Remember us…when I can’t.Thea Hughes has five minutes to live.A car accident stole her parents and left her with the second-worst documented case of amnesia in the world. She now has only minutes of experiences, of consciousness, of life…before her memory is wiped clean. The once effervescent artist with a promising future is reduced to scribbling with pens and paper, living an empty, quiet … an empty, quiet life, three hundred seconds at a time.
Jim Whelan is on autopilot.
A foster kid shuffled around the system since birth, he’s lived his entire life without knowing love…and it’s taken its toll—until he learned to fight back, carry his armor, and keep his head down.
Working as an orderly in the Blue Ridge Sanitarium, deep in Virginia countryside, Jim looked up…and found Thea.
When Thea has the chance to break free of her five-minute prison with a risky, experimental surgery, it could lead them both to an epic love they never thought possible… or one that could require the ultimate sacrifice.
***
50 First Dates meets Awakenings in this emotional love story by international and best-selling author, Emma Scott.
A Five-Minute life contains subject matter that might be sensitive to some readers.
#standalone #newadultromance
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WOW. Scott did it again! She always manages to grab me from the start of a story, fall in love with her characters, and just feel.
Thea’s life was rather horrific there for a while, because she was locked inside her own mind. And the only person who thought she understood and realized more than the doctors thought was Jimmy – the new orderly. And the way this story unfolded, from Jimmy’s point of view, was spectacular! I finished reading last night, and I still get a little teary-eyed now, when I think of this whole story. It was beautiful, but also a bit hard to read at times. And the writing was perfect.
Best book of 2019 and all-time favorite. I’ve never read a book like this and will never forget it. A Five-Minute Life is a game changer.
This book was AMAZING! This was my first but most definitely not my last Emma Scott read! The blurb captivated and intrigued me and the book did not disappoint and I’m not sure if I even have the words to describe it. With her whole creative life ahead of her, Thea’s life is halted by a devastating accident that leaves her with a rare form of amnesia. Jimmy is a damaged man, just living and working in a mundane nature and believes he’s no better than how he’s been treated throughout the foster system he aged out of. Their journey is unique and different and unlike any other book I’ve read. It’s a beautifully devastating story that wrecks you. The writing was amazing, as was the flow of the storyline. I really liked that the book was separated into three parts, and the epilogues really pulled everything full circle and gave us closure in an ending. Amazing book, great read, and I can’t wait to see what Emma gives us next.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
Friends, readers, book fellas…..THIS BOOK!!!
I just know I can’t do it justice while writing my review. It’s officially my top #1 read in all of 2019 and for the first time EVER!!! I want, I need to read it again. I NEVER read a book twice, like really NEVER EVER!
Right from the start I got hooked and the story, the characters were this amazing…unbelievable.
The setting is beautifully placed, the main characters are both so endearing from page one to the very end, the side characters are well integrated and the topic is so, so fascinating.
It’s totally unreal how blown away I am by A Five Minute Live.
The story not only glows with light and positivity and strength, Emma Scott poured all her love in it and you feel it. I don’t know how to describe it with better words, but I really felt the authors heart, it was like she did speak to me on a spiritual level deep in the confines of my soul.
A Five Minute Life is exceptionally, extraordinarily, is bursting with life and positivity. It’s terrifying, suspenseful, hard, soft, incredibly written and and 5 stars are so not enough.
Here’s a big shout out to this book and Emma Scott, because everybody needs to read this story.
I libri di questa autrice sono tutti indimenticabili e ognuno di essi è come una carezza al cuore.
Thea è una ragazza meravigliosa, solare, divertente e scherzosa. È anche un’artista eccezionale. Thea ha tutta la vita di fronte, ma un bruttissimo incidente la blocca per sempre in un incubo perenne, con brevi intervalli di luce e veglia della durata di cinque minuti.
Thea vive cinque minuti alla volta, trecento secondi quasi sempre uguali, senza memoria o, per meglio dire, con i ricordi bloccati a un istante prima dello schianto, quando la sua vita aveva ancora un senso. Quando era ancora viva.
Jim, invece, è un ragazzo la cui storia può essere descritta in esattamente cinque minuti. Tutta la sua vita in trecento secondi, non uno in più.
