Review: In Her Wake by KA Tucker

In Her Wake
(Ten Tiny Breaths, #0.5)
By: KA Tucker
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: Sept. 1, 2014
Genre: New Adult
Rating:

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Before you knew him as Trent in Ten Tiny Breaths, he was Cole Reynolds—and he had it all. Until one night when he makes a fatal, wrong decision…and loses everything.

When a drunken night out at a Michigan State college party results in the death of six people, Cole must come to terms with his part in the tragedy. Normally, he’d be able to lean on his best friends—the ones who have been in his life since he could barely walk. Only, they’re gone. Worse, there’s the shattered body of a sixteen-year-old girl lying somewhere in a hospital bed, her entire life ripped from her because of a case of beer and a set of keys.

Everyone assures him that they know it wasn’t intentional, and yet he can’t ignore the weight of their gazes, the whispers behind his back. Nor can he shake the all-consuming guilt he feels every time he thinks of that girl who won’t so much as allow him near her hospital room to apologize. As the months go by and the shame and loneliness festers, Cole begins to lose his grip on what once was important—college, his girlfriend, his future. His life. It’s not until Cole hits rock-bottom that he can begin to see another way out of his personal hell: forgiveness.

And there’s only one person who can give that to him…

All it took was one night to lose everything. One drunk night out with friends and he finds himself friendless. Trent was supposed to be the DD but had too much to drink. Trent trusted his friend when he said that he was good to drive. Now Trent’s two best friends are dead. That’s not even including the 4 others who were in the car that they crashed into head on, or the one teenage girl who survived. Trent finds himself struggling to come to terms with everything that happens and in the meanwhile finds himself fixating on the teenage girl that survived.

I loved Trent’s and Kacey’s story in Ten Tiny Breathes. However, this one just didn’t work for me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great story. It’s all about Cole and how depressed he is after the attack. I would be fine with that. I even enjoyed the fact that the story solely revolves around Cole. This isn’t a re-telling of Trent and Kacey but rather a story about Cole. This book ends pretty much where Ten Tiny Breaths begins. So I liked that this wasn’t the same regurgitated story just told in a different POV. However, Cole creeped me out. I mean, sure he’s depressed but he gets it in his mind that he needs to look out for Kacey and that he won’t be able to heal until he gets her forgiveness. So he does some really stalkerish things to keep tabs on her. It took the Trent I knew and totally flipped my view on him. I don’t know how I’d feel if I read this story first before reading TTB. I may not have enjoyed the story so much because I would be telling Kacey to run as far away from him as she could.

In the end it was a good read. The author has a great way of telling a story. You feel for the characters involved and you just want to comfort them through the tough times. I just wish that Cole/Trent didn’t turn out so creepy. He was one of my favorite characters but there’s one thing about hearing how he stalked her and a whole other thing reading about it.

“I don’t remember what it’s like to not feel this toxic mixture anymore-pain and sadness and guilt that eats away at my insides, leaving me hollow nd wishing that I’d just lay my head on my pillow one night and never have to lift it off again.”
 
 
 
Previous reviews from Ten Tiny Breaths
Ten Tiny Breaths
Four Seconds to Lose
Five Ways to Fall