Ara Lucia Ashburne

Recently I lost my grandmother to Alzheimer’s. As she took her last breath I wondered what it was like to be stuck inside a body unable to communicate with the outside world. Even though her mind and body were broken down, I felt that her spirit was still alive. Deep down there was a piece of her that knew I was with her until the end. It was not the first time that I danced around with death, nor will it be my last. The one area that has bothered me since her passing on January 18th of 2015, was what it must have been like to be trapped inside a body, which does not cooperate while the conscious is still alive. Although she suffered from memory loss, I often think of those that are in comas or are the victims of strokes. This book is about a woman that has gone through such an experience that has transformed her life on many levels. Her name is Ara Lucia Ashburne and she was an individual placed in a medical coma due to a massive life threatening infection. While in a coma she experienced a near death like world that connected her to a thin vail wall of the living and the dead. There she learned to analyze her inner demons and reconstruct her herself so she could re-emerge a stronger person when she awakened.

I have to say that I found this book to be overall very good. I was grateful for her insightful experience of what it was like to be trapped inside her own body. I could read the frustration she felt as she could hear the outside world, but was unable to respond. I learned a great deal of information about the IVF world. A family member of mine went through something similar and I was too shy to ask, so I appreciate the knowledge. The writing was clear and I also liked how there was information coming from the doctor’s point of view. It gave a vibrant picture of what the hospital room must have been like for the author. The only area that I felt could have been left out were the last 50 pages or so. I could have lived without the political viewpoints. It was more that those pages did not seem to fit with the rest of the book. I felt that first ¾ of book was awesome and then it tapered off and went ‘blah’ for me. I still would recommend this book to others though. Overall it still is incredibly informative and it was very helpful in my time of suffering. I must add that I won this book in a giveaway and I am truly happy that I did! Thank you good reads and author.… (mehr)