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Published Apr 2017
320 pages
Genre: Romance
Publication Information
Gayle Forman meets Francesca Lia Block in this dazzling story about two coma girls and the boy who connects their lives. From the author of This Raging Light, a debut that New York Times bestselling author Morgan Matson calls "remarkable".
"Something does exist. I saw. It's a place. Like this but different."
"Okay, so let's say we do reach her, that something like that is even possible. Then what?"
"Then we ask her to come back."
Eden: As far as coma patients go, Eden's lucky. She woke up. But still, she can't shake the feeling that she might have dragged something back from the near-afterlife.
Joe: Joe visits the hospital every day, hoping that Jaz, his lifelong friend, will wake up. More than anything, he wants to hear her voice again. But he's not sure anyone can reach her.
Eden & Joe: Even though she knows it sounds crazy, Eden tells Joe that they might be able to talk to Jaz. Opening themselves up to the great unknown - and each other - Eden and Joe experience life: mysterious and scary, beautiful and bright.
"Starred Review. Rendered with insight and compassion, Eden's struggles to make peace with the human condition add up to a riveting coming-of-age story." - Kirkus
"Beautiful writing and an enchanting love story will appeal to romance fans." - Booklist
"Eden is simultaneously tough and fragile, and her struggle to figure out what her life should look like is compelling. Ages 14–up." - Publishers Weekly
"But Then I Came Back is a hauntingly beautiful dreamscape of sense, memory, fate, magic, and love. If you love mystical stories with sumptuously lyrical writing and characters who take up residence in your heart, this book is for you. In prose that shimmers like sunlight on water and sings like a ballad, Estelle Laure weaves a devastatingly beautiful tale of memory, fate, friendship, and love. Fans of Jandy Nelson and A.S. King take note." - Jeff Zentner, author of The Serpent King
"But Then I Came Back is magical and illuminating, lovely and lyrical. Laure's examination of loss and longing, of saying goodbye to the past so you can say hello to the future, is a story you don't want to miss." - Kathleen Glasgow, New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Pieces
"Much like Laure's writing, Eden's story is haunting and raw. You will root for her as she struggles through her new reality and fall with her as she finds love." - Goldy Moldavsky, author of Kill the Boy Band
This information about But Then I Came Back was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Estelle Laure believes in love, magic, and the power of facing hard truths. She has a BA in Theatre Arts and an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults, and she lives in Taos, New Mexico, with her family. Her work is translated widely around the world.
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