Special thanks to Algonquin Books for inviting me to be part of the book blog tour and for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. 4.5 stars

This was a very bittersweet and deeply emotional book about love, loyalty, the choices we make in life and ultimately, about growth, change and finding yourself. It's definitely not the happiest of books and from the beginning there is a heavy sadness that permeates the writing of the story; yet at the same time, following the chaos, there's a sense of hope that builds. I'm not ashamed to admit that the latter half of this story had me feeling quite weepy and emotional but it was rather cathartic.

I had a love/hate relationship with the characters because they're all so deeply flawed but as we learn more about them, I also felt so much empathy for them. At one point at about 40% of the way through, I found myself feeling so frustrated that I didn't know if I wanted to continue, not to mention that I was feeling anxious for the heartbreak I knew was just around the corner, but I'm so glad that I kept on. Leavitt has written such well formed and realistic characters that you can't help connecting with. I felt the punch in my gut seeing them making these heartbreaking mistakes, I felt the confusion they felt in dealing with the aftermath of such a life-altering incident, but I also felt (sometimes a begrudging) sense of happiness at seeing them realise what brings them fulfilment and watching them pursue it. There is a cheating/infidelity storyline that was honestly pretty difficult for me to get through and while I don't agree with what the characters did, I also found myself not hating them as much as I thought I would (weird because that usually never happens lol).

These are people who have allowed their pasts to dictate their future and who have become too comfortable in the "mess" of their lives. But they prove that it's never too late to find your way, to understand what you want and need, and to pursue that happiness. I loved that this ended up being more hopeful than I expected while still having a realistic ending that wasn't 100% perfect sunshine and rainbows. It was very much a work in progress, such as life itself.

With or Without You was a beautifully written and thought-provoking read and I'm so glad that I got the chance to experience it. If you enjoy reading about flawed characters who are simply trying to navigate their way through this messy thing we call life, then I'm sure you will enjoy this book. It's not a conventional HEA but it's definitely a hopeful beginning again. This was my first book by Leavitt but it certainly won't be my last and I'm already looking forward to reading her past works after this.

Described as “unapologetically honest and intimately written”, With or Without You by Caroline Leavitt is a new contemporary novel that showcases relationships and examines how one moment can change three people’s lives. This new release from Algonquin Books is thought-provoking and makes you wonder “what if?”
Despite being catalyzed by a specific event, this book is very character-driven and I really loved the shifting viewpoints between Stella, Simon, and Libby. The alternating POVs gives the novel an immersive feel and showcases just how each of their lives shifted before and after Stella’s coma. The way some of these characters change their ways and others fall back into bad habits is so strikingly human that readers will be sucked into the mindsets of these characters. You simultaneously want to hate them and pity them, which seems to be a sign of a well-developed character.
Some of the characters actions and motives are questionable, but it speaks to the human condition and how we as individuals cope and try to achieve our dreams. However, Leavitt also shows how sometimes dreams and aspirations can change, especially when looking back on the events in our lives that we can’t go back and change. All of the characters are flawed and affected by their pasts, yet that’s what makes them so interesting to read about.
While I wish the ending would’ve been a bit different, I understand why the author chose to conclude the novel the way she did. The ending leaves something to be desired and might seem inconclusive, but all of the characters eventually find some sense of closure in their lives and resolve to live their lives differently.
Leavitt crafts a distinct and thought-provoking book that any literary fiction lover will enjoy. If you’re looking for developed and flawed characters as they navigate the mundanity of life, then this is the novel for you.

You would not think that a novel about a woman falling into a coma would make you feel happy but ultimately, it does. It left me with a sense of peace.

Stella and Simon are at a crossroads in their relationship when Stella gets ill and ends up in a coma. When she finally comes out of it, everything has changed for them. Stella is different. Simon is different. They are both trying to figure out who they are now as to who they were then. I felt my insides twisting at times when they both seemed to be reaching for something that was just outside their grasps. I can't imagine becoming someone new and really not remembering the you that you once were. It also made me wonder if they really were the people they thought they were before.

