Unremembered by Jessica Brody

When it comes to ARC's (Advance Reader's Copies), I only request books that I really want to read.  Unremembered by Jessica Brody was one of those books that I had seen in a ShelfAwareness newsletter and despretely wanted to get my hands on.  By Friday my very own copy had arrived in the mail and by Sunday I had finished the last page.  I read it in two sittings, which is seriously rare for me.  I just could not put it down.  Unremembered is a story about a 16 year old girl who loses her entire memory and as the story develops, you realize she's not your typical 16 year old. There were parts about it that reminded me quite a bit of Eve and Adam, which I also thoroughly enjoyed - but they really were very similar in multiple ways.

The only critique that I would have is that the character Maxxer who is introduced towards the end kept being referred to as a "she" and a "he", which was super distracting.  But I do realize that I had an unfinished copy, so it was more than likely something that hadn't yet been caught in the final editing. 

I'm kinda surprised that I've been enjoying YA Sci-Fi books lately - what's up with that?  I never would have thought I'd be into these type of novels, but cleeearrly when it only takes me 2 days to read a book, I'm very much enjoying it! :-)   From what I can tell on Goodreads, Unremembered is book #1 of a new series, so I'll for sure be keeping my eyes open for book #2 whenever it comes out. 

And last, but definitely not least - a huge thank you to MacMillan Publishing for the advance copy!!

Description: When Freedom Airlines flight 121 went down over the Pacific Ocean, no one ever expected to find survivors. Which is why the sixteen-year-old girl discovered floating among the wreckage—alive—is making headlines across the globe.


Even more strange is that her body is miraculously unharmed and she has no memories of boarding the plane. She has no memories of her life before the crash. She has no memories period. No one knows how she survived. No one knows why she wasn’t on the passenger manifest. And no one can explain why her DNA and fingerprints can’t be found in a single database in the world.

Crippled by a world she doesn’t know, plagued by abilities she doesn’t understand, and haunted by a looming threat she can’t remember, Seraphina struggles to piece together her forgotten past and discover who she really is. But with every clue only comes more questions. And she’s running out of time to answer them.

Her only hope is a strangely alluring boy who claims to know her from before the crash. Who claims they were in love. But can she really trust him? And will he be able to protect her from the people who have been making her forget?

From popular young adult author, Jessica Brody comes a mesmerizing and suspenseful new series, set in a world where science knows no boundaries, memories are manipulated, and true love can never be forgotten.

Rating: ****

Recommend: If you're into YA Sci-fi, then I think you would really enjoy it!

Love Anthony by Lisa Genova

Back in 2009 I read a book about a woman dealing with early onset Alzheimer's called Still Alice by Lisa Genova and it has stuck with me ever since.  RARELY does a book ever do that to me.  The fact that Lisa Genova has a PHD in Neuroscience from Harvard brings a unique aspect to her writing because you know she has the research to back it up.  I love that.  And yet, she doesn't write in a way that's pretentious or overly clinical.  She writes with passion and draws you into the character's life to the point of deep empathy.

As I was browsing the New Fiction section of my library, I saw Love Anthony on the shelf and knew I would enjoy it without even needing to know what it was about.  I just picked it up and walked out.  And as I had predicted, I loved it. 

Love Anthony is narrated by 2 women who are struggling with life-altering events and their struggle of how to make sense of them - and then their paths cross in a completely unexpected way.  Instead of Alzheimer's, we're given a glimpse into the mind of an autistic 8 year old.  I have heard so much about autism as it seems to be one of our cultures hot topics on kids these days, but never from this perspective.  It was so eye-opening and sobering at the same time.  I'm kinda surprised at myself for not reading her other book Left Neglected yet, I'll be looking for my copy at the library soon! Get your hands on a copy of Love Anthony, you won't regret it.

Description: From the award-winning New York Times bestselling author of Still Alice and Left Neglected, comes a heartfelt novel about an accidental friendship that gives a grieving mother a priceless gift: the ability to understand the thoughts of her eight-year-old autistic son and make sense of his brief life.

Two women, each cast adrift by unforseen events in their lives, meet by accident on a Nantucket beach and are drawn into a friendship.

Olivia is a young mother whose eight-year-old severely autistic son has recently died. Her marriage badly frayed by years of stress, she comes to the island in a trial separation to try and make sense of the tragedy of her Anthony’s short life.

Beth, a stay-at-home mother of three, is also recently separated after discovering her husband’s long-term infidelity. In an attempt to recapture a sense of her pre-married life, she rekindles her passion for writing, determined to find her own voice again. But surprisingly, as she does so, Beth also find herself channeling the voice of an unknown boy, exuberant in his perceptions of the world around him if autistic in his expression—a voice she can share with Olivia—(is it Anthony?)—that brings comfort and meaning to them both.
Rating: *****

Recommend: Absolutely.

