Si tu m'entends

by Sharon Dogar

Hal se sent étrangement connecté à sa soeur plongée dans le coma. Le jeune homme croit même que Charley essaie de communiquer avec lui. En effet, c’est Hal qui a découvert la jeune fille inanimée sur la plage de Cornouailles où ils passaient les vacances en famille. Maintenant qu’il est de retour sur les lieux de la tragédie, Hal se demande pourquoi il ne parvient pas à chasser sa présence. Devant la plage, au son des vagues qui vont et viennent, Hal se laisse envahir par la voix de sa soeur. Jusqu’à l’ultime vérité.

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Fiction, Mystery, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Teen

359 pages, Paperback

First published March 6, 2007

About the author

Sharon Dogar is a social worker who counsels troubled teens.

Waves is her first novel. The poignant coming-of-age story about a family dealing with the accident of their daughter, it took a while for Sharon to get started. "But then I had ‘the moment,' " she explains. "That moment when a character just arrives in your mind and begs to be written - whether you want to do it or not. I remember it was lunchtime. I walked into the sitting room and had a thought: I was by the sea. And in that moment, I saw a boy with his back to me; he was in the kitchen of a beach house, looking at something on the wall. Looking at it with utter intensity and absorption. I knew straight away his name was Hal. I walked back into my own kitchen and wrote the prologue, immediately and completely, exactly as it remained in the final manuscript. And then I had to write a story to go with it!"

Sharon Dogar lives with her husband and three children in Oxford, England.

Reviews

[Cassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Warning:This book has haunted me years after I first read it. It is a heart wrenching story which makes me cry even harder everytime I read it. Keep a box of tissues nearby!

Hal and his family spend every summer at the beach, but this year is different. This year, his sister Charlie won't be coming with them. Instead, she's stuck back in the hospital, in a coma that's lated about a year so far. To make things worse, Hal doesn't know what happened that night last summer before Charlie was found on the beach. He doesn't know much about anything she did that year, because for the first time, they hadn't spent their time together.
Now, without Charlie to keep him company, Hal forces himself out on the beach as often as possible to avoid the drama of his parents in the house. That's when he meets Jackie, and it isn't long before he finds her completely irresistable. For the first time since Charlie's accident, things seem to be looking up.
But then, he starts hearing her voice, as if she's standing next to him, watching him enjoy his summer without her, and she wants him to figure out exactly what happened to her. Half convinced he's going insane, Hal begins to unwravel the mystery that surrounded that fateful night last year.

The story switches back and forth between Hal's present endeavors to Charlie's past and present, while trapped in the confines of her coma. With an underlying tone of a coming-of-age novel, we watch Hal try to find himself now that he doesn't have Charlie to guide him through the summers, and the heartbreaking aftermath of a family that is steadily falling apart.
This book is unforgettable and guaranteed to tug at your every heart string

[Gily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love, hate this book. I love the story I hate the repetition. If you’ll do a word count I think 30% of the book will be: help, me, Charley, Hal, Pete up, down and breathe. The sentence:” someone walking on my grave” was said at least 10 times. I read a lot of YA wonderful stories that had much more verity in language. That said I thought the story was wonderful and reminded me “The Lovely Bones”

[Francisca Todi · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a slow read. Not unsalvagable, but I'm glad it's over.

[Naudy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is breath taking, you will be hooked as soon as you open it. A story of sickness, mystery, family and also love; all in the setting of a vaction home on the beach with the infamous waves.

[Jordan Vozeh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn’t love this one but wasn’t too bad. Felt repetitive and slow moving but also had some elements of the story that were enjoyable to read.

