3.5 stars - It took some time to decide how I felt about this. I think if you don't spend too much time thinking deeply about this it's pretty good. Certainly different from anything I've read before. On the other hand, some of Thibadeau's actions just seem a little wrong, creepy, and violating, especially considering he had no idea how they were being received by the other party. ( )

Je ne sais pas trop où j’en suis avec les romances. Je trouve ça nunuche, mais j’aime bien quand même. Avec Je suis là, j’en suis exactement là. Je sais pas trop où.
Dans un hôpital pour revisiter la belle au bois dormant?

Et pis cette histoire du frère, c’est quand même pas trop bien ficelé. Non, ça va pas ce truc-là. Ou trop, ou trop peu. On en fait quoi à la fin? Hein?

Finalement, je crois que j’aime pas trop ( )

> Babelio : https://www.babelio.com/livres/Avit-Je-suis-la/721773

> JE SUIS LÀ, par Clélie Avit (Le Livre de Poche, 2016, Poche, 240 pages). — Elsa n'a plus froid, plus faim, plus peur depuis qu'un accident de montagne l'a plongée dans le coma.
Thibault a perdu toute confiance le jour où son frère a renversé deux jeunes filles en voiture.
Un jour, Thibault pénètre par erreur dans la chambre d'Elsa et s'installe pour une sieste. Elle ne risque pas de le dénoncer, dans son état. Mais le silence est pesant, même face à quelqu'un dans le coma. Alors, le voilà qui se met à parler, sans attendre de réponse.
Ce qu'il ignore, c'est que pour Elsa, tout est fini, jamais elle ne se réveillera. Mais tandis que médecins, amis et famille baissent les bras, Thibault, lui, construit une relation avec Elsa. Est-il à ce point désespéré lui-même ? Ou a-t-il décelé chez elle ce que plus personne ne voit ?
—Johnny Gimenez (Culturebox)

Elsa has been lying comatose in a hospital bed for five months after an accident while climbing on a glacier. When the reader meets Elsa she is able to hear everything even though none of her other senses have returned. And so, the reader experiences her thoughts and reactions from what she is hearing from her hospital bed.

Thibault's brother has been injured in a car accident in which he killed two girls. He is recovering in the same hospital as Elsa. Thibault cannot face his brother because he had been drinking when he caused the accident. So when he takes his mother to visit Thibault escapes to other parts of the hospital to wait. One day he accidentally enters Elsa's room finding her comatose and begins talking to her not knowing at the time that she is hearing him. He finds that he wants to keep visiting her, and she also waits longingly for his visits. And this is how their strange relationship grows so very quickly.

Then the medical staff enters the room to evaluate her progress. Their diagnosis for her recovery from the coma is grim, but Thibault somehow knows that Elsa is still there.

The reading of the book is a quick and easy and the ending is somewhat predictable. However given all of that, the book with it's themes of hope, love and of never giving up is a satisfying read. ( )

This was a beautifully written book. My heart is still recovering. ( )