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Unremembered #1
Violet
Quando il volo 121 della Freedom Airlines precipita nell'oceano Pacifico, nessuno si aspetta che ci siano dei superstiti. Così, la notizia di una giovane donna ritrovata a galleggiare tra i rottami dell'aereo, praticamente illesa, fa il giro del mondo. Nessuno sa spiegarsi come possa essere sopravvissuta... tantomeno lei. La sua mente è una tabula rasa: non ricorda il proprio nome né nessun avvenimento della sua vita, e non sa cosa ci facesse su quel volo. Le sue impronte digitali e il suo DNA non si trovano in alcun database, nessuno ha denunciato la sua scomparsa. Intrappolata in un mondo che non riconosce, con delle abilità che non è in grado di comprendere e ossessionata da una minaccia che è solo un'eco nella sua testa, la misteriosa ragazza si sforza di rimettere insieme i pezzi del proprio passato e scoprire chi è veramente. Ma a ogni indizio seguono nuove domande, e il tempo per trovare le risposte è sempre meno. La sua unica speranza è un ragazzo affascinante, che sostiene di conoscerla da prima dell'incidente e di averla aiutata a fuggire da un esperimento top secret. Ma lei di chi può fidarsi davvero?
294 pages, Hardcover
First published February 28, 2013
181 people are currently reading
18469 people want to read
About the author
Jessica Brody
60 books2,809 followersJessica Brody is the author of more than 20 novels for teens, tweens, and adults including The Geography of Lost Things, The Chaos of Standing Still, Amelia Gray is Almost Okay, A Week of Mondays, 52 Reasons to Hate My Father, the Unremembered trilogy, and the System Divine trilogy which is a sci-fi reimagining of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, co-written with Joanne Rendell. She’s also the author of the #1 bestselling novel-writing guides, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel and Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel as well as several books based on popular Disney franchises like Descendants and LEGO Disney Princess. Jessica’s books have been translated and published in over 20 languages and several have been optioned for film and television. She’s the founder of the Writing Mastery Academy and lives with her husband and three dogs near Portland, OR.
Visit her online at JessicaBrody.com or WritingMastery.com. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram @JessicaBrody
Visit her online at JessicaBrody.com or WritingMastery.com. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram @JessicaBrody
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,114 reviews
February 12, 2013
2.5 stars
The problem with Unremembered is that it explores a concept which, though fascinating, has been done many times before in various ways and has also been done far better. What you have here is a simple, entertaining sci-fi novel about a girl who is more than what she seems, supposedly the sole survivor of a plane crash but unable to remember anything. Furthermore, her name isn't on the flight manifest and no one can find out who she is, where she came from or who her family are.
It's a fast-paced ride that will probably wow readers who are new to the young adult science fiction genre because the questions it asks are ones that many love to ponder: what is it that makes us human? If a person with a prosthetic limb can still be considered human, what about someone made up of prosthetic organs? If we were to create a robot that breathes, eats, thinks and feels like a human, is it still not human? And why or why not? But, when it comes down to it, this is hardly a new area and I think readers who enjoyed The Adoration of Jenna Fox could be disappointed by this similar but far more simplistic tale.
Unremembered is the "beach read" equivalent of The Adoration of Jenna Fox without the complexity or depth of emotion, it had enough action scenes, chases and well-placed surprises to keep me interested but I still see no reason to recommend this when there's a much better option available.
I also didn't like how this book relied on the romance to propel the plot forward. I've said it before many times and I find myself saying it again here: I love a good love story which complements the main plot but I do not like it when a book which is supposed to be about science, technology and ethics turns into one where there is more talk of "soul mates" and quoting poetry than the far more pressing matters. Unremembered has quite a heavy romantic focus from the very beginning when a "mysterious boy" *eye roll* turns up by Violet/Sera's hospital bed and appears to be the only one who knows her. A large portion of the novel focuses on Violet/Sera uncovering her memories about her love for this boy - not enough is about the cool stuff like the organisation that is conducting strange experiments with DNA.
This book isn't unenjoyable (yeah... not exactly a word) but it is a long way from remarkable. Quite disappointing.
November 22, 2023
ugh... WHY WHY!!! WHY!!! has everything I've read lately been so predictable.
This girl woke up from a plane crash and can't remember anything... I find that odd because it only took me to page 23 to figure everything out; why couldn't she... That has to be like some kind of new record.
I wanted to love this book but my eyes nearly fell out from rolling them so hard. You want me to believe that this guy loves this girl even though they barely know each other and most of their time spent together is in brief flashbacks.... NO.
The story relies too much on the romance that doesn't live up to what it could have been.
This book is supposed to be SCI-FI as well, yet nothing scientific is explained. The first half of this book is alright. The second half of this book is a delivery from the hot mess express.
It's not like Brody's writing is lacking in talent, it just didn't tickle my fancy.
This girl woke up from a plane crash and can't remember anything... I find that odd because it only took me to page 23 to figure everything out; why couldn't she... That has to be like some kind of new record.
I wanted to love this book but my eyes nearly fell out from rolling them so hard. You want me to believe that this guy loves this girl even though they barely know each other and most of their time spent together is in brief flashbacks.... NO.
The story relies too much on the romance that doesn't live up to what it could have been.
This book is supposed to be SCI-FI as well, yet nothing scientific is explained. The first half of this book is alright. The second half of this book is a delivery from the hot mess express.
It's not like Brody's writing is lacking in talent, it just didn't tickle my fancy.
March 29, 2013
Be warned: This review does contain mild spoilers.
You know that feeling when you are expecting one thing out of a book and it completely delivers something else, and not for the better? It's the kind of situation where you expectations completely sabotage your reading experience. That's what happened with Unremembered and I. Technically, there isn't anything wrong with the story. I fairly enjoyed the writing style and the characters, but in the end it's not very memorable. It reminds me a lot of a few other sci-fi novels I've read recently: Origin and Eve & Adam. They all feature people created by science in some way or another, each with varying degrees of complexity. I'd situate Unremembered somewhere in between the two.
The premise is what really drew me in. Seraphina is found at the scene of a plane crash with no memory of how she got there or anything from her past, including her name. As the novel wears on, the reader and Seraphina learn more and more about her past thanks mostly the Mysterious Boy that she feels drawn to. In the beginning, I was really enjoying it because it was intriguing. However, once the romance manifested and consumed the plot, the original excitement I had began to die off. There is a scene where the love interest, Zen, is more focused on her remembering him instead of other memories I felt were a bit more important given her situation (AKA, bad guys are after her and she doesn't know why). Apparently, he didn't feel that was important, which struck me as odd. Sure, he told her the basics, but his main priority was her remembering their love. Yes, this is me rolling my eyes.
The other thing I took issue with was the whole, "Zomg! Science is evil! It will destroy our love!" The whole Evil Science is something some reviewers took issue with Jessica Khoury's Origin. I didn't because I felt like Origin only addressed the evil of what a few particular scientists were doing, whereas Unremembered lumps all of science in as evil. So if you had issues with Origin, it might be best to skip this one.
And let's not forget these are teenagers claiming their love transcends all things a la Romeo and Juliet. It's the whole, "They won't let us be together, let's run away" plot, when what you think you're getting is a novel that is more than just a tragic love story. Zen is the only boy Seraphina meets. Her life experiences are severely limited because of what she is and most of their romantic interactions take place through brief flashbacks. This made it really hard for me to believe in their love and connect on that level. Not to mention, external forces are not the only things that complicate relationships and are generally not what tear couples apart. Unremembered creates this illusion that their love would be perfect if it weren't for Evil Science.
And my final issue? Predictability. I had almost the entire plot figured out in the first 25%. I knew exactly why Seraphina ran away. I knew exactly where she ran away to (that one was incredibly obvious). I knew where she was from. I knew what she was. (BTW, what's with the purple eyes? I thought it would be relevant in some way, but it seems it was thrown in just for kicks to make Seraphina even more speshul than what she already is. But all it did was paint a gigantic Mary Sue marquee on her forehead.) The not-so-subtle plot twists helped to kill any left over excitement to finish the book. But I did, and was equally as underwhelmed with the ending.
In the end, I find myself agreeing with Emily where she says Unremembered would be best suited for newer YA Sci-fi readers. It's swift and fairly action-packed, making it an easy read. It just doesn't do it as well as other sci-fi novels.
