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3.39 AVERAGE
3.39 AVERAGE
Spoiler
This is tragic, why couldn't he wake up and live happily, oh my god!This was still such an amazing book to read I'm so glad I picked it up.
3.5 stars.
This is not my usual type of genre, but both the title and the originality of this idea intrigued me enough to pick up this book.
It is the story of Alex, who has been in a coma for over a year, and doctors believe he is unconscious, which he is not. All 342 pages are of Alex reminiscing about the events leading up to him in hospital, but trying to figure out what, or who, got him there. It is a hugely original idea, and at no point did I feel bored, or wish I was somewhere else; I really felt like I was experiencing the coma with Alex. When he was frustrated, I was too.
Despite this, I was frustrated for other reasons: The author made it so vividly real that you were shouting at everyone who came in the room to see that you were still there.
From Alex's viewpoint, the ending is profound, and without spoiling it, I did choke up on the way Alex describes his situation. It makes you think about how lucky we are to be here, and really spare a thought for people. However, I was conflicted about the way certain characters dealt with things, even more so at the end - I felt as though Koch was trying to make it bittersweet, but instead I ended up judging their decisions and found them so utterly emotionless and selfish. None of us know what we will do in a situation until we are put in them, but I feel like they were treating Alex as a burden more than anything.
I enjoyed 'If I Die Before I Wake', and now I can appreciate this title as a bit of a memoir/ letter from Alex to those who can't hear him. However the creation of the other characters and their appalling development into unlikeable people have tipped the scales for me.
This is not my usual type of genre, but both the title and the originality of this idea intrigued me enough to pick up this book.
It is the story of Alex, who has been in a coma for over a year, and doctors believe he is unconscious, which he is not. All 342 pages are of Alex reminiscing about the events leading up to him in hospital, but trying to figure out what, or who, got him there. It is a hugely original idea, and at no point did I feel bored, or wish I was somewhere else; I really felt like I was experiencing the coma with Alex. When he was frustrated, I was too.
Despite this, I was frustrated for other reasons:
Spoiler
I am no medical professional, but the fact that the actual doctors believed Alex was unconscious the whole time? I was doubting myself, and after research, I still believe my doubt.From Alex's viewpoint, the ending is profound, and without spoiling it, I did choke up on the way Alex describes his situation. It makes you think about how lucky we are to be here, and really spare a thought for people. However, I was conflicted about the way certain characters dealt with things, even more so at the end - I felt as though Koch was trying to make it bittersweet, but instead I ended up judging their decisions and found them so utterly emotionless and selfish. None of us know what we will do in a situation until we are put in them, but I feel like they were treating Alex as a burden more than anything.
I enjoyed 'If I Die Before I Wake', and now I can appreciate this title as a bit of a memoir/ letter from Alex to those who can't hear him. However the creation of the other characters and their appalling development into unlikeable people have tipped the scales for me.
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Totally not what I expected from this book. First half had a slow build-up with parts of memories and confessions of Alex' visitors that would become more significant later on. Only halfway the book, there comes some speed into the storyline . Finally my brain is triggered and wants to know where all those pieces of present and past will lead to, cause I already struggled so hard to continue reading.
poor 2 stars, it's not worth more to me.
poor 2 stars, it's not worth more to me.
I cried like a baby at multiple points while reading this book. I really felt for the character and I’m so happy with the ending. It just felt right.
This is such a different take on the thriller genre and the author really captured the feelings of being trapped and helpless. I found myself really routing for Alex and any chance I had, my nose would be in this book. Definitely one of the best books I’ve read in the last 12 months.
This is such a different take on the thriller genre and the author really captured the feelings of being trapped and helpless. I found myself really routing for Alex and any chance I had, my nose would be in this book. Definitely one of the best books I’ve read in the last 12 months.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for sending me this egalley in exchange for an honest review.
Finishing this book left me quite conflicted and it took me some time to sort through my feelings.
