A review by alittlebookish
The Art of Forgetting by Camille Pagán

3.0

I got this book via NetGalley and it was the cover that drew me in. The cover for this book is AMAZING! At first I thought the book would have more to do with ballet though so when I started reading and I was surprised to find that there was a very small link to ballet in the book. When I did read this I had just finished a book about a woman who loses her memory and wakes up everyday thinking she is 20 years younger. This book also has a component of memory loss. Julia is hit by a cab and is left with an acquired brain injury and her friendship with Marissa is changed forever. I have to admit that I was once in a friendship like the one in this book between Julia and Marissa. Julia was quite a dominant person in the relationship and Marissa oftentimes just agreed to things to avoid causing conflict. I was the one avoiding conflict and so I could relate to Marissa in one sense. I have to admit though that she frustrated me sometimes. She allowed this type of friendship to continue for years and years. In the friendship that I was in I eventually had to say enough is enough. I wanted to yell at Marissa when they cut to scenes of the past. After the accident, I could see that Marissa would be in a difficult predicament. How do you stand up to bad behaviour when the person acting that way has a brain injury? I like that in the end Marissa is able to learn new things about herself. Overall it was a good read and I give it 3.5 stars.