Review: As I Wake by Elizabeth Scott

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile

Publication Date: September 15th, 2011

Ava is welcomed home from the hospital by a doting mother, lively friends, and a crush finally beginning to show interest. There's only one problem: Ava can't remember any of them - and can't shake the eerie feeling that she's not who they say she is.

Ava struggles to break through her amnesiac haze as she goes through the motions of high-school life, but the memories that surface take place in a very different world, where Ava and familiar-faced friends are under constant scrutiny and no one can be trusted. Ava doesn't know what to make of these visions, or of the boy who is at the center of them all, until he reappears in her life and offers answers . . . but only in exchange for her trust.

(Courtesy of Goodreads)

This has to be one of the weirdest books I have ever read.  It has gotten a lot of mixed reviews, and I can see why now.  It takes a certain type of reader to like this book, and a lot of fans of Elizabeth Scott's other books will absolutely hate it because it's a bit of a departure.  I didn't love this book, but I didn't hate it.  It was okay, but not anything I'm going to go out of my way to recommend.  Here are some things you should know before reading this book:

• It is extremely confusing for the most of the story.  I THINK I understand what was going on, now that I've finished it, but I'm still not 100% certain.  I know I didn't have a clue until about 90% through.  If you like a book that has you puzzling to figure it out through the entire thing, then this book is for you.
• It's hard to connect with any of the characters because of the fact that you're never sure who you are dealing with, or how they connect with the story, until the very end. 
• The language is strange.  The way the protagonist, Ava, talks to and about herself is very strange and confusing.  Granted, she really doesn't have a clue, herself, but I found it bothersome.  If you are easily frustrated when authors use different styles of speech, you will have difficulty with this book.

If you can get past the above points, then you may enjoy this.  I found it a little too complicated because I read for entertainment and escape, and this book was just way too taxing on my brain.  It was very intense.  It's definitely for a very niche group of readers, that I don't think I'm a part of.   (It does have a fabulous cover though!)

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ 

Grade Level Recommendation:  I think it's fine for Middle School (6th grade) and up.  There's some violence, but otherwise, it's pretty clean.  Ages 11+.