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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Is it a little gimmicky and unrealistic that a 16-year-old would bump her head and lose all memory of the last four years? Sure. But in the hands of author Gabrielle Zevin, that premise turns into a neat exploration of high school identity, at least for a while. YA literature is often at its strongest when it's mirroring real-world dilemmas faced by young adults, and although few are likely to find themselves in this protagonist's particular position, that circumstance provides her with the freedom to redefine herself in a way that I think rings true to the adolescent experience overall. Teen cliques are permeable -- that's the insight that gave Freaks and Geeks such lasting power, and Naomi's amnesia is a great allegory for that rush of changing up your hairstyle, quitting an extracurricular that no longer interests you, and falling headlong into an entirely new social circle.
I also appreciate the subtle indicators throughout the first half of the story that the original version of the girl was different -- and specifically meaner -- than the new one we're getting to know. She doesn't understand what she saw in her boyfriend, who now strikes her as a stuck-up jerk. She isn't sure how she became one of the popular kids, or why she's lost touch with some old middle-school friends. She doesn't know why she's in a feud with her mom. Like Jason Bourne or the aged-up teenager in 13 Going on 30, she has all these inherited pieces of a life that feels like somebody else's, and the ability to start over again as someone altogether more pleasant.
Unfortunately, the end of the novel doesn't live up to its beginning. The plot largely collapses into some love triangle foolishness, and we spend a lot of time on one boy whose mental health issues might be interesting to examine in his own book but make him hard to take seriously as a viable romantic interest here. (He leaves her alone on the beach with no phone and no car for five hours! Come on now.) I'm also disappointed that the main character does eventually get her memories back, and that when she does, there's not really any conflict with reconciling her past and present selves. It all adds up to a letdown for a title that I was genuinely enjoying early on, so a final rating of three-out-of-five stars seems fair.
[Content warning for disordered eating, suicide, self-harm, and mention of rape.]
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I also appreciate the subtle indicators throughout the first half of the story that the original version of the girl was different -- and specifically meaner -- than the new one we're getting to know. She doesn't understand what she saw in her boyfriend, who now strikes her as a stuck-up jerk. She isn't sure how she became one of the popular kids, or why she's lost touch with some old middle-school friends. She doesn't know why she's in a feud with her mom. Like Jason Bourne or the aged-up teenager in 13 Going on 30, she has all these inherited pieces of a life that feels like somebody else's, and the ability to start over again as someone altogether more pleasant.
Unfortunately, the end of the novel doesn't live up to its beginning. The plot largely collapses into some love triangle foolishness, and we spend a lot of time on one boy whose mental health issues might be interesting to examine in his own book but make him hard to take seriously as a viable romantic interest here. (He leaves her alone on the beach with no phone and no car for five hours! Come on now.) I'm also disappointed that the main character does eventually get her memories back, and that when she does, there's not really any conflict with reconciling her past and present selves. It all adds up to a letdown for a title that I was genuinely enjoying early on, so a final rating of three-out-of-five stars seems fair.
[Content warning for disordered eating, suicide, self-harm, and mention of rape.]
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6288479-joe-kessler
--Or click here to browse through all my previous reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i think i would’ve felt more connected to this book if i read it in middle school lol
I literally tore through this in one sitting. Oops. Really enjoyed this concept of what's left when memory fails us, and what grudges we can choose to let go of. I think my only gripe was that I wanted a little more of everything. More flashback, more time healing the relationship with her mom, more emotional consequences of amnesia, and definitely more exploration of discovering who you can be without history holding you back. Basically just wanted to adult fiction version of this, but still really enjoyed it.
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
I loved this book on the whole, because I found Naomi's plight thought-provoking, and I enjoyed reading about the various characters, especially Will. However, there were a few things that I took issue to. I thought that there wasn't enough of an apparent disconnect in Naomi's thoughts and behaviour once she recovered her memory. The Naomi of the preceding pages seemed nearly identical to the Naomi of the following ones.
Throughout the entire book, we've been hearing about how different Naomi was prior to her accident and were shown glimpses of her life and personality through the eyes of others. But there wasn't enough of the previous Naomi as defined by herself, through her eyes. We didn't get to learn exactly why she fell in love with the yearbook in the first place, or who her other friends were (besides Will and Ace), or why she even began keeping a food diary. The dichotomy between the two Naomis wasn't fully reconciled, in my opinion. A lot changes in four years, and although the book does a good job at covering the external changes (i.e. her parents' divorce, yearbook, meeting Will), not a lot is delved into how Naomi changed internally within the span of that time. The amnesiac Naomi is bewildered by her apparent love for tennis and yearbook, but the post-amnesiac Naomi seems little altered by the recovery of her memory.
Throughout the entire book, we've been hearing about how different Naomi was prior to her accident and were shown glimpses of her life and personality through the eyes of others. But there wasn't enough of the previous Naomi as defined by herself, through her eyes. We didn't get to learn exactly why she fell in love with the yearbook in the first place, or who her other friends were (besides Will and Ace), or why she even began keeping a food diary. The dichotomy between the two Naomis wasn't fully reconciled, in my opinion. A lot changes in four years, and although the book does a good job at covering the external changes (i.e. her parents' divorce, yearbook, meeting Will), not a lot is delved into how Naomi changed internally within the span of that time. The amnesiac Naomi is bewildered by her apparent love for tennis and yearbook, but the post-amnesiac Naomi seems little altered by the recovery of her memory.
I really wanted to love this book, but I couldn't get past how dense I found the main character. I found her very boring, and I couldn't understand her motives behind most of the decisions she made. That was the main reason I disliked this book, but her relationship with her best friend was very lovely. In fact, it was the best part of the book. More power to you if you enjoyed it, because I know why people do. It simply wasn't for me.
Okay book, but not one of my favorites. It was cute, but I don't know if I'd read it again.
While I did not race through Memoirs, I was compelled to finish Naomi's story. Obviously there were points that I enjoyed, but as a teacher of high school students, it was lacking something. Can I tell you what? No. Naomi felt like a "Stepford" child, the incident with her hair seemed the most realistic moment of her story, but it ended there. I think this is one book that could have had more loose ends and I would have been perfectly content with that.