Then there is Libby. She is a doctor who worked with Stella when she was a nurse. She plays a big part in everything that transpires.

I always feel as if Ms. Leavitt really understands the nuances of people. Every book I have read from her, I always feel as if she is introducing me to people that I should know. I know she was in a coma for months so I felt as if she was giving us the inside on what goes on in our minds.

This is a deep fulfilling story that you won't want to put down.

Thanks to Netgalley and Algonquin Books for a copy of this wonderful book.

Simon and Stella are presented at very different points in searching for their identity. Simon wonders about the past and how he can possibly make amends for his mistakes while Stella has to completely figure out a new identity. What I really like is that these are 40 year old characters. This book is a reminder that we all change throughout our lives and it’s okay to distance from who you used to be. I expected a mushy-gushy plot, but what I got was a series of surprising decisions that lead to a fully satisfying ending.
This was dual perspective and it was meh. There was no indication for a switch in voice other than when Stella was in a coma. There was nothing particularly sophisticated about the way the book was written, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable plot. I give this 3 stars for the unexpected ending but lack of structural interest.

Synopsis: "After almost twenty years together, Stella and Simon are starting to run into problems. An up-and-coming rock musician when they first met, Simon has been clinging to dreams of fame even as the possibility of it has grown dimmer, and now that his band might finally be on the brink again, he wants to go on the road, leaving Stella behind. But when she falls into a coma on the eve of his departure, he has to make a choice between stardom and his wife—and when she wakes a different person, with an incredible artistic talent of her own, the two of them must examine what it is that they really want."
*
My thoughts: I really enjoyed this book. I especially liked the first half when all of the characters, including Stella, were struggling with her being in a coma. I thought the scenes describing how Stella felt were very intriguing and well written, and I am always so interested to see how a group of family or friends orbit around a character removed from the active story by a medical emergency. The second half dragged a little, mostly because I disagreed with some major character decisions, but I also understood that these were getting all of them somewhere. All of the main characters changed in major ways and it truly felt like you were struggling along with them. A fascinating look at how just one choice can alter the course of everything. My favorite quote was, "Nothing and no one stays still or stays the same. Everything and everyone changes. We all have multitudes inside of us, each of them young with hope... Any moment, something amazing can happen."

*
A big thanks to @AlgonquinBooks for my ARC - all opinions are my own.

This book is such an interesting one and when I say interesting, I mean it's fascinating. The storylines, the writing style, everything is fascinating. I read the synopsis but yet I didn't know what to expect... probably because I didn't digest the synopsis well enough so I would say I went into the book half-blind...

One particular thing I enjoyed about this book and which made me keep on flipping the pages till the end was the characters of this book. None of them were lovable, at least to me, but I couldn't help but sympathize with them. I could help but see that they grow and boy, do they. The character growth in this book is commendable. The characters are flawed quite alright. You will see that from the beginning of the book and even at the end of the book but there is no way you would miss that they have become better persons sort of. They will still make awful decisions but they are aware of it. It's them making it.

I also learnt a new thing about brain change. I sincerely didn't really realise that people can go into coma and emerge as a different person with sometimes new talents, if they come out of it. Seeing a protagonist, a nurse go into coma and emerge out of it, not caring about nursing profession and becoming a skilled artist without "learning" it was surprising to me.

This book turned me around. I enjoyed reading it and learning new things. It explored grief, sadness, personal growth, loneliness, self discovery, insecurity, friendship and many more. It is a love story that isn't a love story.

3.5 stars

I have been a huge fan of Leavitt's writing for a long time now - a dozen years at least. So I am so glad that I was able to squeak this one in as my last read of July! This was a definite one-sitting read for me! It opens with Stella and Simon, they are in their early forties, and for the first time since meeting more than twenty years earlier, their dreams seem headed in different directions. Musician Simon keeps chasing fame while nurse Stella yearns for something more permanent - and a baby of their own. One evening spent trying to rekindle the connection of their youth, turns both of their lives completely asunder.