ARC was received via Macmillan in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
More reviews and other fantastical things at Cuddlebuggery Book Blog.
You know that feeling when you are expecting one thing out of a book and it completely delivers something else, and not for the better? It's the kind of situation where you expectations completely sabotage your reading experience. That's what happened with Unremembered and I. Technically, there isn't anything wrong with the story. I fairly enjoyed the writing style and the characters, but in the end it's not very memorable. It reminds me a lot of a few other sci-fi novels I've read recently: Origin and Eve & Adam. They all feature people created by science in some way or another, each with varying degrees of complexity. I'd situate Unremembered somewhere in between the two.
The premise is what really drew me in. Seraphina is found at the scene of a plane crash with no memory of how she got there or anything from her past, including her name. As the novel wears on, the reader and Seraphina learn more and more about her past thanks mostly the Mysterious Boy that she feels drawn to. In the beginning, I was really enjoying it because it was intriguing. However, once the romance manifested and consumed the plot, the original excitement I had began to die off. There is a scene where the love interest, Zen, is more focused on her remembering him instead of other memories I felt were a bit more important given her situation (AKA, bad guys are after her and she doesn't know why). Apparently, he didn't feel that was important, which struck me as odd. Sure, he told her the basics, but his main priority was her remembering their love. Yes, this is me rolling my eyes.
The other thing I took issue with was the whole, "Zomg! Science is evil! It will destroy our love!" The whole Evil Science is something some reviewers took issue with Jessica Khoury's Origin. I didn't because I felt like Origin only addressed the evil of what a few particular scientists were doing, whereas Unremembered lumps all of science in as evil. So if you had issues with Origin, it might be best to skip this one.
And let's not forget these are teenagers claiming their love transcends all things a la Romeo and Juliet. It's the whole, "They won't let us be together, let's run away" plot, when what you think you're getting is a novel that is more than just a tragic love story. Zen is the only boy Seraphina meets. Her life experiences are severely limited because of what she is and most of their romantic interactions take place through brief flashbacks. This made it really hard for me to believe in their love and connect on that level. Not to mention, external forces are not the only things that complicate relationships and are generally not what tear couples apart. Unremembered creates this illusion that their love would be perfect if it weren't for Evil Science.
And my final issue? Predictability. I had almost the entire plot figured out in the first 25%. I knew exactly why Seraphina ran away. I knew exactly where she ran away to (that one was incredibly obvious). I knew where she was from. I knew what she was. (BTW, what's with the purple eyes? I thought it would be relevant in some way, but it seems it was thrown in just for kicks to make Seraphina even more speshul than what she already is. But all it did was paint a gigantic Mary Sue marquee on her forehead.) The not-so-subtle plot twists helped to kill any left over excitement to finish the book. But I did, and was equally as underwhelmed with the ending.
In the end, I find myself agreeing with Emily where she says Unremembered would be best suited for newer YA Sci-fi readers. It's swift and fairly action-packed, making it an easy read. It just doesn't do it as well as other sci-fi novels.
ARC was received via Macmillan in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
More reviews and other fantastical things at Cuddlebuggery Book Blog.
August 15, 2013
I was going to review this book, but then I waited too long, and even after a long chat with someone who had just read it I have no freaking clue what this was even about. So my final thoughts: this book was perfectly titled.
January 3, 2016
"Everybody knows the memories that really matter don’t live in the mind."
When I started reading this book I thought that it's too basic and predictable...but,boy,was I wrong.The main character is fantastic,I loved experiencing the world through her violet eyes.I couldn't wait to find out what happened to her or who she really is.The story is very interesting("The Rules" is actually quite similar to this book.)I seriously love Cody and his sarcasm.I also love the meaning behind S+Z=1609,it was easy to guess the names but the year turned out to be the most important clue in the book.Oh,and that ending.Wow.
Favourite quotes:
"Forgetting who you are is so much more complicated than simply forgetting your name. It’s also forgetting your dreams. Your aspirations. What makes you happy. What you pray you’ll never have to live without. It’s meeting yourself for the first time, and not being sure of your first impression."
"Was it those girls?" She takes a guess."Did they say something to upset you?"
If only it was as simple as that. If only I was a normal human being who couldn’t speak in foreign languages without knowing I was speaking them and solve unsolvable math problems without remembering how. If only I didn’t have boys following me around,feeding me blatant insulting falsities.Then maybe my only problem would be girls in a dressing room.
"We’re going to go to something called a restaurant.Cody explains from the back seat of the car that it’s what people do when they don’t want to cook at home. Or when they want better food than what their mother can make."
"And Cody?"
"Yeah?"
"Bring your laptop too. I need help finding a top-secret compound."
I hear him laughing quietly and I can picture him rolling his eyes as he mumbles to himself,"I should have just stayed at science camp."
April 12, 2013
Call it a character flaw if you will, but I have a desperate need for things to make sense, or at the very least, I want to be tricked into thinking they do. This is especially true with sci-fi – obviously not everything is possible, or even probable, but there are ways of making even the most unlikely things seem real. (Authors, if you don’t know how, just ask Mira Grant.) This is where Jessica Brody failed: her ambition was bigger than her skill, and when the time came to offer explanations, she took the easy way out. In this case, easy also meant unconvincing.
While I adore the subject of memory loss, it is a slippery slope for authors and very few of them do a good enough job. Human brain is still a big mystery, which I suppose allows writers to take certain liberties, but not everything can be random. An example of memory loss handled convincingly in YA would be Thyla by Kate Gordon, in my opinion, but like with her sci-fi elements, Jessica Brody bit off more than she could chew.
The doctors say I should remember things like that. Although my personal memories seem to be ‘temporarily’ lost, I should be familiar with everyday objects and brands and the names of celebrities. But I’m not.
It took me a while to really get interested in Unremembered, but I have to admit that there were a few chapters around the middle that were pretty exciting. Then, as the truth started coming to light, I found myself more and more disappointed by the revelations.
It is a sad, sad day when I have to rely on romance to balance my review, especially in a genre like sci-fi. The entire situation screams wasted potential. But the fact that Zen was the saving grace of Unremembered is one I can’t change. I loved his loyalty and determination, his courage and smarts. On Sera’s end, the romance wasn’t as convincing. He was basically the only boy she’s ever seen, which somehow made her feelings less valuable in my eyes.
That said, the blurb for the second book, Unforgotten, (to be released in 2014), makes it clear that there’s a love triangle coming, so even the romance, the only part I actually liked, will be thoroughly ruined in the future.
This is where Jessica Brody and I part ways, at least until she comes up with another, hopefully better thought out series.
While I adore the subject of memory loss, it is a slippery slope for authors and very few of them do a good enough job. Human brain is still a big mystery, which I suppose allows writers to take certain liberties, but not everything can be random. An example of memory loss handled convincingly in YA would be Thyla by Kate Gordon, in my opinion, but like with her sci-fi elements, Jessica Brody bit off more than she could chew.
The doctors say I should remember things like that. Although my personal memories seem to be ‘temporarily’ lost, I should be familiar with everyday objects and brands and the names of celebrities. But I’m not.
It took me a while to really get interested in Unremembered, but I have to admit that there were a few chapters around the middle that were pretty exciting. Then, as the truth started coming to light, I found myself more and more disappointed by the revelations.
It is a sad, sad day when I have to rely on romance to balance my review, especially in a genre like sci-fi. The entire situation screams wasted potential. But the fact that Zen was the saving grace of Unremembered is one I can’t change. I loved his loyalty and determination, his courage and smarts. On Sera’s end, the romance wasn’t as convincing. He was basically the only boy she’s ever seen, which somehow made her feelings less valuable in my eyes.
That said, the blurb for the second book, Unforgotten, (to be released in 2014), makes it clear that there’s a love triangle coming, so even the romance, the only part I actually liked, will be thoroughly ruined in the future.
This is where Jessica Brody and I part ways, at least until she comes up with another, hopefully better thought out series.
May 22, 2015
3.5 stars
Read
July 29, 2016Love the foster brother. He's so cool. Would love to hang out with him and his group of friends. The mysterious opening was so riveting! How crazy to wake up surrounded by bodies. Can totally picture that in a movie.
