While I had felt like I wanted a bit more out of The Little Paris Bookshop, I am so glad I have the author another go! The Book of Dreams explores the different levels of consciousness that we as humans have always been fascinated with. Are there levels of consciousness other than just life and death?

After an accident leads to Henri being in a coma, the characters of The Book of Dreams grapple to answer that question. The Book shifts between the perspectives of Eddie, Henri's lover; Sam, Henri's 13-year-old son who was supposed to meet his father for the first time the day the accident occurred, and Henri, as he struggles through that shade of gray between life and death. As Sam spends more time in the hospital, he encounters Madelyn, a 12-year-old girl trapped in a vegetative state after a car crash killed her entire family, and is immediately drawn to her.

As Eddie and Sam continue to visit Madelyn and Henri in the hospital, the come face-to-face with some of life's toughest questions: is there life after death? Are there levels of consciousness that can't be defined or even measured by the medical field? Can we sense when somebody's spirit is present?

Meanwhile, Henri struggles to understand whether the choices you make in life are truly outcome determinative, whether mind can overcome body, and how to come to terms with the mistakes of his past.

There are just so many layers to this novel that I do not think I could ever do it justice in a review!

This book was just okay for me, but I know Nina George has a big fan following based on her first two books so I'm sure those readers will enjoy her latest offering. An interesting narrative structure.

I loved this book. It is reminiscent of Haddon's "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time." Told in alternating points of view this novel tells the stories of Henri and Madelyn, a middle age man and a young girl who are in comas, and Eddie and Sam, Henri's former lover and son respectively. Eddie and Sam grapple with how to care for these individuals and learn lessons about life and love along the way.

George writes painful truths with beauty and patience. My favorite sections of the novel were told from Henri's point of view as he explores his past within the dreamlike state of his coma. Each of George's characters are fully fleshed out and believable. In any other writer's hands this plot could have easily turned into a lifetime movie channel melodrama, but in "The Book of Dreams" the pain and magic are fully realized and fully human.

I received an e-Arc of this book from NetGalley and the publsiher in exchange for an honest review.
This was my first book by Nina George, though I have had others on my to-read list. If you do not enjoy a story from multiple perspectives, skip this one. I found this to be a totally novel idea - there are 3 main character perspectives which together portray a lyrical history of generations and opportunities whether real or in an alt-dimension. Speculative, Fantastical at its best. 4.5 out of 5 stars*

No words... Another George book that goes on my "keeper shelf." This book, which George states in the afterword as having been written to help her deal with loss and death, is simply exquisite. I loved each of the main characters, and the settings/surroundings - and experiences - were beautifully written. This book will stay with me for a long, long time.

Nina George has done it again! THE BOOK OF DREAMS is about the relationship between Sam, a 13-year-old synesthete and his father, Henri Skinner, whom he has never met. Just as Sam and Henri are about to meet, Henri suffers an accident and falls into a coma. THE BOOK OF DREAMS explores the past, those that are and those that could have been, and what lies between life and death. All of the characters are fascinating, and both heartbreaking and heart-stealing. Nina George restores my faith in literature and humankind. Beautiful!