Reviews - The Memory Book | The StoryGraph

569 reviews for:

The Memory Book

Lara Avery

4.0 AVERAGE

ceej4947's review against another edition

3.0

Book was easy to read - I connected the most with it the last few pages. I enjoyed it overall.

rewjh's review against another edition

3.5

emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

booksandlemonsquash's review against another edition

3.0

I quite liked this book but it didn’t draw me in as much as I hoped. And I was very disappointed in the boys who I feel took advantage of Sammie. I loved her family though.

thereaderdragon's review against another edition

4.0

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Please Note: I received a free copy of [b:The Memory Book|30316954|The Memory Book|Lara Avery|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1472007218s/30316954.jpg|45902883] from it’s publisher Hachette Australia in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my review in any way, and all thoughts expressed are solely my own.

When I picked this one up to read, I didn't know exactly what I was getting into. I hadn't heard a whole lot about it. I'd seen a few people post about it on instagram, and got the vibe that it was going to be a bit sad. But what I didn't know was just how sad it was going to be. Not even 10 pages in, I decided that this book was going to destroy me.

Samantha "Sammie" McCoy has her next few years all planned out. She's going to win the national debating championship, graduate high school, and then move to New York to study. But that's not what life has planned for her.

After visiting the doctors for what she thought was just a migraine, she is diagnosed with a rare disease called Niemann-Pick Type C. This disease starts out a little like dementia. It affects the memory, and then slowly attacks the body and shuts everything down. I generally tend to avoid books that focus around any sort of disease or illness, because I always start suffering from some intense hypochondria. And shit man, this book totally fucked me up.

Sammie is determined not to let the disease beat her, and she won't let anything get in the way of her plans, so she creates a "memory book" for her future self.This book is her own little journal where she shares her memories and key points of her life, so that if she begins to forget, she'll still be able to remember.

Overall, the book isn't actually that sad, but quite amusing. The main focus isn't on the disease itself, but Sammie's life. For me, books can go two ways when it comes to high school and relationship drama. More often than not, I find myself tired and weary of the same-story-different-people situations, but Sammie has such an incredible sense of humour, and the way she uses it to tackle all of the everyday dramas of her teenage life actually left me wanting for more.

Her humour really took the edge off of what you know is lurking behind her words. The strength that it took to not let the disease get her down, and to not let it affect her life and get in the way of her aspirations is something that I truly admire her for. She felt so real. She's the type of person that I'd want to be friends with. She's honestly one of the best characters that I've ever read.

Sammie's decline came about rather swiftly, and it's honestly not something that I was completely prepared for. I would have liked if the decline had perhaps been a little more gradual, but I don't really have too much of a complaint to make there.

Although I didn't cry, The Memory Book was devastatingly beautiful, and I loved every minute of it. It was an excellent portrayal of strength, resilience, and the hardships of life.

julieanncordero's review against another edition

3.0

I was listening to the audiobook and it was good, but took me forever because I didn’t finish in the time period and then I would have to wait while someone else checked it out and then try to finish.

It’s a sad story where you know the ultimate ending.