Half to Death by Robin Alexander

Half to Death by Robin Alexander

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Unfortunate that I wasn't in a position to write a review for this when I read it 3 days ago.

Okay, so, a group of friends go on vacation, start walking around out in the cold, in the snow, one falls through ice. Has to be rescued, and, technically, was dead for 20 minutes. This book stars that woman who was dead. That would be Sloan Hawkins.

Sloan has hidden herself away since her 'death' for the past 2 months; from the outside world and from her friends. Her best friend, and the woman who she grew up with as something of a sister, Miranda, has given her a little room but won't take this hiding any longer and forces the issue.

And so Sloan comes out a little bit. And lets Miranda know why she has been hiding. It has to do with something Miranda would/could never guess - the experience created a situation in which Sloan has trouble touching others. No, not for reasons you might expect (unless you did expect it). It's because she gets emotions, and memories from people when she touches them. Full blown experiences - as if she was there - as the person in their body. The first time this occurred was when a friend, Deb, touched her when she awake in the hospital and she relived her own retrieval from the frozen lake - from the point of view of Deb.

Naturally that will/can cause complications. If a person losses themselves inside other people's thoughts/feelings/emotions. And you have no control over it.

And so, Miranda decides to try to help. For Sloan to 'train herself' so that she can have control.

Meanwhile a woman named Corrine 'Jade' Verner comes into Sloan's life. Jade is this super hot, very well built fitness trainer at a gym (fitness trainer - nice to see lesbians holding more positions *nods* - and there's a reason why she is 'gorgeous'). Everyone kind of assumes (including Sloan) that Jade has it all - she looks perfect, has perfect body, perfect breasts, etc. And they treat her as a sex object - and/or that she is nothing more than her looks.

Sloan's 'abilities' allows her to see that there is more to Jade than her 'perfect' looks. A lot more. And, to a large extent, Jade actually hates the way she looks (more that people treat her as being nothing more than a body, and overlook whether or not she has any actual talent/ability, or brain; less in hating her body or body image).

The interaction of Sloan and her three groups of friends (she is/was friends with Miranda Donahue (paramedic), Deb, and Lonna - those three are in couplings (hence the 'three groups'), which pull in Marty (hooked up with Miranda), Angel (hooked up with Deb), and Paige (hooked up with Lonna)). Quite interesting dynamic/interactions - and then there was the horrifying injection (to the people in the story) of one of them suffering from anorexia and how she and her friends try to 'handle' it.

Of the friends, Miranda has the largest 'part' in this book, with her partner Marty next or tied with Deb, followed up with Angel. Lonna and Paige are kind of sideline characters.

The interaction between Sloan and Jade was good also - and that 'Heart Trouble' type 'spark of ability' that turns up in this book was very much needed for Sloan and Jade to get past being a player (Sloan), and self-hatred (Jade) to reach the relationship they were able to reach.

A good book all the way around. Wish I had been able to write 3 days ago so I'd actually have had something better to put here but wasn't able to write until now.

November 20 2016



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