Author: Lenore Skomal
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Subject: Coma, friendship, family.
Publisher: Lenore Skomal Press
Release date: October, 2012
Length: Not sure, had the Kindle edition
I got this book: offered to read as a part of a bookclub event
From Goodreads:
"Jude Black lives in that in-between, twilight place teetering on death but clinging to life in order to bring her baby into this world. Only she knows the circumstances surrounding her mysterious fall off the bluff that landed her in the hospital being kept alive by medical intervention. Only she knows who the father of her baby is. In this poignantly crafted literary novel, the mystery unfolds and the suspense builds as the consequences of Jude’s decisions threaten to reveal everyone's deceptions, even her own. Bluff offers a sensitive look at essential questions such as the value of human life, the consciousness of those in a coma and the morality of terminating life support. At the core is the story of a tragically misunderstood woman who finds peace, acceptance, understanding and even love on her deathbed."
Personal opinion:
I picked this book because I normally enjoy books about people with illnesses, mainly to get an idea of what would be going on in a persons mind. I hoped that the reader would get a story where Jude would be the main voice. Unfortunately this is not the case. The book keeps switching viewpoints with almost each chapter. I could live with this if it were viewpoints from 2 or 3 persons. But I counted 7 before I gave up on the book and in my opinion this is just too many. I enjoyed certain characters like Jude's best friend Frances and Jude's sister. But the viewpoints of the detective, Frances' husband Hank and a nurse from the hospital, I couldn't care less about. When the next chapter started with yet another character, Jude's doctor, I threw in the towel. The main problem what I had was that, even though all the persons knew Jude one way or another, it was too much about themselves and their mid-life crisises. It seems that every character in the book seemed to suffer from one. Anyway, the story has some good elements and I liked the parts that were about Jude, but there is too much on the side, that to me didn't feel as relevant to the story. However if you haven't got a problem with viewpoints from many characters, this could be a good book, because the elements of a decent plot are surely there.
Purchase links: Amazon
Challenges: none
Other reviews: none yet
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Thanks for the honest review! I found this book intriguing and would still want to read it just to satisfy my curiosity. :)
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