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If I Die Before I Wake- Emily Koch



Description


HOW DO YOU SOLVE YOUR OWN MURDER?
Everyone believes Alex is in a coma, unlikely to ever wake up. As his family debate withdrawing life support, and his friends talk about how his girlfriend Bea needs to move on, he can only listen.
But Alex soon begins to suspect that the accident that put him here wasn’t really an accident. Even worse, the perpetrator is still out there and Alex is not the only one in danger.
As he goes over a series of clues from his past, Alex must use his remaining senses to solve the mystery of who tried to kill him, and try to protect those he loves, before they decide to let him go.
A stunning edge-of-your-seat debut novel with an unforgettable narrator.

Review

This story is told by Alex who is in a coma. The first thing that struck me was how awful it must be to be sentient but no one knows that you are. I struggled with this to begin with as the writing was so good it felt so real and painful to read.

What is clever about this book is that the whole thing is set in the hospital room that Alex is in - we never get to see any other scenes, we only learn about them from his visitors. Luckily the visitors talk to him, relaying snippets that help us and Alex form a view of what is going on in the world around him.

For the first third of the book I began to wonder if I could stick with this. It got a little monotonous, all the visitors once you knew who they were then revisited and not much more was forthcoming about what could happen to Alex. It was literally groundhog day - which of course for Alex it was over and over again in his comatose state.

Then things moved on and a whodunnit element began to weave into the book, getting me to suspect anyone and everyone. I then was on a mission to finish the book as soon as I could, I was really gripped by it to the very end.

Fantastic writing, realistic portrayal of hospital life for a patient and such an original concept. I'm giving it five out of five stars and my thanks to Netgalley.

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