This book had a certain quality - I call it 'stickiness ' - that compells you to read on long after your brain has told you to quit. It's because however implausible the plot may be, however cringey the writing, however one-dimensional the characters, there's something there that's entertaining enough to hook you in and keep you hooked, sometimes quite against your better judgement.

So yes, this book was entertaining - just. Did I enjoy it? More or less. Is it worth reading? Possibly....

That was a really interesting book, well-written and fast paced that had me hooked from the beginning.

A lot of thanks to BooksGoSocial for giving me the opportunity to read 24 Hours of the Phoenix.
It is about the story of a young woman who hears that she only has 24 hours left to live. From that moment on, she begins to make changes in her life. When the reader thinks that he/she already has the mystery solved, the plot begins to get tangled up. It is an excellent book to stay entertained a few hours and the end is totally unexpected.

I received this free from NetGalley and the publisher for a review.
I was really looking forward to reading this book from the blurb I read, but then I met Phoenix and was disappointed. She is selfish and unsympathetic and that made it hard to get into the book or to even care about her. Then I met Gabriel and he made it all worthwhile, but only three stars worth. The twist at the end also helped.

This book was provided to me via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Phoenix awakes in a hospital, unable to remember how she got there and why, and finds out she has only 24 hours to live. What will she do?

The answer is: have long monologues with herself, short conversations with other people and sex - three (or was it four?) times. Even though she's still injured from whatever incident got her into the hospital and to death's door in the first place because that seems healthy. Yup.

To be fair, the story wasn't bad, I'm just particularly hard to please when a story is more character-driven than anything else. I called the ending about halfway through the book and I didn't particularly like the main character, but altogether, the book was okay - hence the two stars. My main issue was that the main character was very rambly. I found myself skimming whole pages because she would go on and on about something. Additionally, there would be those parts where she was probably supposed to seem deep and introspective, but I just... didn't buy it.

That said, the book starts off pretty strong and interesting and then just sort of... loses steam. I found myself having to force myself to finish the second half, and the last two to three chapters especially seemed rushed, leaving me with an overall "meh" impression.

I can see where some people would like this book. Sadly, it was just not my cup of tea, though.

This is Bertaud's debut novel and I really enjoyed it.  I have to say that I wasn't sure I was going to when I started but after the first few chapters I was engrossed and read the majority of it in one day.  Bertaud has written this really well and there are some unexpected twists and turns throughout.

It really makes you think about what you'd do if you found out you only have 24 hours to live......What would you do with your time? Who would you want to see? Would you be able to say goodbye?  The book also delves in to family, friendship and love.  It's definitely emotional at points but still maintains the fast paced story, keeping you gripped! What happen to Phoenix? Why does she only have 24 hours to live? What's was going on the days before her accident?

It's definitely worth checking this out, it's not like anything I've read before which might be why it took me a while to get into it, but it was most definitely worth it for big twists!!  I'll be looking out from more from this author for sure!

A very strange and unusual story. Didn't grip me all the way through but I wanted to know how it ended or begun!

Haven't done this much while reading a book when I actually had to reread something because of a scene in a book. This book was fabulous in that it kept my attention even though I really had to pay attention while reading. The story had by totally absorbed by the 3rd chapter wherein I wanted to know what was going to happen next. All I gotta say about the book is riveting.

I really really liked this book. It was well written and fast paced.
I also really liked the main character Phoenix. I think everyone can relate to one situation or another that this girl goes through, whether it’s parental loss, a bad breakup, a rebound “jerk”, to name a few. She has a sort of universal appeal.
And I loved the ending. I could tell something was going on, but was pleasantly surprised by how it turned out.
I would definitely recommend it and will most likely pick up a physical copy when it’s available just to reread it.

This was an interesting twist on the age old question of what you would do if you knew you had 24 hours to live. Told from the view point of Phoenix a relatively normal 21 year old, it was though provoking if a bit unrealistic. I enjoyed the novel, though I struggled in the middle. I will definetly read this author again.