[Veronica · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book takes place in England with the main characters being Hal,Charley, Pete, Am and Jack. Now I know people say to never judge a book by its cover but lets be honest, we all tend to do that sometimes. " Waves" caught my eye on the shelf. It looked like a summery book about surfing. When I read the back I was interested in the family tragedy of Charley being in coma. I wondered how the rest of her family would spend their summer and accept or reject this challenge. This book was full of detail but hard to follow, and a bit blan. At first the book was captivating with a good hook " I imagine I could open the window and be in Cornwall, hearing the sea, feeling the cool breeze fresh from the waves." I wanted to read more, I was curious to know the scene and what Cornwall was. To my disappointment the book was nothing like I expected. I found myself confused and bored most of the time. The story was repetitive. No climax or turning points. It was very hard to follow. The story is narrated by Hal ( a boy) hearing Charley, who is in a coma, in his head. The story includes switching between flashbacks to the future and different narration, making it difficult to follow. Here Charley is now hearing Hal's voice " Charley"! " I hear his voice. I hear it reaching through the darkness and fear that hold me tight and still. This switching goes back and forth and makes reading a hard task. Although the author uses good descriptive detail, I unfortunately don't recommend this book. Not the most captivating, or clear story line.

[Marya · Rating 1 out of 5]

So the narrator has to find out what peril befell his older sister last summer that lead to her comatose state? Ok, that sounds like a decent mystery set-up. Having his sister's spirit inhabit the narrator's body during the investigation? Not so cool. I guess if she was all into the "solving the mystery of my tragedy" mode, it'd be ok, but she seems more interested in reliving stupid teen moments and re-hooking up with the friends/boyfriend she made. Which loosely relate to the plot in the sense that they loosely redefine the word "mystery" to mean, "not a puzzle at all, but another teen relationship book". Yawn.

I certainly hope that if I am left in a comatose state through mysterious means, I don't inhabit my husband's body only to make him go shopping at a bookstore or eat ice cream.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating and very original novel written for young adults. The plot and characters are gripping and there is a sense of the supernatural about it - if you enjoyed Alice Sebold's 'The Lovely Bones', then this is one for you.

The story is told by two narrators - Hal, a fifteen year old boy whose older sister Charley was hurt in an accident last summer. Hal is angry at Charley, at his parents and at himself - he is desperate to know what happened before Charley's accident and if anyone else was there at the time. The other narrator is Charley who is laying comatose in a hospital. Charley seems to be floating in an 'in-between' world and somehow manages to communicate with Hal.

The story pieces together so well - the desciptions of young love and angst are beautifully written. For anyone who enjoys mystery, supernatural and imaginative writing.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

When this book starts Charley is in a coma, and her family is trying to cope without her. Her brother Hal believes that he hears her voice in his head as though she is trying to talk to him from within her coma. Told in alternating points of view from Charley and Hal, we slowly begin to understand the events that lead up to the accident that put Charley in the coma and the mystery of what she was doing out in the middle of the night. While I did really enjoy this book, I had trouble with the idea that Charley could somehow communicate with Hal in the midst of her coma, especially at the end when Charley actually speaks through Hal (Charley's voice and memories come through Hal's body)--it's just a little more than I could believe. But overall, very well-written and well-paced. I really liked the way the story unraveled, until the ending.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an absolutely wonderful and pun-entirely-intended here, haunting book. It is a mystery, a love story and a eulogy all at the same time. I love the characters: from Hal, who feels so left out of his dear older sister's life in the months before she ends up in a coma that leaves her unable to tell what happened to her, to Charlie, the sister who is in a coma and how she comes to untangle her own ending, to her boyfriend Pete and his tortured former girlfriend, Am. All of the characters are achingly real and will haunt you long after you finish the book.

I listened to this as a book on CD and the reader was just brilliant. You truly felt each of the characters that he read and didn't feel that you were being read to, but actually living the story.

I'm so sorry that it's over and I miss them all already.