Fino a Thea.
Jim lavora come inserviente presso la clinica nella quale Thea soggiorna come paziente da due lunghi anni. È un giovane lavoratore silenzioso e attento, cordiale e rispettoso, ma dietro a tutto questo c’è una grave forma di balbuzie ormai quasi del tutto risolta. Meno parla, meno balbetta, una soluzione semplice che ha messo a punto in anni di sopportazione e frustrazione, di abusi psicologici da parte di genitori adottivi più interessati ai soldi che a lui. Jim è solo al mondo, non sa cosa significhi essere amato, ma sa amare. Sa prendersi cura delle persone, sa essere una brava persona nonostante la vita gli abbia riservato solo calci e insulti. E questo perché è un uomo buono, profondamente buono.
Ma sono gli occhi blu di Thea, il suo sorriso genuino e la sua vitalità a stravolgerlo durante quei cinque minuti di presenza. L’incontro con lei lo cambia. Per sempre.
Il silenzioso Jim vede Thea, la osserva con occhi diversi, con il cuore. E, alla fine, scopre ciò che tutti ignorano: Thea non è vittima di una amnesia senza ritorno, è imprigionata in un limbo dal quale vede e sente e ricorda anche, ma a modo suo. In quel modo così chiaro a Jim.
Così il nostro eroe dall’armatura scintillante dovrà decidere cosa fare, come vivere, adesso che ha qualcosa per cui lottare. Dovrà scegliere se rifugiarsi dietro i suoi timidi silenzi, dietro la paura di essere deriso per la sua balbuzie, dietro il suo eterno senso di inferiorità, oppure ascoltare il suo cuore, dare voce a quello che sente e vede, lottare per ciò in cui crede.
Il problema è dietro l’angolo e lui sa che nulla dura per sempre, niente è mai durato nella sua esistenza misera e colma di solitudine.
Un amore così forte da vincere anche quando sta perdendo, e lo so che può sembrare un paradosso, tuttavia, Emma Scott ha dato vita a una storia stupenda, a due personaggi così ben delineati da non riuscire a staccarsene, a un cammino difficile, ma esemplare.
A five-minute life è un romanzo indimenticabile e dolce, difficile e intenso, mai scontato e perfettamente strutturato. Fino alla fine, ma anche dopo, si ha la sensazione di leggere qualcosa di vero, di così reale da far male e bene allo stesso tempo. Un viaggio che insegna cosa sia l’Amore, il rispetto e la fiducia. Molti i personaggi che fanno da contorno a due protagonisti d’eccezione.
Assolutamente da leggere!
***5 ‘Reset’ Stars***
This book broke my heart even as it made it all kinds of melty, and everything in between. Not that I’m all that surprised since most books by this author have done that to me, but still, this one grabbed hold of me and didn’t let go until there were no more words to read.
It was so, so hard to not fall in love with Jimmy and Thea. Jimmy hasn’t had an easy life and doesn’t open up easily and yet he has this heart that is simply golden. Thea is vivacious and even though she is in a cage of sorts, the need to live is so bright it’s blinding. Their journey to their HEA did my heart in. It was all kinds of sweet, frustrating, heartbreaking and swoon worthy, but I loved how it showed that, despite the odds being stacked against you – and boy were these odds a mile high – that when you know, you know and I loved how everything turned out in the end.
I swear the feels in this one were real ~ to be hopeful, irritated and anxious all at the same time is a truly impressive feat, but it happened ~ and it’s something that I’ve come to love about the author’s words. She definitely packs a punch and this book proves once again why I #fangirl over her. So, if you’re looking for that read that makes you believe in fate and that no matter how many obstacles are in the way that happily ever afters can happen, then this is a definite must read!
~ Copy provided by Social Butterfly PR & voluntarily reviewed ~
” Thea was down in the dark, but I was down there with her.”
Another beautiful and exciting love story of Emma Scott. This time, she not only ripped my heart out of her chest but crushed it right in front of me without mercy or pity. OMG OMG OMG
Thea is a light and free spirit who has a quiet life with her loving parents and her serious and controlling sister. A situation causes a turn-around in her plans and she now needs to get by with her mind stuck in amnesia with only five minutes of memory. She’d forgotten almost everything about her life. Without past and without future, she seems to veg in time. Until Jim comes into her life.
