Owl's Slumber

[3.5] As a not-so-proud owner of an extremely high-maintenance body, I can't even begin to imagine how much somniphobia (aka fear of sleep) would completely wreck me. Ya girl needs a minimum of 8 hours of sleep or she'll be suffering from headaches, brain fog, mood swings, etc. And with the absolute bare minimum of shuteye Finn was getting? Cue the magical girl transformation music because I need to get my zombie suit on.

This story gives us lots of hurt/comfort as Finn is forced to confront his phobia as his panic attacks worsen and his lack of sleep becomes a very real matter of life-or-death. As frustrating as it was to witness, I could understand his reluctance to seek or accept help because rational thinking? It yeets itself out the window when anxiety enters the picture and you're too busy dealing with the crippling fear to focus on anything else.

Aven's patience was astounding, and the way he worried and cared for Finn, garnished with the pain of watching a loved one trapped in a downward spiral with little power to stop it, was what kept me reading. But it was a bit difficult to understand what had him so invested in Finn in the first place once they entered the endless back and forth cycle of Aven pleading with Finn to get help and Finn insisting that he's fine. It reached a crescendo where I was just waiting for Aven to call it quits. Walking saint on the premises! I also wished the big climax happened earlier on, so we could've seen more of the playful Finn we caught a glimpse of at the very end at Aven's sister's wedding, because he deserves it! But the realism of how difficult, if not impossible, it is to get someone the help they need when they so adamantly refuse, it was painfully well-done. Prominent and surefooted.

So while I wish we got more of the healing to balance out the dark pit they're stuck in for majority of the book, I still think this was very much a worthwhile and unique read to experience, especially if you pick up the audiobook for Adam Gold's phenomenal narration :)