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Before You Wake
The day after Millie’s crush asks her on a date, a comatose teenager arrives at the hospital where she volunteers. He’s labeled as a John Doe, but Millie would recognize Wesley anywhere. Thanks to a teensy misunderstanding by an elderly nurse, everyone thinks Millie is Wesley’s girlfriend.
As Wesley’s condition worsens, Millie spends all her volunteer time at his bedside, reading him Jane Austen and waiting for him to wake up. Then his group of friends show up, including Sloane, a beautiful and charismatic girl who instantly takes a liking to Millie. They invite her out with them, and Millie seizes the moment. She’s never had friends like this before and it feels great to be included.
The longer Wesley’s coma goes on, the more attached she becomes to his friends and her shiny new life in the popular crowd. Millie knows she’ll have to come clean before he wakes up, but she’s in too deep, and her lies have become the foundation of the very real friendships she’s made. Revealing the truth now would cost her everything. But keeping her secrets will cost even more.
As Wesley’s condition worsens, Millie spends all her volunteer time at his bedside, reading him Jane Austen and waiting for him to wake up. Then his group of friends show up, including Sloane, a beautiful and charismatic girl who instantly takes a liking to Millie. They invite her out with them, and Millie seizes the moment. She’s never had friends like this before and it feels great to be included.
The longer Wesley’s coma goes on, the more attached she becomes to his friends and her shiny new life in the popular crowd. Millie knows she’ll have to come clean before he wakes up, but she’s in too deep, and her lies have become the foundation of the very real friendships she’s made. Revealing the truth now would cost her everything. But keeping her secrets will cost even more.
- GenresYoung Adult
268 pages, Hardcover
Published June 7, 2022
2 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
Cheyanne Young
15 books584 followersCheyanne Young lives in Houston, Texas and is an award-winning author of several books for young adults, including The Last Wish of Sasha Cade, which is being adapted into a TV mini-series by Waterside Studios. She has a Master of Library Science degree from Texas Woman’s University and works as a Teen Librarian.
Cheyanne has a fear of cold weather and a coffee addiction that probably needs an intervention. She loves books, glitter, and sarcasm. Her hidden talents include being able to say the alphabet backwards and typing 130 words per minute. She lives with her family, two spoiled rotten dogs, and a cat that is most likely plotting to take over the world.
Cheyanne has a fear of cold weather and a coffee addiction that probably needs an intervention. She loves books, glitter, and sarcasm. Her hidden talents include being able to say the alphabet backwards and typing 130 words per minute. She lives with her family, two spoiled rotten dogs, and a cat that is most likely plotting to take over the world.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 8, 2022
Thank you, BookSprout, for the ARC!
This is definitely my kind of book. It reminded me a lot of Sick Kids in Love and All This Time, mostly with the love story in the hospital situation. But for this book, imagine fake dating except that one-half of the relationship doesn’t know because they’re in a coma. I was honestly intrigued by what would happen with the whole situation once Wesley woke up. Millie was a great character to read and see her traverse into her secret dating plot while she has some personal growth and sociability — and her slowly falling for Wesley by knowing him more through others.
Slight spoiler but when they connected the moments following him waking up, it tugged at my heart strings. I wish we got to see more of them.
I’m debating on which of the names, Camila or Millie, sound more like old lady names. I’m leaning towards the latter but Millie thinks differently.
This is definitely my kind of book. It reminded me a lot of Sick Kids in Love and All This Time, mostly with the love story in the hospital situation. But for this book, imagine fake dating except that one-half of the relationship doesn’t know because they’re in a coma. I was honestly intrigued by what would happen with the whole situation once Wesley woke up. Millie was a great character to read and see her traverse into her secret dating plot while she has some personal growth and sociability — and her slowly falling for Wesley by knowing him more through others.
Slight spoiler but when they connected the moments following him waking up, it tugged at my heart strings. I wish we got to see more of them.
