I read this book thinking that it would be like Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, one of my favourites. I was certainly hoping so- particularly that it would have the same down to Earth humour. It didn’t and this really makes all the difference. I Didn’t Finish this book- it just lacked heart.

It has taken me a while to get around to this book.

When it started i thought it would be a good book. However, i cant help feeling it was a bit long winded in places.
I liked the dual POV that occurred. I liked the idea of the story and the troubles that the characters face. I just wanted a little bit more.

It is very hard to find love story that it is written in good way , all the time I see alot of books that rubbish , selfish love and teenage love.
But this is different ,as I read the blurb , I read the first chapter of the book with sense of Anticipation. I was actually sad and immediately connected to her.

The writing was wonderful, it makes emotional.
This was uplifting, as human we love to think about good things about each other. At the beginning I started with my cynical ( I didn’t believe in there is these kinds of people...) but after a bit of reading from the other side of the coin (......) I really felt for her and understood her.

What I can say!!
I really loved this book so much until I read the end, why......
It didn’t need to end there, I loved everything about the characters, the story was wonderful ( It made me love every minute). Just why it was ended this way?
I was imagining that it will be movie soon , it’s as good as ( me before you).

I've not read Dani Atkins before - and have I missed a treat! 'While I Was Sleeping' was a great read, full of emotional pull, well-developed characters and different perspective. My loyalties were split into a thousand pieces with one of the most complicated, yet poignant love triangles I have come across. I wanted to hate Chloe for taking Maddie from Ryan; yet when I heard Chloe's side of the story, I couldn't hate her. I wanted to be angry with Ryan for not telling Maddie about the child; yet his fear for his daughter softened it. I wanted to berate Maddie's dad for being disloyal to her, yet having lost his wife and his daughter, who could blame him for wanting to connect with other people. Dani Atkins has a real knack for engaging her readers with one side of the story, only to turn it on its head and give another equally valid perspective.
It's a long book, but I couldn't put it down until I had devoured every page!
An easy 5 stars!


(Also Amazon UK, but website is a bit sluggish at the moment)

Maddie and Ryan are days away from their wedding and are expecting a baby. Maddie is rushing around preparing for their big day when she is hit by a van, she wakes up in Hospital desperate to see her fiancé Ryan. Why is Ryan acting so peculiarly? She sees a newspaper and realises she has been in a coma for 6 years!!

The beginning of this book is from Maddie’s point of view, waking up after 6 years to find out you’re fiancé has not only moved on but has also married someone else.

I loved the way this book was written. I was definitely on Maddie’s side and then Dani Atkin very cleverly gives us the point of view of Chloe who I really wanted to hate but reluctantly sympathised with her.

This book has put me through an emotional mangle and I confess to trying to read this through a veil of tears. You had me enthralled from the very beginning and totally captured my heart. Although there were sad bits it was mixed in with humour and with lots of twists along the way to keep you addicted to this story.

A must read book but have the tissues ready just in case!!

The most moving story I’ve read this year so far and will stay in my thoughts long after finishing it.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

Wow what an immensely powerful story that was. It has taken me on a complete roller coaster of emotions while being completely unable to put it down.

It is another masterpiece of writing from the supremely talented Dani Atkins.

I wouldn't know where to begin with trying to explain this story. Rest assured it is amazing.

The two main women in it Maddie and Chloe are truly incredible. They both have a tremendous strength of character when faced with the most impossible of circumstances.

On more than once occasion tears threatened to fall which would have been awkward as I was on a plane at the time.

What a fabulous way to kick off my holiday with this book. I just hope the rest that I will read are even half as good.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Three words to describe this book – emotional, heart-breaking, powerful!

This book! Wow! I literally had to put this book down on several occasions to gather my thoughts and to digest what I was reading before being able to carry on with the book! I felt so many different emotions while reading this book – there were moments when I was upset, sad, angry, mad, frustrated, happy, you name it…I felt it… This book had me feeling all the feelings.

There were times I wanted to yell at the different characters, cry along with them and feel their sorrow and their pain. Give them a hug in their time of need, empathise and sympathise with them…. Oh so many emotions!

This book is written in two different timelines, past and present, and from different points of view.

The first section is written from the main character Maddie’s point of view. She is pregnant, in love, and due to be married. Due to a tragic car accident she enters into a coma and when she suddenly and unexpectedly wakes up thinks thinks can resume as they were – with her happily in love with the man of her dreams, Ryan. Only to find out that while she was ‘sleeping’, time waited for no one.

The second section is written from Chloe’s point of view. A helper in the hospital who gives her time to the various patients in the hospital, reading to them, brushing their hair, chatting with them, etc. Chloe and Maddie’s paths cross while Maddie is ‘sleeping’ in her coma and their lives become intertwined.

The final section is a combination of Maddie and Chloe’s points of view.

You cannot help feeling so many different emotions while reading this book, and without giving too much away and giving away spoilers, you’ll have to read this highly emotional book for yourself. But trust me, it is definitely worth the read. But be warned – this book is amazingly emotional, powerful, and full of heartbreak!

Definitely one of my favourite books I have read this year! This was the first book I have read by this author and it definitely will not be my last!

Wow!! I absolutely loved this book once again Dani did not disappoint

Such a sad story which shows the reader that you can overcome all obstacles when it comes to the love for your child

The main characters are very likeable and until the end you really have no idea where this is going to end up

A totally feel good story I devoured every page and highly recommend you read this

Wow! Wow! Wow!. This is a brilliant must read story. I was hooked from the start and I laughed and cried throughout it. Maddie wakes up in hospital and discovers she has been in a coma for six years.. Life has moved on and everything that she knew has changed. Read on!!!

I have loved all of Dani’s previous books and this one was no exception. She seems to get better and better with each new story. This is a truly beautiful thought provoking poignant book about love.

Such an emotional book - a tear jerker it made me cry in so many places - I recommend keeping a box of tissues nearby when reading this fabulous book. But there were also many parts which made me smile. A rollercoaster of emotions.

So beautifully written, Dani draws you into the story from the start and makes it impossible to put the book down. I became so emotionally invested in the story as Maddie's story is so powerful. I initially didn't like Chloe but then when I saw things from her perspective my viewpoint changed. I loved how the final part of the book switched between the Maddie and Chloe. I wasn't expecting the ending or the epilogue. I felt bereft upon finishing this book.

I was totally swept away by this book and can't recommend it highly enough. I would easily give more than 5 stars if I could. What an amazing author - I am in awe of her fabulous writing.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, thank you Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for allowing me to read a free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Since I had just finished a particularly dark and disturbing psychological thriller I was up for a much lighter, more of a feel good, read.
This book is certainly heartfelt and provided lot's of genuinely nice characters which I liked. The story itself is pretty far fetched in my opinion. It all starts when the main character Maddie, who's pregnant and about to get married, ends up in a coma after a severe accident following a single moment of carelessness. I don't have any particular medical knowledge, but the hospital situation she ends up in next seemed impossible to me. I certainly haven't heard about anything similar happening in real life. I understand that the author wanted to explore what kind of impact such an extraordinary situation would have on the people facing it though. Furthermore, I enjoyed the fact that parts of the story are told from the perspective of Cloe, a volunteer in the hospital who turns out to play a huge role in the rest of the story. The feelings of 2 of the main characters are described in much detail, but I would like to have read the perspective of the fiancé Ryan as well. I also have to mention that the storyline turns both pretty dramatic and miraculous towards the end. Once again, I thought that was a bit too much. Nevertheless I give this book 3,5 stars.

Wow, I could not put this down. Dani Atkins writes emotional easy to read books with great storylines.

I did not want this to end as I enjoyed it so much - interesting and emotional a great read.

I have just finished reading this book I was kindly given a copy of this book by the publisher for an honest review. I have read books by Dani Atkins before and have enjoyed them so was excited to read this one.

The book begins with Maddie who is due to get married to Ryan in 4 days when she is in an accident. When Maddie wakes up she soon learns that she has been in a coma. I don't want to give to much away as it would spoil the book but as Maddie gets over her accident she learns there has been a lot happening during that time.

I found this book hard to put down, reading at every spare minute. It's an emotional story but has some funny moments along the way.

A fantastic read!

I've always enjoyed Dani Atkins and this was no exception. It's an emotional read with an interesting plot idea. I liked all of the main characters and the fact that we get narratives from both Maddie and Chloe. I didn't expect the ending!

Wow, what a fantastic book! Pregnant Maddie is preparing for her wedding but on the way to her dress fitting she is involved in an accident and ends up in a coma. Maddie wakes up and discovers that she has been in the coma for six years. Ryan, her fiancé, is there but she can feel he has changed. He has moved on and remarried to Chloe. Maddie then has to piece together her life and what follows is a rollercoaster of emotions that left me a blubbering wreck! The book is told from both Maddie and Chloe’s points of view.
While I Was Sleeping is a beautifully written and gut wrenching read which will stay with me for a long time. A must read!
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster UK for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for my copy of this book and for letting me take part in this tour. I am a huge fan of Dani's work so when I saw on facebook that there was an opportunity to be a part of the blog tour for this book I immediately emailed S&S.

