Review - If You Die Before I Wake by Michelle Frank

Book: If you die before I wake
Author: Michelle Frank
Series: Saving Sabrina #1
Pages: 265
Genre: YA Paranormal/Horror
Rating: ★★★★☆


So, I really, really liked the story of this book. The plot was great. Every time I picked it up Sabrina's story sucked me in and I was no longer myself, I was Sabrina. If I read some of it in the morning then all through school I'd be trying to figure out this mystery of who Devon was. At first I thought it was a bit cliché having a girl who's been in a mental hospital most of her life and is haunted by a little boy. However, Michelle Frank made the idea her own, so that it was unlike other books from this genre.

What let this book down was the lack of editing. Within the first 30 pages I'd spotted about 5 mistakes, and they kept coming. A few sentences didn't make sense, and at one point I think there was a mix up of past and present tense. The many grammatical errors in it really let this book down, and had the story not been great I wouldn't have put up with these mistakes. There were less mistakes by the end, but for some readers the lack of editing in the beginning would have completely put them off.

Another little annoyance I had with If You Die Before I Wake was how fast Sabrina's relationship with a certain someone went. Within a week of her going on her first date she was acting as if she was in a long term relationship, and could think of nothing else. I can understand that it may have been her hormones catching up with her after years without ever seeing guys her own age, and when we learn about his story it makes sense that their relationship was going fast, but I still think it could have been slightly more realistically paced.

Other than that I thought the characters and their relationships with each other were great. You can really see the character development in Sabrina as she goes from a naïve girl from a mental home, to a fairly independent young woman. Michelle Frank does this wonderfully, with Sabrina changing slowly over the course of time. You can even see how all her experiences help her along the way, and that's one of the best things about this book. The other characters are realistic too, and I absolutely adored Sabrina's grandfather, who was so simple and sweet. I hope we still read about him in the second book in the series, even though Sabrina's growing up and won't need as much family support.

In summary: a wonderful book with a severe need of editing, and some great characters. I think I'll probably read the next one in the series, though there was enough closure in this one that I don't need to (another thing that's good that many books from a series don't have). I definitely recommend this book.


P.S. I received this book through Goodreads First Reads, though that does not affect my opinion on this book.

P.P.S. Thanks you very much to the author for the hand written note and the sticker :)