I’m debating on which of the names, Camila or Millie, sound more like old lady names. I’m leaning towards the latter but Millie thinks differently.
July 21, 2022
finally i can do a review for this.
so this book is a YA retelling of the movie While You Were Sleeping. yup the one that starring by Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman. actually that movie is one of ny comfort movie and i’m so happy that this book is a retelling of that movie. YUP I GAVE THIS BOOK 5 STARS bcs it deserves it. for me this book is not a cute and romance-ish story but it’s more to realistic. and i love that.
so we got Millie who is a loner and who has been hurt in the past by getting close to people she thought who is love and friends with her. she has a fantasy boyfriend who is a football player, that she always runs into at a diner.his name is Wesley. and one day that guy kinda flirt with her and asked her to a date. the day after that, the guy got brought into the hospital where Millie is the volunteer and she accidentally say that she is his girlfriend. so a lot of people thinks she is his secret girlfriend including his family and his friends.
i love this book plots so much even though i know what it’s going to happen but still i just adore the writing and the plot so much. it starts out with a lie and it becomes a HUGE lie. thats kinda story and the builds up are just SO GOOD! there’s also some plot twist that happens in this book and that plot twist really got me.
all i can say is this book is not just romance. it also about talks about relatable problems. either it’s friendship things or a love life or a family things. the author really did great with this book. if you read her other book and you loved it, you will love this one too. Cheyanne Young has become one of my fav author, she never disappoints me.
if you love Jane Austen and Pride & Prejudice and some friendship. You will love this book!
so this book is a YA retelling of the movie While You Were Sleeping. yup the one that starring by Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman. actually that movie is one of ny comfort movie and i’m so happy that this book is a retelling of that movie. YUP I GAVE THIS BOOK 5 STARS bcs it deserves it. for me this book is not a cute and romance-ish story but it’s more to realistic. and i love that.
so we got Millie who is a loner and who has been hurt in the past by getting close to people she thought who is love and friends with her. she has a fantasy boyfriend who is a football player, that she always runs into at a diner.his name is Wesley. and one day that guy kinda flirt with her and asked her to a date. the day after that, the guy got brought into the hospital where Millie is the volunteer and she accidentally say that she is his girlfriend. so a lot of people thinks she is his secret girlfriend including his family and his friends.
i love this book plots so much even though i know what it’s going to happen but still i just adore the writing and the plot so much. it starts out with a lie and it becomes a HUGE lie. thats kinda story and the builds up are just SO GOOD! there’s also some plot twist that happens in this book and that plot twist really got me.
all i can say is this book is not just romance. it also about talks about relatable problems. either it’s friendship things or a love life or a family things. the author really did great with this book. if you read her other book and you loved it, you will love this one too. Cheyanne Young has become one of my fav author, she never disappoints me.
if you love Jane Austen and Pride & Prejudice and some friendship. You will love this book!
June 5, 2022
All my reviews can be found at: http://jessicasreadingroom.com
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This review will appear on my site on June 6, 2022.
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Before You Wake is a YA retelling of the 1995 movie While You Were Sleeping starring Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman. I loved that movie, so I was excited when I heard about this one and ready to read it! I was excited to see where a YA novel would go in this direction.
If you have not seen it before, I would recommend watching While You Were Sleeping to see where Young got her inspiration from! Unlike a fun and cute-ish romantic comedy film, Before You Wake came off realistic for me.
We have Millie who is a loner who volunteers at the hospital. And what starts out as a misunderstanding becomes a lie that escalates. Before she knows it, Millie is in way too deep and cannot figure out how to tell these people the truth. Because she knows that when the truth comes out it will hurt all involved and she has formed attachments that become very important to her. And even living the lie a little bit is worth it to Millie.
Before just continues to build on the lie and I did not know what was going to happen. Millie constantly is wanting to tell but also not wanting to tell knowing how everything will fall apart. There is also twist that happens in regards to Wesley’s injuries and I liked where the novel went there.
