Blink Once

by Cylin Busby

YA Contemporary/Paranormal

Book Description

West is a high school senior who has everything going for him until an accident leaves him paralyzed. Strapped down in his hospital bed, slipping in and out of consciousness, West is terrified and alone. Until he meets Olivia. She’s the girl next door-sort of. A patient in the room next to his, only Olivia can tell what West is thinking, and only Olivia seems to know that the terrible dreams he’s been having are not just a result of his medication. Yet as West comes to rely on Olivia-to love her, even-certain questions pull at him: Why has Olivia been in the hospital for so long? And what does it mean that she is at the center of his nightmares? But the biggest question of all comes when West begins to recover and learns that the mysterious girl he’s fallen in love with has a secret he could never have seen coming.

MY THOUGHTS: 3.75 OUT OF 5 FLEURS DE LIS

Blink Once by Cylin Busby

West is stuck in a hospital, completely paralyzed after a biking accident. Though his body is not working, his mind is in overdrive. The only thing making his extended stay more bearable is the daily visits he gets from fellow patient, Olivia.

West and Olivia become very close even though the only way they can communicate is through blinking. But West is often plagued by violent nightmares, and he and Olivia try to find out the cause. Though he soon comes to find out, dreams and reality are sometimes difficult to separate.

I liked this book a lot until I found out the huge twist at the end. After that, the book left me a little perplexed.

This book was almost like two separate stories. It would have been a cool contemporary YA book with just the storyline of West and Olivia meeting in the hospital, and West slowly struggling to get better. The other, less important part was the supernatural thread, and it was something I could have done without.

Though West is immobile, he narrates the story. It’s fascinating to have a story told from the point of view of a person that cannot respond to his world. We see West’s true feelings about everything–his parents, his friends, his life before the accident…and we really get to know him well.

Olivia was likable for the most part, but I found her getting pretty needy and clingy as the book progressed. It was annoying to me that it seemed she didn’t want West to get better. But I can’t be too hard on her, after I found out the twist.

It’s hard for me to review the story, because as I said, there is a huge twist that I don’t want to spoil, which kind of threw the whole book out of whack for me. I’ll just say that I was looking for an explanation, and I didn’t really get one. The ending was very bittersweet.

This was a very good read though, and uniquely told story.

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