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pardum's review
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
A fun and quick adventure, though the mystery was pretty obvious. I wish there had been more backstory about the supernatural elements. Not the best at what it's trying to do, but with how fast a read is it doesn't overstay it's welcome.
ghostlyprince's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
moll_e's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
tobiologist's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
monisousa93's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
columbo's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Largely okay, the tone was good, the mystery was good for the first third or half, but it seemed like we got all the clues needed to understand everything, and any scene where the characters tried to learn more, they'd just be told the same information. It got repetitive and frustrating, and that drove the otherwise quick pace to a halt. Probably would've been a decent novella. Another issue is that the characters largely had no agency.
lazygal's review against another edition
1.0
For me, this was more a "forget you read this" - the town and whatever mystery it holds is so poorly sketched out in the first 25%, and the burgeoning triangle between Claire and Julie and Abigail is really "meh" because we're given little reason to care. Ditto the monsters at the power plant. DNF.
ARC provided by publisher.
ARC provided by publisher.
librariann's review against another edition
3.0
Premise: if Bob were a YA novel and there were also time-traveling aliens and attempted murder and an lgbtqia+ romance.
This was enjoyable but also kind of everything but the kitchen sink. A ridiculous, swampy book with a more than a touch of the wholesome bizarre. I want to compare it to weird TV, but I'm not sure which weird TV to compare it to - like, a Sci Fi channel original movie?
I don't know who I'd give it to but it's a good filler book to read between other, better, books.
This was enjoyable but also kind of everything but the kitchen sink. A ridiculous, swampy book with a more than a touch of the wholesome bizarre. I want to compare it to weird TV, but I'm not sure which weird TV to compare it to - like, a Sci Fi channel original movie?
I don't know who I'd give it to but it's a good filler book to read between other, better, books.
julieannasbooks's review against another edition
4.0
⭐⭐⭐.5
Thank you to Holiday House and TBR and Beyond Tours for an ARC. All opinions are my own.
Forget This Ever Happened has such an interesting an unique premise for those who enjoy YA mysteries with a bit of a sci-fi twist. We start off in a small Texas town in 1993, and for starters, I loved experiencing a YA book in a different era. With the exception of historical YA fiction, I feel like it’s rare to see YA books in decades other than the present. This added several details and interesting elements to this book to make it more fun.
It doesn’t take long before this book begins to enter the mysteries behind the town. And not only do you have the core mystery of what’s happening in Indianola, but you also have the exploration of the families within town and what their histories really are. For this reason, it was hard for me to put the book down – I only really did so when I was too tired to keep reading! This is the kind of book where you get more questions with every answer, and with the supernatural twist you can only keep reading because you don’t know what to expect next.
I also really liked the relationship and the exploration of identity in this book. While this book is overall a light read and doesn’t go too deep into this part of the story, I liked the way the characters began to think about themselves and each other differently over the course of the summer.
I do wish that we got to learn a little more about the monsters though! I loved the oddities surrounding them and I was hoping to learn a little more of their history. I definitely enjoyed the scenes with them as they provided such an eerie vibe to this whole book and would have loved to get a little more time with them or have them be more developed in general – whether that was more dialogue with them or something like Claire and Julie searching previous records at the station.
Overall, Forget This Ever Happened was a pretty unique read! It’s delightfully weird and eerie and works well for YA readers that are looking for a light mystery with some spooky elements.
You can find more of my reviews here: www.julieannasbooks.com
Thank you to Holiday House and TBR and Beyond Tours for an ARC. All opinions are my own.
Forget This Ever Happened has such an interesting an unique premise for those who enjoy YA mysteries with a bit of a sci-fi twist. We start off in a small Texas town in 1993, and for starters, I loved experiencing a YA book in a different era. With the exception of historical YA fiction, I feel like it’s rare to see YA books in decades other than the present. This added several details and interesting elements to this book to make it more fun.
It doesn’t take long before this book begins to enter the mysteries behind the town. And not only do you have the core mystery of what’s happening in Indianola, but you also have the exploration of the families within town and what their histories really are. For this reason, it was hard for me to put the book down – I only really did so when I was too tired to keep reading! This is the kind of book where you get more questions with every answer, and with the supernatural twist you can only keep reading because you don’t know what to expect next.
I also really liked the relationship and the exploration of identity in this book. While this book is overall a light read and doesn’t go too deep into this part of the story, I liked the way the characters began to think about themselves and each other differently over the course of the summer.
I do wish that we got to learn a little more about the monsters though! I loved the oddities surrounding them and I was hoping to learn a little more of their history. I definitely enjoyed the scenes with them as they provided such an eerie vibe to this whole book and would have loved to get a little more time with them or have them be more developed in general – whether that was more dialogue with them or something like Claire and Julie searching previous records at the station.
Overall, Forget This Ever Happened was a pretty unique read! It’s delightfully weird and eerie and works well for YA readers that are looking for a light mystery with some spooky elements.
You can find more of my reviews here: www.julieannasbooks.com