April 25, 2013
Books dealing with memory loss is my biggest pet peeve, I enjoy the entire concept; of for whatever reason a protagonist loses their memory and spends most of the story trying to discover who and what they were before the accident. But I’ve never found a novel which deals with memory loss which has totally wowed me. I’ve found that novels which take a light hearted approach to this such as What Alice forgot, I’m more likely to enjoy, where as those with a big conspiracy theory behind everything tend to confuse me even more. Unfortunately Unremembered for me falls into the latter category. Despite starting off fun, with Violet trying to find her place in her foster family and forming a relationship with her witty step-brother Cody, the path the story followed kind of dwindled off into strangers lurking in the shadows and accusations being thrown about all over the place of who Violet really was. I quite liked the first half when Violet and Cody become their own little detectives and did their own investigating, the second half unfortunately I didn’t like at all.
For me personally Brody attempted to throw too much into the mix, I barely got my head around what Violet was and then we had all these individuals popping up claiming to be “friends” of Violet, who could she trust? I liked getting into the back story into Violet’s life, but after everything I didn’t find it all that exciting. The romance also thrown into the mix didn’t win me over either, I usually like my action packed novels layered with a sweet romance. But the relationship between Zen and Violet had no substance for me, I enjoyed getting the small flash backs into how they once were, but now I wasn’t too confident that they could get that back.
The first half of Unremembered began solidly for me I even had the initial excitement that finally I had found a decent story dealing with memory loss. But the second half just went over my head. I’m not sure that I will be continuing with this series, but I definitely want to try Brody’s other books I have a feeling I may have more luck with her contemporary novels.
If anyone has read decent books dealing with memory loss, I would love to know your recommendations.
For me personally Brody attempted to throw too much into the mix, I barely got my head around what Violet was and then we had all these individuals popping up claiming to be “friends” of Violet, who could she trust? I liked getting into the back story into Violet’s life, but after everything I didn’t find it all that exciting. The romance also thrown into the mix didn’t win me over either, I usually like my action packed novels layered with a sweet romance. But the relationship between Zen and Violet had no substance for me, I enjoyed getting the small flash backs into how they once were, but now I wasn’t too confident that they could get that back.
The first half of Unremembered began solidly for me I even had the initial excitement that finally I had found a decent story dealing with memory loss. But the second half just went over my head. I’m not sure that I will be continuing with this series, but I definitely want to try Brody’s other books I have a feeling I may have more luck with her contemporary novels.
If anyone has read decent books dealing with memory loss, I would love to know your recommendations.
March 6, 2013
Like so many books I've read lately, this one had a promising premise, a good beginning, but ultimately fizzles in its execution. I have no complaints about the writing style, but the characters were flat and uninteresting, and it ultimately becomes a wannabe sci-fi that is both unoriginal and uninteresting in its execution.
A girl is found amidst a plane wreck; she is not on the passenger manifesto and nobody can recall her being or getting on the plane. She is found unharmed, in good physical condition, and is remarkable in her beauty and purple eyes (am I the only one sick of characters with odd colored eyes in YA fiction?). Jane Doe is thus dubbed Violet, and with nobody to claim her, she is sent off to a foster family, where she tries to unravel the mystery of her past, while being p ursued by strange people and a boy to whom she is strangely attracted.
I did not find the romance believable at all. There were no sparks between the characters. Shakespearean quotes and all, Zen and Sera/Violet (real name) professed to be soul mates, yet there are probably more sparks between me and the stuffed bear I've had since 3rd grade.
The mystery of her existence was well done, it was when Violet began discovering who she actually is that I was lost due to complete disinterest. The plot didn't seem to move along at a believable path and pace. I just didn't feel compelled to finish it due to complete lack of interest because the second half of the book just lost me. It wasn't that the plot was too complex, I just found it dull. Considering the second half of the book is where the action is, that doesn't exactly speak well for it.
This is going to be a part of a series and I have no interest in continuing.
A girl is found amidst a plane wreck; she is not on the passenger manifesto and nobody can recall her being or getting on the plane. She is found unharmed, in good physical condition, and is remarkable in her beauty and purple eyes (am I the only one sick of characters with odd colored eyes in YA fiction?). Jane Doe is thus dubbed Violet, and with nobody to claim her, she is sent off to a foster family, where she tries to unravel the mystery of her past, while being p ursued by strange people and a boy to whom she is strangely attracted.
I did not find the romance believable at all. There were no sparks between the characters. Shakespearean quotes and all, Zen and Sera/Violet (real name) professed to be soul mates, yet there are probably more sparks between me and the stuffed bear I've had since 3rd grade.
The mystery of her existence was well done, it was when Violet began discovering who she actually is that I was lost due to complete disinterest. The plot didn't seem to move along at a believable path and pace. I just didn't feel compelled to finish it due to complete lack of interest because the second half of the book just lost me. It wasn't that the plot was too complex, I just found it dull. Considering the second half of the book is where the action is, that doesn't exactly speak well for it.
This is going to be a part of a series and I have no interest in continuing.
April 18, 2013
Despite a few scattered patches in the writing, this turned out to be a really great read. I love the story line concept. It was delivered with a great mix of mystery and intrigue and even gives us something more then what's typically expected. But I think it's the love story that really made this one standout. I've always been a sucker for undeniable love and Sera and Zen really made a dent in my heart. The way Zen never gave up and is willing to do what ever it takes took my breath away.
This was a great escape! I can't wait for the next book!!
This was a great escape! I can't wait for the next book!!
September 28, 2013
This book started out so promisingly...and was such a disappointment in the end.
For quite a while now, the trendy thing in young-adult novels is the first person, present tense point of view. I personally think this POV is a bit problematic; I've written stories using it, but it's very easy to go over the top. There's a reason the past-tense POV is pretty much universal: it stays in the background and allows the story and characters to take over, rather than focus the attention on the author's hip, pretentious, artsy-fartsy style of writing.
That being said, this book's first-person, present tense, stream-of-consciousness POV is perfect for this story: a teenager waking up in the middle of the ocean, floating on debris, with absolutely no idea of who she is or how she got there. We learn what happened the same instant Violet (later Seraphina, her real name) does. She is, we come to find out, an unnaturally beautiful, unnaturally strong, unnaturally intelligent (she has a savant-like way with numbers) and unnaturally fast person who...isn't a "natural" person at all.
This is all revealed like a slow peeling of a tasty, sharp red onion, layer within layer. She wasn't actually on the plane she was supposed to be on. There's a boy following her around who tells her she's in danger, there are people hunting for her. Said people do show up, whereupon she finds out she can kick car doors clear off their hinges and outrun racehorses. The boy tells her she actually comes from a lab called Diotech. (The boy, Zen, also claims to have been her boyfriend and soul mate.) She's kidnapped by the bad people and meets another man, Rio, who tells her she is indeed an artificial person, created by the Diotech corporation. She and Zen get away from Rio, and Zen tells her all her still-vanished memories have been downloaded onto a tiny cube. He hooks her up to so-called "cognitive receptors"--tiny disks attached to her skull--so she can access them.
The story progresses, with Seraphina and Zen now on the run from the bad guys. Then the bad guys catch up to them and take Zen. This is definitely a turning point for Seraphina; she is determined to free him and is willing to sacrifice herself to do so. Going on the Internet to find a clue where he might be, she runs across Maxxer, a former Diotech employee who is willing to help her get Zen back. By this time, I realize we must be moving into far-future territory: nothing remotely like all this technology exists today. Sure enough, we find out Diotech actually exists about a hundred years in the future. Okay, so time travel is involved: a genuine science-fiction trope, along with genetic engineering and downloading of memories. (This doesn't come out of the blue, by the way; the idea has been well planted, with the repeated clue of the number "1609", which turns out to be the year.) I do pause when I read it; it's a bit of a heavy lift for a YA novel, but the story has been progressing so well to this point, I'm willing to continue. I wonder what machine the author will use for the actual time travel; the heart-shaped locket found on Seraphina seems altogether too flimsy to accomplish such a thing.
But when a final clue is revealed, the time-travel device isn't a machine at all; it's a gene, and an artificially created gene at that, which allows the bearer to "transesse" (short for chrono-spatial transession. I give the author credit for trying to create a sufficiently scientific-sounding term, but this simply doesn't work; it sounds like a brand of intersex cosmetic).
At this point, the story collapses under its own weight, and takes my suspension of disbelief with it.
