Book Review: Sleep Diet by Melisa Peterson Lewis

Go to sleep, wake up thin. That’s the branding for Viotech’s new procedure called the “Sleep Diet.” Still in the experimental phase, the sleep diet protocol administers patients a continuous stream of medication that detoxes their bodies while they listen to a hypnosis script for an entire month—all while fast asleep. It’s a big ask, but the participants are paid for their time and trouble.

Sleep Diet follows a peer group of four participants, as well as the doctors involved, as they prepare for their month-long slumber, their interlude into sleep while things go wrong around them, and their attempts to stick together in the aftermath as many nefarious plots begin to unravel.

I love the complex characters in this book. Everyone has something to hide. They all make messy mistakes, and overall, are incredibly relatable and human. My favorite character, Richard, is a withdrawn young man who is terrified of navigating life without his overbearing mother. The sleep diet presents him with the perfect opportunity to get away from her for a while. Even after a freak accident removes her from his life, he’s still haunted by her at every turn.

There are a lot of story threads woven through this book, but all of the characters’ plots and secrets are beautifully motivated. At no point does the story become confusing, or the ridiculous situations the characters get into feel unearned.

I wanted more of the relationship between Kara and Tony. Since this is the first in a planned series, I’m hopeful the next books will explore that a little more. I’m also dying to see what happens with Summer, Richard, and Amy as the trial progresses to future stages and more of their secrets begin to unravel.

Although the idea of sleep diet is pretty sci-fi at heart, contemporary fiction readers and thriller fans will love the complex characters and intertwined storylines that make Sleep Diet an engaging and enjoyable read.

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