Goodnight, Beautiful by Dorothy Koomson

First of all, will you indulge me for a moment?  I admit shamelessly, that I am a cover snob.  I really appreciate it when a book is published with a cover that goes along with the actual novel. Sometimes I'll be reading along and flip to the cover and be all, "wha??" But in this case, the mother & son on the cover are pictured EXACTLY as described in the book and I SOO appreciated that. 

K, moving on.

I loved this book.  In fact, I pretty much devoured it.  It was a bit tough keeping straight who the narrator was at the time, because there was no particular pattern of who was going to narrate the next chapter.  Sometimes it would be 1/2 page or page in before I realized who was now talking and then I had to go back and re-read that page so I could follow along. So yeah, that was a little frustrating - but overall, I really enjoyed the storyline and dialogue.  But the ending?  COME ON! You're killing me Ms. Koomson! I won't spoil it, cause I never like to, but it was a tad bit rough on me.  PLEASE tell me there's a sequel somewhere or that one is being written as we speak!  I'll for sure be checking out more novels by Ms. Koomson.

You can pick up your copy here. ;-)

Description: From the author of the internationally bestselling novels My Best Friend’s Girl and Marshmallows for Breakfast comes an incredibly moving, powerfully written new novel about motherhood, love, loss, and new beginnings.

Nova will do anything for her closest friend, Mal, whom she has known since childhood. So when Mal and his wife, Stephanie, ask Nova to be a surrogate mother, she agrees—despite her reservations about what it might mean for their friendship. Then Nova’s fears are realized. Halfway through the pregnancy, Stephanie finds a text from her husband to Nova that reads “Goodnight, beautiful.” Already suspicious of their deep connection, Stephanie demands that Mal cut all ties to Nova and their unborn baby, leaving Nova to raise the child alone.

Eight years later, Nova is anxiously waiting for her son, Leo, to wake up from a coma, while childless Stephanie is desperately trying to save her failing marriage. Despite her anger and hurt, Nova wants Mal to have the chance to know his son before it’s too late. Will it take a tragedy to remind them all how much they mean to one another?

Saturday Night Widows by Becky Aikman

I got nothing but mad respect for the six women who shared a piece of their lives with us in Saturday Night Widows.  Without having ever been through something as tragic as these women have, this book allowed me the opportunity to be a fly on the wall and observe the struggle and transformation from deep sorrow to indescribable joy.  And I also appreciated the frankness with which they shared how friends to those who are grieving, can best support them - what to say and what not to say. Trust me, I was taking notes. 

One of my closest friends growing up lost her dad to suicide in our early twenties and I wish I had read this book back then, just so I had a better idea of how to respond or what to say or understand a tiny piece of how she was feeling.  As tragic as it is to lose someone so unbelievably intertwined in your life, I finished this book encouraged and hopeful that through it all, time can heal and you can make a choice to grow and heal, ESPECIALLY with the help of friendships.

The first thing I did do upon finishing Saturday Night Widows, was look up Becky Aikman's site to see if she had posted any pictures of these fabulous women - and she did!  Click here for pictures!

Saturday Night Widows was graciously given to me as an Advance Reading Copy by Random House Publishing.  Look for it on shelves, January 22nd and pre-order your copy today!

Description: In her forties – a widow, too young, too modern to accept the role – Becky Aikman struggled to make sense of her place in an altered world. In this transcendent and infectiously wise memoir, she explores surprising new discoveries about how people experience grief and transcend loss and, following her own remarriage, forms a group with five other young widows to test these unconventional ideas. Together, these friends summon the humor, resilience, and striving spirit essential for anyone overcoming adversity.

Meet the Saturday Night Widows: ringleader Becky, an unsentimental journalist who lost her husband to cancer; Tara, a polished mother of two, whose husband died in the throes of alcoholism after she filed for divorce; Denise, a widow of just five months, now struggling to get by; Marcia, a hard-driving corporate lawyer; Dawn, an alluring self-made entrepreneur whose husband was killed in a sporting accident, leaving two small children behind; and Lesley, a housewife who returned home one day to find that her husband had committed suicide.

The women meet once a month, and over the course of a year, they strike out on ever more far-flung adventures, learning to live past the worst thing they thought could happen. They share emotional peaks and valleys – dating, parenting, moving, finding meaningful work, and reinventing themselves – while turning traditional thinking about loss and recovery upside down. Through it all runs the story of Aikman's own journey through grief and her love affair with a man who tempts her to marry again. In a transporting story of what friends can achieve when they hold each other up, Saturday Night Widows is a rare book that will make you laugh, think, and remind yourself that despite the utter unpredictability and occasional tragedy of life, it is also precious, fragile, and often more joyous than we recognize.
Rating: ****

Recommend: Absolutely.