Reviews

Forget This Ever Happened by Cassandra Rose Clarke

lsparrow's review against another edition

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3.0

A young adult -lesbian romance/mystery/adventure about timelines and monsters/alliens. Set in 1993 small town texas. I liked the 90's references throughout the book. An interesting premise and a cute story.

mynameisluka's review

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mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

thebooklovingpanda's review against another edition

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4.0

All the things in the world create music, and as we move through the universe, that music runs into other music and overlaps. Everyone in the town overlaps with everyone else, and together they create the music of Indianola.

4.5 stars

This was way creepier than I'd expected! In a good way, of course - I was anticipating a sort of mystery-paranormal-urban-fantasy, and this felt like a seamless, atmospheric blend of sci-fi-thriller-horror with a shimmering thread of a super soft sapphic love story. They were adorable and I thought the extra significance (no spoilers!) to their meeting and mutual attraction was nicely done.

I loved reading both POVs and the differences between their personalities and history. They're both at different points of the 'queer journey' - Claire just figuring out that that she can like a girl too, and Julie falling (again) for who she thinks is a straight girl. The close family bond between Julie and her older cousin Lawrence was nice to see too. There are few supporting characters but the ones we do meet (just Lawrence, really) are nice and I cared about them, if not as much as the two leads.

The 'forgetting' and memory warping was a great premise - so creepy. The antagonist was so nauseatingly off, wrong and weird and I got big Other-Mother ('Coraline' by Neil Gaiman) vibes.

other mother coraline movie gif
God. So creepy. Don't think I'm ever watching that movie again.

The antagonist's motives were believable and I definitely shared Claire's reaction to them!

There is a lot of the 'adults being useless' trope here, which isn't my favourite. However, I wonder if it's to do with the magic vs adulthood concept (like in 'The Polar Express'), more than being a YA genre convention?

[Julie] thinks about all the adults who have dismissed her concerns. Maybe accepting the monsters is a part of growing up. She's not sure what that means about growing up, though.

Recommended for 'Riverdale' and Teen Wolf' fans - while I did give up on 'Riverdale' a few seasons in, I still really enjoyed this!

storm gif

Thank you to TBR and Beyond Tours and Edelweiss for the eARC for an honest review.

nimbushfish's review against another edition

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medium-paced

3.0

figlesbian's review against another edition

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funny mysterious tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

this was sweet! i don’t think i was the target audience for this as at times it felt arduous to read, but i really wanted to know how it ended and how the mystery would unfold! in my opinion a very okay book, that someone else will definitely have a better time reading :)

kc257's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious

4.0

anne1234mint's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

dreareads_'s review against another edition

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5.0

This was SO MUCH FUN!

The top review on here calls it “too weird” and I full understand that but it was also why I loved it.

I mean talking reptiles, a town that keeps forgetting there are monsters, time lines, aliens, and memory loss. And on top of that a coming of age story about a bisexual girl falling in love with the towns goth girl and finding herself??
✨What is not to Love?✨

Yes the mystery was a bit easy to guess and it the themes of race that it explores were not fully developed but the 90’s vibes really made the story worth it.

I HIGHLY recommend this

whatabetty's review against another edition

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this was an odd duck

katsnaps's review against another edition

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1.0

DNF. I has expectations for this book based on the description but very early on it became more campy than surreal.