Book Review – A Five Minute Life by Emma Scott

A Five-Minute Life

One of my favorite authors in the world because of her fascinating, heartwarming (and at times, super-stressful) love stories, and she’s hit another one right out of the ball park!

Whoooooooooo how I enjoyed it. I’m always wholeheartedly hooked when exploring characters dealing with mental health (or physical) conditions, and a persevering love that conquers all, and this one rocked my romance world. What I loved about it most? While it did remind me of a few movies – and the author mentions that (movies I’ll never forget, they were just so good), this story took it’s own turn and developed into a life of its own.

Plus, the fact that I was SO sure I knew where it was going to go, and it did… in the first half. And then I realized I had a WHOLE other half of the book to go, and now I had NO ideas (or tons of ideas… but no clue which direction it would take). AND I WAS THRILLED about that!

Michele G: …reading an ARC of Emma’s A Five Minute Life. Let me just say that receiving that ARC was the best Mother’s Day gift! Yay me! I love all of her words. But, needless to say, I didn’t want to sleep and I’m paying for it today…I’m at about the 85% mark. It’s wonderful. Y’all are gonna love it.

Cheryl: I’m reading Five Minute Life. So far, it’s just heartbreaking. No idea how this will play out.

Maryse: Almost finished A Five-Minute Life and I gotta say YAY!!!! Loving it. Everything I thought it was going to be and where I thought it was going, end up being ended up in the first 50%… then… there was the second half. 😉 SQUEEEE!!! I’m nervous though. Suddenly… other scenarios have cropped up in my mind. Oh and WHOA?!! Where did this cover come from? Yeah I think I’m good with it. 😉

Mona: I loved Five Minute Life! I felt the end was a little rushed, but overall a really good read!

Jean: Finished Five Minute Life last night! Loved it! Emma Scott’s writing is amazing and I’m never disappointed! I kinda like the first cover, but this one works too!

R: I LOVE the new A Five-Minute Life cover!!! Can’t wait to get the paperback! 😍

Maryse: I actually like this one better too! If I didn’t know how much I love this author’s stories and writing, I don’t know if the original cover would have intrigued me much. THIS one captures my attention.

Michele G: I think that’s probably true Maryse. I loved the other cover but already knowing her writing, it meant something. The new one is much more eye-catching from a marketing perspective and it’s beautiful as well!

R: It definitely grabs you!

Linda: Just completed A Five-minute Life by Emma Scott late last night. Couldn’t put it down. I’ll just say there was ONLY one sore spot I have about Ms Scott and this read….it ended!! Yep!! The perfect epilogue and then no more words!! Slid my finger across the screen of my tablet and zilch!! Nada. Very disappointing. 🙄

Maryse: LOL!!! True… but we got TWO epilogues, Linda. That’s pretty great when you think about it. 😉

So what’s it about?

Jim is new in town and gets a job at a mental institution as an orderly. He’s quiet and keeps to himself (struggles with self image issues due to his abusive childhood and a stutter that has resulted).

…her taunting voice still wouldn’t leave me the f*ck alone. I didn’t stutter through every sentence anymore, but it still lurked under my tongue and came out to play when I was pissed off. Or nervous.

He’s gorgeous on the outside, but only sees himself in  a bad way. Trust for him… is gone.

The grief crowded my brain and stiffened my jaw, settling into a stutter that promised years of torment from school bullies and worse abuse from the woman who was supposed to take care of me.

But there’s one girl he meets, that almost seems to emanates a radiant, shining light, and she utterly moves him. He’s fascinated.

She smiles, she’s funny, converses readily and so open to life. She’s an amazing artist and sees the beauty in everything… for five minutes. And then she resets. And starts all over.

And that’s when Jim realizes she’s a patient. Their instant and wonderful connection is not real.

…then it dawned on me. Like a tidal wave of cold water dousing the tiny, flickering flame between us. Oh, f*ck, you jackass. She’s a patient. A resident.

“How long has it been?” Thea shrieked, her voice echoing through the foyer.

“I d-d-don’t know…” I stammered to the pounding of my pulse.

She took a step back from me. “They’re working on my case,” she said. “The doctors. I had an accident. How long has it been?”

Day in, day out, she lives the same life. To keep her calm and from being overly confused from the constant “mind resets”, her caretakers keep everything always EXACTLY the same. From the conversations they have with her, to her bland surroundings, to how they answer her questions. The same questions. Every. Five. Minutes. Her “five minute life” is perfectly scripted. After a “reset” she doesn’t remember any of it.

“Oh, hi,” she said, her gaze darting to my nametag. “Jim? This is my sister, Delia.” I stared.

Gone. It’s all gone.

Just like our conversation in the foyer the other day. Vanished. Like it never happened.

So heartbreaking at times, because there just seems to be no way out. No hope. Doctors after doctors have looked at her infamous case (her conditions is rare and hers is extreme). Ugh… I felt as if I was suffocating. I actually had panic attacks FOR her, because I could feel her, and I couldn’t imagine that kind of… life. Claustrophobic. Trapped. SO trapped.

She was alive, but she was not living.

Jean: That book had my heart on the floor quite a few times……”How long has it been?”…….*sob*

Maryse: “Two years, and the doctors are working on your case.” I LOVE the word-chains…

Jean: Ugh! Yes!!!! So great!

Until Jim, the new orderly, takes special interest with the beautiful (but lost) Thea. He befriends her – despite the warnings from his colleagues and her controlling sister, and notices… intriguing variances in her usual pattern.

She smiled as she worked. Maybe Alonzo was right. Maybe Thea’s amnesia kept her from the horrifying reality of her situation. She didn’t know what she didn’t know.

But what if she did?

And the story takes form from there. 😉 I’ll let you uncover the surprises!

SO good, and like I said, everything I THOUGHT was going to happen from beginning-to-end, happened within the first 50% (Some of it was obvious. Maybe too easy. BUT STILL… OMG I WAS FREAKING OUT and infuriated and had yet another panic attack at one point).  And then there was so much more to explore from there. The second half blew me away (yes… more panic attacks). Just so much struggle, and potential monkey-wrenches. And hope. And variables threatening to take that hope away. I was hyperventilating. <— But I LOVE that. It means I’m living it with them… and not just reading.

4.5 STARS!!

P.S. Thank you to the author for sending me a review copy!!