Scan barcode
kyriannaj's review
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
The premise of the book is intriguing, but it's written as if someone is cosplaying a millennial from Buzzfeed articles with all the hashtags, slag, and dated pop culture references. The main character, Mia, is flawed at best and unlikable at worst, making it hard to root for her. Upon the continual discovery of her poor past life decisions and seeing she's continuing down the path it makes it difficult to believe she'll actually change. The ending is unsatisfying, as the reader is told Mia is going to change but the only way you see this change is through intense, unfiltered Instagram posts, not actual decisions or actions, which goes against what the author is seemingly wanting to say about social media and selfies. Mia rapidly alternates what she thinks and believes about situations within pages, but every time it's treated as a conviction she's certain of, rather than someone trying to unscramble their life with no memories. It made it difficult to understand who Mia was, but her indecisiveness is never addressed to feel like a proper creative decision rather than just attempting to increase the drama. Speaking of drama, it kept increasing to such an unrealistic level it felt like a soap opera. Mia's decisions don't make sense and the reader is left in the dark about so many things until the very end when the plot is speedran to completion. Halfway through the "searching for who tried to kill Mia" plot is forgotten about, adding to the feeling of the book struggling to wrap up the loose ends within the last 50 pages. The points about selfie culture and social media's influence are heavy handed throughout leaving them feeling inauthentic and adding to the feeling of Mia just being a caricature of what the author thinks a millennial acts like. Everything happens solely for the purpose of plot convenience, on top of too many plot holes to name. The events in the book, both past and present, don't feel connected and despite the premise being Mia figuring out who she was and what her life was like before amnesia, the reader is the one left to piece together and reflect on what these things show about her past life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism and Medical content
Moderate: Drug use, Sexism, Sexual content, Dementia, and Death
Minor: Murder, Alcohol, and Blood
More...