Book Review :: But Then I Came Back, by Estelle Laure

But Then I Came Back by Estelle Laure
ISBN: 9781408342541
Published by Hachette NZ
on 6th April 2017
Genres: Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 320
Source: Hachette Publishing NZ
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Eden has always let her head lead the way. It's why she excels at ballet, at school, and at life in general. But when she nearly drowns and then wakes from a month-long coma, everything is different.

She's troubled by dreams that seem more real than waking life, and her neat cookie-cutter existence is no longer satisfying. Unable to stifle her passionate heart anymore, she finds herself drawn to a boy with melting-chocolate eyes, and to a future different to what she ever imagined.

That's when Eden discovers that when it comes to love, first you fall, then you have to leap.

Last updated on 7 June 2022

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What is But Then I Came Back, by Estelle Laure about?

Eden awakes from a coma after falling off rocks and hitting her head. She used to be a passionate girl on her way to a big dance career, but now everything seems shattered. She doesn’t know if she’ll dance again, and she doesn’t know if she wants to. To top it all off, she’s seeing strange things like black flowers and a girl whom she’s never met before. It’s crazy, but when she wanders the hospital halls one day, she sees the girl from her dream lying in a bed. Her name is Jasmine and she’s in a coma.

Eden battles her way through coming back into the world where everything feels different. She wrestles with odd flower visions and feelings towards Jasmine’s best friend Joe who she meets in the hospital. The story follows Eden as she ‘wakes up’ from her coma and sees the world through new eyes.

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My Thoughts on But Then I Came Back

But Then I Came Back was a pretty enjoyable read. I thought Eden was realistic for her age, and the people around her were definitely believable characters. The plot, while a tad intense at time, was really well laid out and while there were parts that I felt could have been a bit deeper, or not as rushed, it was, on the whole, a nice story.

The ending was perhaps a little rushed. It was too inst-lovey in the romance department, but it was erring towards that at times I thought.

It turns out this is semi a sequel. It’s not advertised as such, nor is listed on Goodreads as a sequel, but the characters are same as in Laure’s other novel, This Raging Light. I haven’t read that book but it didn’t matter at all when it came to But Then I Came Back. I wouldn’t be able to tell that it was connected to another book if I didn’t know it already.

Overall, it was a great read. It’s nice and short, only 320 pages, and it’s despite the topic and the what’s going on in various character’s lives, it’s pretty light. If you’re after a typical YA novel, then pick up this book. You don’t need to have read This Raging Light to read this one – I might even pick it up now to see what it’s like.

Have you read But Then I Came Back? What did you think? 

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Thank you to Hachette Publishing who sent me a copy of this book for review.