It's such a well-written book - that offers just enough backstory, but also keeps moving forward at a very steady pace. The characters really all do come to life and I definitely feel like you get to know each one. Plus, I really appreciate the character growth, too! A lot happens here in less than three hundred pages and I really couldn't put the book down at all! It almost felt like a play to me in some ways, though I guess that doesn't make as much sense... And for some reason, my imagination couldn't keep red hair on Libby - but while it's easy to get frustrated with the mistakes that the characters make, it is even easier to feel sympathy for them, too. I think Leavitt is such a talent and I loved this latest one of hers - as always, I am left wanting more!

This is one intense, realistic, and emotional ride. Simon and Stella met twenty years ago and they’ve been together ever since. They’re convinced they’re soulmates, but from Chapter One I quickly get the feeling that each person has spent twenty years yearning the other would change. Simon used to be in a successful band in his early twenties and although he’s now forty, he still wants to live the rock n roll lifestyle. Stella on the other hand, has spent twenty years hoping that he’d warm up to the idea of domestic life. She’s a nurse, and all she wants is to get married and start a family. Despite the two being very much in love, this book proves that sometimes, love isn’t enough when your paths are not parallel to one another, and each individual longs for something else. In fact, I don’t think that Stella and Simon were ever a good match because each person secretly despised the lifestyle of the other.

But everything changes when after a night of heavy drinking and drug-taking lands Stella in a coma. Simon is distraught and doesn’t know what to do. After several months, Stella wakes up but she’s not the same. She has acquired a new artistic skill that she didn’t have before. And now this becomes more important to her than anything else. In the meantime, Simon has gotten closer to Libby, the doctor that was treating Stella during her coma.

You’ll enjoy this book if you love flawed characters who act in a realistic way. The first half of the book was fast-paced for me, but it kind of slowed down towards the middle portion. If you love literary books with the focus being on relationships, then you’ll love With or Without You.

*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Algonquin Books for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Several decades ago, I gave up on mainstream fiction. I’d read a few – a very few – of my favorite authors (Jodi Picoult comes to mind) but ignore the rest of the field. My reading plate was already filled with new released in my genre (by “my genre” I mean science fiction and fantasy, which I’ve written professionally since the early 1908s). I’d soured on one tedious, pretentious “real life” novel after another. Which is a roundabout way of saying either Boy, was I wrong, or Wow, the field has improved, or – and – Caroline Leavitt is a terrific writer by anyone’s standards, and With or Without You strikes the perfect balance between deep, compelling characters, thoughtfulness and compassion, and quietly sane page-turning.

We think of a “page turner” as a book so gripping that we simply cannot put it down, and generally that means action adventure, thriller, horror, that sort of thing. It requires heart-pounding adrenalin, do-or-die tension, and astronomically high stakes, aka the fate-of-the-world-at-risk. A story of the mostly interior lives of characters, especially when pacing mirrors the way people actually change and grow and adapt, seems pretty tame stuff. In Caroline Leavitt’s supremely skillful hands, however, the story is anything but tame.

From the very first page, in which a married couple, once deeply in love and now increasingly at odds, have yet another argument, I wanted to know what would happen next. What struck me was that Simon, a musician, and Stella, a nurse, lived as if their love could and would solve all their problems. The present circumstance is yet another occasion for Simon to revive his band’s failing career with a gig across the country, and for Stella to stay home and even start a family. Their fight reminded me of times in my own relationships when the intoxication of love gave the illusion of clear communication, especially about difficult issues. There’s no question of the depth of Stella and Simon’s love for one another or the richness of their history together. But they have never learned to “fight fair” and wrestle their way to compromises that work for both of them: someone, usually Stella, always gives in. So when Simon suggests a return to a bonding experience that worked in their early years – taking drugs together – Stella gives in, even though she has been drinking alcohol and taking cold medicine. The combination of these with the unknown drug Simon provides puts Stella into a coma, and there is no assurance she will ever wake up. Or if she does, how she will be changed. Neither Simon nor Libby, Stella’s best friend and physician, will ever be the same.

