West is a high school senior who has everything going for him – until an accident leaves him paralysed. Strapped down in his hospital bed, moving in and out of consciousness, West is isolated and alone. Until he meets Olivia.
Olivia is the girl next door – though not the typical girl next door. She is in the hospital room next to his, and before long, she’s sneaking into his room to talk with him. Only Olivia seems to know what he’s thinking, and even dreaming about. Yet certain questions haunt him: Why is Olivia in the hospital? And how is she connected to the terrible dreams he’s been having? But the biggest shock of all comes when West must face the possibility that the girl he’s fallen in love with – and who’s done more to aid his recovery than anyone else – may not even be alive.
Blink Once was one of those books that I just don't know how to describe, I enjoyed it so much because it was so mind bending and psychological. I never really had a clue what was going on and the ending just totally threw me, just when you think you've grasped what's going on that happens... It was pretty amazing and, in a way, anticlimatic. Don't get me wrong, I loved what Busby did with this book, it was realistic and semi-believable and works well as both a 'supernatural' book as well as a contemporary which makes it pretty awkward to out into one genre, but the ending was somewhat annoying just because it went back on everything that had happened... However the ending was also beautiful and meaningful.
Yeah, I'm pretty confused by my own emotions right now.
I really hadn't heard much about Blink once when it turned up in my mailbox one day and so I kind of disregarded it. I picked it up a few days ago whilst avoiding essays and planned to read one hundred pages before going back to my work... one full book later and my head was reeling and I was speechless. That is the effect that this book had on me... it's pretty gritty. The characters are so real, West was so well written and Olivia was such an enigma, I would have loved to learn a little more about her circumstances.
The writing in this book is so raw. busby really get's down to the emotions that West is feeling; his frustration, his fear, his determination and his raw pain. The flashbacks to West's life before his accident show how much he's changing as a person and how much he's lost and I really felt that the narrative reflected the pure desperation of this novel. It was so well written.
Overall, a beautiful and poignant and shocking book. The books bends the edges of reality and leaves you reeling, I honestly don't know what to say... despite a few flaws this is a book that I would so highly recommend.
Overall Rating: A-
Book to be released October 11th 2012 by Bloomsbury
Book received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (Print)
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