[Alexander Heinzel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply great!
Finally an author accomplished it to write an realistic book about young adults without ruining it for everyone with an inappropriate youth language! (like in all the house of night novels)I was really able to identify myself with the protagonist and, although he is much younger then me, I wouldn't act in a different way. The plot, whether you like it or not, is about a teenage girl namend Charley that is in a coma and communicates with her brother Hal in a telepathically way. Charley was injured one year ago on a beach under suspicous circumanstances and Hal tries to find out what happened. It's some kind of strange Spiritual-Love Story - Crime book I can recommend to everyone who likes the Gayle Forman books!

[Olivia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two stars because the imagery of the beach was nice. I'm a beach enthusiast, so naturally I was drawn to this book by the title and cover. The beach scenes were lovely and descriptive.

As for the plot of the story.. Bland. I was anxious to find out what "really" happened to Charley to ultimately cause her death. (yep, she dies--no magical awakening from the coma) But there was no secret behind her death. She died just as the cover flap tells you--she hit her head on a rock. Wait, whaaaaat? The whole book makes you think Hal and Charley are leading you through a big mystery as to what really happened that night. But no, there was no big reveal or plot twist. What was the point of all this?

There's not much more to review. Womp womp.

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Konnte mich leider nicht überzeugen,ich muss ehrlich sagen, dass ich zwischendurch auch ein paar Mal kurz davor war,es abzubrechen. Ich kann nicht mal genau erklären,wieso,denn eigentlich war die Handlung im Großen und Ganzen interessant gestaltet,auch der Aspekt,dass die Geschichte aus mehreren Perspektiven erzählt wird,fand ich gut.
Allerdings waren einige (wichtige!) Sachen doch sehr verwirrend (ich will jetzt nicht spoilern ;) ) und es fehlte mir eindeutig an Gefühl,die Charaktere wirkten alle sehr unterkühlt,dadurch war die Handlung für das Thema zu trocken,um den Leser wirklich fesseln zu können.

[Yamerely · Rating 3 out of 5]

Waves by Sharon Dogar was a book that many expected it to be about surfing. When I saw the book "Waves" just sitting their on the cart in my english class. I thought it was a good book I thought it talked about water and how they would surf. When I read the book I saw how it talked about a family and one of the children was in coma and the family had to leave and they left the child their and how the other sibling was feeling that emptiness. I recommend this book to every teenager around the world. I also recommend this book because it shows the real meaning of a family. And also it let you connect with our daily life.

[Kaitlyn Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very good. I didn't want to stop reading it and the end made me tear up. It's about a bother and a sister. The sister get in an accident and is in the hospital unconscious for a year. The brother hears his sister thoughts the whole year. During the summer he meets a girl and her brother his sister dated the year before. It is a catching story and left me to want to read more.

[Kyra · Rating 1 out of 5]

BEWARE: this is going to be a rant review and this review is going to include spoilers.

This book was an utter, bitter disappointment. I've been waiting to get my hands on Waves since I saw it in my local bookshop. I went there a few weeks back and looked to buy it but it wasn't available at the shop any more, all I can think now is thank goodness that Waves wasn't available to buy. I'm so glad I could get it out of the library, as if I had bought it I would've regretted spending my money on this book. I'm sorry if this review is too harsh but Blog of a Bookaholic features completely honest reviews, and if I said I enjoyed Waves, I would be lying to my wonderful followers and that wouldn't be right. So the next part of the review is going to be me ranting, you can walk away now, but I hope you'll stick around ;)

The cover and blurb led me to believe that Waves was going to be a summer read that was raw and emotional, that was going to tug at my heart strings and leave me feeling empty and full simultaneously inside. I could see that Sharon wanted Waves to be a compelling story but it fell completely flat with me. I didn't connect with the characters, only towards the end I felt a wave of sympathy for Charley, but it was short-lived. I was expecting Waves to be a beautiful story that would stay close to my heart but I struggled through reading it, the writing was uneven and choppy and I was constantly putting it down and picking it up, but I was never satisfied to continue reading for a long period of time.

