Blink Once

Blink Once by Cylin Busby

Paperback, 304 pages

Published 11th October 2012 by Bloomsbury

My shelves: arc-or-review, books-i-own, ghosts, medical-conditions, mental-health, read-in-2012, supernatural, to-be-reviewed, young-adult

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

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.

My thanks go to Bloomsbury for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.

When I heard about Blink Once, I knew that I had to read it! I loved the idea behind it and it sounded quite different to some of the other young-adult orientated books that are out there. When I received the book, I picked it up straight away and was quickly hooked!

Blink Once is different and a little difficult to describe. This story is narrated by West, a boy who has been left in a coma after having an accident on his bike. For around the first half of this book, West is left paralysed in his hospital bed and we observe what is happening around him - the nurses doing their jobs, his friends and family members visiting him and a very special visitor who introduces herself  and tries to communicate with him - a girl called Olivia, who it turns out that only West can see.

Olivia and West form a very strong bond whilst he is in his coma - she seems to understand him and they communicate through blinking and very brief writing. It was interesting to see how they interact and how things developed between them. The couple claim to have fallen in love, but I personally thought that this was a little too quick. West and Olivia clearly have a unique bond and I can understand that they would have a special sort of relationship, but I felt that romance was taking a bit too far, it just didn't feel right for me. However, the two characters were both equally interesting and likeable, which made the book a pleasure to read.

When West undergoes surgery and comes out of his coma, it is apparent that he was the only person who could see Olivia, which completely twists the book and changes the feeling of it completely, it gives a mystery and somewhat paranormal feel to the book. During his recovery, West makes it his aim to try and find Olivia without much help at all. I won't say too much as to avoid spoilers, but West does find out a lot of information about Olivia and discovers who she really is. There is a strong sense of suspense and I loved being with West, finding out all of the new information about Olivia.

I really enjoyed this book and I would love to read more books by Cylin Busby. I loved the idea behind this and the result was great. I admit that I was a bit underwhelmed by the ending - I think that, quite easily, a lot more could've been explored, this could've been even better if the story continued. However, I was probably mostly underwhelmed because I didn't want the story to finish! This book is great for all sorts of book fans - those who enjoy both realistic and paranormal reads will probably enjoy this. I would love to see more people read this book as I think it could become extremely popular!