Monday, August 4, 2014

[Book Review] Noggin by John Corey Whaley

Listen — Travis Coates was alive once and then he wasn’t.

Now he’s alive again.

Simple as that.

The in between part is still a little fuzzy, but he can tell you that, at some point or another, his head got chopped off and shoved into a freezer in Denver, Colorado. Five years later, it was reattached to some other guy’s body, and well, here he is. Despite all logic, he’s still 16 and everything and everyone around him has changed. That includes his bedroom, his parents, his best friend, and his girlfriend. Or maybe she’s not his girlfriend anymore? That’s a bit fuzzy too.

Looks like if the new Travis and the old Travis are ever going to find a way to exist together, then there are going to be a few more scars.

Oh well, you only live twice..



The idea itself is what makes a person pick up this book. I have never been so forgetful about it being sort of "fantasy" when every single detail was explained. The author really made us believe that this could be possible. Even someone got sick and frozen, we would be able to attach that person'd head to another body and bring him back to life. 

If you're still not sold on the idea of this book, try to get to know the characters. Every single conversation, every single emotion is so relatable, it's absolutely insane! If I would have been put into their shoes, it is exactly how I would have felt. 

“Maybe we all just exist, all versions of us exist at times, and we have to figure out a way to get to each of them, to find each one and tell that version that it's okay, that it's all justthe way it works, a concept too powerful to ignore but too complicated to explain.”

We get to see the story from Travis's POV who, after years of being sick, was frozen until a donor body was found to re-attach his head. Five years later he has a different body and everything is just completely weird. Everyone is now older but he can't feel like time has passed. For him, it was just like closing his eyes for a nap and waking up refreshed. Finding out that his girlfriend now has a fiance is hard and he wants her to see that deep down, they're meant for each other. 

“Some people say dying alone is a fate worse than death itself. Well, they should try being alone during the living part sometimes. There's no quicker way to make you wonder why the hell you ever thought you'd want to return.”

It would be easy to make this story confusing and just stupid. But as you read it, all of Travis's thoughts and actions make you smile or make you worry for him. I can't stop from recommending this book over and over, it's amazing!