Range of Motion

Reader reviewed by Dede

Range of motion is a breathtaking journey into how your world can turn upside down in a moment. Lainey and Jay live a life full of love for eachother and their two daughters, then one day a piece of ice falls on Jay's head while he's walking past a store and instead of it just being a little incident, it puts him in a coma. Everything is different, and Lainey goes through heartbreaking memories that are breathtaking for the reader. She remembers little things that turn out to be big things when she doesn't have them anymore, the way his breath felt on her neck as they slept, the way the talked to eachother about their days, the way they truly understood and "got" eachother. She heartbreakingly wishes for things, like that his last name was longer so it would have taken him longer to write out a check the morning of his accident, therefore avoiding the accident altogether. Jay lays lifeless while nurses give him "range of motion" exercises to keep his body healthy and since he can't move by himself. Lainey tells the world that she knows he is going to come out of it, but secretly she has doubts that plague her. She has a best friend who lives next door to her, Alice ,who is going through her own troubles with her husband, and they share their griefs with eachother. Lainey visits Jay every day at the hospital, and then when they can't do anymore for him, the hospital moves him to a nursing home, where she continues to visit and talk to him. We catch snatches of what he is thinking but only rarely. This book is beautifully written and I felt like I was going through the emotions with Lainey. Absolutely mesmerizing.