While I Was Sleeping by Dani Atkins

While I Was Sleeping

by Dani Atkins

'Dani Atkins is the undisputed queen of fiction that packs a huge emotional punch' heat
'Have your tissues at the ready for this tear jerker of a read’ Closer
'Brings heart-wrenching surprises' Woman & Home
‘I simply adored this heart-breaking, brilliant read’ Sun
A brand new and brilliant emotional family drama for fans of Jojo Moyes and Dorothy Koomson, from the bestselling author of Fractured.

What if someone else was living your happy ever after?
When Maddie wakes up in a hospital bed, she can't remember anything about what happened to her or what has changed.
She just remembers she was about to be married and had everything to look forward to.
But it seems life has become a lot more complicated while she has been asleep ...

'This book is filled with the utmost compassion and it has stayed with me long after the final page … An absolute triumph of storytelling' Penny Parkes
‘A touching story about love, loss, survival and an unconventional friendship. Dani writes with heart and soul. Prepare to be moved’ Alice Peterson
‘A story of hope and love, this brilliant family drama shows that none of us knows what the future holds’
Prima
‘A warm and memorable novel, with a dilemma at its core, and will appeal to readers of Jodi Picoult and Nicholas Sparks. Atkins deserves more recognition for her commercial fiction. Thoroughly enjoyable’ Independent on Sunday
'Tear-jerker' Bella

Further praise for Dani Atkins' novels:
‘A heart-warming story of love and loss that will stay with you long after the last page’ My Weekly
‘A beautiful romance with a twist’ Woman
‘If you like Jodi Picoult then you’ll love This Love’Lovereading
‘Such a beautiful book’ Brewandbooksreview
‘A true celebration of life, family and relationships’ culturefly
‘What a stunningly beautiful love story, I’m bereft that it’s over’ RatherTooFondofBooks
‘Heartbreakingly beautiful. A must-read’ blogsbybooksby
‘Flawless’ reabookreview
‘I wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone’ rachelsrandomreads
‘Poignant and heartfelt’ vivavoce
‘A heartbreaker of a book’ handwrittengirl
‘Heartbreakingly brilliant’ Daily Mail
'Truly magnificent storytelling’ Veronica Henry
'Fans of Me Before You will love this' Patricia Scanlan
‘For those of you who have ever wondered about you first love or thought about the one that got away, this story will speak to your heart. I read it in one sitting – and it’s heartbreakingly brilliant’ The Sun
 ‘This is easily one of the best books I have ever read, and I don’t say that often!’ thelunamayblog
‘A gripping and emotional family drama … With breath-taking plot twists, Dani explores themes of serendipity, friendship and love’ Fabulousbookfiend

Reviewed by Emma (SCR) on

5 of 5 stars

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This review was originally posted on Star Crossed Reviews I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.Thank you to Simon and Schuster for my copy of this book and for letting me take part in this tour. I am a huge fan of Dani's work so when I saw on facebook that there was an opportunity to be a part of the blog tour for this book I immediately emailed S&S.

There is so so much I could say about the things I loved in this book but it would totally ruin it for anyone who hasn't read it. Dani built in layer after layer in this book and all you feel after you open each one is that you need to talk about it. So if you have read it or are currently reading it feel free to drop me a DM on any of my socials if you need to let it all out. 

There were parts of this book that was actually very personal to me. I really don't want to say why because it will seriously ruin the book but those bits got me good. It was actually very interesting seeing it from Ryan, Maddie and Chloe's perspectives. 

Have you ever read a book and taken on the mood of the character in the book? Well I did this a lot in this book. Dani's writing is so emotive that I was not only taking in all the emotions I was projecting them all back out again. 
When I finished the last chapter (before the epilogue) I had tears streaming down my face, when I turned the very last page of he epilogue all I wanted to do was sob. I grabbed my boyfriends' hand and I was so grateful to have him there with his arms around me. 

I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this book. While there were many, many tears there were also a lot of laughs. This book will take you on a roller-coaster of emotions and at the end you will feel completely and utterly broken but I cannot recommend reading this book enough. It is worth the pain and the anguish that it brings.  

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 23 August, 2018: Finished reading
  • 23 August, 2018: Reviewed