ARC Review: Forget Me Not

 

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.

When I had just started this book, and was trying to explain what I was reading to a librarian friend, I prefaced the description by saying "I know this sounds like a very different book than I usually read", a statement that is definitely true. My desire to read this particular book stemmed from how much I loved Oliva's previous book The Last One.

Forget Me Not is definitely a book that makes me very glad I tried something new.

From the start of the book, readers are immediately thrust into Linda's difficult and overwhelming world. She was raised completely isolated from the rest of the world, and after even the only family she had ever known left, she climbed the wall and found herself out in a brand new world. Every facet of life outside her previous home is baffling, frightening, and anxiety provoking, especially the realization that her mother had carefully crafted her birth in an attempt to genetically resurrect her dead daughter.

Social media (hashtag #CloneGirl) continues to make Linda feel hunted and afraid, and her tenuous connection with her biological father doesn't bring her much comfort. So when her childhood home suddenly catches on fire, Linda finds herself drawn back into a reckoning of what happens when the past you thought you understood suddenly meets the truth.

This book is fascinating and completely gripping. There is a mysteriousness to it that calls what readers and Linda think they know into question constantly, which is what grabbed me the most about this book. There were also these strange chapters that seemed to be completely disconnected from the rest of the story, but came back to matter in a big way, and I liked the guessing game of trying to figure out where those fit in.

 Oliva does not pull her punches when it comes to the big twists, and this book had them in spades-I was completely shocked by the way things unfolded, but everything made sense looking back. The ending also left me feeling really satisfied.