review : forgotten

forgotten, cat patrick (hg egmont)

mesmerising cover, quirky premise. it feels like it's designed for marketing pitch meetings and booksellers' spiels: so there's this girl, right? she's called london. and london's memory resets every morning so she can't remember anything from her past. but get this: she can remember forwards - into her future. so yesterday? no no. tomorrow? yes yes.

first of all, this book is very confusing, certainly not an easy read*. other reviews have noted the inconsistencies in the story and what and why she can remember and i'd have to agree. is her future set in stone? can her memories change, you know, if a butterfly flapped its wings in front of her? i'm still not sure, and i've finished the book. and if the future can change, then is anything real? poor old london.

the twist towards the end of the book that shoots the story off in another direction - this is the point in the book that i actually got into it. the love story just didn't sustain my interest, like so many "romances" in so many young adult books at the moment there was attraction for no real reason - made even more unreasonable in this case, given that london had no idea who luke was each day and had to rely on her notes to know what had been going on in her life.
but yes - the twist. it was great. the book should have been about this mystery.

occasionally i blerg-ed at some lines, ie. "the wind sets flight to my bright auburn locks" (i know i go around talking about my hair like that) and also the bit where a car beeps its horn at london and her mum "politely". errrr? a beep is a beep is a beep.

however! forgotten was very interesting novel and for the most part i did actually like london - her voice was mostly fantastic and some lines were delightfully flippant and funny. some nice original observations, the intriguing premise and then the twist spurred me to read through to the end.

reviews here and here, and check out the latest issue of viewpoint.

* i agree with folks that this is not dissimilar (that is, it's similar) to the time traveller's wife which is also an awkwardly written novel. and no, i did not like that book at all. i do like this one better.