An amazing novel. What would you do if you woke in hospital to hear a doctor say that you had 24 hours - or less - to live. This is about what Phoenix does. How much can she pack into her last day? It's a very moving 24 hours for Phoenix. She can't remember anything about how she ended up in hospital, or what she is dying from, just wants to say her goodbyes and live as much as she can.

I loved it - very moving.

This book messed up with my mind a big time. I am overly analytic, therefore this book didn't make sense for the most part, of course once I reach the end, it all makes sense! Simply Brilliant! I’m glad I didn't give up and finish the book.
The narrative is fluid and you feel like Finn is talking to you all along, it's an active first person voice. I love Gabriel and what he means and represents for Phoenix. This is a book that defies logic and its about second chances.

“I realize how much the lack of love loosens our strength to live”.

Many Thanks BooksGoSocial, Caroline Bertaud and Netgalley for the opportunity.

Phoenix is in the hospital when she overhears two doctors state that she has 24 hours left to live. She wants to know what is wrong with her yet she dresses and leaves the hospital. Her (former at this point?) boyfriend, Matt, stops into the coffee shop where she works.

Still having 4 keys, Phoenix figures that next she will go home. She remembers: Walt! She arrives at their place and he is not there. Attempting to call Walt, there is no answer. The last key she has is to her old VW. It does not start. A man, Gabriel, insists on giving Phoenix a ride to the post office and calling a tow truck for her car. Gabriel tells her that his wife had passed away, She tells him nothing about the 24 hour thing. But, in contact with her best friend, Emma, they agree to meet up for lunch (sans Gabriel). During lunch, Phoenix eventually opens up tells Emma about her life having only 24 left. Emma breaks down. This proves to Phoenix that she cannot tell anyone else. (After all, she had spent 2 hours at the park with Gabriel - maybe the best 2 hours, ever.)

Later, Phoenix goes home and Walt, her live-in, is there. She senses that "love is not in the air". Walt is quite into drugs and this makes him less appealing. She misses Matt. The wound from the car accident that they told her she was in is still very painful.

Phoenix needs to see her mother and brother (before she dies) - actually they have a wonderful time!!! Things had been edgy with mom, but now, much better. Phoenix calls Gabriel and he invites her to see The Wizard of Oz play and have dinner. They fall in love. While later showering at Gabriel's place, Phoenix' stitches open up(from her surgery after the car accident) and she is back in the hospital. Still thinking that she is going to die, within 24 hours, she leaves the hospital again. Yet this time Walt and a couple of drug dealers take her "for a ride". And this is where the insane story really livens up!!

Anything more and I would be releasing a spoiler...

A good story - Many thanks to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for a good read.

The cover is so beautiful and I know the saying ‘you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover’ yet for me thats exactly what I did. But I was not disappointed with the book. From the first page I was hooked. The story was not a slow starter either. Got you straight into the story. The clue is in the title..
Thank you to both NetGalley and BookGoSocial for my eARC in exchange for my honest review

Phoenix is such a beautifully constructed character that I could  relate to her immediately. Not the impending death part but her characterization. Her living, pulsating emotions can straight away draw you in. The author made Phoenix so perfectly human, with all her vices, her goof ups and terrible decisions. Halfway through the book I was screaming

'Don't you die on me, Phoenix!'

'Don't you dare die!'
My complete review can be read on my blog

Phoenix Collins may be only twenty-one years old, but she only has twenty-four hours left to live. At least, that’s what she overhears when she abruptly wakes up one morning in a hospital bed. She quickly tries to figure out why she might be dying but realizes she can’t remember anything at all. Finding herself trapped in the present moment with no future and no past, Phoenix impulsively jumps up and breaks herself out of the hospital.

