Wide Awake by Shelly Crane
***** 5 stars
 

When this book hit Amazon Saturday night, I quickly downloaded it. I was waiting for one of my favorite Young Adult authors - Shelly Crane - to write another book. I am a big fan of the “Significance Series “, the “Devour Series”, and the "The Collide Series” she has written, and I was waiting for more. 

After reading this book, I found out that the author was being treated for a tumor in her head while writing this book, which leads me to my review.  She defiantly had insight on the goings-on in the hospital which was perfect fit for the setting of this book.  It is about a girl named Emma who wakes up in a hospice and has been in a coma for 6 months and does not know who she is or anyone in her life.  Her friends and some of her family members thought she was going to die, but when she awakes she starts the journey of getting to know who she was and who she is now. Emma’s family, friends , and even her dog are so eager to have the old Emma back, but when you read the book you will find out what she discovers about herself.

The author goes into detail about her relationships with her family members and their relationship with Emma, a 19 teen year old who is trying to process what is going on in her life.  During this process she has an instant connection with her occupational therapist Mason and not sure why at first but the author does a good job making you want to figure out the whole time why there is such a connection. This is what I like in this book; it keeps me engaged of the unknowing and eager to find out why. I must say I was hoping more to the counselor’s and Mason’s relationship would be revealed; it was kinda vague on what was going on with those too.  I have some great favorite parts I like in the book:


I never thought I’d meet someone like you.” I thought about making a joke, but the tension between us wasn’t the kind you wanted to be rid of, it was the kind you wanted to bathe in. I waited for him to continue, because I knew he would. “I always thought I’d be alone forever, never finding someone who saw me. Girls see me now with the tattooed biker friends and think that I’m like that, that I’m something I’m not. And then...I always thought one day that the guilt would be too much and I’d choke on it.”

The author did something cleaver and each chapter had some

“useless facts”, but once you read the book it makes since.  My favorite is

“It is impossible to lick your elbow and 75% of people who read this will try to anyway”

Of course I had to try it and no I could not lick my elbow, lol!

Getting back to the story, this is a love story, discovery of self, and loving and accepting yourself kinda story and just up my alley.  I don’t want to give the story away because there will be some unexpected turn of events which make this book a 5 star book. Glad to hear that the author is on the road to recovery and look forward to more work from her soon.

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