As She Fades

by Abbi Glines

On the night of her high school graduation, Vale McKinley and her boyfriend Crawford are in a terrible car accident that leaves Crawford in a coma. They were supposed to spend the summer planning for college, for a bright future full of possibility. Together. Instead, Vale spends long days in the hospital, hoping Crawford will awaken.

Slate Allen, a college friend of Vale's brother, has been visiting his dying uncle at the same hospital. When he and Vale meet, she can't deny the flutter of an illicit attraction. She tries to ignore her feelings, but she's not immune to Slate's charm. Slowly, they form a cautious friendship.

Then, Crawford wakes up... with no memory of Vale or their relationship. Heartbroken, Vale opts to leave for college and move on with her life. Except now, she's in Slate's territory, and their story is about to take a very strange turn.

This is my introduction novel to Abbi Glines' work, despite having one or two on my TBR pile, and I quite enjoyed this book. If anything, I felt like it finished too quickly, not in the sense that it wasn't concluded well, but I just wish I got more time with the characters, especially towards the last quarter of the book. The last part felt somewhat rushed, but it was still rounded off nicely at the end.

As She Fades is a beautiful story that rings quite true, life is precious, and despite all the plans we make, one millisecond is all it takes for everything to change. This is what happened to Vale and Crawford's best laid out plans, when they are involved in a car accident that lands one of them in a coma. 

The book starts off as one point-of-view, Vale's, but mid-way through the book, after a surprising twist, Glines then changes to alternating chapters between Vale and Slate. This is the first book that I have read that changes POV mid-way through the book, but Abbi transitioned this well and I enjoyed and welcomed Slate's POV. 

Abbi's characters are very realistic, and I enjoyed seeing Vale's growth. Vale starts seeing that her "perfect" relationship wasn't so perfect after all, and that she has somehow lost herself whilst being with Crawford, allowing Crawford to take the reign for the most part. 

Seeing as this novel is for Young Adults, I really appreciate that this is something noted in this book. I know for myself, when I was still a teen, that I had lost myself whether through boyfriends or even friends, pretending to like things I did not etc just to be "cool". So I really liked how this subject was touched on, subtly and not in your face where a teen reading this book would think it was a "lecture" or "moral of the story" which as we all know, teens do not take to those well. 

Slate, despite him being a slut for the most part, I still liked him from the beginning; he was kind, caring, charismatic and charming. Glines wrote this very well as his charm just oozed through the pages. Slate was my favourite character as he was quite multi-faceted.

I also enjoyed several secondary characters, but most especially Slate's dying Uncle. He was funny, rude, crass but honest, hopeful and knowledgeable. 

As She Fades is a nice, simple and sweet book that will make you cry and smile. My favourite aspect was the reality of the story and the characters, the plot twist didn't go astray either. I felt like the twist really had me paying more attention...I also had the urge to start from the beginning to see if I can pinpoint the "hints" before it happened. Suffice to say Abbi Glines is a good writer that creates characters that grow within your heart, and the plot is somewhat unique for a YA Contemporary Romance. 

About the Author

Abbi Glines

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Abbi Glines is a #1 New York Times USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling Author of the Rosemary Beach, Sea Breeze, Vincent Boys, Field Party, and Existence series.

Read the Sample Chapter of As She Fades by Abbi Glines

This book was provided to me by Pan Macmillan Australia in exchange for an honest review.