I didn't like the writing style, the writing was incredible choppy and unevenly written, The rotating view points from Hal to Charley was tiring, boring and confusing. I think the author should've constructed the changing from the characters so that the writing moved smoothly and at an even pace. Thus the author writing in this way made the emotional level scale down as I was getting bored of Charley's tiresome sayings and it made me feel annoyed with her.

I couldn't relate to the characters at all. I also didn't feel like I knew them. When the author got the characters talking, they were always about to say what happened, explain why they acted the way they did but then something stopped them and after finishing this book,all my problems are still not solved and I feel frustrated that I wasted my time reading this book and while I was reading I had a million and one questions flitting through my head and they weren't answered, or maybe they were answered, but just not in a clear, apparent way. It really irked me that the characters kept talking in a start and stop kind of way.

I was also getting sick of Hal. When he visited his sister in the coma, he called her the female dog word and other rude stuff that really wasn't appropriate as she was in a coma and dying. I wanted to shake him and say, for crying out loud, stop being such a cow to your sister and talk to her, say goodbye, you're going to Cornwall and when you get back she might not be here.

Apparently, Charley and Hal were supposed to be really close. I didn't see a loving sibling relationship at all! They rarely showed that they loved each other and even when we were showed the memories of when they spent time together, it was mostly because Hal didn't want to stay by himself. Also, when Hal was describing Charley he didn't make it sound like he was too fond of her. The author really needed to show the readers that they were very close as I just wasn't feeling it. If you really want to see an amazing sibling relationship read Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata, it was a stunning story.

I liked reading the parts of Charley before her coma. She seemed like a really nice girl that was fun and wild, like the billowing wind on a summer's day. I think the book would've been better if it was just told from Charley's point as view as before and after. It would've gripped me more.

I also didn't really get to know the minor characters. They weren't explained in that much detail and I still don't get what all the fuss about Am and Pete was about. O_O

The plot was monotonous, when I was reading it was practically the same things being repeated over and over with only a tiny speck of something new and interesting happening throughout the book. All of the book was basically Charley crying "remember" and "help me" whenever I got to one of those parts I would just groan as I knew it would just be the same repeated thing. I also got annoyed when the writing was of Charley thinking inside her head during the coma as it was quite jumbled up. The author kept putting ellipses that made the story slow and tiring, and the author tried making those parts poetic, but she didn't seem to pull it off to me. Charley's thoughts were often confusing and made no sense at all. The author needed to construct those parts better.

I also thought that the super-natural side to the story wasn't explained and it just added a confusing and creepily annoying factor to the book. There was also a lot of uneccessary cursing and I felt that this was also a contributing factor to the downfall of Waves.

And as I am coming to the end of my review, I will talk about the end of Waves.THAT ENDING WAS THE BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT EVER.

***MAJOR SPOILER BEGINS**

Firstly, on the blurb they say Charley hit her head on a rock. During the whole entire story (this was the only reason I kept reading to see what really happened to Charley) the author was creating this suspense as to why Charley really died. Well guess what? CHARLEY DIED BECAUSE SHE HIT HER HEAD ON A ROCK. Me reading this book and wasting my time, just to find out that she actually died of the same thing that was written on the blurb. Why did the author get me so mystified and then it was just for nothing. Why?

Secondly, the scene in where the accident happens is the scene where Charley and Pete do "it" and Am's pedophile father comes stumbling in and takes Am away, the author really didn't make sense in the last two chapters. I still don't know if Charley and Pete actually did do "it". I don't know where Am's father disappeared to after taking her away AND Charley was so shaken after throwing a wine bottle at Am's father and almost killing him, then straight after putting her clothes on (as she was naked) her and Pete take a stroll, kissing and that, then Charley laughing runs into the sea to cleanse herself of what just happened. Then I'm asking this? WHY WAS SHE NAKED? WHY WERE THEY ACTING SO CHILLED WHEN JUST MINUTES BEFORE THEY WERE FREAKING OUT? WHAT IS AM'S PROBLEM? The author really disappointed me with this. The last scene where we find out what actually happened was just a huge mumbo-jumbo scene of nonsense.

