Asleep From Day by Margarita Montimore

On today's installment of the GSMC Book Review Podcast I spoke with Margarita Montimore about her debut novel, Asleep From Day, which comes out on January 10th. Mary Ann Marlowe introduced us, and I'm so glad she did as the book is great.

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Astrid can’t remember the best day of her life: yesterday.

A traumatic car accident erases Astrid’s memories of September 9th, the day she spent with an oddly charming stranger named Theo. Ever since, she’s haunted by surreal dreams and an urgent sense that she’s forgotten something important. One night, she gets a mysterious call from Oliver, who knows more about her than he should and claims he can help her remember. She accepts his help, even as she questions his motives and fights a strange attraction to him.

In order to find Theo and piece together that lost day in September, Astrid must navigate a maze of eccentric Boston nightlife, from the seedy corners of Chinatown to a drug-fueled Alice-in-Wonderland-themed party to a club where everyone dresses like the dead. In between headaches and nightmares, she struggles to differentiate between memory, fantasy, and reality, and starts to wonder if Theo really exists. Eventually, she’ll need to choose between continuing her search for him or following her growing feelings for Oliver. Astrid might go to extreme lengths to find what she’s lost . . . or might lose even more in her pursuit to remember (like her sanity). (Source)

There is so much to love about this book.  The writing is wonderful, first of all.  I highlighted so many well-written quotes and turns of phrases I'm not sure how I'll pick a couple for this post.  The story sucked me in from pretty much the first page and I kept reading because I wanted to find out what had happened to Astrid and to also keep up with the wide range of interesting/quirky secondary characters.  As I say on the podcast, I don't want to write/say too much about this book because I don't want to give anything away.  The joy of this book is following all of its twists and turns and going on Astrid's journey with her as she tries to determine what is real and what isn't.

Genres:

• Psychological
• Suspense
• Mystery
• Romance
• Upmarket

What I enjoyed:

• The writing, which combines humor, drama, and so much more.
• The characters, which are compelling, interesting, quirky, and incredibly well depicted.
• The ending.  Except that I hated the ending.  While also loving it.  But I actually hated it.  You're just going to have to read it to find out why!
• Revisiting 1999 when I was of a similar age to Astrid (although living in Montana, which is so very NOT Boston).

Who should read Alseep From Day?

• Fans of suspense/psychological novels.
• Fans of books that keep you guessing throughout.
• Fans of stories that don't stay confined to one particular genre.

Quotes:

• "'Why is it tomorrow?'  Good lord, what a question.  I sound like a- five-year-old having an existential crisis."
• "Even something simple like the elevator ride feels fraught with danger and uncertainty--What if there's a power outage and we get stuck?  What if the cord snaps and we plunge to our deaths? Settle down, paranoia queen."
• "I take in my surroundings before answering. It's like being in the attic of a crazy aunt married to a taxidermist (and possible seral killer), both of whom were hoarders."

Where you can find Margarita online:
Website for Margarita: https://montimore.com/
Website for Asleep From Day: https://www.asleepfromday.com/
Blog: https://montimore.com/blog/
Facebook: @margaritamontimore
Twitter: @damiella
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17205673.Margarita_Montimore
Instagram: @damiella
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+MargaritaMontimore

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Author Bio:

After immigrating from the former USSR with my parents at age four, I grew up in Brooklyn. Learning English was easy thanks to Sesame Street and Wheel of Fortune (at one point in my childhood, I refused to answer to any name except for “Vanna White” because I thought it was the coolest name in the world). When I was seven, I coerced my parents into buying me a Hello Kitty diary, and I’ve been writing ever since.

I majored in Creative Writing at Emerson College in Boston. After graduating, I moved to London, because why not, and lived there for a year-and-a-half, where I picked up a lot of goofy slang and a taste for tea. Back in New York, I worked at a literary agency (Trident Media Group), then at HarperCollins, which helped me accumulate a staggering collection of books. Later on, I held positions as social media lead at Marvel, Google, and MRY. In 2014, I decided it was time to follow the Big Dream and pursue writing full-time. After getting married in Vegas by Elvis (true story), I quit my job and moved out of NYC to the suburbs, where I now live with my husband and high-maintenace-but-loveable dog. I’ve worked on several novels since then and have have plans for many more. In 2015, a personal blog in which I transcribed my old diaries caught some national TV attention (it’s not every day you have Neil Patrick Harris reenacting your embarrassing teenage moments). I’ve also blogged for Quirk Books, xoJane.com, Marvel.com, and Google. Currently, I’m a book coach/editor at Author Accelerator.

I write upmarket/literary fiction that tends to be left of center and flirt with multiple genres. I love all things dark, strange, and surreal, but I’m also optimistic—verging on quixotic—and a pop culture geek, so my work tends to incorporate all those elements to varying degrees. My first novel, Asleep from Day, will be out January 10, 2018.

When not writing, I enjoy tackling that ever-growing book collection, hiking with Cooper, our diva White German Shepherd, listening to podcasts, knitting, playing video games that don’t require too much hand-eye coordination, and managing my overflowing Netflix and DVR queues. (Source)

To hear the interview with Margarita click here.