Review: 4.5 out of 5 Stars
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 12, 2014
Further to a car accident Viola Bellerose finds herself in a coma, imprisoned between dreams, nightmares and the soothing voice of lovestruck intern Sam Philips, who finds solace in baring his soul to her unconscious body, without even knowing that every word registers with her."That was what Brady called the coma ward. The Matrix. It was probably in bad taste, but Sam kind of liked to think it was possible that all these unconscious people were living full, meaningful lives in some alternate reality."When Viola finally wakes up, her memory is slowly coming back to her and her nightmares fill out the blanks. They complete the puzzle that paints out the circumstances of her accident, and she will have to relay on Sam - to whom she felt a connection since he started talking ot her - to help her figure things out.Wake for Me was yet another great read, which I truly enjoyed! First of all, I really loved the characters. Sam was the perfect-book boyfriend, in a very refreshing way: he's the nerdy intern specialized in internal medicine, a bit of a coward with a few family issues... but he's totally hot and doesn't actually know it. Viola might be seen as a bit of a b... at first, but then she turns out to be a very sharp and tough girl, with a great sense of humor and repartee, although still hotheaded at times.I found it a bit unrealistic that Viola could have developed feelings, or at least a special connection with someone she'd only heard talking to her during her 2-week comatose state, but the book doesn't only revolve around their story and relationship (and the difficulties around the doctor/patient relationship, memory loss, awkwardness etc.) No - it is also about the whole intrigue that caused Viola's car accident, which I must admit - is a very suspenseful one.I was impressed with the writing in this book - words just flowed coherently and I loved the fact that the vocabulary in this book was a lot more refined than your average book, yet accessible. And Wake for Me was also written in third-person, alternating between Viola and Sam's POV. From the tons of books I've read so far, third-person is always the most difficult POV to write in, but Isobel Irons mastered it completely. She does however make an exception for Viola's dreams/nightmares, as they are written in first-person.Those dreams are confusing, but they play an important part in this book, as a source of symbolism and the gate to a person's subconscious, which will eventually help Viola put back the pieces. I greatly appreciated the author's research work for this book (around this subject in particular, but also around the hospital milieu and its medical terms), which made it seem that much more real. Every chapter of the book starts with a quote from Freud, generally around subconscious and dream-interpretation."Unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later in uglier ways." - Sigmund FreudAll in all, it was a book with a suspenseful intrigue, a complex love story, and which included many details and "side-stories". To me it ticked all the boxes of a very good read that I would recommend to anyone who likes a suspenseful and unusual story (and doesn't mind a little lack of steam).This is book 1 in the series, and book 2 - Say Anything - will pick up the story of Sam's promiscuous friend and fellow intern Brady, and I will definitely check this out. As in, right now.