Interview: Aprilynne Pike + Sleep No More

I'm thrilled today to welcome young adult author Aprilynne Pike to the blog to answer a few questions about her recent paranormal release, Sleep No More. I just read this one recently and absolutely loved it (even though I may have needed to sleep with the lights on after reading it for a night or two. Or ten.), so I hope those of you who haven't had a chance to read it yet add it to your lists. It's dark and creepy and I need more of this world and Charlotte in my hands!

Charlotte is an Oracle, and as such often sees things she has absolutely no desire to see. If you had the same ability, what’s one thing you would actually wish to see?

It’s hard to choose, because in general, I would rather not see the future at all. But if I had to see the future, I’d like to see practical things, like if the car I buy this week is going to break down next month. If it’s going to rain on the day I have an outdoor party scheduled, that sort of thing. Boring, I know.

Charlotte’s Aunt Sierra isn’t as forthcoming with information about being an Oracle as Charlotte would like. If Sierra granted Charlotte five minutes in which she could ask any questions she wanted, what’s the first thing she would want to know? Is there any question she would be too afraid of the answer to ask?

I think that would depend on whether those five minutes were at the beginning of the book, or the end.;) Without getting too spoilery, I think that if it were at the start of the book, Charlotte would ask mostly about the Sisters. At the end of the book, Charlotte would want to know about discoveries Sierra made in her teen years.

We get to know the title of one of the books on Oracles that Sierra’s been keeping from Charlotte, but there are so many more Charlotte desperately wants access to. Can you share with us the titles of a couple of the other books in Sierra’s safekeeping?

Oooh! I admit, I generally think of the books in terms of content rather than titles, but I love this question, so here goes!

The Supernatural World and Its Inhabitants, The Rules and Ordinances of the Sisterhood of Delphi, and The Art of Foretelling.

We get to see early on what can happen when Charlotte attempts to prevent one of her visions from taking place, but sitting back and doing nothing with her knowledge weighs her down just as heavily as the consequences of past actions. Were you in her shoes, how hard would it be for you to adhere to Sierra’s teachings and let the future unfold as you saw it without interfering?

Excruciatingly hard!!! It’s been interesting writing about Charlotte because, like I said above, I would not take the opportunity to see the future even if it was granted to me! I don’t know that I would fight it if it were my “gift,” because I would assume I was given that ability for a reason. But we all think we know better, don’t we? I think it’s a very human way to feel. And it’s also so very human to want to fix bad things. It’s hard to see suffering and stand by.

Charlotte’s mom is unaware she’s an Oracle. If she were to find out, what advice–from an outsider’s perspective–would she likely have for her daughter?

Not to hide. To tell the people she trusts and get advice. From not only another Oracle, but simply someone else she trusts. I think Charlotte is often in need of that advice. More knowledge and opinions on what to do would be very helpful and maybe help her make fewer mistakes. On the other hand, she learns from her mistakes so . . . :D

A small gesture on Linden’s part years ago meant more to Charlotte than he’ll ever know. Now that he’s spent more time with her, what’s one small thing about her he’ll always remember?

The cinnamon rolls. It’s a gesture he’s never received from anyone else, simply because his family doesn’t work that way. And maybe what happens right after the cinnamon rolls.

After her experiences in Sleep No More, what three words might Charlotte choose to describe the future she now sees for herself?

Hopeful, responsibility, freedom.

But then, she rarely sees her own future, so she could be dead wrong. *evil cackle*

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions Aprilynne!

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SLEEP NO MORE

Charlotte Westing has a gift. She is an Oracle and has the ability to tell the future. But it doesn't do her much good. Instead of using their miraculous power, modern-day Oracles are told to fight their visions—to refrain from interfering. And Charlotte knows the price of breaking the rules. She sees it every day in her wheelchair-bound mother and the absence of her father. But when a premonition of a classmate's death is too strong for her to ignore, Charlotte is forced to make an impossible decision: continue following the rules or risk everything—even her sanity—to stop the serial killer who is stalking her town.