Jim is an orphaned and stuttering boy who has suffered all and a little more from the stutter and dysfunctional foster homes he has been through. When he turns eighteen, he leaves everything behind and goes on with his life, struggling to get a job where his stuttering is not considered a problem. That’s how he knows Thea. They two have a quick connection because Jim sees beyond five minutes of her, he sees a Thea trapped in the nightmare of a defective brain that keeps her refem.
Thanks to the signs that Thea’s mind gives to Jim, he can help his friend and there begins a dilemma about the consequences and inconsequences of her personality that comes back to life and the fact that her sister does not want Jim to be close to Thea.
As always, Emma Scott manages to create a different plot with strong and suffering characters, full of symbologies and phrases of effect and a breathtaking storyline. She used a lot of the poetic license in my opinion because Thea’s problem is very serious that at various times I wondered if everything would turn out well, because Emma loves happy endings and I could not see a light at the end of this tunnel. But…
Throughout the story I realized how she really wanted to show Thea that even in her limitation she had to think more about her attitudes rather than just wanting to live crazyly. It was passionate to keep up with Jim’s growth and especially Thea as well as the way Emma managed to create a “villain” who, as she said herself, looked like a fairy-tale villain.
The book is divided into three parts with a prologue and two great epilogues to close the story with a golden key and many sighs. Narrated in first person by each one of the protagonists, I plunged deep in the mind of each of them and I saw myself total, completely and madly in love.
5/5 stars
I have NO WORDS!!!
…………………………..
Fascinating,Reverberating, mystifying, soulful and generous. This book gives you the world before crashing it down. Intense & moving, you’ll sneak a glimpse of what eternal, everlasting love feels like.
I’m moved and shook and my eyes are like waterfalls in rainy season
What a unique story, it’s now tattooed on my soul with indelible ink. I will NEVER be able to walk away from it. It crashed like a meteor on my heart and left behind a huge crater.
“Remember me; remember us…even when I cant!”
Can I die from sobbing so hard? Cause I truely have cried almost the entire duration of this story. I’ve wept and wailed like a bereft griever at a funeral. How can I sum up my devastated feelings in words. That task should and has fallen upon Emma.
Oh Dear Emma!! What have you done to me!!!
It’s a brief story, in the sense that it takes place in about 2 year span.
There’s this amnesiac patient- Thea Hughes. Her beautiful, artistic brain is trapped in a memory loop of 5 minutes
She was here, but any minute now, she’d be gone. And this moment, right here, right now, never happened.
The new, handsome, stuttering,compassionate orderly is acutely tuned to her case and somehow ends up getting his heart entangled with hers every five minutes, the span of her life memory.
He’s Jim Whelan- Jimmy with kind eyes
My heart ……just flatlined. Many times!
The powerful brief love they share makes me shake my fists to God and his designed destiny.
This story delves in not only undying, devotional love but also into the deeper meaning of life
“what are we if we aren’t our memories?
Who are we without them?
Where are we in this life?
They anchor us to all the who, what, and where. Without memory, we might as well be dead. Inside the amnesia, I’m not physically dead but I’m stuck in between both worlds.
Like a ghost.”
To capture as many raindrops of love nectar as we can and bask in their glory. Love, life, relationships are so fleeting…….like a butterfly!!!
This was my first book by Emma (I know, how dumb of me!) But I’m going to read every single word written by her. That’ll be my mission from now on
Each tear I shed was a testament to the powerful emotions her words elicited.
It’s EPIC in its feels, it’s storyline, characters and narration. I fell in love with Thea and Jim in the first scene itself. Tender hearted, lonely souls that anchor to each other in a relationship that has nowhere to go and nothing to give to each other.
I held her so tight, trying to keep her with me.
She was in my arms and slipping away at the same time. And she knew it.
She was sliding down a steep, unforgiving slope into the blackness of amnesia; desperately scrabbling for purchase, her fingers clutching my shirt.
It starts beautifully and then you can feel the danger and dread in the middle and the end almost killed me.
It’s beautiful, befitting and bespoke. In the sense that I could never have imagined or accepted any other ending. It made me smile so hard and cry yet again, joyous tears this time.