While reading this book I see-sawed between enjoying the book and being insanely frustrated with various aspects of it (characters/plot/pacing).
Overall it felt quite lack lustre, because we were missing large portions of the narrative and our narrator is unreliable and stuck in one room the entire book which makes the scope of the story very limited. It made it hard to progress and then there were such long stretches of time were not much happened... chapters really which should have been condensed because certain things were being repeated about his hospital stay that were quite unnecessary.
Also the ending... that probably made me the most unsure about my feelings towards the book, it was disappointing. I mean I saw one part of the twist coming, but not the identity of the doctor ... that was good, but then the final hallucination was just too much because by that point I wasn't sure what was real and what was hallucination and the fact his final moments were a hallucination kind of sucked.
But I would check out future books by Emily Koch, because she did set up some really good twists, just the execution and pacing needed some work.
Finishing this book left me quite conflicted and it took me some time to sort through my feelings.
While reading this book I see-sawed between enjoying the book and being insanely frustrated with various aspects of it (characters/plot/pacing).
Overall it felt quite lack lustre, because we were missing large portions of the narrative and our narrator is unreliable and stuck in one room the entire book which makes the scope of the story very limited. It made it hard to progress and then there were such long stretches of time were not much happened... chapters really which should have been condensed because certain things were being repeated about his hospital stay that were quite unnecessary.
Also the ending... that probably made me the most unsure about my feelings towards the book, it was disappointing. I mean I saw one part of the twist coming, but not the identity of the doctor ... that was good, but then the final hallucination was just too much because by that point I wasn't sure what was real and what was hallucination and the fact his final moments were a hallucination kind of sucked.
But I would check out future books by Emily Koch, because she did set up some really good twists, just the execution and pacing needed some work.
Trigger warnings: hospitalisation, stalking, cancer, death of a parent (in the past), death of a child (in the past), attempted murder, death, medical crisis, cheating?? (I have no idea if it counts as cheating when the person you're in a relationship with has been in a coma for over a year and you've been told they'll never recover...)
I was incredibly intrigued by the concept of this - man is in supposed climbing accident, man ends up in coma, man is actually completely and utterly aware of everything that is happening around him but can't move or speak or communicate in any way, man hears friends and family saying that maybe his accident wasn't an accident and tries to work out what happened.
So the concept was great. The writing was solid and I liked the characters. I liked the way Alex's narration cut between the present and his attempts at making someone understand that he's completely alert and the past, detailing his relationship with Bea and his love of climbing.
But. It's a very passive story. Alex can't move, can't speak, can't ask questions. He's limited entirely to what he overhears, what he smells, and then attempting to join the dots. As such, there's not much of an investigation and not a huge amount of tension in the story because you know that Alex is just going to keep on lying in his hospital bed and wait for information to come to him.
So it was GOOD, but it wasn't great because as a thriller? It wasn't particularly...thrilling.
I was incredibly intrigued by the concept of this - man is in supposed climbing accident, man ends up in coma, man is actually completely and utterly aware of everything that is happening around him but can't move or speak or communicate in any way, man hears friends and family saying that maybe his accident wasn't an accident and tries to work out what happened.
So the concept was great. The writing was solid and I liked the characters. I liked the way Alex's narration cut between the present and his attempts at making someone understand that he's completely alert and the past, detailing his relationship with Bea and his love of climbing.
But. It's a very passive story. Alex can't move, can't speak, can't ask questions. He's limited entirely to what he overhears, what he smells, and then attempting to join the dots. As such, there's not much of an investigation and not a huge amount of tension in the story because you know that Alex is just going to keep on lying in his hospital bed and wait for information to come to him.
So it was GOOD, but it wasn't great because as a thriller? It wasn't particularly...thrilling.
Really liked this, the beginning was super intriguing (the concept is interesting and new!), and the last 100 pages ramped up and flew by. The middle lets it down a little or this would easily be 5 stars!
hopeful
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes