Saving Dave is by turns a heart-wrenching and funny story of what it might be like (because nobody really knows) to be a profoundly disabled person, with locked-in syndrome, and with a horrendously uncaring family. The main themes thrusting from the narrative are frustration, powerlessness and revenge, and you can't help but feel those emotions along with the main characters. But it is still heart-warming to see Dave making progress thanks to the persistence of a research student who comes into his home and life.

"Saving Dave by Richard Grainger

"Life can change in the blink of an eye".

"I had this weird conviction that here was an unremarkable baby - size apart - who would stumble through an unremarkable childhood and an unremarkable youth into an unremarkable adulthood, and, at best, his life would be a litany of complication and disappointment. And so I passed him back to the midwife and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep".

Eighteeen year old Dave is in both a unique and horrifying predicament: he has locked in syndrome, and he's the only person whose figured it out. Hip dysplasia as a baby brought on a series of life altering complications, leaving him in the state he's currently in now. Despite his disabilities Dave has a remarkable memory, fantastic hearing, and is incredibly intelligent. He isn't brain dead at all as the doctors thought he might be. He spends his time formulating a plan to kill his family (which clearly in his state can never happen) and listening to BBC Radio 4. When his mom hires Molly, an occupational therapist, whose researching communication in brain dead pediatric patients, Dave begins to realize that Molly is his key to being saved and with the help of his dog Scooter, Dave is able to help her understand his message.

I can't say this was the easiest read to get into. The writing style was a bit different from what I'm used to (and honestly I didn't care for the writing style at all) and each chapter alternates between Dave, both his parents, and Occupational Therapist Molly, following different timelines of Dave's life. Dave is made fun of quite often in this book. I found a lot of the things said and done to him to be incredibly abusive. If the author meant to give insight into how a disabled person such as Dave might live in an absuive/hateful setting she did a great job at making me feel uncomfortable and sad for Dave's treatment. I disliked all of the characters except for Molly and Dave. Her kindness is the only bit of love or reassurance that Dave had ever experienced. I found the ending appropriate and it was the only section of the book I truly enjoyed. Unfortunately this is gonna be a 2.5/3 🌟 for me.

#SavingDave
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I picked this book because of the intriguing premise, but the plotting was too loose to be enjoyable for me. I found it hard to stay invested in the story. The subject matter was great. Too bad, the author couldn't do justice to it. An experienced writter could have made difference. Thanks to the NetGalley, author and publisher to provide the free copy for the review.

The premise was interesting and unique. The author was excellent at describing Dave's medical condition, his dysfunctional family, the medical treatments he undergoes, and his relationships with his parents and siblings. Narrated in multiple POVs, the story was a page-turner, entertaining, and informative especially from Dave's perspective.

The story follows Dave, an eighteen-year-old blind, quadriplegic due to medical negligence. Unbeknownst to his family and primary carers, Dave possesses high intelligence thanks to Molly Johnson, an Occupational Therapist, who works on a thesis regarding communication in brain-damaged patients.

I loved that the main character had his happy ending and he truly deserved it after all the torments he'd been through. No one deserves to be neglected and psychologically abused by his parents regardless of his cognitive and/or physical state.

Many thanks to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review the ARC of this one-of-a-kind story. I'm happy that I've come across this book and would definitely check out the future works of the author. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Absolutely love it. Funny, sad, informative. How can a family treat a son the way Dave was treated? The ginger twats, the mother, the father - all referred to in a distant way. It takes just one person, that builds to a small team, to make Dave believe in himself and, hopefully, reach his full potential - journalist maybe? Who knows - watch out for what's to come after Covid!!