What a fantastic word painting you’ve created Emma, full of vibrant colours and words.
The pointillism was a genius touch and I got to learn something new today.
I’m tearfully babbling, so please go and BUY THE BOOK when it read it with a giant bottle of wine and extra large box of tissues
6 stars for exploding ovaries and melting hearts
**4.25 “remember us when I can’t” stars**
Waiting for the release of this book almost drove me mad. When it dropped early I dropped everything to dig into what I anticipated would be a story so fantastic that it just might replace the Full Tilt series as my fav by this author. None of us had any idea where this unique story would lead.
An effervescent woman and a brilliant artist who lights up a room and believes that “music is life”. A broken boy with a defect of his own who has never experienced true love or any sense of real family, and doesn’t know that he embodies the heroic core of every girl’s romantic fantasy. She’s wild at heart and he’s an overly-cautious protector. A tragic accident and one of the worst cases of recorded amnesia bring both together in a care sanitarium where Thea now lives life in 5-minute increments of lucid memory that reset over and over again. Her brain is so damaged that there is little hope of recovering her memory function. But, Jimmy “sees” through all the scrambled pieces of her mind to the fighter inside Thea that is struggling to get out and he’ll stop at nothing to help her.
ES is an author of rare skill that I admire immensely and whose touching romances have brought me many hours of pleasure and even more of gut wrenching tears. This book is no exception. The first half had a Groundhog Day feel to Thea’s 5-minute life that entraps her, and felt B&W compared to what comes next. It’s tense and intense, deeply emotional and really soul-searching with a swirling brew of characters, a sense of impending doom, and a forbidden aspect to Jimmy’s interest in Thea. By comparison, the second half is a brilliant splash of color in a journey of freedom and light that compounds the drama and tests tender love and dreams to the max. They bring each other alive to live in the moment … because, after all, that’s all we have.
This book had me all kinds of crazy – I felt passionately about Thea and Jimmy, as I went through an emotional wringer of hopefulness, desperation, and fear for this couple. One of ES’s many talents is her ability to craft really engaging characters who are damaged in some way with tragic crosses to bear, yet lift each other up. There is so much emotion crammed in these pages, yet silly me thought I might make it through one of her books dry-eyed. Right. There’s a point in which I sobbed so uncontrollably and loudly that I feared the neighbors would hear me. And the epilogue is priceless.
“I kept you here [in my heart] even when my memory wouldn’t let me tell you” Is there a bond or sacrifice or love stronger than that shared by Thea and Jimmy? I don’t think so. It’s a really beautiful, evocative story.
If there’s 1 book you need to read in 2019 it’s this one!!
Superb writing, unique and unconventional beautiful story of love and hope.
This book is worthy of 10 stars!
Emotional… yes! You do need the tissues. This book wrenched my heart then put it back together with a beautiful smile.
Thought provoking, passionate and intense, Thea and Jimmy’s story is brimming with emotions.
It’s a unique look at pure love from the least expected place under the most unsuspecting circumstances.
Go in blindly!
I don’t want say anything about the story, that you already haven’t already read. The fact is the way the story develops and evolves becomes a personal journey unique for the reader.
I found so many valuable life lessons in Thea and Jim’s journey.
One of them never take anything for granted, as life is so fragile and so precious it can change in five minutes!!
Another have hope!
A Five Minute Life was a breath-takingly beautiful story that will touch your heart and give you all the feels. You will be held captive from start to finish and will not be able to put the story down. It will evoke a range of emotions from you as the story progresses and the purity of the love between Jimmy and Thea shines through. This is a story about living life fully. Its about really seeing someone and its a story about hope.
These characters will own you. Jimmy and Thea were perfect and you will be rooting for them throughout however the extended characters also made a huge impact on the story most especially Rita and Alonzo.
A Five Minute Life was a phenomenal masterpiece worthy of more than 5 stars. I loved it and would highly recommend it to everyone.
This 10 star story is one of the best book I’ve ever read. This is an highly original story that made me feel so many emotions. I will keep this review spoiler free, because it needs to be experienced.
