If I Die Before I Wake

Alex Jackson is in a coma and his family and friends have been told he is unlikely to ever wake up. He's in a vegetative state, and that's true - he's unable to move, he can't open his eyes and look around, he can't say a word. But the doctors were wrong about two things - he can feel and he can hear what everyone's saying when they come into his hospital room. His family is debating withdrawing life support, after all it's been a year and a half since his climbing accident. His friends want the love of his life, Bea, to move on. Alex has decided to give up, until he hears that his accident may not have been an accident. As he puts the pieces together he begins to realize that he's not the only one in danger. But there's nothing he can do about it.

I really enjoyed this book and didn't know whether to give it four or five stars, so I left it for a bit. But I couldn't stop thinking about Alex Jackson. How he ended up in this situation, what he was going through day after day laying in that hospital bed listening to everyone who visited.. it just makes me sad. So five stars because the author has created a young man I'm sure I'll never forget and whose circumstances brought out a sensitive side I didn't even know I had. It's a page-turner even though it's only Alex's perspective and he never physically leaves his hospital bed. I appreciated how the author ended the book. Excellent debut, excellent read. I look forward to reading more from Emily Koch.

5/5.