Passage by Connie Willis: Dr. Joanna Lander is studying near-death experiences, or NDEs. Dr. Richard Wright has discovered a way to chemically replicate what the brain goes through chemically during an NDE. Richard asks Joanna to confirm that what his volunteers are experiencing are indeed NDEs, but when funding and volunteers become scarce, Joanna goes under herself. I found this book extremely difficult to take, but in a good way: it’s extremely suspenseful and the characters are likeable and sometimes infuriatingly realistic. At first I wondered if this lengthy novel could have been shortened, but the various stories and details shared become important eventually, and add even more to the realism. Though at times emotionally harrowing, this was one seriously excellent story. A little dark in places – it is largely about death, after all – but it never loses all hope. And now I need to go pick up everything else Willis has ever written.

Also posted on BookCrossing.