I won’t say much more about what happens next because a big chunk of my enjoyment of this book was not knowing how it would all unfold. Suffice it to say, there were twists and unexpected turns, moments I cheered and others when I felt downcast along with the principal characters. I read on, engrossed, until the very (and very satisfying) end. And then wanted to talk about the book, to reflect on the ways we hurt the people we love, how we survive disasters together and alone, and how kindness may not bring closeness, but it makes even terrible events endurable. In short, the brilliant story-telling of With or Without You created connections between the characters and my own life, and rich fodder for reflection.

Which, in the end, is what fiction does best.

Caroline Leavitt's new novel, With or Without You, is gorgeous, emotional, and thought-provoking.

“Any moment, something amazing can happen.”

Stella and Simon have been together for years. Stella, a nurse, is the responsible one, while Simon, a musician, keeps dreaming of a future that will probably never happen.

Now in their early 40s, Stella wants to settle down—maybe buy their apartment, have a baby. The evening before Simon is scheduled to leave for a two-day gig that he and his fellow band members hope might finally break things open for them, he and Stella argue about their future. Then, after they both take a pill, Stella has an adverse reaction that causes her to fall into a coma.

Simon sacrifices his dreams to care for Stella, and remains vigilant throughout her two-month coma. He finds himself drawing closer to Libby, one of Stella’s doctors and best friends. Yet when Stella wakes things are so different—suddenly she has an immense talent to draw people’s portraits and see their innermost feelings.

Stella’s awakening also exposes old and new feelings for each of them, forcing them to examine their pasts and their futures.

I absolutely love the way Caroline Leavitt writes, but this book is fantastic. There’s such a poignancy to this story but it really makes you think, too, about how you might react if you were in the situations in which the characters find themselves. But beyond that, Leavitt makes insightful commentary on what love makes us do.

I’m grateful to be part of the blog tour for this book. NetGalley and Algonquin Books provided an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!!

Thanks to Netgalley and Algonquin Books for the ARC of "With or Without You" by Caroline Leavitt.

"With or Without You" tells the story of a woman, Stella, who goes into a coma and awakens as someone else entirely. This trauma creates new dynamics between Stella, her boyfriend, and her best friend. Sometimes people change; the real question is do we love them enough to stay even through all the changes? Or is it better to walk away?

This book was emotionally draining from every perspective. Leavitt keeps readers interested by switching perspectives between Stella, Simon, and Libby. Stella is dealing with the stress of waking up as someone new in a world molded to her old preferences. Simon is struggling with a loss of career, loss of love, and loss of best friend. Libby is grasping for comfort as she is surrounded by guilt for all the choices she makes. These dynamics conflict and connect in interesting ways and multiple perspectives allows readers to make their own judgements.

This topic in general seems so romanticized. A coma. A boyfriend. Does he stay or does he go? In truth, this book feels heartbreaking and sad and real. Leavitt doesn't back down from the real moments in this book. Each character is feeling their own pain, frustration, anger. They are entangled, but each experience is so different. I love that Leavitt doesn't give the answer that maybe reader's crave. There's nothing fluffy to it.

I love how Leavitt asks a simple question in the most extreme form. How long are we willing to hold out on someone we love? As people grow and change, we constantly have to ask ourselves is this worth it? Can I stick with someone even if they change entirely? Jobs, desires, so many things change through the years. Who are you willing to stick with?

This book was so good! I felt like I was invested in the characters and while this book had a sad tone, it didn't deter me. If anything, it makes this work feel more real. Definitely give this book a read. In the end, I gave it 5 stars.

Author Caroline Leavitt's novels share stories of people facing some kind of crisis, often ones not of their design. In Pictures of You, a car crash causes the death of a woman that upends the life of the other driver. In Cruel Beautiful World, Charlotte's life is thrown into turmoil when her younger 16 year-old sister runs away with her teacher. She creates characters that you empathize with, and feel deeply about.