If you are a fan of Jane Austin and Pride and Prejudice, you are also in for a treat with this novel!
I received an arc copy from Young to read and review, and I enjoyed it so much that I ordered a signed copy from her Etsy shop. You can buy Before You Wake from her directly and get it personally signed. I really enjoyed this novel, and have read three of Young’s novels and have given them all 5 stars!
~~~~
This review will appear on my site on June 6, 2022.
~~~~
Before You Wake is a YA retelling of the 1995 movie While You Were Sleeping starring Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman. I loved that movie, so I was excited when I heard about this one and ready to read it! I was excited to see where a YA novel would go in this direction.
If you have not seen it before, I would recommend watching While You Were Sleeping to see where Young got her inspiration from! Unlike a fun and cute-ish romantic comedy film, Before You Wake came off realistic for me.
We have Millie who is a loner who volunteers at the hospital. And what starts out as a misunderstanding becomes a lie that escalates. Before she knows it, Millie is in way too deep and cannot figure out how to tell these people the truth. Because she knows that when the truth comes out it will hurt all involved and she has formed attachments that become very important to her. And even living the lie a little bit is worth it to Millie.
Before just continues to build on the lie and I did not know what was going to happen. Millie constantly is wanting to tell but also not wanting to tell knowing how everything will fall apart. There is also twist that happens in regards to Wesley’s injuries and I liked where the novel went there.
If you are a fan of Jane Austin and Pride and Prejudice, you are also in for a treat with this novel!
I received an arc copy from Young to read and review, and I enjoyed it so much that I ordered a signed copy from her Etsy shop. You can buy Before You Wake from her directly and get it personally signed. I really enjoyed this novel, and have read three of Young’s novels and have given them all 5 stars!
May 13, 2022
This YA novel is loosely based, apparently, on a ‘90s movie, which I never saw, because I was otherwise busy doing other things in the 90s.
The basic plot is that Millie, who has been hurt in the past, by getting too close to people she thought were her friends, has decided that at the new school she is going to, you will just study, and volunteer at the local hospital, and that’s that.
She has a fantasy boyfriend, a football player, that she runs into, at the local diner, and he flirts with her.
And then he is brought in to the self-same hospital, and because she recognizes him, the nurses tease that he must be her boyfriend.
And then other people think he is her secret girlfriend, and it spirals on out from there. Because Wesley is in a coma, to make sure he recovers, and all his cool friends think she has a relationship with him, so they bond with her.
And after swearing off friendships, she goes along with this, even though she knows that once he wakes up, that this fantasy will be all over.
What is interesting about this novel is that it starts out as a little lie. And how it grows into a huge lie, and as often happens. Even though she knows, when she is discovered, it will all be over.
Is it worth living a lie, even for a little bit, to have the kind of life you’ve always dreamed of having? For Millie, it is.
I like how the novel builds on this, how Millie justifies each step of the way, while always knowing it could all come tumbling down on her.
If you’ve read any of Cheyanne’s other books, you’ll find this one enjoyable too. If you haven’t read her other books, you need to seek them out.
Thanks to the publisher to making this book available for an honest review.
The basic plot is that Millie, who has been hurt in the past, by getting too close to people she thought were her friends, has decided that at the new school she is going to, you will just study, and volunteer at the local hospital, and that’s that.
She has a fantasy boyfriend, a football player, that she runs into, at the local diner, and he flirts with her.
And then he is brought in to the self-same hospital, and because she recognizes him, the nurses tease that he must be her boyfriend.
And then other people think he is her secret girlfriend, and it spirals on out from there. Because Wesley is in a coma, to make sure he recovers, and all his cool friends think she has a relationship with him, so they bond with her.
And after swearing off friendships, she goes along with this, even though she knows that once he wakes up, that this fantasy will be all over.
What is interesting about this novel is that it starts out as a little lie. And how it grows into a huge lie, and as often happens. Even though she knows, when she is discovered, it will all be over.
