Emily is a young girl who is in a persistent vegetative state with seemingly no explanation as to why. Her mother, Rachel, has remained faithfully — obsessively — by her side ever since, while her father, James, seems to have moved on with his life. He’s even divorced Rachel and remarried Eva, a 36-year-old digital marketing guru who really wants a baby of her own. Told in alternating chapters from Eva’s and Rachel’s points of view, this book is an absolute tearjerker that will make you ask the question: how much would you sacrifice to save your own child?
This book was definitely not an easy read. As the mother of two — one with his own life-shortening illness and the other the same age as Emily — I might have taken this book a bit more personally than most readers. It was definitely easy to relate to Rachel and how much she would sacrifice and what she would risk to give her baby any chance of a life. Even as her character tended to appear more cold and removed, it was easy to understand why.
I struggled more with the James-Eva relationship and their whirlwind romance and marriage and their seemingly inability to talk to each other outside of the most superficial topics. I understand that Eva felt her biological clock ticking, but this couple seems to have almost nothing in common, so it felt a bit forced.
Definitely keep a box of tissues nearby and don’t read around other people if you’re an ugly or loud crier.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Bookouture in exchange for my honest review. It had not influenced my opinion.