This book was a good, but hard one, to read! Even if you've never been in a position of having or wanting to hang on to a life and love that is forever changed, you will feel so deeply for what Asha is going through. This is the story of Asha and her husband Charlie, who has suffered a brain aneurism and has been in a coma ever since. How do you make the choice to end a love and a life when you aren't prepared to do that? Asha has a support system to help her along in this journey but there's one person, Jason, who not only adds support to her but also complication. It's hard to say what you 'would do' unless you are the one living this life. This book stayed with me long after I finished it and has had me rethinking what I thought I would do in her same situation.

I highly recommend this book!

Tragedy hits a young married couple in their 30s, when Charlie suffers a brain aneurysm and falls into an irreversible coma. When the novel opens, his wife, Asha, has visited Charlie in a nursing home once a week for the past year. She holds his hand, talks about everything going on around her, leaves a bowl of dates on his bedside table. Asha has accepted that Charlie will not recover, but she still can't bring herself to focus on her future without him.

On the flip side, Charlie's sister, Maura, visits her brother every day, believing with all her heart that God will cure Charlie if everyone prays hard enough. She runs a successful Instagram account that I really couldn't figure if she did it to push religion or make lots of money. Maura and Asha have a very strained relationship, because neither agrees to change their beliefs -- Maura won't accept that Charlie won't recover, and Asha won't believe that prayer will miraculously cure Charlie.

While I enjoyed this push-and-pull between Maura and Asha, as well as the themes of dealing with grief and how to move forward in the face of such devastation, the author decided to veer away from these issues by focusing on Asha's past romance with Jason, whom she had a tumultuous relationship with from middle school through high school. There is also a storyline in which Asha has an affair while Charlie is in the coma, and she deals with happiness and guilt for most of these chapters.

The novel is told in many, many non-chronological chapters, and I found myself eventually skimming through the Jason and Francis (the man Asha had the affair with) chapters, because I just wasn't as invested in those characters and their stories (especially that of Francis). While Jason does show emotional growth -- which I liked, I just felt that those chapters took up too much of the book. I appreciated Asha's struggle with wanting to stay emotionally connected to Charlie, but also wanting to move forward with her life.

Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC and the opportunity to review this novel.

This was a well thought-out story about a woman whose husband is in a coma and not expected to wake up, and how she is dealing with that for a year. Then a boyfriend from her teenage years comes back into her life, and she struggles with the dilemma of whether to see him again. I have to say that I really enjoyed the writing and the parts of the story that were present day. For me, there were too many flashbacks of too many different years in the protagonist’s life and I skimmed through most of them because they didn’t feel important enough to me. I could’ve used a lot less flashbacks and they could have been integrated into the present day story more easily.

There is much here about loss and grief and how we all deal with it in different ways. And there is so much here about love and life and starting over and how difficult that can be sometimes after we lose someone that we love.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Such a poignant and beautiful love story that really hit home for me. I went through a similar situation and Inrleated so much. I don’t think I could ever love anyone more than my original partner but that’s what makes this story so interesting to read. I will be sharing more thoughts very soon

Do we ever forget our first true love?
Do you remember your first kiss with this person and the feelings created by that moment?
This story, told in dual timelines tells of a sad year for Asha. Her husband is in a coma and has been for a year. There is no chance of his recovery and she waits for the unfortunate day to come.
Then she comes back in contact with her past and an old love. What is the right choice or is there even a choice?

I enjoyed this book, though I thought it was a bit drawn out.
Thank you to @NetGalley and to @Lake Union Publishing for this ARC and allowing me to read and provide my own review.

Thanks very much to NetGalley and Lake Union for the advance copy of Then, Again, another 24-hour read. There is so much to love about this novel--crisp prose, a captivating and heart-wrenching plot, the richly drawn, spot-on flashbacks to the narrator's high school and early adult years in the nineties and early aughts. However, the thing that delighted me the most (and surprised me, given the serious subject matter--the husband of the main character, Asha, is brain dead in a coma in his thirties) was how *funny* (actual LOL funny, in many places) Then, Again is, thanks to Asha's sharp narratorial voice. One of the best tips I picked up this year in my MFA program was how humor can prime your readers to experience deeper, "more serious" emotions and empathize more strongly with your characters. Then, Again is a perfect example of this. So, if you like well-written fiction about relationships (as I do), I'd definitely recommend Then, Again--either now on NetGalley or in November when it's released!