Is it worth living a lie, even for a little bit, to have the kind of life you’ve always dreamed of having? For Millie, it is.
I like how the novel builds on this, how Millie justifies each step of the way, while always knowing it could all come tumbling down on her.
If you’ve read any of Cheyanne’s other books, you’ll find this one enjoyable too. If you haven’t read her other books, you need to seek them out.
Thanks to the publisher to making this book available for an honest review.
May 31, 2022
I love Cheyanne Young and will continue to read anything and everything she ever writes. I devoured Before You Wake and cannot wait to recommend it to all my students when school starts up in the fall! It is loosely based on the movie While You Were Sleeping, but with so much more...and it's not just all about the guy. But, I guess you could say it's all about the pie? :)
I truly enjoyed meeting Millie, her "boss" Rosalie, and crush Wesley. When there is a mix-up at the hospital where Millie volunteers and everyone thinks she is the girlfriend of the recent comatose patient, Millie doesn't exactly correct them. And when Millie gets to know and love Wesley's friends, including his best friend Sloane, Millie has a harder time telling the truth.
Young does an amazing job of creating real characters with relatable problems. I loved that she wove in Jane Austen, too. Although perhaps the most fun was learning the language of when to use the right slice of pie.
I truly enjoyed meeting Millie, her "boss" Rosalie, and crush Wesley. When there is a mix-up at the hospital where Millie volunteers and everyone thinks she is the girlfriend of the recent comatose patient, Millie doesn't exactly correct them. And when Millie gets to know and love Wesley's friends, including his best friend Sloane, Millie has a harder time telling the truth.
Young does an amazing job of creating real characters with relatable problems. I loved that she wove in Jane Austen, too. Although perhaps the most fun was learning the language of when to use the right slice of pie.
June 9, 2022
I loved the story so much, I felt deeply for Millie and wanted so badly for her the life she fell into, the ending was bittersweet and realistic, but tough to read, I wanted a magical happy ending, but there wasn't one because the book went for realism. As a big Pride and Prejudice fan, I loved so much that the novel was brought up a lot throughout the story
While the plot could've been a little bit too soap-opera-y based on the premise, Cheyanne did a great job of keeping the story realistic and making every choice an understandable, natural one
The writing was a bit clunky towards the beginning, but after a few chapters Cheyanne really hits her stride and you get sucked into the story.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
While the plot could've been a little bit too soap-opera-y based on the premise, Cheyanne did a great job of keeping the story realistic and making every choice an understandable, natural one
The writing was a bit clunky towards the beginning, but after a few chapters Cheyanne really hits her stride and you get sucked into the story.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
May 8, 2022
I was beyond excited to get to order and got to read this book (paperback) before it releases on June 7th!! I always loved and will continue to love Cheyanne and her amazing books!! Two thumbs up as always Cheyanne!! It was so good that I couldn't put it down and I've read in a span of less than 24 hours!!
July 11, 2022
Definitely got the While You Where Sleeping vibes before I even knew it was loosely based off it. I won’t lie, it wasn’t my favorite Cheyenne Young book. It was a little slow for my taste & kinda just ended for me. I wanted more after he was awake kinda stuff. I do think if you liked Fault In Our Stars you would definitely enjoy this.
February 13, 2023
Good story
This was a very good story. Millie was easy to like and feel her pain. The ending was a little unsatisfying. I would have liked a little more.
This was a very good story. Millie was easy to like and feel her pain. The ending was a little unsatisfying. I would have liked a little more.
