Wake [Kindle Edition]

I couldn't put Wake down. I read it and read it until I was finished, I had to find out what happened.

It was thoroughly enjoyable, despite the serious subject matter, dealing with it in a very refreshing way. Wake wasn't afraid to delve into the very unpleasant effects of cancer, the way it affects every part of Jem's life. Having read at least one other book which deals with a teenager suffering cancer, this felt very real, not 'everything is normal except the main character has cancer, which only seems to be a problem for them when it's useful to the storyline'.

I liked the way it was told by both Willa and Jem, and how when something happens in one's point of view, you can't wait to read the next one's and find out how they felt about the incident. However, sometimes this went a little too far, when events were actually retold in the other's POV -- i.e. with time overlapping, which personally I felt wasn't always needed.

Also, I agree with another reviewer who said that Wake needed more editing. Wonderful read as it was, but there were just enough small mistakes to begin to jar by the time I neared the end of the book. I found it to be stuff a spellchecker wouldn't automatically pick up - words missing letters that made other words, for example, it should have read "kind" but it read "kid" instead.

Don't let that put you off though, I would reread this book and I've recommended it to loads of people!

Okay personally I think this book had been under reviewed. I love that Willa is strong willed and refuses to take ANY of Jem's attitude. And when talking about Jem I think I should say I love him! It's refreshing to read a book when the 'lovers' as it were keep there banter even once 'dos becomes uno' (bit o' Miranda) anyhow I would really suggest this read it's full of wit and interesting issues that really tug your heart strings, personally I was sat up at 2AM crying my eyes out.

I stumbled upon Wake by accident, and I'm really glad I did. This is a story with depth, with characters that have problems, demons, and that aren't always all that likable. Wake is the story of Jem and Willa, two 18 year olds who have had to deal with the devastating effects of cancer at such a young age. This is a story focused on teenagers but it certainly doesn't feel like it was written for teenagers. It's raw, unapologetic and it doesn't try to cover up the personal and unpleasant side of cancer. It really holds nothing back. Saying that, there are happy moments, funny ones, and moments of incredibly touching tenderness. However, there are some problems that I felt the book had. They certainly don't diminish how wonderful a book Wake is, but they are annoying:

Firstly, the music references are excessive. Yes, music is important to the main characters and their relationship, but it gets to a point when song titles and the name of bands become just words that mean nothing. It was especially irksome when the author tried to explain Willa's emotions simply by giving the name of a song and expected the reader to know exactly what was meant by it.

Secondly, certain scenes and characters felt unnecessary. There was already a strong cast of secondary characters such as Jem's sister, Elise, and Willa's brother, Frank, so there really wasn't a need to include every friend Jem had ever made before being diagnosed with cancer. Then there were the overlapping scenes told from two points of views. I found myself quickly getting through these pages as they added very little to the plot.

Thirdly, Wake is Willa and Jem's story, so why add extra points of views?... Of course cancer affects family and friends, not just the person who has it, but it felt like the story had been snatched away from Jem and Willa at moments when their voices should have been heard.

What Wake really needed was some more editing. That's it. Don't let the points above deter you from reading this book, because you won't regret it if you do. What I liked most about Wake was that it was a book about real love. As Willa tells her brother, `You don't know who people really are until you've seen them at their worst and weakest'. The two main characters see each other at their very lowest but they still, eventually, manage to accept one another. Wake is really about coming to terms with becoming a person you never thought you would be. It's about accepting mistakes and learning to hate ourselves less for making them. With a little bit more work, a tweak here and there, this could've been a fantastic book. As it is, Wake is a good book definitely worth your time. I will be recommending it to my friends and will look forward to reading any future work by this author. Read more ›

With this one I feel I should start with the characters. Admittedly I didn't like Jem at first. I found him to be rude and kind of obnoxious as a character but I didn't let it hold me back from reading on as I grew quite fond of him in the end.

What I really loved about the characters was that they were extremely complicated. At first it was quite overwhelming but as I got into the story I found myself really feeling for them and liking how relatable they are. They had faults, they had a lot of baggage and they were human. I do like characters where you want to shout at them for doing one thing and then the next thing you know they come together and they have this chemistry that makes them so easy to read about.

I also loved how the book came together as a whole. Initially I saw how many pages it was and was like, woah, this is going to take quite a bit of time, but it didn't. It had this nice flow to the writing that made me utterly engrossed so I flew through the book.