Look, this simply isn't plausible. At all. Catherine Asaro and Julie E. Czerneda, two of my favorite authors and an actual physicist and biologist respectively, would not dare write such a hackneyed explanation as this. How the hell would you create something like this in the lab? What combination of DNA and proteins would you even use? There's at best a feeble attempt to explain it, which amounts to a lot of frantic handwaving. And only one gene, one artificial gene, can manage this? Why wouldn't you need an entire artificial genome for something as monumental as time travel? How could you use such a gene to travel into the past? Just pick out a year and project yourself there, knowing nothing of where you might end up? If Seraphina got separated from Zen during their attempted flight to 1609, how the hell did she end up, all-too-conveniently, on a piece of floating debris after a plane crash? Why didn't she end up five miles into the atmosphere, or five miles under the surface of the ocean for that matter? And Dr. Maxxer says you can implant this artificial gene directly into yourself? Where, pray tell? Is it just floating around in her bloodstream? Seraphina gets the gene by drinking a liquid containing it. Why doesn't her stomach acid destroy it? How does she access it?
As you can tell, I'm very irritated by this entire concept. To put it bluntly, it ruined the book for me, and I came near to smashing it against the wall. I forced myself to finish the story, mainly because by that time I was so invested in the characters. Seraphina does rescue Zen, and uses her lone artifical gene to get them out of the cave where they're being held. Even this, the way it's described, seems more like simple teleportation--another established science fiction trope--instead of this "transession" nonsense. They end up jumping off a cliff and supposedly finishing their aborted journey, back to 1609.
Bah. I'm sorry, but this is just stupid. It's really sad, because the book was so good. I can't imagine why the editor didn't demand this gene business be dropped. I could actually accept the time-travel idea if it had been done by a machine instead of how it was presented, but I suppose that would have made it too easy for the bad guys to follow our heroes. At any rate, be warned. Needless to say, I'm not reading the sequel.
For quite a while now, the trendy thing in young-adult novels is the first person, present tense point of view. I personally think this POV is a bit problematic; I've written stories using it, but it's very easy to go over the top. There's a reason the past-tense POV is pretty much universal: it stays in the background and allows the story and characters to take over, rather than focus the attention on the author's hip, pretentious, artsy-fartsy style of writing.
That being said, this book's first-person, present tense, stream-of-consciousness POV is perfect for this story: a teenager waking up in the middle of the ocean, floating on debris, with absolutely no idea of who she is or how she got there. We learn what happened the same instant Violet (later Seraphina, her real name) does. She is, we come to find out, an unnaturally beautiful, unnaturally strong, unnaturally intelligent (she has a savant-like way with numbers) and unnaturally fast person who...isn't a "natural" person at all.
This is all revealed like a slow peeling of a tasty, sharp red onion, layer within layer. She wasn't actually on the plane she was supposed to be on. There's a boy following her around who tells her she's in danger, there are people hunting for her. Said people do show up, whereupon she finds out she can kick car doors clear off their hinges and outrun racehorses. The boy tells her she actually comes from a lab called Diotech. (The boy, Zen, also claims to have been her boyfriend and soul mate.) She's kidnapped by the bad people and meets another man, Rio, who tells her she is indeed an artificial person, created by the Diotech corporation. She and Zen get away from Rio, and Zen tells her all her still-vanished memories have been downloaded onto a tiny cube. He hooks her up to so-called "cognitive receptors"--tiny disks attached to her skull--so she can access them.
The story progresses, with Seraphina and Zen now on the run from the bad guys. Then the bad guys catch up to them and take Zen. This is definitely a turning point for Seraphina; she is determined to free him and is willing to sacrifice herself to do so. Going on the Internet to find a clue where he might be, she runs across Maxxer, a former Diotech employee who is willing to help her get Zen back. By this time, I realize we must be moving into far-future territory: nothing remotely like all this technology exists today. Sure enough, we find out Diotech actually exists about a hundred years in the future. Okay, so time travel is involved: a genuine science-fiction trope, along with genetic engineering and downloading of memories. (This doesn't come out of the blue, by the way; the idea has been well planted, with the repeated clue of the number "1609", which turns out to be the year.) I do pause when I read it; it's a bit of a heavy lift for a YA novel, but the story has been progressing so well to this point, I'm willing to continue. I wonder what machine the author will use for the actual time travel; the heart-shaped locket found on Seraphina seems altogether too flimsy to accomplish such a thing.
But when a final clue is revealed, the time-travel device isn't a machine at all; it's a gene, and an artificially created gene at that, which allows the bearer to "transesse" (short for chrono-spatial transession. I give the author credit for trying to create a sufficiently scientific-sounding term, but this simply doesn't work; it sounds like a brand of intersex cosmetic).
At this point, the story collapses under its own weight, and takes my suspension of disbelief with it.
Look, this simply isn't plausible. At all. Catherine Asaro and Julie E. Czerneda, two of my favorite authors and an actual physicist and biologist respectively, would not dare write such a hackneyed explanation as this. How the hell would you create something like this in the lab? What combination of DNA and proteins would you even use? There's at best a feeble attempt to explain it, which amounts to a lot of frantic handwaving. And only one gene, one artificial gene, can manage this? Why wouldn't you need an entire artificial genome for something as monumental as time travel? How could you use such a gene to travel into the past? Just pick out a year and project yourself there, knowing nothing of where you might end up? If Seraphina got separated from Zen during their attempted flight to 1609, how the hell did she end up, all-too-conveniently, on a piece of floating debris after a plane crash? Why didn't she end up five miles into the atmosphere, or five miles under the surface of the ocean for that matter? And Dr. Maxxer says you can implant this artificial gene directly into yourself? Where, pray tell? Is it just floating around in her bloodstream? Seraphina gets the gene by drinking a liquid containing it. Why doesn't her stomach acid destroy it? How does she access it?
As you can tell, I'm very irritated by this entire concept. To put it bluntly, it ruined the book for me, and I came near to smashing it against the wall. I forced myself to finish the story, mainly because by that time I was so invested in the characters. Seraphina does rescue Zen, and uses her lone artifical gene to get them out of the cave where they're being held. Even this, the way it's described, seems more like simple teleportation--another established science fiction trope--instead of this "transession" nonsense. They end up jumping off a cliff and supposedly finishing their aborted journey, back to 1609.
Bah. I'm sorry, but this is just stupid. It's really sad, because the book was so good. I can't imagine why the editor didn't demand this gene business be dropped. I could actually accept the time-travel idea if it had been done by a machine instead of how it was presented, but I suppose that would have made it too easy for the bad guys to follow our heroes. At any rate, be warned. Needless to say, I'm not reading the sequel.
May 5, 2018
You can also read my review here:https://devouringbooks2017.wordpress....
This was a pretty cool read. For some reason I didn't think that I was going to enjoy it, probably because I bought a copy years ago and never read it, but it turned out to be a lot better than I thought it would be. It's hard to write a review because this is one book where you really want to avoid spoilers. Much of the reason it kept me reading is because I was curious about what was going to happen next, so I'm going to try and keep this spoiler free.
The plot and pacing kept me interested, because for so much of the book I was curious about who she was, since she didn't remember. I was worried that since she had amnesia that she would fall flat personality wise, but I think that somethings just remain a part of you even if you don't have your memories. She was a cool character and this story was so fun to read and I'm glad that it didn't get spoiled on me.
The writing was good, but the plot was really the coolest part. I think I would read the rest of the series, but I'm not exactly dying to know the rest of it. The ending wasn't a cliffhanger, but it's clear to me that the story continues. This isn't a book that I would reread, but the first time around is really cool.
This was a pretty cool read. For some reason I didn't think that I was going to enjoy it, probably because I bought a copy years ago and never read it, but it turned out to be a lot better than I thought it would be. It's hard to write a review because this is one book where you really want to avoid spoilers. Much of the reason it kept me reading is because I was curious about what was going to happen next, so I'm going to try and keep this spoiler free.
The plot and pacing kept me interested, because for so much of the book I was curious about who she was, since she didn't remember. I was worried that since she had amnesia that she would fall flat personality wise, but I think that somethings just remain a part of you even if you don't have your memories. She was a cool character and this story was so fun to read and I'm glad that it didn't get spoiled on me.
The writing was good, but the plot was really the coolest part. I think I would read the rest of the series, but I'm not exactly dying to know the rest of it. The ending wasn't a cliffhanger, but it's clear to me that the story continues. This isn't a book that I would reread, but the first time around is really cool.
