of place. I think the author should have gone all in with this one, or left it out all together. It just didn't work for me that much.

I was also a bit horrified at how Joey died in the end. Did he really have to suffer and starve to death in a cave and in so much pain? I was kind of hoping he'd been shot dead, clean and quick, by the drug dealers.