The Void
by Bryan Healey
Summary: A man is trapped in his own mind. Confined to a hospital bed for years, his family and friends believing him all but dead; somehow he can still hear. And he listens, he keeps breathing, keeps thinking, as those around him suddenly condemn him to death. With a life destined to end, he recounts his battlefield experience of death and violence, his own struggle with drug addiction and depression, and coming to terms with his own mortality, the importance of family and the meaning of life. And as he thinks, he lays, still as always, wondering when the final moment will arrive.
Review:
I won this book via Library Thing Early Reviewers Program.
Absolutely amazing novel. I couldn’t put it down. I even cried a bit through certain parts, which doesn’t happen to me often. This is a novel that truly makes you think about hard subjects.
The narrative was very easy to follow. I got into Max’s head quickly and easily, which is what made it so difficult to get through emotionally. I felt for Max the entire time and couldn’t really distance myself from the story because the narrative just grabbed a hold of me.
The story shifts from present to past frequently, often in the middle of a train of thought. I loved how this was done so smoothly. It helped give the reader information on Max’s past and his personality and ultimately we find out what exactly happened to put him into a coma. Though Max is essentially a vegetable, he can hear what is being said around him. When nurses or his family talks to him, he responds in his head, which was really cool to read through and part of what made the narrative so simple to follow, but also made me feel terrible because he’s not able to say anything out loud.
This book was just amazing. The premise hooked me and it didn’t disappoint. Despite this book being fiction, it forces the reader to think about things we all tend to push to the back our minds, especially the question of what may be happening when someone is a comatose state.
The Void was well written, heart wrenching, and incredibly interesting. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the premise. I loved it.
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