Leavitt's latest novel, With or Without You, begins with Stella and Simon, who have been together for twenty years, having a recurring argument. Stella, a nurse, wants to settle down, buy their New York City apartment, and have a child. Simon, a rock musician, does not.

Simon is preparing to go Los Angeles with his bandmates to open for a younger, popular rocker. He sees this as an opportunity for the band to break out and gain the attention they have been seeking for the last twenty years. Times have been tough for them, and this may be their last best chance.

Stella is suffering from a terrible cold, and instead of going to Los Angeles with Simon as planned, she says that she will stay in New York. At first upset, Simon tries to talk her into coming, even though maybe deep down, he thinks it would be better for her not to go.

During the argument, they are drinking wine, and Simon gives Stella a pill to take to feel better. The next morning, Simon has to rush the unconscious Stella to the hospital where she works, after she has fallen into a coma.

Libby is an attending doctor and one of Stella's best friends. She is on Stella's case, and not a fan of Simon, whom she thinks is selfish. But Simon stays by Stella's side the entire time, giving up his trip to Los Angeles and dreams of stardom.

Stella's mom Bette flies in from Spain, and she and Simon form their own new family as they wait by Stella's bedside for her to wake up. The relationship between Simon and Bette is touching, and we see a side to Bette that Stella doesn't know. Libby comes to see another side of Simon as well.

When Stella eventually wakes up, she is a different person. She begins drawing circles on paper, over and over. She goes to the park and feels compelled to sketch people. Her drawings are so intense, and she becomes a popular attraction. People begin to pay her for her drawings, and soon she gets commissions for her sketches and draws the attention of the media.

Simon doesn't know what to make of this. All his life he has been an artist, and wanted attention for his work, and now Stella is the one whom the world notices.

No one writes characters as well as Leavitt, and here we see how the circumstances of Stella's coma have changed the lives of not only Simon and Stella, but Libby's as well. People are forced to look at the life they had wanted but must deal with the life they now find themselves facing.

I liked how Leavitt looks at memories that we have of our childhood, and assumptions we make about those we love that turn out to be different from we had always believed. The characters in With Or Without You go through such emotional and physical upheavals, and the reader is right along with them for all the heartache. I read With Or Without You in one sitting, my heart breaking the entire time. I highly recommend it, and Caroline Leavitt gets better with every novel.

Thanks to Algonquin Books for putting me on Caroline Leavitt's tour.

With or Without You is a unique story about relationships, dreams, resentment, and forgiveness. The story focused on these three characters: Stella, Simon, and Libby.

Stella is a nurse, and Simon is a musician. They both have been in a relationship for 20 years. Libby is a doctor and also Stella's work friend. These three characters got caught in a love triangle after one incident. Stella went into a coma because of a reckless pill accident. Simon and Libby became closer after they spent more time together at the hospital, caring for an unconscious Stella. When Stella awoke after two months in the hospital, she became a different person with artistic talent. It made the relationships between these three characters complicated.

The story was already interesting from the beginning. Simon and Stella were in their 40s, but they didn't know how to be adults, especially Simon, who was immature and very privileged. I was never a fan of Simon until the end. However, speaking about this story in general, I liked the complexity of this human relationship, and it made me want to know how Caroline would end the story. The part of letting go of resentment showed each character's vulnerable moments, which I think is very deep and sad. They owned their mistakes and learned to face them instead of running away. The relationship between Simon, Stella, and Libby became shifted along the way. When people grow apart with their loved ones, they have to choose between being with or without them.

Thank you to @algonquinbooks and @carolineleavitt for the gifted copy of WITH OR WITHOUT YOU in exchange for an honest review.

