Goodreads Synopsis: Eighteen isn't too young to run your life into the ground, but it's not too old to fix it, either. The desire for change drives Willa Kirk from St. John's, Newfoundland back to her hometown of Smiths Falls, Ontario, away from her mistakes and the place where her sister died. She's looking for a place to settle and rebuild, but Jem Harper just wants to get out of town, back to the life he knew before cancer. By letting the tragedies in their lives define them, they are both dying a little more every day. Welcome to the wake.
My Confession: So, this is a first, Book Nookers. My first requested review. I had the privilege of meeting Abria when we roomed together (along with two other girls) during my six weeks in New York at NYU. The longest conversations we'd have, crowded around the small kitchen table (there was no living room in our dorm apartments...odd) were about the books we'd written (Abria) and the books we'd almost finished writing (me). I watched her fiddling with her Kindle all the time, and a few weeks ago, I found out why: she self-published Wake, her first novel, as an e-book through Amazon. I'm still warming up to my Nook, but wanted to read this book. From the synopsis, I wasn't really sure what the book was about. Once I started, though, I knew almost instantly where it was going to go.
Wake reminded me quite a bit of Keith, a short story written by Ron Carlson about a cancer-stricken boy who befriends the most popular girl in school, bonding with her over little stupid stuff until the two eventually fall in love. I liked Keith so much, I adapted it into a screenplay for a Screenwriting class I took in college. Wake feels like a full-length version of this short story. Jem is recovering from cancer, and Willa is running from what cancer stole from her. They're thrown together as partners in a Home Ec class, and while they, at first, can't stand each other, they realize rather quickly the important aspects the other brings to their life. I really enjoyed how the story was told from both perspectives, sometimes the same events overlapping for both Jem and Willa. I felt like I really got the chance to know both of them as characters: what they were thinking, how they really felt, what they didn't want the other person to know. It was so awesome to see the same events two different ways; their voices felt so accurate and realistic. The book isn't short, and the length really lets the reader grow more comfortable with Jem and Willa; I felt like I knew them. I grew quickly attached to their relationship and loved the little, unique quirks that made the dialogue pop. I haven't read these characters before, and for that, I give Abria lots of credit.
If I'm going to harp on one thing about this book (and since it's an e-book, I'm still not convinced myself that it matters) it would be the cover. Don't love it. And while I get it, and having read the book, I know where it comes from, I don't think it accurately portrays the story inside. I picture something with a little more color, a little something extra. I actually pictured something like a girl's hand on a boy's chest, covering a catheter (a sore spot for Jem throughout the novel). When I say I went into this book completely blind about the plotline, I mean blind. The cover, title, and synopsis didn't really clue me in. Now having read it, I can see where they work, but I'm still not totally buying it. Now, as an e-book, does the cover totally matter? Not really. But this story's quality lends me to think that I could very well see this on the shelves someday. So maybe just a little something to think about. This book needs--and deserves--every possible chance for success.
Recommendation: For $3.99, you're not going to find a more worthwhile e-book. It's so well written, and I found myself being mesmerized by the language almost as much as I was drawn in by the story itself. Abria initially warned me that this would be "morbid" book, but I'm not convinced. Sure, the subject matter isn't always super-uplifting, but I don't know about you--books without conflict and struggle just don't ring authentic enough to bother reading. And while you won't be finished in a day, this is the kind of novel that will stick with you. I started reading it at work and had an extremely difficult time putting it down. I'm truly impressed, and I can't wait to read what she comes up with next.
Buy Wake on Amazon here!
Rating: 4.5/5
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