March 16, 2013
Writing this review gives me no pleasure because, even though I don’t have many nice things to say about Unremembered, on a technical level Jessica Brody has done all the things required that this should have been pretty great. But it’s not, because the one positive thing I can say about Unremembered is also its greatest flaw - it’s well planned and well thought out, but to the point that it’s too well planned, too well thought out. And when the blueprints of a book are so obvious and followed so religiously that an astute reader can predict everything that’ll happen chapters before it happens, can we really call this a thriller when there’s nothing thrilling about it?
I feel terrible for criticizing what is, in a way, good execution, because the alternative usually comes down to nonsensical plot twist after nonsensical plot twist, but I really wish Brody could’ve deviated a bit from her preplanned script, added something not quite so expected. Because from the moment ‘Violet’ gets pulled from the waters of the crash site, ends up in the hospital, and takes stock of what she knows about her past (very little) and what she has to figure out, I had a general sense of where Brody was taking her story. It’s not really a matter of liking it or disliking it, because what Brody does are the staples of the genre, questions like why Violet is the sole survivor of the crash, clues like her locket or the mysterious note in her pocket, and revelations like she speaks fluent Portuguese and can solve Goldbach’s Conjecture, but Violet’s story flows so naturally from the premise that every new event is anticipated even before I’ve read it - and once I got that sense of Brody’s master plan, all the questions fell into place and I saw all the answers that Violet couldn’t.
And knowing truly is a terrible curse. I saw the stuff with Zen coming a million miles away while Violet herself is in denial, stuck in her own insecurity, and while I suppose her initial ambivalence can be characterized as natural, by the time she knows something is definitely up but still unwilling to do something about it because of some paranoid line fed to her for completely different reasons, no, no, NO, why stretch out a plot to get to the same point as we would’ve otherwise gotten to, except we’re now subjected to a bunch of frustratingly filler chapters? Then again, the entirety of the first two parts of this three part book and its single minded adherence to an entirely predictable track (another ‘clue’ to Violet’s identity is revealed in an otherwise mundane setting, Violet’s thought process goes into overdrive, I confirm my theory of what’ll happen while Violet remains clueless, proceeds in her passive ignorance mode, and waits for more clues) is probably only one step up from filler anyway, there’s really nothing that can’t be foreseen just from the summary of the book.
Which is a shame, because the clues are fine, well besides the ‘S+Z=1609’ inscription which could’ve been awesome misdirection but turns out is exactly what I thought I’d be (hint: what do people normally inscribe on their lockets?). Stuff like the Shakespeare sonnets would’ve normally had me thinking about their relevance and significance, but in this case, since Violet’s Sera identity is exactly as what all the hints suggest it to be, nope. Even Goldbach’s Conjecture - normally it would’ve shown Brody’s skill at picking clues (it’s the one famous unsolvable mathematical theorem that’s easily explained to laypeople, as opposed to say, the Riemann Hypothesis) - in this case just felt selected for the sole purpose of adding another layer of ‘mystery’ that really isn’t there, so the whole thing feels like a calculated attempt to get to a finale that feels so preplanned it’s transparent.
Don’t believe me? Check out the previews for the two sequels to this trilogy at the end of the book (there’s going to be a triangle and everything). In most cases, planning is awesome, but the lesson here is, when you tip your hand, time to make new plans.
I feel terrible for criticizing what is, in a way, good execution, because the alternative usually comes down to nonsensical plot twist after nonsensical plot twist, but I really wish Brody could’ve deviated a bit from her preplanned script, added something not quite so expected. Because from the moment ‘Violet’ gets pulled from the waters of the crash site, ends up in the hospital, and takes stock of what she knows about her past (very little) and what she has to figure out, I had a general sense of where Brody was taking her story. It’s not really a matter of liking it or disliking it, because what Brody does are the staples of the genre, questions like why Violet is the sole survivor of the crash, clues like her locket or the mysterious note in her pocket, and revelations like she speaks fluent Portuguese and can solve Goldbach’s Conjecture, but Violet’s story flows so naturally from the premise that every new event is anticipated even before I’ve read it - and once I got that sense of Brody’s master plan, all the questions fell into place and I saw all the answers that Violet couldn’t.
And knowing truly is a terrible curse. I saw the stuff with Zen coming a million miles away while Violet herself is in denial, stuck in her own insecurity, and while I suppose her initial ambivalence can be characterized as natural, by the time she knows something is definitely up but still unwilling to do something about it because of some paranoid line fed to her for completely different reasons, no, no, NO, why stretch out a plot to get to the same point as we would’ve otherwise gotten to, except we’re now subjected to a bunch of frustratingly filler chapters? Then again, the entirety of the first two parts of this three part book and its single minded adherence to an entirely predictable track (another ‘clue’ to Violet’s identity is revealed in an otherwise mundane setting, Violet’s thought process goes into overdrive, I confirm my theory of what’ll happen while Violet remains clueless, proceeds in her passive ignorance mode, and waits for more clues) is probably only one step up from filler anyway, there’s really nothing that can’t be foreseen just from the summary of the book.
Which is a shame, because the clues are fine, well besides the ‘S+Z=1609’ inscription which could’ve been awesome misdirection but turns out is exactly what I thought I’d be (hint: what do people normally inscribe on their lockets?). Stuff like the Shakespeare sonnets would’ve normally had me thinking about their relevance and significance, but in this case, since Violet’s Sera identity is exactly as what all the hints suggest it to be, nope. Even Goldbach’s Conjecture - normally it would’ve shown Brody’s skill at picking clues (it’s the one famous unsolvable mathematical theorem that’s easily explained to laypeople, as opposed to say, the Riemann Hypothesis) - in this case just felt selected for the sole purpose of adding another layer of ‘mystery’ that really isn’t there, so the whole thing feels like a calculated attempt to get to a finale that feels so preplanned it’s transparent.
Don’t believe me? Check out the previews for the two sequels to this trilogy at the end of the book (there’s going to be a triangle and everything). In most cases, planning is awesome, but the lesson here is, when you tip your hand, time to make new plans.
July 29, 2016
Read it in one sitting. It wasn't bad at all. It was quick, and interesting. Sometimes I feel like I'm falling out of love with YA, but I'm hoping it's just because books like this are younger. Like, the words used and alls that. Yeah.
2015 READING CHALLENGE: A trilogy. (1/3)
2015 READING CHALLENGE: A trilogy. (1/3)
January 29, 2016
Unremembered by Jessica Brody was definitely an enjoyable and overall solid addition to the YA sci-fi genre, and – while certainly not perfect – it definitely seems to have a strong potential as a series; and provided me with an entertaining read nonetheless.
Forgetting who you are is so much more complicated than simply forgetting your name. It’s also forgetting your dreams. Your aspirations. What makes you happy. What you pray you’ll never have to live without. It’s meeting yourself for the first time, and not being sure of your first impression.Our main character is found in the wreckage of Freedom Airlines Flight 121 - a plane that crashed in the middle of the Pacific – with no found survivors. The catch? After she’s rescued, she realizes she has no memories. Of anything. If that’s not weird enough, than how can you explain the fact that she wasn’t on the passenger list for that flight? Or why her DNA can’t be found in a single database in the world?
Brought into foster care, “Violet” hopes to lead a somewhat normal life; but crippled with abilities she doesn’t understand, an unfamiliar world, how can she? And her only hope may be a mysterious boy who claims he knows her – and that once, they were in love. But can she trust him?
Before it was even revealed, I knew how “Violet” ended up in the plane crash. I knew why she had lost her memories. I knew who that boy was that followed her – and I knew why he kept following her. I knew why her DNA couldn’t be found on any record. I knew why her name wasn’t on the passenger list for Freedom Airlines Flight 121. Now, luckily, despite me being able to figure it out so quickly, that definitely didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the story by any means. The story was still entertaining and enthralling – despite it’s predictability.
I imagine it wouldn’t be easy to create a character without memories. Memories are what make us who we are; they include our dreams and our hopes, our aspirations and our thoughts, our prior failures so that we can correct them, our prior successes so we can repeat them. Combine that with trying to make a character realistic and full of personality, and that’s a definite challenge; but I think Jessica Brody nipped that challenge in half.
The romance between Violet and Zen wasn't something I was completely crazy about because it felt a bit too much like instalove for my liking, but I found it enjoyable nonetheless and it definitely had its moments of strong potential.