Last, but not least. I thought Charley was going to live, be reunited with her family and Pete. But no, she "lived" through the whole story just so Hal could find out what happened, which was exactly what had happened. That ending just had me so frustrated.

**** SPOILER OVER***

There were really only one or two things I liked about Waves.
1. The idea was brilliant, however, the author didn't do it any justice.
2. There were some beautiful, descriptive pieces during Waves that I really loved.

However, that isn't enough to bump the rating. So unfortunately Waves gets 1 cupcake from me.

Waves had a colossal amount of potential, but by the author's lack of writing a set plot destroyed Waves for me. The author was trying to create vivid imagery, believable characters and a poignant, compelling story with a super-natural, chilling twist. However, she didn't create that for me. Waves was choppily written, like the sea twisting and churning on a stormy day. The writing was all over the place and the characters unlikeable. Waves had potential, but I was let down. This book has got good ratings, so maybe its just me. Read it and see if you feel the same way...

I give it: 1/5 CUPCAKES!

[Maeva · Rating 1 out of 5]

Après avoir lu une bonne cinquantaine de pages, j'ai mis ce livre en pause pendant plus de 3 ans. Je ne savais pas si un jour j'allais le reprendre mais voilà il se trouve que le peu qui s'était passé dans ces 50 pages me restait en mémoire.
En soit, il y avait de l'idée... le fait que la fille soit dans le coma et qu'elle partage un lien fort avec son frère qui essaye de retracer ses derniers moments avant l'accident dans le but de savoir ce qui lui ait vraiment arrivé... ça aurait pu fonctionner!
Sauf que rien ne va, c'est long et inintéressant, les personnages sont fades et insupportables, l'intrigue n'est pas si bonne que ça, les changements de point de vue et d'époques sont sens dessus dessous et mal exploités, l'avancement de l'histoire n'était pas clair et j'avais si peu d'intérêt pour ce qui se passait que je ne cherchais pas à comprendre... j'en étais à un point où je trouvais même la traduction exaspérante.
Je n'ai pas voulu arrêter une deuxième fois ce bouquin avant la fin mais j'aurais peut-être du parce que ce fut une épreuve. Je comprends que le YA n'était pas ce qu'il est aujourd'hui avec des récits incroyables qui tiennent la route à tout niveau parce que les auteurs ont appris de tout ce qui a était fait etc. Je juge sûrement tardivement ce livre mais je regrette de ne pas avoir pris le temps que j'ai passé à souffrir ici pour lire quelque chose qui m'aurait plu.

[buchweltenbummler · Rating 1 out of 5]

R E Z E N S I O N 🧚‍♂️

Charley hatte den besten Sommer ihres Lebens. Ein Sommer, in dem sie sich unsterblich verliebt hat. Doch dann geschah ein tragischer Unfall... Ein Jahr später kehrt ihre Familie zurück – und Charleys Bruder Hal versucht herauszufinden, was wirklich passiert ist.

Gerechnet habe ich mit einer lockerleichten Liebesgeschichte, worin ich mich verlieben und verlieren kann, so wie es im Klappentext auch angeteasert wird ("Ein Roman, der mitten ins Herz trifft und tief unter die Haut geht"). Falsch gedacht. Es kam mir vor wie eine Mischung aus Horrorfilm und Tragödie. Passt absolut nicht zum Titel. Charley wirkt in den Erzählungen alles andere als sympathisch. Zickig, egoistisch und naiv. Aber so richtig hat man sie ja gar nicht kennengelernt, sondern nur, wie ihr Bruder Hal sie beschrieben hat. Was auch total seltsam war, da er einerseits in den höchsten Tönen von seiner Schwester schwärmt, aber gleichzeitig sie auch irgendwie verabscheut für ihre Eigenarten. Ich konnte mit keinem Charakter eine Bindung aufbauen oder die Gefühle ansatzweise nachempfinden. Ich hatte gehofft, dass sich alles zum Ende hin auflösen wird. Wurde es auch, aber für mich absolut nichts spektakuläres. Leider ein Flop!