Stella and Simon have been together forever but after almost twenty years their relationship is at a breaking point. Stella wants to get married, have a baby and buy a home. Simon is finally on verge of making it big on the music scene. The book opens with them having a huge fight and defusing it by drinking wine and taking a pill. The next morning Simon wakes up hungover, but Stella doesn’t wake up at all, crushing both of their dreams.

Two months later, Stella emerges from the coma but is a different person. And Simon has changed in fundamental ways too. Can their love last? Can their new identities mesh well to build a future together?

One of my biggest fears is being in a coma or locked-in syndrome where I can hear what’s happening around me but am unable to respond. So when I read the synopsis for this book, I knew I had to read it!

This book is heartbreaking and raw. Simon and Stella have such a rich history together and still love each other but the challenges they face post-coma may just break them. You will feel all the feelings with this one!

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3434264627
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CDeIKrBAp2K/

I was so excited to be asked to participate in a book tour for this book! Thank you so much to Algonquin for an early copy. This story is about what happens to relationships when the people in them change. This book definitely gives me Oona Out of Order Vibes because of the musically talented characters and a big and sudden change in their lives.

Simon and Stella have been together for a decade now. While their is a lot of love, there is a underlying complexity in their lives. When an incident leaves Stella in a coma, it will leave Simon, and her best friend trying to cope with whatever the outcome might be.

This is a very introspective novel told from three perspectives, Stella, Simon and Libby. After Stella wakes from a two month long coma, things have vastly changed and everything is just off for her. Simon, who put his resurgent music career on hold to stay and care for Stella. Lastly you meet Libby, who is Stella’s doctor and best friend.

I was personally very emotional when I read this story. It has a lot of highs and lows. At times, I would get mad at the direction Leavitt was taking this story. However the author seemed to make this end just exactly as it was supposed to be, it was so natural.

Personally, when an author can evoke that much feeling, good or bad, to me that is a sign of an excellent book. This is definitely 100% literary fiction, so feel free to skip, if that is not your wheelhouse, but for those who love it, you will not be disappointed.

Thank you NetGalley and Algonquin for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is the last kind of story that I would have pegged as hopeful. And joyful. And yet it was.

Writing: ★★★★★
Characters: ★★★★★
Pacing: ★★★★

This isn't the kind of love story that would make it into the romance section, but it's a love story all the same. It's about what it means to be you—a person in the world, existing as a separate unit from others—and what it means to discover how you can love the unit that is you.

Stella and Simon have been together for over 20 years. Their marriage has followed the track of Simon's desire to be famous, to be a rock star. Now they're in the forties, and Simon is still the same free-wheeling, "no responsibilities" guy and Stella is trying to make him look toward the future, their future.

And then, Stella falls into a coma.

Simon, now forced for the first time to be the adult in their relationship, has to have a reckoning within himself. He becomes more responsible. He starts thinking of Stella, and not just as someone who exists to support him. He starts thinking of his life, and if it is rolling in the direction it needs to go.

And then, Stella wakes up from the coma. But like many coma patients, Stella comes out different than she went in before.

Stella now has an aptitude for painting and drawing, and she's not like she used to be. Simon feels wrong, she feels wrong, and her best friend Libby treats her more like a patient than a friend. Finally looking at her life from an outsider's eyes, Stella realizes that...maybe she doesn't fit in this life anymore.

Libby is Stella's best friend, and she used to hate Simon. Simon was the man-child that never grew up, never paid Stella the attention and love that she was due. But when Stella goes into the coma, Simon changes. Libby can't help but notice that change, and they fall toward each other in their pain.

Stella, Simon, and Libby all have some growing to do—and they might not make it out to the other side as the same people that went in. But sometimes painful growth is good, and self-acceptance is no small element of happiness.

I absolutely adored this novel. To be honest with you, I didn't think I would. I've always struggled to pick up books that scream sadness, and With or Without You definitely gives off that vibe. And I'll be honest, there are some sad parts. That's no joke. But what I didn't expect—and maybe that's on me, for not trusting the author—was the shining hope and self-love. This is a novel that demands a internal reckoning, and it demands that its characters realize that other people cannot complete them. It's a lesson that resonates with its readers too. I know it resonated with me.