Unremembered - while definitely not quite free of faults – is a fairly engaging and entertaining read nonetheless; despite it’s minor faults, and I’d highly recommend it to fans of Mila 2.0, Beta, Eve and Adam, or The Adoration of Jenna Fox.
March 11, 2013
I'm beginning to really enjoy books where the main characters have lost their memories and Unremembered is about just that. This book was another fun addition to the whole memory loss, government agency group but it does have a twist that will blow you away.
Violet (that is the name given to her by a nurse) wakes up with no memory of who she is or where she came from. She is found in the middle of a plane wreck and is the only survivor. Nobody understands how she survived and unfortunately no one has any answers as to who she is. Violet knows that she needs to get out of the hospital and work towards getting her memories back, but when a boy starts popping up things don't go as planned and she finds out that she is not your ordinary girl. With the help of her 13 year old foster brother and Zen a boy from her past she uncovers so many crazy things about her life that you will just have to read to believe.
Unremembered was an interesting book. It was a very quick read and even though I felt that the pacing was a little slow for me I was still intrigued and glued to the pages. Violet (I am going to keep calling her that since her name is sorta spoilery) was a likable character, but I kept waiting for her to turn into a kickarse heroine. There were several scenes where she could have opened up a can of whoopbookies but she didn't and I was a little disappointed. In the story we do find out why this is, but I would have preferred her to be a little stronger. In the end she did come through but it was in a very unexpected way that was perfect for her character. Zen was a great addition as well. He was there for Violet and helped her solve the mystery of her life. Again though I just wanted a little more from him. I liked their scenes together, they were sweet and I am really hoping that we get to see more of a romance between the two if there is a sequel planned. The ending is open enough to have one so I have my fingers crossed.
The story itself was pretty good as well. I totally didn't see the twist coming and I felt like it was a brilliant move by the author. This twist will help Unremembered stand out in a crowd that is quickly becoming overrun with books that are very similar to this one. I really can't say much about the story since the things I would say are spoilery. Not much happens through the first 1/2 but when we are finally given answers to the questions of who she is, where she comes from, and why is she here things get a lot more interesting. I will say that I am a little confused as what her role was at Diotech (her home). We never get to see exactly what she did there so I am hoping that if there is a sequel we will also get to know more about her role and why she is so important.
Like I said in the beginning I a m quickly becoming fan of this type of book and Unremembered is a wonderful addition to my collection.
Violet (that is the name given to her by a nurse) wakes up with no memory of who she is or where she came from. She is found in the middle of a plane wreck and is the only survivor. Nobody understands how she survived and unfortunately no one has any answers as to who she is. Violet knows that she needs to get out of the hospital and work towards getting her memories back, but when a boy starts popping up things don't go as planned and she finds out that she is not your ordinary girl. With the help of her 13 year old foster brother and Zen a boy from her past she uncovers so many crazy things about her life that you will just have to read to believe.
Unremembered was an interesting book. It was a very quick read and even though I felt that the pacing was a little slow for me I was still intrigued and glued to the pages. Violet (I am going to keep calling her that since her name is sorta spoilery) was a likable character, but I kept waiting for her to turn into a kickarse heroine. There were several scenes where she could have opened up a can of whoopbookies but she didn't and I was a little disappointed. In the story we do find out why this is, but I would have preferred her to be a little stronger. In the end she did come through but it was in a very unexpected way that was perfect for her character. Zen was a great addition as well. He was there for Violet and helped her solve the mystery of her life. Again though I just wanted a little more from him. I liked their scenes together, they were sweet and I am really hoping that we get to see more of a romance between the two if there is a sequel planned. The ending is open enough to have one so I have my fingers crossed.
The story itself was pretty good as well. I totally didn't see the twist coming and I felt like it was a brilliant move by the author. This twist will help Unremembered stand out in a crowd that is quickly becoming overrun with books that are very similar to this one. I really can't say much about the story since the things I would say are spoilery. Not much happens through the first 1/2 but when we are finally given answers to the questions of who she is, where she comes from, and why is she here things get a lot more interesting. I will say that I am a little confused as what her role was at Diotech (her home). We never get to see exactly what she did there so I am hoping that if there is a sequel we will also get to know more about her role and why she is so important.
Like I said in the beginning I a m quickly becoming fan of this type of book and Unremembered is a wonderful addition to my collection.
February 25, 2013
Unremembered starts with a shock of cold water and a slew of questions and from there barely gives us a moment to breathe, catapulting us forward as a young woman with a blank canvas for a mind struggles to fill it once again with color. What's instantly noticeable and infinitely more intriguing than the amnesia alone is that Sera doesn't simply struggle to remember her past, she struggles to understand her environment as well; technology, slang, food and so many other things utterly foreign to her when they should be familiar. The classification of this story as sci-fi tips us off to the fact there's more at play with Sera than memory loss, so her curiosity with regard to day to day life after her release from the hospital has our minds churning out possibility after possibility as to what exactly it all means, and we eagerly turn the pages to hurry alongside Sera as she attempts to find out...
Full review available at: http://supernaturalsnark.blogspot.com...
Full review available at: http://supernaturalsnark.blogspot.com...
September 5, 2016
Hmm, well this was weird. It was fast-paced and turned quite sci-fi at the end! I liked that it managed to surprise me, but there was just some things missing. Like emotions. And yeah. It was okay. But not great.
February 14, 2024
OKAY SO i don't really know what to say but we're going to do it by feeling.
this is my first sci-fi book and honestly it's not bad at all??? like, i didn't like it but i think that Lysender's love for Seraphina made the story so much prettier….
so it was super fun for me to discover this new universe, which i was afraid of not loving. the story is so advanced, and even i’m still a little in the dark, we manage to understand the basics easily!!
I WANNA DIE FOR LYZENDER i can't tell you how much love i have for the couple "I forgot you / You're going to remember me" REALLY this trope is so cute and at the same breaks your heart.
RIO ??? THIS MAN PLEASE OMG « dad », you wanna kill me sera ??? and cody is really cute too !!
anyway bye!! gonna start the volume two soon <3 ( if it’s not today LMAOOO )
this is my first sci-fi book and honestly it's not bad at all??? like, i didn't like it but i think that Lysender's love for Seraphina made the story so much prettier….
so it was super fun for me to discover this new universe, which i was afraid of not loving. the story is so advanced, and even i’m still a little in the dark, we manage to understand the basics easily!!
I WANNA DIE FOR LYZENDER i can't tell you how much love i have for the couple "I forgot you / You're going to remember me" REALLY this trope is so cute and at the same breaks your heart.
RIO ??? THIS MAN PLEASE OMG « dad », you wanna kill me sera ??? and cody is really cute too !!
anyway bye!! gonna start the volume two soon <3 ( if it’s not today LMAOOO )
April 24, 2013
There is this website online, one I’m sure very few of you know about (or at least that’s my hope) called Experienceproject.com. To be blunt, it’s a public avenue for those who have suffered from (or are currently in the throes of) amnesia to share their stories with like-minded individuals.
Now, I’m going to lay all of my cards on the table here and say that, until I read roughly 70 of these stories I thought amnesia was a big ol steaming pile of elephant poop. I mean..really? You can’t remember who you brother is? Hell…I’ve been trying to forget mine for years, it can’t possible be as simple as getting konked in the head by a foul ball or I would have been rushing the field eons ago. But apparently amnesia (also known as disambiguation) isn’t just for daytime TV and fiction. It’s the real deal (According to WebMD – who also says I have leprosy.) and incredibly stimulating. (Pun intended.)
Stimulating? How so?
Well, because it poses a metric ton of questions to those of us (knock on wood) who have never had the displeasure of experiencing it.
For example:
If you woke up on a beach, surrounded by plane wreckage, but hadn’t the faintest recollection of how you got there. What would you do?
If someone asked you who you were, but you didn’t know the answer. What would you say?
If the same person kept showing up insisting that they knew who you were, but couldn’t tell you. Would you willingly go with them?
Jessica Brody asks these questions (and about a zillion more) in her novel “Unremembered.” But the best one…
“What makes us human? Is it our hearts? Our brain? Our senses? Our limbs? Ask a hundred people and you will get a hundred different answers.”
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 compelling and suspenseful new sci-fi series, set in a world where science knows no boundaries, memories are manipulated, and true love can never be forgotten.