There is so so much I could say about the things I loved in this book but it would totally ruin it for anyone who hasn't read it. Dani built in layer after layer in this book and all you feel after you open each one is that you need to talk about it. So if you have read it or are currently reading it feel free to drop me a DM on any of my socials if you need to let it all out. 

There were parts of this book that was actually very personal to me. I really don't want to say why because it will seriously ruin the book but those bits got me good. It was actually very interesting seeing it from Ryan, Maddie and Chloe's perspectives. 

Have you ever read a book and taken on the mood of the character in the book? Well I did this a lot in this book. Dani's writing is so emotive that I was not only taking in all the emotions I was projecting them all back out again. 
When I finished the last chapter (before the epilogue) I had tears streaming down my face, when I turned the very last page of he epilogue all I wanted to do was sob. I grabbed my boyfriends' hand and I was so grateful to have him there with his arms around me. 

I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this book. While there were many, many tears there were also a lot of laughs. This book will take you on a roller-coaster of emotions and at the end you will feel completely and utterly broken but I cannot recommend reading this book enough. It is worth the pain and the anguish that it brings.

Maddie has everything to live for: loving parents, a gorgeous fiancé who adores her, and a baby on the way. The icing on the cake is her fairy tale wedding which is just a few days away. But when she believes she is being followed she makes a decision that has devastating consequences and when she wakes from a coma nothing is as she remembers.

In contrast, with no family of her own, Chloe leads a solitary life. The only thing she has to look forward to is her job at the library and the volunteer work she does at the local hospital.

This is the first novel I’ve read by this author and had an open mind as to its genre. I knew love was a theme running through the story but with its initial fast paced narrative which sees Maddie trying to escape from somebody she believes to be stalking her, I visualised the narrative going down the domestic noir route. But I was wrong.

The novel is structured around a dual first-person narrative from both Maddie and Chloe’s perspectives. When Maddie wakes from a coma the plot twists come thick and fast and foreshadows the grief and anguish to follow. However, as the story progresses, the pacing slows down and moves to a more literary style. Although not a lot happens during this part, I was still hooked by the author’s all-consuming style of writing. The story picks up when Chloe takes over as the narrator. Prior to this, Chloe had been cast as the antagonist; but with her own sad story to tell it’s easier to empathise with her. Although to be honest, my loyalty as a reader was with Maddie throughout.

As the lives of these two women intertwine their lives become more and more complicated. But whilst Maddie and Chloe should be enemies, this is an uplifting story of compassion and friendship where jealousy and insecurities are forced to one side as they work together to overcome adversity for the sake of the person who they both love more than anything in the world.

Under Literature Love’s rating scheme, this book has been awarded 5 out of 5 stars for its genre. This means:
*****

I absolutely loved this book and couldn’t put it down.

I recommend you stop what you’re doing and go and buy this book now!

I can just about see through puffed up eyes to write this review... While I Was Sleeping is a hugely emotional, cry-your-eyes-out type of novel - the sort I haven't read for a while. Dani Atkins has managed to pull together some of the hardest, heartbreaking situations into an entertaining, thoughtful and at times (okay, almost all the time) incredibly sad novel.

I have read This Love, also by Dani Atkins and hugely enjoyed it, plus heard brilliant things about Fractured, so I was expecting big things from this one, and it certainly lived up to my high expecations!

I started off reading While I Was Sleeping firmly on one 'team' (you'll know what I mean when you read this, but as the synopsis is so vague I don't want to give too much away here), but as time went on I found I felt empathy for pretty much every main character. I found it incredibly difficult to read about poor Maddie's pain and anguish, and a few times thought I didn't know if I wanted to continue reading because the horrible situation she's in made me feel really sad however I'm so glad I carried on!

Nothing is black and white about this novel; Atkins manages to make you almost experience, deeply, the way each character feels, before presenting a different side to the 'story', and each person has their own flaws and positives. The result is that I cared about everyone, even people I thought at the start I'd not be able to empathise with.

This book is very likely to make you cry, and think far too much about how you'd feel in each person's situation (leading to more crying). The characters are all very relatable, and any slight cheesiness (of which there isn't much, I'm pleased to say) is definitely allowed due to the subject matter!

I should also point out that there are some uplifting parts too, so it's not all doom and gloom, and it offered me a welcome break from crime and thriller novels. While I Was Sleeping so full of heart and emotion that I couldn't help being drawn in, and I'm sure most people will feel very similar.

A wonderful read filled with well rounded characters. I will be looking out for more from this author.

I really enjoyed this book. The twists and turns kept coming which held my attention throughout.
The characters are likeable and realistic. I really cared about what happened to them.
This is the first book I have read by Dani Atkins and I will endeavour to read others.