The concept of the book is amazing and everything I’ve ever wanted. It hits close to home for me in some aspects and makes me sit in some of my biggest fears (watching someone I love in a state where they can’t communicate with me the way they used to). But I just didn’t love the writing.

Jaclyn Garver paints a beautiful picture with her writing. The descriptive flow of her writing gives a perfect view of the scenes. I almost feel like I was there. Unfortunately, it also results in the book going extremely slow.

Then, Again tells the story of a woman, Asha, whose husband, Charlie, has been in comatose state for over a year. When her ex-boyfriend/first love, Jason, moves back into town she is torn between her devotion to her husband and the feelings that she still has for Jason. Each chapter alternates between past times with Jason and Charlie and present time.

I finished 40% of the book and while I got a full run down of Jason and Asha’s past, I failed to reach the point where they had met in present time. While I grasped the excitement of first loves, I was NOT in love with Jason. After reading so far without forward movement, I was not invested in them reconnecting.

I do think the book is very true to life. It’s not always exciting with big plot twists. The characters simply did not speak to me.

This books had me conflicted. It’s split between a current narrative-which was the part of the story I enjoyed and wanted to continue reading and then flashbacks to the past and the history of the narrator’s relationship from middle school through high school with her then boyfriend Jason which was so toxic and contrived and those chapters made me want to DNF the book. The chapters about Asha losing her husband Charlie to a brain aneurysm and having him languish in a coma for a year and how that felt and how does she move on were compelling and interesting. How she navigates her religious sister in law I loved. Dipping her toe into dating I could have read more about but the story line about a controlling middle school boyfriend didn’t feel at all realistic. I have both a middle schooler and a high schooler and relationships are just not as she characterized. This read like an unhealthy 20 year old relationship.

I LOVED this book so much! Such a fun read and opened up thoughts about how I would be in a smiliar situation.

This book speaks volumes. Asha’s first love story, the difficulties and the beauty of her first love were captured and told in detail, creating ripples of feelings in the reader.

The author has written a book where the details are so thorough that you can imagine the scenes should it turn into a movie. All the characters are people who you would meet in real life - the best friend, the judgemental sister-in-law, the first love you’ll never forget, and most importantly the love of a father that people often miss.

It’s a book that’s different from other romance books. It is a book not to be missed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an advanced digital copy of this book.

Asha has endured the worst year of her life since her husband, Charlie suffered an aneurism, putting him in a coma. Though he is alive, there is no part of the loving, outgoing, and generous spirit remaining in the Charlie-shaped shell at the rehab facility. While she has a small but mighty support system, Asha finds herself going through the motions trying to sort the pieces of her shattered life. A message from her first love (childhood friend, first boyfriend, first kiss, first… everything), Jason brings to the forefront some strong and complicated feelings, leaving Asha trying to reconcile her past with her present.

Then, Again was a devastating yet hopeful story of grief and love, of joy and heartbreak, and of holding on and letting go. Told in a dual timeline, the reader is brought on a journey following the two great love stories of Asha’s life- her now, and her before.

While I was truly invested in Asha’s romantic relationships with both Charlie and Jason, what pulled at my heartstrings the most were the bonds she shared with her best friend and her father. The genuine love and support they gave to Asha no matter the circumstances felt genuine and raw, and literally had me aww-ing out loud on more than one occasion.

While I was thoroughly engaged throughout this novel, I can honestly say that I wanted more at the end. I’m not always a fan of an epilogue, but in this case, I think I could be reduced to begging in order to get one. Please? Pretty please? (Insert pouty lip face here.)

This was my first read by this author, but it certainly won’t be my last. Ms. Garver wrote characters who were dynamic and diverse and a story that was emotional and thought-provoking. Kudos!

This was a book I typically wouldn’t pick up, but I am so glad I did. I enjoyed it immensely! A five star read!

Wow!! What a beautiful book! I was so taken back by this one. It was so wonderfully written. It pulled all the heartstrings and was so honest and true. Well done!