This is the purest love that can be found. Falling in love with someone regardless of their limitations and flaws. Jim and Thea are the most memorable characters I’ve ever encountered. It’s an original story with an highly addicting and captivating storyline. It made me feel so many different emotions, I still have goosebumps while writing this review. This is a sure page turner that had me hooked from the very first page read to the last one.
This masterpiece will stand out and come highly recommend for a long time coming. Beautifully written with love and passion from an amazing author.
Standalone told in a dual POV with an HEA. This author was very creative in giving me what I look for in my books, an HEA. I strongly recommend this story.
I’m stuck right now, I’m in complete and utter awe of this phenomenal woman’s writing, it’s just wow.
I just want to start by saying I’m a big fan of Emma Scott and her books. Not only does she write cracking stories but they manage to capture you and take your complete attention. They whisk you away into a world that revolves around her characters and their storyline only. It’s an incredible feeling to endure and it’s one that happens every single time I pick up a book from this author and A Five-Minute Life is no different. This book definitely has a top spot of my favourites from Emma and it completely deserves to be up there.
So being a big fan, when I seen Emma was blessing us with another book I just knew without a shadow of a doubt that I would NEED to read this books and boy, I’m so glad that I did because let me tell you this, what we get from this book is so unexpected and showcases just how brilliant of a writer she is.
Jim and Thea’s love story is quite an unusual one, it’s sad, heartbreaking but beautiful too. It’s complicated and WILL make you feel a whole bunch of emotions. I’ve never read a book with this kind of storyline. I mean, I’ve read books with amnesia but never ever like this one. This one is much more than just that word. I loved every single second with these two even if it broke my heart watching them.
Getting emotional from an Emma Scott book is a feeling you get used to and that’s what makes me love this author and her books so much. The emotional spin that’s on them, the realness of each one and the fact that you FEEL every single thing the characters do. Seriously, I can’t say this enough but this woman, she’s a phenomenal writer and I hope that she never stops writing.
A Five-Minute Life is a beautiful romance with extreme emotions that’ll gut you but also make you smile. It’s happy and sad, beautiful and ugly and it all mixes well. If you love emotional, this book is definitely one for you.
“You gave me my life back”.
There is no way I can properly review this book, I don’t have adequate words that can describe the phenomenal job that the author does with her words. This book is a heartfelt, touching, romantic book that depicts unconditional love. Every single character in this book deserves a standing ovation for the role they played in the book. Jim Whelan and Thea Hughes are unforgettable characters.
Imagine, you wake up and open your eyes and have to ask “how long has it been”? You only recognize certain people, certain circumstances. Imagine this walking up happens every 5 minutes. For Thea Hughes, this is her reality. Thea is in a traumatic brain injury center when she meets Jim. Thea is a vibrant young woman who is so full of life. She is flirty and charismatic and attracts Jim in a way he didn’t expect. Jim has had a difficult childhood which has turned him into a very compassionate person. The ride these two go on is unlike any other I have ever read. One of my top 3 book’s this year so far!
Jim and Thea’s love story is a reminder that, more often than not, all we need is one person to champion our cause–to believe that there is hope when everything seems utterly impossible. Thea’s memories consist of five-minute snippets that get wiped clean every time her brain resets. That’s what everyone sees and that’s what everyone believes. It takes Jim’s presence in her life and his attentiveness to take note of the seemingly routine and his persistence that others look more closely at Thea’s case which becomes a turning point for both their lives.
There’s such an innocence to Jim and Thea’s romance that called to me, but at the same time, the seriousness of what they had both experienced and endured in their pasts–pasts which bled into their present time and again–reminds us that these two are survivors. I admired Jim’s perseverance and his dedication to the cause that was Thea, but she wasn’t merely some pet project for him. She became his purpose and a reminder that there was more to life than whatever routine and schedule Jim had gotten used to. They became one another’s touchstone.
With a treasure trove of supporting characters and a moving story of love and hope, this novel was both character- and plot-driven. Emma Scott doesn’t shy away from the harsh realities that her characters are forced to face–harsh realities that we can either empathize with or recognize in our own lives–but then they get back up and move forward, doing so amidst the struggles and hurdles because at the end, it’ll be worth it. A Five-Minute Life may not be a five-minute read, but it’s one that’ll stay with you for far longer. This is one of the year’s best. Five-plus stars.