3/10 🌟

[Ligibookishmind · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to say, "Waves" by Sharon Dogar blew me away. As a first-time reader of this author, I had no idea what to expect, but I was completely captivated from start to finish. The writing is outstanding - the way Dogar describes the emotions and inner turmoil of the characters is so poignant and beautiful. I found myself getting goosebumps multiple times while reading.

Despite the sadness of the story, there's a certain beauty to it that's hard to describe. The way the characters navigate their grief and try to uncover the truth behind Charley's accident is both heart-wrenching and uplifting. And the addition of supernatural elements adds an extra layer of mystery and intrigue that had me on the edge of my seat.

It's such a shame that this book isn't more popular, because it truly deserves more attention. The cover alone is stunning, and the story inside is even better. Even though it was published in 2008, it's still a hidden gem that more people need to discover.

[Elsa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stars - I was almost going to give it a 4 but the overall plot was a bit bland. I still really enjoyed the book though, the writing was quite good. Especially towards the end (had me bawling my eyes out lolz) : "She can never truly die because she's inside us, and I know that wherever she is, whatever darkness she faces, she's not alone either, because we're inside her too". I felt like the theme of grief was really well dealt with - Hal's perspective and behaviour was particularly interesting and accurate. However, it really didn't like the dialogue writing (with the capital letters that should've been italics in my opinion) and some of the writing came off as quite childish (especially with Charley - who was, by the way, annoying).

[Shelly Perkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book like no other. As much as it disturbed me I couldn’t put it down. The story carried me back to my own youth the struggles and trauma one goes through just trying to find oneself. The joyous excitement of new experiences. A story of how life and love and loss carries you on an unrelenting wave into adulthood. Sprinkled through with the feelings of being different that we all dealt with at that age it speaks of a spiritual side of life that seems as if it could not be and yet is. The years between childhood and adulthood when mystery and magic still seem possible. What a wise insightful author you are Sharon Dogar!!!

[Jules Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, Lots of negative reviews on the repetition within the book but I felt it added to the suspense and perfectly explained the trapped sensation and desperation. I thought it was a beautiful, but sad, story and magically written. My only criticism was the amount of unsaid or unfinished sentences when there was dialog between characters. That was a little frustrating but I was the perfect summer read in my mind. Xxx

[Matteo · Rating 4 out of 5]

i cried so hard at the end not going to lie. i loved this book so much though. i was gripped from beginning to end, letting the pages take me on their journey to find out what actually happened to Charley. it was a stunning read and i'm so glad i found it hidden away in a charity shop a few days ago. it is a beautiful book.

[Kandyce · Rating 2 out of 5]

At first I thought this was a YA novel I could genuinely recommend to students. I love the way the story flips back and forth through characters and time. I was intrigued by the mystery and the doling out of clues. Ultimately, it just didn’t come together for me and the phrase “someone’s walking on my grave” can definitely be overused.

[Jadine Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would recommend this book to people who like mystery and romance. The book is really interesting and you don want to put it down once your start. It does become confusing though because of the switch between characters' point of views.

[Gemma · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is very exciting. it gets sad at times but then it gets better.
its really sad that she had that accident but her brother is so caring although her mum is broken.
i loved reading this book every time i started reading it i never wanted to put it down

[Galion Public Library Teens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review by J.T.: "I liked it but it was too slow at the beginning. I would recommend it to both girls and boys that are young adults."

[Nicola Robson wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic holiday read ! 5/5

[Adessa Leibfried · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really sad book in the end. I think the moral was to find out the whole story. You should always find out the whole story and then you can get mad at who actually did it.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had a little bit of the weird psychic communication thing going on, but I liked it overall.