But Then I Came Back

February 20, 2017
If you’re in a coma, where are you? Is there a place between life and death? Unanswerable questions, but not for 17-year-old Eden Jones, a type-A ballerina who hits her head and nearly drowns. When she wakes up after a month, she has another question to face: what’s it like to get your old life back? Eden is having visions she doesn’t understand; she can’t stop thinking about Jaz, a fellow coma patient; and then there’s handsome, worried Joe, Jaz’s best friend, who may be something more for Eden. Laure creates an intriguing blend of realism and the unknowable in her sophomore novel, a companion of sorts to The Raging Light, in which Eden was a secondary character. Jaz can’t speak, but she can communicate with Eden, and the “In Between” place where Eden spent her coma is depicted as real and alluring, a place of comfort that’s only worth leaving if you’re loved. Eden is simultaneously tough and fragile, and her struggle to figure out what her life should look like is compelling. Ages 14–up Agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Literary Management.

Starred review from February 1, 2017
Nursing a seriously bruised ego, out of sync with friends and family, Eden slipped, hit her head, and plunged into the icy river; in the coma that follows, she's approached by a strange girl whose urgent message she's unable to hear.Unresolved issues slow Eden's recovery. The white teen's embittered by her humiliating epic fail in the class she took with Russia's Bolshoi Ballet. The brown-skinned girl from her coma proves to be another hospital patient, Jasmine, still comatose, her only visitor a quiet, intense white boy named Joe. Through their shared interest in Jaz, Joe and Eden form a bond, at first halting and awkward, intensifying as their mutual attraction grows. Joe's mother died when he was 8; he helps his florist dad and stepmother grow flowers, some sold at the hospital. Middle-class Eden has been free of domestic chores to pursue her interests. Joe and Jaz, a former foster child, have been friends for years. They'd been each other's world; without her, he's as off-balance as Eden is. Though Eden fears losing Joe, she's as committed to reaching Jaz as he is. If what the coma signifies for Jasmine remains mysterious, for Eden, it's a chrysalis. The protective cocoon may initiate rebirth--transformation is up to her. Her deliberate, almost meditative present-tense narration chronicling her metamorphosis is punctuated by excerpts from a book she reads about near-death experiences, anchoring readers to her existential journey. Rendered with insight and compassion, Eden's struggles to make peace with the human condition add up to a riveting coming-of-age story. (Fiction. 14-18)

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March 1, 2017

Gr 8 Up-After waking from a monthlong coma, 17-year-old Eden struggles to speak, eat, and swallow. Nerve damage threatens her future as a dancer. Formerly the life of the party, now Eden can only sleep, mope, and lash out at those around her. She is haunted by images from her time spent in a coma, in the place between life and death. How can Eden be sure that she even came back at all? The only person she feels connected to is another coma patient, Jaz. She finds herself drawn to Jaz's hospital room, where she meets Jaz's friend Joe. The two begin a friendship, which quickly blossoms into something more. Laure's writing is thoughtful and lyrical. The disconnect between Eden's plans for her future and her new reality will feel heartbreakingly familiar to anyone who has ever faced unexpected change. Unfortunately, the teen's existential crisis is largely overshadowed by a typical YA romance. The end result is a charming love story that feels lacking in conflict. Readers hoping for more answers about Eden's mysterious experiences "in between" will be left disappointed. Laure's sophomore novel is a companion to her This Raging Light. While the narrative stands alone, the relationships among the characters will feel underdeveloped to readers unfamiliar with the previous book. Beautiful writing and an enchanting love story will appeal to romance fans. VERDICT Give to fans of Gayle Forman's If I Stay, Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall, or Gregory Galloway's The 39 Deaths of Adam Strand.-Liz Overberg, Zionsville Community High School, IN

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