This was my first book I read by Emma Scott and it won’t be the last. I so loved this one. A Five-Minute Life is a wonderful written beautiful story. Thea is an amazing character. She’s been through hell but has a funny upbeat personality. Jim grew up in a not nice foster care home. He has stutter and keeps to himself. He feel a pull to Thea. I can’t really put to words how great this story was. There’s ups and downs in the story. I loved Thea and Jim and I was so rooting for everything to work out for them. I liked Thea’s sister Delia too. She may have caused problems but she was doing what she thought was right. This one is definitely one you should one click.
4.5 stars
Thea Hughes always believed in living in the moment. As an artist, she had drives and ambitions, and plans for her future. But an accident ripped everything apart and left her trapped in a never-ending loop. That was until Jim Whelan saw something in her that cannot be ignored. He was determined to set her free, but freedom could be as fleeting as time.
Thea faced a tremendous challenge that she had to navigate in literally minutes. Despite that, she learned to make good use of whatever she had. But she could also be a little too much to handle at times.
It was impossible not to love Jim. Even with his own issues to deal with, he was patient and compassionate.
The story was definitely unique, fascinating and thought-provoking. I loved how this book touched a subject that is terrifying to think of. It’s hard to imagine being in the situation Thea was in. The only thing is, personally I wanted to feel more.
A Five-Minute Life is a story of taking chances with two individuals helping each other breaking free of their personal prisons. It would appeal to readers looking for a romance with an uncommon premise.
Huh…I’m at a loss for what I should be writing in this review. I’m not often left with a heart and mind so full that I can’t form sentences and review a book that I could not love more. A Five Minute Life stole the breath right from my lungs. Emma Scott is an incomparable literary artisan… a word smith… a master at speaking directly to my heart, to my soul. No matter the subject matter or characters in Scott’s stories she always delivers passionate, heartfelt, soulful words in the most creative and uninhibited ways.
Thea and Jim are two of the most carefully crafted characters I have ever read. This story is traumatic and fulfilling. I’m in awe to the magnetic words and visions that Emma Scott builds in my mind with only 26 letters. Every time I read her work, I think wow, this is her best work ever, and every year I am right. This time, with The Five Minute Life she has written the best book i have read this year. I’ve read some really fantastic and just stunning books. What makes this stand apart from the rest is how it melded into my heart and soul… it’s IN ME now… a part of me. I can’t imagine anyone walking away from this story, from the vision Emma Scott created and not feeling affected by it. Read The Five Minute Life. You will NOT regret a single word of it. My advice, bring tissues and some chocolate, oh and I hope you have no plans until you’re finished because this is unputdownable.
I received an ARC of this book with the hope that I would leave an Unbiased Opinion. I was not required to leave a review, positive or otherwise, and my opinions are just that… my opinions.
I simply don’t know HOW Emma Scott does it!!! EVERY. SINGLE. TIME!!! Her words wrap around your heart and soul, the pain and heartbreak hurting so much but you KNOW that somehow, your heart will be restored and made whole again and the EPIC journey to get there will be sooooooo worth it! A Five-Minute Life is no exception…this book is ABSOLUTE PERFECTION!!!
Thea and Jimmy’s love story hooked me completely from the prologue (which had me tearing up, btw….reading the PROLOGUE!!! WHO does that??!!) And as I read I just got more and more immersed in their story, until it was done! I can’t even IMAGINE going through what they had to endure, but their deeply moving and emotional story will definitely stay with me forever!
I am completely overwhelmed with the emotions evoked from this raw, real, devastatingly gut-wrenching story that I’m finding it VERY difficult to put into words exactly how this book made me FEEL! There really aren’t adequate words in the English language (or any other, I’m guessing!) how truly beautiful, rich and gloriously enduring Thea and Jimmy’s story is! All I can say is this compelling, riveting, CONSUMING, never-to-be-forgotten book is one that EVERY SINGLE lover of romance HAS TO READ!!!!
If I could give this book more than 5 stars, I would give it a MILLION “Keep Me Safe/Keep Me Wild” Stars!!! So yeah, I’d HAVE to say that A Five-Minute Life is not JUST my TOP READ of 2019, it’s one of my TOP READS, EVER!!! Bravo, Emma, bravo!