Author: Jennifer Echols
Publisher: MTV
Published: 20th July 2010
Source: eBook
WHY CAN’T YOU CHOOSE WHAT YOU FORGET . . . AND WHAT YOU REMEMBER? There’s a lot Zoey would like to forget. Like how her father has knocked up his twenty-four- year old girlfriend. Like Zoey’s fear that the whole town will find out about her mom’s nervous breakdown. Like darkly handsome bad boy Doug taunting her at school. Feeling like her life is about to become a complete mess, Zoey fights back the only way she knows how, using her famous attention to detail to make sure she’s the perfect daughter, the perfect student, and the perfect girlfriend to ultra-popular football player Brandon. But then Zoey is in a car crash, and the next day there’s one thing she can’t remember at all—the entire night before. Did she go parking with Brandon, like she planned? And if so, why does it seem like Brandon is avoiding her? And why is Doug—of all people— suddenly acting as if something significant happened between the two of them? Zoey dimly remembers Doug pulling her from the wreck, but he keeps referring to what happened that night as if it was more, and it terrifies Zoey to admit how much is a blank to her. Controlled, meticulous Zoey is quickly losing her grip on the all-important details of her life—a life that seems strangely empty of Brandon, and strangely full of Doug.
OK, OK, I admit it. I love Jennifer Echols and contemporary YA fiction. This book to me was heaven and I tried to read it as slowly as possible to spin out my enjoyment. Unfortunately I ripped through this novel in a couple of hours.
Zoey has to be perfect and have everything around her perfect, this does not make for a lovable lead character, but early on in the novel Zoey's world is flipped upside down giving us the opportunity to see through her barriers to the more likable and honest girl underneath. It did not take me long to get swept up into Zoey's world and enjoy seeing all the mistakes made along the way. As with Going to Far you see Zoey's mistakes and sometimes find you want to shout at and shake her. However this all just adds to Zoey's character and helps you see how she grows throughout the book.
In this novel Zoey loses her memory in an accident. I thought this was beautifully told. As the story is written in the first person we also have no knowledge of the period in question which is missing from her memory. We also only ever see Zoey's side of the story with her conclusions and assumptions for situations. I like that we never know what Doug is thinking, this makes his actions unpredictable and keeps you on edge.
I love the writing of Jennifer Echols and this book did not disappoint me. I preferred Going to Far due to the chemistry and, hello, John After! However this did not disappoint and I recommend to anyone who likes, or would like to try, contemporary YA fiction.
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