July 20, 2022
*The author sent me an e-arc of the hook in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
Before You Wake is a new reimagining of the classic film, While You Were Sleeping. Millie’s had a crush on Wesley Reyes ever since she first saw him in a high school football poster on the wall of her favorite diner. She’s overjoyed when she accidentally runs into him - literally - and he asks her on a date. But the next day Wesley turns up at the hospital Millie volunteers at in a coma, and Millie’s the only person who can ID him. Soon after she is mistaken as Wesley’s girlfriend and the lie keeps spreading to his friends and family - including Sloane, Wesley’s best friend, before Millie can figure out how to correct the mistake. Millie’s been avoiding making friends ever since she was betrayed by her best friend at her previous high school, but she finds herself drawn to Sloane. Soon Millie has been swept into Wesley’s group of friends, and while she knows the lie will have to come out eventually, and feels horrible for lying to her new friends, she wants to enjoy having friends she loves and trusts for a little bit.
I really enjoyed this story. I wasn’t sure how I felt about Millie at first, but you can tell that she’s written to initially come off as a bit annoying and standoffish, but this behavior is actually incorporated into the plot, so I did end up liking and empathizing with Millie. Honestly, my main issue with her is her steadfast opinion that Jane Austin seems to be the only author worth reading (or books inspired by Austin’s works). I fins it to be an overdone trope with both real and dictional people when they say their favorite book is written by Jane Austin. However they are good, and it works well with the theme in the book of Millie reading to patients, as the stories (at least P&P) are well-known and that can make them comforting. I rid love that the had special collectors editions, as I like to collect multiple copies of books, as well. Also I loved the all chocolate pie. I really want chocolate pie now.
But I really did enjoy the book. It’s well-written, well-crafted, and with distinct voices for each character. It was easy to empathize with Millie as she’s trying to be honest but also wants to be friends with Wesley’s friends. I did also really like the ending. Despite having a bit open-ended resolution, which I don’t normally like, but I think it really worked for this story.
Before You Wake was a really enjoyable read, and if you like While You Were Sleeping or stories centering around friendship over romance or stories with mistaken identities, I definitely recommend it. I’m looking forward to reading more of the author’s works.
Before You Wake is a new reimagining of the classic film, While You Were Sleeping. Millie’s had a crush on Wesley Reyes ever since she first saw him in a high school football poster on the wall of her favorite diner. She’s overjoyed when she accidentally runs into him - literally - and he asks her on a date. But the next day Wesley turns up at the hospital Millie volunteers at in a coma, and Millie’s the only person who can ID him. Soon after she is mistaken as Wesley’s girlfriend and the lie keeps spreading to his friends and family - including Sloane, Wesley’s best friend, before Millie can figure out how to correct the mistake. Millie’s been avoiding making friends ever since she was betrayed by her best friend at her previous high school, but she finds herself drawn to Sloane. Soon Millie has been swept into Wesley’s group of friends, and while she knows the lie will have to come out eventually, and feels horrible for lying to her new friends, she wants to enjoy having friends she loves and trusts for a little bit.
I really enjoyed this story. I wasn’t sure how I felt about Millie at first, but you can tell that she’s written to initially come off as a bit annoying and standoffish, but this behavior is actually incorporated into the plot, so I did end up liking and empathizing with Millie. Honestly, my main issue with her is her steadfast opinion that Jane Austin seems to be the only author worth reading (or books inspired by Austin’s works). I fins it to be an overdone trope with both real and dictional people when they say their favorite book is written by Jane Austin. However they are good, and it works well with the theme in the book of Millie reading to patients, as the stories (at least P&P) are well-known and that can make them comforting. I rid love that the had special collectors editions, as I like to collect multiple copies of books, as well. Also I loved the all chocolate pie. I really want chocolate pie now.
But I really did enjoy the book. It’s well-written, well-crafted, and with distinct voices for each character. It was easy to empathize with Millie as she’s trying to be honest but also wants to be friends with Wesley’s friends. I did also really like the ending. Despite having a bit open-ended resolution, which I don’t normally like, but I think it really worked for this story.
Before You Wake was a really enjoyable read, and if you like While You Were Sleeping or stories centering around friendship over romance or stories with mistaken identities, I definitely recommend it. I’m looking forward to reading more of the author’s works.
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