But then I came back by Estelle Laure

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Orchard Books, 2017. ISBN 9781408342541
(Age: 14+) Recommended. Eden's life was all figured out - she was going to go to New York and dance with the Bolshoi, she was going to be a star!
After the accident however, all her plans are thrown into doubt. Having woken from a coma a month after falling into the river, Eden doesn't know whether she'll ever dance again. There goes fame, fortune, and college plans. Instead she is consumed by the depression of the displaced, and the mystery of her fellow coma girl, Jasmine, who she met on the 'other side'. Preoccupied by Jasmine and the mysterious black flowers, Eden finds herself neglecting her old life and her family in order to try and help this stranger come back. But is her determination solely because she feels close to the other girl, or because of the boy with the white roses and chocolate eyes? It seems that when everything is going so wrong, something has to be so right.
Sequel to This raging light, But then I came back can be read in addition or on its own. Intelligent and thoughtful, Estelle Laure (and Eden) make many literary references throughout the novel to the canon. It is a novel about recovery, discovery, and comfort with a pleasant possibility for what might be beyond the veil. A relatively easy read, the novel addressed issues surrounding family, depression, and future thinking. I would recommend this novel for students aged fourteen and up.
Kayla Gaskell, 21

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