Sleep With One Eye Open

PMS Girls Saga Book One

Young Adult - Thriller
326 Pages
Reviewed on 05/26/2023
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

Lisa Alfano is a lifelong New Englander and author who creates twisted characters in flawed worlds. PMS Girls is her debut novel. Her second thriller novel, Fractured Secrets, was released March 2022. Her next novel, a dark fantasy, is scheduled for publication late 2022-early 2023.

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She is currently giving away a free download of Shades of Truth: a prequel novelette to her new thriller novel, Fractured Secrets to new newsletter subscribers-- https://storyoriginapp.com/giveaways/708b76ea-5e9c-11ec-b2fc-43c4e8d84665

    Book Review

Reviewed by Viga Boland for Readers' Favorite

What’s it like to grow up the daughter of a rich politician with his eye on the White House? Ari Worthington invites us into that world, her world, in a non-apologetic, emotion-filled narrative. Despite the wealth, it’s not a pretty picture. She’s more comfortable away from her father’s universe when she resides at a prestigious boarding school. When her pregnant roommate has to leave the school, Jess takes her spot. Often outrageous in both words and actions, Jess is everything Ari isn’t. Inwardly Ari admires Jess for it, even ready to emulate her new bestie. But Jess is also secretive, and what Ari doesn’t know about Jess will hurt her in more ways than one.

Sleep With One Eye Open by Lisa Alfano took me by surprise…and it was a welcome one. Though it was about high school teens, it wasn’t about young adolescents coping with menstruation. The story concept was unlike any I’ve encountered; the characters were realistically different, the plot twists were totally unexpected and I am still asking myself how Lisa Alfano kept me in questioning suspenseful anticipation till nearly the last page! A thriller indeed. It’s well-known that the best way for readers to get to know a story’s characters is through their own dialogue and actions. There’s not a lot of dialogue in Sleep With One Eye Open, yet, incredibly, Alfano has pulled off a rarity i.e. Ari’s emotionally charged, descriptive narrative gives a surprisingly clear picture of all the players, especially Ari, Jess, Ari’s teachers, parents, and the domestic help.

The novel is more than just a teen thriller: it’s a psychological thriller. That automatically calls for evil-doers whose motivations and actions are prompted by past perceived wrongs. Lisa Alfano has done a splendid job of portraying that human frailty through Jess…a beautiful, rich boarding school girl whom you wouldn’t want as a roommate! Read Sleep With One Eye Open…a shockingly possible and frightening story.

Samantha Gregory

Sleep With One Eye Open by Lisa Alfano is the story of a young girl called Ari Worthington who lives a life of privilege with rich parents, nannies, and servants, but she has a superficial relationship with her parents and feels trapped in the lifestyle. When she is sent to a posh private school called the Perpetual Mercy School, she finds herself more alone than ever. Her new roommate, Jess, plays mind games with her and Ari ends up in over her head. The book is well-written and it kept me reading. I think the characters were well-developed, especially Ari, and over the course of the book, you find yourself rooting for her more and more. She has some hard choices to make and she must decide what is important to her and what is the right thing to do.

Lisa Alfano has written an interesting book with Sleep With One Eye Open. Ari is an interesting and complex character and it isn't always easy to like her. She has built up a wall and can come across as frosty to people, but this is because she doesn't know any other way to be. I think this book would appeal to teenage girls in the 14-17 age range if they are looking for a decent thriller to read. It did remind me a little of Legacies, but obviously without the supernatural element to it. I think it could do well and I would recommend it.

Shrabastee Chakraborty

Sleep With One Eye Open, a breathtaking thriller by Lisa Alfano, chronicles Arianna Worthington’s life. As Senator Leland Worthington’s daughter, Arianna gets the best of everything, including a high-class education at Perpetual Mercy School, an elite boarding school reserved for girls like her. The only downside is Ari does not care for being rich or powerful. She yearns for her deceased mother, whom she never got to mourn. She wishes her busy father would not run for the position of POTUS and instead would be a caring father for once. When glamorous and enigmatic Jess, a new arrival at Perpetual Mercy, becomes her roommate, they soon become inseparable. That is until Ari unearths some shocking truths about Jess, which she was better off not knowing.

The bold narrative and the suspenseful tone hooked me from the very beginning. Lisa Alfano uses ample foreshadowing that promises a dark, ominous future. As the whirlwind named Jess immediately engulfs Ari, we get a distinct sense that something is fundamentally wrong with the picture. A vicious world of lies and conspiracy waits for Ari, threatening to shatter her innocence and even her credibility. As scandalous truths reveal themselves one after another, we end up praying Ari will come out victorious, if not fully unscathed. This incredible roller coaster of a novel ends with a cliffhanger that will leave readers pining for the sequel. I heartily recommend Sleep With One Eye Open to any reader who appreciates thrillers; however, the presence of a few explicit scenes calls for a mature audience.