I don’t know about there rest of you, but there are times I desperately wish I could just post a pro & cons list and be done with it. This is one of those times.
See…”Unremembered” is both good and bad. It’s just a matter of figuring out which one takes the TKO.
On one hand it explodes with potential. Amnesia. Hot girl (who is apparently strong enough to remove a car door with a single thrust.) Evil secret government agency cover-ups, and time travel.
On the other hand…I can easily name at least 10 other books with the exact same elements with significantly better execution.
This book was not “bad” in the traditional sense. More…unrememberable. (Yes, I went with the easy kill, don’t judge me.)
The two main characters (Sera and Zen) remained solidly on the surface (despite their “tortured” love affair) of the page never getting much deeper than a few bland flashbacks and some awkward forehead touching. While everyone around them relied on rhetoric to keep their dialogue moving towards the finish line.
Does that make it “bad?” Surface dwellers and undue use of exaggeration?
For me…yes.
But that may not be the case for everyone else. (Which is why I wanted to post a list.)
I am incredibly critical. But… I am also open-minded. (For those of you chuckling…CAN IT!) While this book is not for everyone, there IS a place where it can be happy.
Where?
I’m so glad you asked.
Due to its lack of emotional connectivity and quick plot this can (in most cases) be accurately described as a “beach read.” For 13-15 year old girls.
Why?
Because it DOES have the romance they crave (in a very G-rated way.) It has an appropriate amount of intrigue (despite its lack of originality) and ends with a pretty interesting bout of action. ALL things a younger reader needs to stay engaged, but not enough to keep older audiences enthralled.
In the end…I’ll give it a 2. Like I said, it’s fairly unrememberable. Especially in this blossoming Sci-Fi genre.
Happy Reading my fellow Kindle-ites and remember: If you can forget it an hour later…it’s probably not worth it.
Now, I’m going to lay all of my cards on the table here and say that, until I read roughly 70 of these stories I thought amnesia was a big ol steaming pile of elephant poop. I mean..really? You can’t remember who you brother is? Hell…I’ve been trying to forget mine for years, it can’t possible be as simple as getting konked in the head by a foul ball or I would have been rushing the field eons ago. But apparently amnesia (also known as disambiguation) isn’t just for daytime TV and fiction. It’s the real deal (According to WebMD – who also says I have leprosy.) and incredibly stimulating. (Pun intended.)
Stimulating? How so?
Well, because it poses a metric ton of questions to those of us (knock on wood) who have never had the displeasure of experiencing it.
For example:
If you woke up on a beach, surrounded by plane wreckage, but hadn’t the faintest recollection of how you got there. What would you do?
If someone asked you who you were, but you didn’t know the answer. What would you say?
If the same person kept showing up insisting that they knew who you were, but couldn’t tell you. Would you willingly go with them?
Jessica Brody asks these questions (and about a zillion more) in her novel “Unremembered.” But the best one…
“What makes us human? Is it our hearts? Our brain? Our senses? Our limbs? Ask a hundred people and you will get a hundred different answers.”
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 compelling and suspenseful new sci-fi series, set in a world where science knows no boundaries, memories are manipulated, and true love can never be forgotten.
I don’t know about there rest of you, but there are times I desperately wish I could just post a pro & cons list and be done with it. This is one of those times.
See…”Unremembered” is both good and bad. It’s just a matter of figuring out which one takes the TKO.
On one hand it explodes with potential. Amnesia. Hot girl (who is apparently strong enough to remove a car door with a single thrust.) Evil secret government agency cover-ups, and time travel.
On the other hand…I can easily name at least 10 other books with the exact same elements with significantly better execution.
This book was not “bad” in the traditional sense. More…unrememberable. (Yes, I went with the easy kill, don’t judge me.)
The two main characters (Sera and Zen) remained solidly on the surface (despite their “tortured” love affair) of the page never getting much deeper than a few bland flashbacks and some awkward forehead touching. While everyone around them relied on rhetoric to keep their dialogue moving towards the finish line.
Does that make it “bad?” Surface dwellers and undue use of exaggeration?
For me…yes.
But that may not be the case for everyone else. (Which is why I wanted to post a list.)
I am incredibly critical. But… I am also open-minded. (For those of you chuckling…CAN IT!) While this book is not for everyone, there IS a place where it can be happy.
Where?
I’m so glad you asked.
Due to its lack of emotional connectivity and quick plot this can (in most cases) be accurately described as a “beach read.” For 13-15 year old girls.
Why?
Because it DOES have the romance they crave (in a very G-rated way.) It has an appropriate amount of intrigue (despite its lack of originality) and ends with a pretty interesting bout of action. ALL things a younger reader needs to stay engaged, but not enough to keep older audiences enthralled.
In the end…I’ll give it a 2. Like I said, it’s fairly unrememberable. Especially in this blossoming Sci-Fi genre.
Happy Reading my fellow Kindle-ites and remember: If you can forget it an hour later…it’s probably not worth it.
August 16, 2018
If I had to hear about how pretty she was one more time, I was going to throw the book. Also, Cody was 13. There’s no way he would have been able to help her as much as he did.
April 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW by Michelle 13TH APRIL 2013:
RATING : 5 EXCITING STARS!!
I like numbers.
I have a tattoo.
I like grilled cheese sandwhiches.
And supermarkets.
I have long brown hair and purple eyes.
I survived a plane crash.
A plane crash I have no memory of.
I REALLY liked this book. It grabs you with intrigue from the get go.
'Unremembered' , has a sci- fi element to it that is very clever. Now I saw a few reviewers on Goodreads were stating this story has been done before. It depends on what genres you read a lot of. Any genre if you read it a lot you will find a story idea done before. As reviewers we read a lot of books. We can tend to assume that the general public read as much as we do, when that is not necessarily the case. I have not read much sci-fi , so for me, this was a great ride of twists and curve balls and it was very fresh and exciting for me.
I was very entertained and surprised by where the story took me. I really didn't want it to end.
I have chosen to include the Australian blurb with my review as I think the USA one is too telling.
I liked discovering along with ‘Violet’.
Side by side we both are ‘remembering’.
I am trying to keep spoilers out of this review as it is a story to experience yourself with where it starts to where you end up.....
What I loved about Jessica’s story , we were having to think it out like ‘Violet’ and learn to trust the boy who said he was going to help her.
Trust him.
I was ‘Violet's’ shadow. We were both in the dark waiting for the light to switch on.
When I thought I had worked something out.......had I?
A movie comes to mind with some of this story idea, but I won’t say which movie, for it would spoil and maybe give too much of a wrong direction for the reader.
‘Violet’ has been found in the water of a plane crash site, the only apparent survivor. No memory. No relatives coming forth.
Hence the name, ‘Violet’.
....... Except a boy who claims to know her and was desperate to get her out of the hospital.
The story Jessica has written isn’t about boy meets girl, it is bigger than that. It is more intriguing than that. It is fast paced and you get turned about at quite a few corners.
The more the story unfolds the more exciting it got for me. I felt there was a lot of depth to the plot. Jessica will keep turning your brain about.
Sure there is this beautiful boy and girl......but it isn’t centred on romance.
There is a reason for this.
“I’ve seen it all before,” he says. His smile quickly fades and is replaced with a look of sincerity. “And it’s still beautiful.”
This is book one in a series and Jessica is setting up a world for us to grasp and it is an ever revealing plot.
I really loved the sub characters they all brought something to the story and had me wondering.
Cody is a great sidekick, a thirteen year old boy who behaved definitely like my thirteen year old boy. They see a gorgeous girl and don’t quite know how to act around them. Cody was one of my favourite characters in this book as he gets some great lines and gets to be a bit of a hero.
“You’re like a small child”, he tells me sharply. “You really don’t know anything.”
His face starts to turn that peculiar shade of red again. “You know --“ he glances out the window -- “Girls who look like you.”
“What do I look like?”
He groans and peers back at me. ‘Are you really going to make me say it?”
I don’t reply.
“Pretty!” he finally says, the red deepening. He faces the window again. “Ok? You’re very pretty. You should be a model. If you’re not already. There you go.”
“Was that a joke? Did the infamous amnesiac supermodel actually make a joke?”
He steals another peek. “That dress ....” he starts, but his face colours and he looks away. “Well ....it fits. Which is a nice change.”
