The first review, here we go!
This book here caught me a bit off guard. Author Priscille Sibley wrote something that can have each reader needing to get to the next page but not for the usual reasons of just a compelling storyline.
After reading the back cover and getting the jist of the story, the beginning hit me quicker and harder than I expected it to. Instead of having pages and chapters to set the scenery of the story, Doctor Matt Beaulieu learns quickly that his wife, Ellie has fallen off of a ladder and hit her head. Being much more than just a bump to the head, she fell head first into a rock on the ground. She’s in a vegetative state and will likely stay for the remainder of her life. The hook to this story is that she is pregnant. But there is a part of the hook that will get you right in the lip and pull you to the surface of the sea; Matt’s mother wants to put her out of her lifeless condition while Matt insists on seeing the pregnancy through despite the grim outlook.
Instantly, I began thinking of myself in this situation. Surely most people’s thoughts would turn to the whole Terri Schiavo case back in 2005. It becomes an ethical argument that you find yourself in.
However as much as I found myself drawn to the story, there was a small piece that grew page by page that kept me from fully diving into Sibley’ world. That is, Ellie dies just pages into the story. It’s really hard to care about a character who you know nothing about.
I had thoughts of possibly putting the book down because if I was supposed to feel the pain that Matt was going through, no matter how graciously written it may be, it just wasn’t going to happen if I know nothing of Ellie. My fears were put to rest when the first flashback occurred. Then another, and another. Soon, you see how Matt and Ellie’s relationship began, and the life changing events that shaped them while they were young.
I fell in love with Matt and Ellie’s story and decided that Matt’s mother was the moral enemy in the book and hated her for it. The story drove me to reading it faster than I probably should have. It is one of the few books that is in my “re-read” pile.
So without offering any spoilers besides the basic premise of the book, I encourage anyone to pick this book up.
ZinnWrites 