baoluong 's review for:

The Memory Book by Lara Avery

4.0

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Sammie is that one girl with the PLAN. You know the whole gist by now. Small town doesn't have anything to offer. She wants to go to New York and make something important of herself. Yet here comes the crippling disease that will not only kill her but slowly rob her of her memory. She'll lose all sense of herself until she dies. Sad, I know.

This doesn't mean Sammie won't stop trying to gain back any semblance of normalcy. So she begins writing down her thoughts. Everything she's feeling to the smallest minuscule details. If she can just prove that she'll be the exception to this disease, she won't have throw away the past years of her life.

What I like is not so much Sammie but her friends and family. While Sammie is understandably upset, this diagnosis makes apparent how terrible of a person she was when she was healthy. Solely focused on success, she decided creating relationships with people weren't so important. That means the one person who might care about her is also the one person she pushes away. It's hard to fault Sammie because she thinks she's doing what's right. It also happens to be selfish and dishonest.

So this doesn't even touch the whole mess that is the Stuart and Cooper situation. We know from the beginning that Stuart is the artsy guy who is sensitive and wants the clout of taking care of his sick girlfriend. Cooper is the guy next door who's actually THE ONE. I don't think this dynamic works but whatever. I found the romantic ending a bit contrived and there's not much payoff. It's more heartbreaking to read Sammie's dissent. As she struggles to remember who she is.

I just don't care for the forced romance. I think there could be a lot more time dedicated to learning how to live with a disease. Instead, we get something a little watered. I recommend this for fans of people who are sick and find love in the process.

Melodramatic but that's necessary. The watercolor opacity is pretty cool. That's all.