A beautiful story, and sharply real. These characters will stay with you when you leave them, and the writing lingers. Fantastic book.

Thank you to Algonquin Books for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

In With or Without You, Stella and Patrick have been together twenty years. Now forty-two, nurse Stella wants to buy their apartment, get married, and have a baby. Patrick is still chasing his rock band dream even though his sole hit is called Dad Rock now. They both love each other but have different life goals.

When Patrick and his band get the opportunity to tour with a young hitmaker, he rushes to pack for LA. But Stella doesn’t want to go. They argue, get drunk, take mystery pills, and Stella goes into a coma. Patrick, in turn, feels guilty and doesn’t go to LA.

Eventually, Stella awakens. But she is a different person. She remembers who everyone is but doesn’t feel the same connection to them. She is also more creative. How will this change her relationships and her life? And how would impact Patrick?

I really enjoyed Patrick and Stella story. It is refreshing seeing older people restarting their lives even if it takes a coma to nudge them toward it.

While the plot of With or Without You is compelling, the characters were my favorite part. Everyone will see themselves, their spouse and their friends within the complex and multi-faceted people who inhabit the book. By the end of the book, I was rooting for all of them to find the life they deserve.

Overall, this is a mesmerizing tale. After reading it, you will feel as if you are awaking from a dream, or a coma. With or Without You is that enchanting. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 stars!

Thanks to Algonquin Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was my first book by Caroline Leavitt, but it won't be my last. I enjoyed her layered storytelling of a couple growing out of love. With or Without You looks into the relationship of nurse Stella and musician Simon. After a night with mistakes that causes Stella to fall into a coma, both are left to deal with the repercussions within their selves as individuals and within their relationship.

It's ultimately a book that questions the bounds of a relationship. How can people grow as individuals and what is the effect on the couple? What does it take to stay together? How much can one forgive. Plus, who doesn't love a book with a side of sex, drugs, and rock & roll?

Many thanks to NetGalley, Algonquin Books, and the author for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

Review will be available on my blog, The Reading Fairy, on 8/7/2020

TW: Talk about pregnancy, pregnancy, mention of smoking, mention of drug use, sex (off page), cheating, death of parents (mentioned), death of a sibling (mentioned), stroke (mention), hospitalization, dementia, anxiety

Rep: Anxiety

Disclaimer: I received an ARC via Netgalley for the blog tour. This does not affect my opinion. 


"Nothing and no one stays still or stays the same. Everything and everyone changes. We all have multitude inside of us, each of them young with hope."


Not going to lie, I was feeling very meh about this book for almost the whole way through. I just never really connected with it, and I think that was the problem. I just never really cared about this book to have a full connection with it, but I can't deny it was very interesting, barely enough to actually care about the story. 

I actually like the premise of Stella & Simon, both met 20 years ago, but they haven't got married and are in a stale-mate in their relationship. Simon is about to depart, before Stella falls into a coma. And they both had to figure out their love towards each other as soon as Stella woke up from a coma. 

The story was actually really interesting. I loved that they both loved each other, but was getting bored and right after Stella's new artistic ability arise which made me really interested. Minus the fact, that it explored the mystery around comas and whether people can actually hear what is around them. 

This book kinda reminded me a little bit of Anna K, and I did like that story. It's not overly similar, but there weer some identical themes that were kinda explored, and it was really interesting. 

At least this book had a really nice ending and I actually really liked the way it ended. It was so unique and I appreciate it. 

With all that aside, I never really fully cared about the story even if it was unique. I felt meh and kept looking at what page I am on my ARC, after every chapter. I was kinda little bored, and it didn't help that I did not care about the characters. 

Three POVS and they honestly just bored me. I had zero connection, nor would I really care if they jumped off a cliff or something. That part did not happen. The writing was off-putting and just skidded through the plot instead of focusing on the characters.