When We Wake (When We Wake #1)

I underestimated When We Wake. I'm not sure why, but sometimes I just don't expect much from a book. Sometimes it works out that I get what I expected, but then there are those times I'm pleasantly surprised which happened to be the case this time.

I really liked the way the story was told. At first I thought it was simply in first person present, but eventually it comes out that Tegan is actually doing a live webcast about everything that's happened to her. I liked when she'd break from strictly story-telling to give insight on the situation that she's since learned. I'm curious to see how this will go in book 2, though considering her cast ended at the end of When We Wake.

Tegan's kind of an angry character, understandably. This doesn't make it hard to relate to her, though. While I was reading the first few chapters I kept thinking “no, I don't want to know about her past life, because I already know she loses everybody and everything,” but it's kind of important to get a feel for her life before in order to sympathize. I liked that instead of despairing she used her anger and hurt to stand up for herself and fight, despite the many people wanting to use her.

Bethari is a fantastic character. She stands by Tegan and backs her up no matter what. She's sensible, fun, and an awesome computer hacker. I love the first scene in which her and Tegan are introduced. It's all awkward and weird for the first few minutes, but then they discover mutual interests and become more comfortable which each other. I don't know about you, but that describes pretty much all of my friend experiences.

I really liked that because Tegan wasn't up-to-date on the times I got to learn about all the future stuff right along with her; it felt more natural. I don't hate being dropped into a story and figuring things out for myself, but it can hinder my enjoyment some. Healey doesn't go overboard on the future slang either. I do think it's important for a book set in the future to have some of it's own words because language is a thing that evolves, but too much of it can weigh a book down. I think Healey added in just enough for it to feel real, but not pull me out of the story. Plus, kooshy is a really funny word.


The Nutshell: When We Wake is a well-rounded story with a little bit of action, mystery, and a main focus on Tegan's integration into future society. The characters are all pretty fleshed out and it's easy to sympathize with Tegan and her situation. If you want a book with good characters, an engaging story, and well-developed futuristic world then When We Wake is your book.

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When We Wake is, in my opinion, futuristic science fiction done well. (I haven’t read much of it, sure, but I found very little wrong with this novel.) Tegan Oglietti wakes up in the year 2128, a hundred years after her last memory, only to discover she’s part of a huge government experiment where cryonically frozen bodies are healed post-mortem and then revived. The Australia of the future is nothing like the Australia she knew, and Tegan has to deal with culture shock, as well as grief for her dead family and friends.

Tegan, I think, is a very strong protagonist, especially when you consider the issues she’s forced to face. Known internationally as The Living Dead Girl, she a huge celebrity, and several activist groups want to use her face to further their campaign. Even the Australian government, it turns out, has plans to use Tegan for its own gain. It soon becomes apparent that Tegan can’t trust anyone, except her new friends, including a handsome young man who oh-so-conveniently looks just like her now-dead boyfriend. But throughout this, as Tegan learns more about the world she’s been reborn into, she never lost her personality, capitulated to unfair demands, or compromised herself. She was, I found, a very vocal and opinionated young woman, who wasn’t afraid to upset people to make her point.

“I am so tired of being used. The army tried to do it, Tatia tried to do it, and now you’re trying to do it. I’m a person, not a symbol, not property, and not a prop. If you want me dead, I can’t stop you, but I won’t make it easier for you, either. Dirty your own fucking hands” (pg. 273, ARC).

Yet while Tegan’s character was undoubtedly a strong contribution to this novel’s success, Karen Healey’s biggest platform, I think, was the ethical and moral dilemmas introduced in When We Wakee. Before her death, Tegan was a registered organ donor, which apparently meant that her body could be used for science and then revived. That seems, honestly, like a bit of a jump to me. To go from “yes, I’ll sign up to give my kidney to a dying child” to “yes, I’ll sign up to be resurrected”. Except Tegan never knew she would be resurrected, so is it okay that the government did so? I don’t know; I’m not saying this to insert my own opinion (I don’t actually have one anyway). But that question is a good one, first posed by the author in the first few chapters, but then abandoned. I would have liked to see more being done with that, honestly, since I find it so fascinating.

Going back to Tegan. When We Wake is narrated first person, addressing an unseen “you”, i.e. breaking the fourth wall. Typically, I’m not a fan of that. It’s just a pet peeve of mine and I know it doesn’t bother a lot of readers. For once, though, I didn’t mind that the character was directly addressing me, pulling me into the story. In many respects, the news-broadcast style reminded me a lot of the Newsflesh Trilogy (amazing books about zombies, bloggers, and government cover-ups). But then the last chapter happened, and Tegan did a really great Ponyboy impersonation. If you haven’t read The Outsiders, just know it’s a gimmicky thing authors do sometimes that annoys me a lot, and I always say something about Ponyboy when I see it.

I’m also a bit miffed by the fact that there’s a sequel in the works. Those last few lines would have been so perfect had When We Wake been a standalone. I’m honestly not even sure I want to read the second book, since this was fine as is.

But altogether, When We Wake is a smart, intelligent book that portrays a very plausible futuristic society, toys around with interesting medical possibilities, and is narrated by an admirable young woman. In some places I wish Karen Healey had delved a bit deeper into her subject matter, but overall this was a very interesting book.