Book Review: Me Again by Keith Cronin

Title: Me Again

Author: Keith Cronin

322 pages, Published by Five Star

Keith’s Info: Website | Twitter

Buy The Book: Amazon

Summary:

Miracles can be damned inconvenient. That’s what thirty-four-year-old stroke victim Jonathan Hooper learns when he wakes up after spending six years in a coma. Everyone calls Jonathan’s recovery a “miracle,” but since nobody had expected him to recover, his sudden awakening becomes an awkward intrusion on the lives of his family and friends. To make matters worse, Jonathan doesn’t even recognize these people. The stroke has wiped away most of Jonathan’s memory, while the coma has withered his body.

In short, Jonathan’s not the man he used to be – whoever that was.

The only bright spot for Jonathan is Rebecca Chase, a young woman he meets in the hospital’s long-term recovery unit. A stroke has drastically changed her personality, making her a stranger to her husband. Gone is the vivacious trophy wife, replaced by a shy, awkward woman with a knack for saying exactly the wrong thing.

Constantly reminded how badly they fit in, Jonathan and Rebecca find much in common with each other as they work on rebuilding – and rediscovering – their lives. But while Rebecca copes with her husband’s frustrated attempts at “fixing” her, Jonathan finds mounting evidence that the man he used to be was not necessarily a very good man. And everywhere he turns, Jonathan keeps discovering more secrets that his own loved ones are keeping from him.

A steadily accelerating story exploring the irony, humor, and opportunity that can accompany personal calamity, Me Again follows the intertwined paths of two people forced to start over in life: one looking for his place in a world that has moved on without him, the other struggling to navigate a relationship with a man who wishes she were someone else. (Summary provided by Five Star)

My Thoughts:

The novel Me Again by Keith Cronin tells the story of Jonathan. The book opens as Jonathan awakens from a coma six years after suffering a stroke. Cronin had my attention from the fabulous first line of his book:

I was born on a Tuesday morning. It was a difficult birth, because I was thirty-four years old.

Jonathan’s journey involves learning about the person he was prior to the stroke and discovering how his personality has changed because of the stroke. With the help of Rebecca, a fellow stroke survivor, Jonathan finds that recovery is not just about fixing a problem but also about self-acceptance.

With Me Again, Cronin gives readers (with the help of a swoon-worthy haiku)  a seriously romantic male protagonist. I absolutely loved the storyline between Jonathan and Rebecca. Another highlight of the book for me involved an emotional visit to a gravesite and a red Buddha.(You will just have to read the book to figure that last sentence out.)

One adjective I would use to describe this novel is “inspirational.” When I say Me Again is inspirational, I don’t mean to say that it is inspirational in a corny or overly sentimental way. I simply mean that it is uplifting, and lately, I’ve found that is an attribute I crave in literature.

Me Again is a fascinating look at the emotional and physical toll a stroke can take on not just the survivor but the entire family as well. Cronin’s novel is both inspirational and sweetly romantic. Jonathan is a very likable character, and throughout the book I was rooting for everything to turn out okay for him. Keith Cronin is giving 25% of all profits from Me Again to the American Stroke Association.

Many thanks to TLC Book Tours for including me on the Me Again tour. Be sure and check out the other stops on the tour!

Keith Cronin’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Monday, September 12th: girlichef

Tuesday, September 13th:  Bibliophiliac

Thursday, September 15th:  Stephanie’s Written Word

Monday, September 19th:  Lit and Life

Wednesday, September 21st:  Book Club Classics!

Thursday, September 22nd:  Unabridged Chick

Monday, September 26th:  Sarah Reads Too Much

Wednesday, September 28th:  Jenn’s Bookshelf

Thursday, September 29th:  Girls Gone Reading

Monday, October 3rd:  Life in the Thumb

Wednesday, October 5th:  Coffee and a Book Chick

Thursday, October 6th:  Well Read Wife

Monday, October 10th:  Estella’s Revenge

Tuesday, October 11th:  Caribousmom

Thursday, October 13th:  Book Reviews by Elizabeth A. White

Monday, October 17th:  A Cozy Reader’s Corner

Tuesday, October 18th:  Rundpinne

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