Reviews

With Every Memory by Janine Rosche

solenophage's review

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

One year ago the Mendenhall family suffered a devastating car accident, which killed the teenage son, Austin, and left the mother, Lori, badly injured and dealing with the loss of the last nine years of her memories.  Now as Lori returns home from her care facility, she finds her relationships with her husband, Michael, and daughter, Avery, strained both by grief and in ways she no longer has context for.  She struggles to understand the woman she became in the missing nine years and to uncover the source of her family's dysfunction which both her slowly healing mind and her husband seem intent on keeping hidden.  At the same time, Avery, Austin's twin, must begin to pull herself out of her self-imposed isolation and redefine herself without her twin and the friends who abandoned her during her grief. 

Despite the compelling premise, this book was only a 2.5 read for me.  I generally felt apathetic towards all the characters, which was unfortunate for such a character-focused story framed around heavy emotions -- grief, loss, and the way relationships can crumble or reform.  The characters' actions and emotional ups and downs - even those of the point-of-view characters - felt arbitrary, more so the further the story went on.  At times I was also surprised by how little weight Austin's death had in the story.  Michael seemed to have no raw emotions about it at all, despite being the most directly responsible for Austin's death, and Lori came across the same way at times.  I had to keep reminding myself, 'it's been a year, feelings dull,' but it still came off as odd given the framing of the story.  I think it was a product of trying to do too much in not enough space.  If this had just been Lori's story or just Avery's, there might have been more balance between their rebuilding of surviving relationships and exploring of grief as well as more chance to bring out their character.

bwagner's review

fast-paced

4.0

This is a new author for me which I enjoyed her writing style as well as her attention to details that made the story and characters pop.  I look forward to reading more from her in the future.  I found this book to be well written and hard to put down.  A story where a tragic accident, memory loss and maybe a past that is not worth remembering.  I enjoyed being pulled into the story from the beginning.  The characters are connectable, strong and bring alot of emotion to the story.  Lori is a great character and truly made the story for me.  I enjoyed watching the growth of the plot throughout the story.  There is a suspense aspect to the story as well.  It left me wanting to know more and had me turning pages fast.  I found this book to fast paced, entertaining and easy to read.  A story that took me on an emotional roller coaster and one you don't want to miss.  I highly recommend this book.

theodore17's review

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

bostieslovebooks's review

4.0

Lori is left with a traumatic brain injury that has wiped that last eight years of her memories when her teenage son is killed in her family’s tragic car accident.  As Lori returns home a year later, she struggles to resume her life with her husband and daughter.  Memories start to return and so do secrets. 

WITH EVERY MEMORY was an emotional read.  Despite the slow pace, there was suspense in not knowing what secrets would be revealed and how the family would be affected.  After reading the synopsis, I was surprised to find the book written in dual narrative with Lori and Avery being main characters.  I had been expecting this to be focused on Lori as the sole main character but her daughter Avery has a major role in the book and it feels at times that Avery’s story is more prominent.  For being Christian fiction, this book is pretty light on religious aspects.  Though this may be disappointing to some, it has the benefit of making the book accessible to a larger audience. 

WITH EVERY MEMORY was a good read that I’d recommend.  This is the first book I’ve read by this author. 

chelz286's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

After a horrific accident that left Lori badly injured and no memories for the last nine years, as she returns home to finally heal and begin again, she starts to question her life as she knows it and the memories of her life that slowly reveal themselves to her again. Things don't quite make sense with the comments her mother makes about her husband, as well as things he also says and does. Then she also has her daughter and friends who make comments or try to help her remember things, and it all seems so different from what she remembers about herself and her life. Often we remember things a little different than someone else who was at the same place at the same time but is there more to what really had been happening in her life, or is she piecing together false memories? 

This was a very interesting read, and I loved the story line as well as how the author wound it all together while also giving us glimpses into the past as everything was pieced back together for Lori. I thought the author did an amazing job with Lori's character as well as drawing out the scenes and how different each person interpreted them. She also did a great job of handling how grief also played a large role in this novel and that everyone really does handle it differently from the next person. 

Thank you to the author and to Revell publishing for the free novel and allowing me to be part of the blogger program. This review is of my own opinion and accord.