A review by outsmartyourshelf
All Is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

Teenager Jenny Kraemer goes to a party hoping to celebrate with the boy she has had a crush on for ages, but ends the night running away in tears towards the woods, where she is sexually assaulted. Her injuries are so bad that her mother agrees for her to be given a treatment which renders the patient unable to remember what happened. Unfortunately it doesn't take away the feelings about what happened & Jenny spirals into depression. Meanwhile Jenny's parents are facing issues of their own & their marriage is on the edge.

Jenny starts to have sessions with a therapist to help her cope. Dr Alan Forrester disagrees with the treatment & wants to help Jenny remember what happened. Jenny also wants to remember, since as she cannot remember who attacked her, it could be anyone she meets. The boy sitting opposite her in class, the man at the bus stop, & how would she know?

Yeah, I hated this. Main reason is the narrator, the therapist, Dr Alan Forrester, who quite frankly should be struck off, disbarred, whatever the equivalent is for therapists. Machiavellian to the extreme, his actions go against everything a therapist should do. This book could be very triggering - there's infidelity, a suicide attempt, sexual content, & the sexual assault is graphically described at times. Now I've read very dark books before, but I can't think of anything redeeming about this one. 

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