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APRILYNNE PIKE

 

Critically acclaimed, #1 New York Times best-selling author Aprilynne Pike has been spinning tales since she was a child with a hyper-active imagination. At the age of twenty she received her BA in Creative Writing from Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho. When not writing, Aprilynne can usually be found out running; she also enjoys singing, acting, reading, and working with pregnant moms as a childbirth educator and doula. Aprilynne lives in Arizona with her husband and four kids; she is enjoying the sunshine.

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Review: Sleep No More

SLEEP NO MORE
Aprilynne Pike
Paranormal Young Adult
352 pages
HarperTeen
Available Now
Source: Finished copy from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Charlotte Westing has a gift. She is an Oracle and has the ability to tell the future. But it doesn't do her much good. Instead of using their miraculous power, modern-day Oracles are told to fight their visions—to refrain from interfering. And Charlotte knows the price of breaking the rules. She sees it every day in her wheelchair-bound mother and the absence of her father. But when a premonition of a classmate's death is too strong for her to ignore, Charlotte is forced to make an impossible decision: continue following the rules or risk everything—even her sanity—to stop the serial killer who is stalking her town.

MY THOUGHTS
Sleep No More is a dark and violent murder mystery with a paranormal twist, the visions that plague Charlotte as an Oracle ensuring (aptly per the title) sleep is as difficult to find for us as it is for her. For those readers who don’t handle gore or horror well, the descriptions of the various murders are detailed without being obscene–leaving our minds to fill in the blanks with information that’s most likely far more gruesome–and we find ourselves all the more horrifyingly engaged as a result. The fact that Charolotte is an Oracle and not simply psychic is an intriguing twist, the history of Oracles and their changing role from ancient times to present day hinted at without being fully explored, but where that might typically be frustrating, Ms. Pike balances the known and unknown perfectly to make sure we reach the last page both satisfied and yet still infinitely curious.

Charlotte is a loner thanks to the inconvenient timing of her visions and the fact that they render her immobile and unaware of anything around her for the few minutes she lives them, earning her a reputation that keeps friends largely at bay. Her loneliness, combined with the terror we feel when we see what she sees, reaches out and grabs us from the beginning, turning us from passive observers into active participants as we become one of the few very few people who know what she’s going through. Though Charlotte is guilty of the all-too common heroine-keeps-secrets-rather-than-telling-those-around-her-what’s-going-on habit, the fact that so much about her and her role as an Oracle is being deliberately kept from her by her aunt Sierra makes her decision to not entirely open up an understandable one.

The romance in Sleep No More is at first glance one that seems as though it’s going to play out in familiar fashion, Charlotte’s long time unrequited love for Linden making us root for the slow progression of their relationship every step of the way. Ms. Pike takes the path less traveled when the Charlotte/Linden romance reaches its fork in the road however, and we can’t help but appreciate her decision (as well as Charlotte and Linden’s) to do the unexpected. Their relationship is a subtle one though, the murders and the increasing forcefulness of Charlotte’s visions staying firmly front and center, but their moments together show us facets of Charlotte's character we both respect and admire given she proves just how much of a level head she has even when the boy she’s loved for a good part of her life finally shows interest.

Overall, Sleep No More is a page turner in every sense, keeping us on edge as the length of time between Charlotte’s visions and the reality of them dwindles with increasing speed, and robbing us of breath as we wonder when she’s going to run out of time to make the difference between life and death. We’re left with the murderer caught and punished and his reasoning made clear, but the aforementioned questions as to the role of Oracles and the mysterious Sisters of Delphi remain a bit more open-ended, room for further exploration a definite possibility but yet we’re also perfectly content when we close the back cover should Ms. Pike keep this novel a stand-alone.

Rating: 4/5

Find Aprilynne:

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This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.