So begins this fast-paced roller coaster of a novel by new author Caroline Bertaud. It definitely checks all the boxes of the thriller genre, as it’s full of plot twists and intrigue, yet for all of this book’s rollicking action, the heart of the story is, well, its heart. I may have been hooked from the very first moment but what ultimately drew me into the story was the exploration of redemption, forgiveness, and deep, powerful love—between lovers, yes, but also between parents and children, between siblings, and between friends.

The writing itself is superb as well, with Bertaud knowing just when to speed up during a suspenseful part but then slow it down again so we have no choice but to ponder right along with the heroine: What would we do if faced with such an impossible situation? Who would we run to if we learned our time was running out? How would we choose to spend our last moments?

These questions kept me reading straight through the book as I had to know what Phoenix would do and how she would answer them for herself. This novel was engrossing, beautiful, funny, and thought-provoking, and I can’t wait to read more by this author.

Wow. So okay. The beginning of this was awesome. I was really into the idea of Finn trying to spend her last 24 hours doing things. I thought that the character development of Finn, her brother, and her mother was awesome. I loved the dynamic between them, and I really liked how they all talked to each other during the book.
Where it lost me was towards the end when a book about a young woman trying to spend her last hours on earth doing fun things, and it suddenly turned into them being chased by a gang at night. It went from a fun book to something I could barely even believe in one chapter. The big reveal at the end did help to kind of make it more believable, but at the same time I was so done with the plot line that by the time "it was all a dream" I just didn't want to keep reading. It felt like there was too much going on at all once.
There was just too much going on, and I couldn't seem to wrap my head around the final 20% of this book. I wanted to know more about Walt and Matt, and I'm not sure if I missed it, but it felt like there was a chapter or two that I was missing that would explain what was going on with their stories and relationships in regards to Finn. Overall I liked the first half of this movie more than the second, but I did enjoy the book on a whole.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I thought it started off a little slow but once I dove in I was hooked.

I'm a little worried about talking about the book because of spoilers, but Phoenix is a likable flawed character who I really didn't want to die in 24 hours.

Gotta say I called the twist about a quarter way through.

That's okay. Getting there was a lot of fun!

Thank you to NetGalley and Caroline Bertaud for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book asks the question "What would you do if you had 24 hours left to live?" Thrown into this position, 21 year old Phoenix navigates her emotions and life review.in this novel. The premise and format is fairly unique as each chapter constitutes an hour in the countdown that is supposedly left of her life. This format served to break the novel up into readable and well organized portions. I appreciate the perfect length of the chapters and it kept me hooked, I kept thinking "Yes I have time for one more!"

The premise itself didn't quite work for me (and unfortunately the plot twist didn't either) because I am an RN and just couldn't wrap my head around Phoenix's behavior while she was in the hospital. (I firmly don't believe in spoilers but the plot twist was not a realistic occurrence). On my end though the book made me think quite a lot about aspects of certain medical conditions - is any of it possible? A lot of Phoenix's life review and finding of meaning in things seemed a little cliche as well - I laughed when she stated it herself! Once I put that aside, I still found the book to be a very readable and enjoyable story.

I give this a solid 3/5 stars, and would not hesitate to recommend it for anyone who enjoys a work of fiction with a twist of romance! Really, it is a great debut novel! I warn you that this book will make you think about your life and might inspire you to call your parents!

This review also appears on my blog at https://onenursereader.wixsite.com/onereadingnurse-1

"Until yesterday, twenty-one-year-old Phoenix Collins had it all figured out: she was going to live forever. Not literally of course; nobody lives forever—she knows that, she’s learned it the hard way—but bearing a mythical name had convinced her that someday she’d have a fresh start, her life back on track. A big scar stretches across her stomach, but she has no recollection of the previous days’ events."

This was one heck of a ride! Phoenix is told she only has 24 hours to live but has no idea what happened a few days before. While reading this novel, I felt like I was racing against the clock along with Phoenix. It was a quick read for me, I couldn't put it down until I found out what happened and why she only had 24 hours to live.

#24hoursOfThePhoenix #NetGalley
Pub Date 03 Nov 2018