You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.39 AVERAGE
3.39 AVERAGE
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sooo bad. The characters aren’t likable and the story drags. By the end of it I wanted Shelby to go to prison. I didn’t care how bad she felt. She was boring. When she said she was going to turn herself in I was so happy. Unfortunately her punishment wasn’t bad. Despite not being a good person she still ends up with a happy ending.
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I wanted to get a head start on a few prompts remaining on the #buzzword challenge and found this book with an interesting prompt. Had I done a bit more research on the book, I would have passed on this, but that's the point of these reading challenges: to read something that seems interesting and out of your comfort zone; Rememeber Me Always is one of those books that I would have never chosen if I had read the reviews of others.
First, the book was published in 2017, so knowing this and reading it 8 years later, I can say that the story didn't age too well. It may have been popular to write stories about losing one's memory and having this boy chase you to believing that he's been the one for you, only to find out there are lies on top of lies on top of lies, and you have to figure out what's the truth. What irks me is that the author wants to portray Auden as the knight in shining armor who's going to be the one who unlocks the "missing memory" that Shelby blocked off due to her treatments of neural restructing, but it felt a bit stalkerish, like it was paralling the situation between Grace and Mike.
The timeline of the novel also seems a bit off. According to the past, this missing memory happened around Halloween, and it's safe to assume the event described in Chapter 31 happened that that moment throughout the entire school year, up until summer, and the start of the story opens up the following year, right before senior year starts. I'm also assuming the present-day events are happening within a two-month timeframe, but the way the novel is portrayed, it feels longer, with Shelby going on these dates plus rehearing for Romeo and Juliet (which seems very minimal and unimportant to the point of the story).
Not to sugarcoat the last piece, but I hated the ending and the epilogue. What happened at the end made sense, and it made sense with the epilogue, but it felt like a "privileged" epilogue. I'm also thrown off on the situation about Shelb'y's biological father (who wasn't mentioned). Like why she jumped to Stepdad One and Stepdad Two, knowing Stepdad Two is the reason why she's doing these treatments. And how could they afford the treatments? I'm assuming Shebly's economic status is somewhere along the lines between lower-middle class to poor (considering she pointed out Auden's living situation in a wealthier neighborhood nearby), which doesn't makes sense when the epilogue comes around.
Maybe Shelby shouldn't have tried to remember what happened, or maybe I should try not to remember this story. Not to drag the author, but it seems like her debut novel was better, and I've noticed that she hasn't written any other books since.
First, the book was published in 2017, so knowing this and reading it 8 years later, I can say that the story didn't age too well. It may have been popular to write stories about losing one's memory and having this boy chase you to believing that he's been the one for you, only to find out there are lies on top of lies on top of lies, and you have to figure out what's the truth. What irks me is that the author wants to portray Auden as the knight in shining armor who's going to be the one who unlocks the "missing memory" that Shelby blocked off due to her treatments of neural restructing, but it felt a bit stalkerish, like it was paralling the situation between Grace and Mike.
The timeline of the novel also seems a bit off. According to the past, this missing memory happened around Halloween, and it's safe to assume the event described in Chapter 31 happened that that moment throughout the entire school year, up until summer, and the start of the story opens up the following year, right before senior year starts. I'm also assuming the present-day events are happening within a two-month timeframe, but the way the novel is portrayed, it feels longer, with Shelby going on these dates plus rehearing for Romeo and Juliet (which seems very minimal and unimportant to the point of the story).
Not to sugarcoat the last piece, but I hated the ending and the epilogue. What happened at the end made sense, and it made sense with the epilogue, but it felt like a "privileged" epilogue. I'm also thrown off on the situation about Shelb'y's biological father (who wasn't mentioned). Like why she jumped to Stepdad One and Stepdad Two, knowing Stepdad Two is the reason why she's doing these treatments. And how could they afford the treatments? I'm assuming Shebly's economic status is somewhere along the lines between lower-middle class to poor (considering she pointed out Auden's living situation in a wealthier neighborhood nearby), which doesn't makes sense when the epilogue comes around.
Maybe Shelby shouldn't have tried to remember what happened, or maybe I should try not to remember this story. Not to drag the author, but it seems like her debut novel was better, and I've noticed that she hasn't written any other books since.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I would say the beginning of the book was slow to start but when the plot is actually being discussed it was well done. It kept me captivated until the end trying to recover the FMCs memories and how the story eventually unfolded.
it was good
It was a good story. Girls mind gets wiped clean of trauma and ex-boyfriend. Ex comes back and tries to get her to remember him. She has to decide who to believe and the 3 people she loves most has a different narrative to her life. It was great to read, but I could put it down for awhile.
It was a good story. Girls mind gets wiped clean of trauma and ex-boyfriend. Ex comes back and tries to get her to remember him. She has to decide who to believe and the 3 people she loves most has a different narrative to her life. It was great to read, but I could put it down for awhile.
So I really wanted to enjoy this book. I am trying to reach a reading goal and thought this would be a quick read. I was very wrong. The whole premise seemed intriguing and very mysterious, but at every turn it felt unrealistic and boring. I suffered through it. The writing was repeative and like it was written by a very untrained writer. A lot of phrased and dialogue felt overused. The whole plot was predictable and I didn’t really feel the love story as much as I thought I would. You just don’t care about anyone. I would not recommend. This book fell flat for me. Maybe it is intended for a younger audience that doesn’t know what good writing is?
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Shelby spent the summer receiving selective memory erasure medical treatments to stop her panic attacks. When she returns home to start her senior year everything is slightly off. Her parents and friends act different and she feels as if she is struggling to find her way back to her life. Then when she starts seeing a boy and he says they know each other she struggles to determine if he is real or just imagined. As the reader seeing through Shelby’s perspective it is also challenging to determine what is real or imagined. This is a very creative story that keeps you guessing and shows you just how important every memory can be.