The villain is great, a danger to humanity in one mind that doesn’t know when enough is.... too much.
When does an idea crossover into cray cray land?
Nothing will stop him on his path. Power is all consuming. A sci-fi will always have a power hungry villain.
But what type of villain, is...errr... the villain?
This book really has everything packed into it in a fast paced read with action a plenty, throw in the twists and curveballs that will assault you and the mysterious Maxxer, and then the shiz really hits the fan.
I thought this was a really ‘cool’ YA book that read like a movie with all the right ingredients. I felt like I should have had a tub of popcorn in my lap, throw in the M & M's and I was having a great time.
I am looking forward to ‘Unforgotten’ releasing March 2014.
Michelle
RATING : 5 EXCITING STARS!!
I like numbers.
I have a tattoo.
I like grilled cheese sandwhiches.
And supermarkets.
I have long brown hair and purple eyes.
I survived a plane crash.
A plane crash I have no memory of.
I REALLY liked this book. It grabs you with intrigue from the get go.
'Unremembered' , has a sci- fi element to it that is very clever. Now I saw a few reviewers on Goodreads were stating this story has been done before. It depends on what genres you read a lot of. Any genre if you read it a lot you will find a story idea done before. As reviewers we read a lot of books. We can tend to assume that the general public read as much as we do, when that is not necessarily the case. I have not read much sci-fi , so for me, this was a great ride of twists and curve balls and it was very fresh and exciting for me.
I was very entertained and surprised by where the story took me. I really didn't want it to end.
I have chosen to include the Australian blurb with my review as I think the USA one is too telling.
I liked discovering along with ‘Violet’.
Side by side we both are ‘remembering’.
I am trying to keep spoilers out of this review as it is a story to experience yourself with where it starts to where you end up.....
What I loved about Jessica’s story , we were having to think it out like ‘Violet’ and learn to trust the boy who said he was going to help her.
Trust him.
I was ‘Violet's’ shadow. We were both in the dark waiting for the light to switch on.
When I thought I had worked something out.......had I?
A movie comes to mind with some of this story idea, but I won’t say which movie, for it would spoil and maybe give too much of a wrong direction for the reader.
‘Violet’ has been found in the water of a plane crash site, the only apparent survivor. No memory. No relatives coming forth.
Hence the name, ‘Violet’.
....... Except a boy who claims to know her and was desperate to get her out of the hospital.
The story Jessica has written isn’t about boy meets girl, it is bigger than that. It is more intriguing than that. It is fast paced and you get turned about at quite a few corners.
The more the story unfolds the more exciting it got for me. I felt there was a lot of depth to the plot. Jessica will keep turning your brain about.
Sure there is this beautiful boy and girl......but it isn’t centred on romance.
There is a reason for this.
“I’ve seen it all before,” he says. His smile quickly fades and is replaced with a look of sincerity. “And it’s still beautiful.”
This is book one in a series and Jessica is setting up a world for us to grasp and it is an ever revealing plot.
I really loved the sub characters they all brought something to the story and had me wondering.
Cody is a great sidekick, a thirteen year old boy who behaved definitely like my thirteen year old boy. They see a gorgeous girl and don’t quite know how to act around them. Cody was one of my favourite characters in this book as he gets some great lines and gets to be a bit of a hero.
“You’re like a small child”, he tells me sharply. “You really don’t know anything.”
His face starts to turn that peculiar shade of red again. “You know --“ he glances out the window -- “Girls who look like you.”
“What do I look like?”
He groans and peers back at me. ‘Are you really going to make me say it?”
I don’t reply.
“Pretty!” he finally says, the red deepening. He faces the window again. “Ok? You’re very pretty. You should be a model. If you’re not already. There you go.”
“Was that a joke? Did the infamous amnesiac supermodel actually make a joke?”
He steals another peek. “That dress ....” he starts, but his face colours and he looks away. “Well ....it fits. Which is a nice change.”
The villain is great, a danger to humanity in one mind that doesn’t know when enough is.... too much.
When does an idea crossover into cray cray land?
Nothing will stop him on his path. Power is all consuming. A sci-fi will always have a power hungry villain.
But what type of villain, is...errr... the villain?
This book really has everything packed into it in a fast paced read with action a plenty, throw in the twists and curveballs that will assault you and the mysterious Maxxer, and then the shiz really hits the fan.
I thought this was a really ‘cool’ YA book that read like a movie with all the right ingredients. I felt like I should have had a tub of popcorn in my lap, throw in the M & M's and I was having a great time.
I am looking forward to ‘Unforgotten’ releasing March 2014.
Michelle
February 20, 2013
Unremembered is that book that you read and you feel like you are on the verge of the story being really great, and you can sense that the shift into epic territory is just around the next corner but it never really gets there. I’ll admit I had fun reading this one and I breezed through it pretty fast but I can’t honestly say that I ever really cared for it aside from just wanting to know what happens next just so that I would know.
We meet our MC, Violet/Seraphina/Sera, just as she is waking up finding herself in the ocean after what appears to be a plane crash. She is found to be the only survivor of said crash and has come to with no memory at all of who she was or why she was on this plane that there was no record of her being on. She’s released from the hospital and put into foster care because no next of kin has come forth after her photo was spread nationally and from there her past starts to slowly creep forth. I can’t say that I really cared for Sera; she constantly felt very monotone to me and empty. There were no emotions that I could really connect to and even her love and history with Zen fell a bit short for me. She made some really dumb decisions that had me rolling my eyes and her rationalization for them had me wanting to pull my hair out. Here is my favorite line:
“I've been so preoccupied with finding Zen. Saving Zen. Protecting Zen. I didn't even stop to think about my own future.” -Quoted from an ARC
Being that I didn’t feel the connection between Sera and Zen I was bothered at the fact that this girl was literally going to throw her life away for this guy, without a thought, because she isn’t important and he is! With all that was going on in her life and her freaking amnesia after surviving a plane crash I think the girl should have been trying to figure herself out rather than focussing on some guy she doesn't remember. The one redeeming character that got a few chuckles out of me was Cody, her foster brother. He was hilarious and had no filter from his brain to his mouth, the things that came out of his mouth were pretty comical.
The big twist in the novel did take me by surprise but that whole reveal section of the novel felt like a huge info dump and I couldn’t wrap my head around all the details that were thrown at us in that short time. I admit that I did like where the story went and of all the scenarios I had thought up in my head, it was not one of them but I just wish it was handled a bit better, maybe a bit slower. That’s all I’m going to say about that because I am getting dangerously close to spoiler territory here and I don’t want to ruin anything.
While this one started out as an exciting read that captured my interest immediately, it quickly became a very passive read that I was just trying to get through. I like where the story went in the end but the road to get there (and during the reveal) were much too rocky for my taste. Had there been some characters that I could have really liked and gotten emotionally invested in I think I would have cared more about the events that unfolded but as it stands this was a very weak read for me and one that I can’t recommend.
An Advanced Reading Copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
--
You can read all of my reviews at Alluring Reads.
We meet our MC, Violet/Seraphina/Sera, just as she is waking up finding herself in the ocean after what appears to be a plane crash. She is found to be the only survivor of said crash and has come to with no memory at all of who she was or why she was on this plane that there was no record of her being on. She’s released from the hospital and put into foster care because no next of kin has come forth after her photo was spread nationally and from there her past starts to slowly creep forth. I can’t say that I really cared for Sera; she constantly felt very monotone to me and empty. There were no emotions that I could really connect to and even her love and history with Zen fell a bit short for me. She made some really dumb decisions that had me rolling my eyes and her rationalization for them had me wanting to pull my hair out. Here is my favorite line:
“I've been so preoccupied with finding Zen. Saving Zen. Protecting Zen. I didn't even stop to think about my own future.” -Quoted from an ARC
Being that I didn’t feel the connection between Sera and Zen I was bothered at the fact that this girl was literally going to throw her life away for this guy, without a thought, because she isn’t important and he is! With all that was going on in her life and her freaking amnesia after surviving a plane crash I think the girl should have been trying to figure herself out rather than focussing on some guy she doesn't remember. The one redeeming character that got a few chuckles out of me was Cody, her foster brother. He was hilarious and had no filter from his brain to his mouth, the things that came out of his mouth were pretty comical.
The big twist in the novel did take me by surprise but that whole reveal section of the novel felt like a huge info dump and I couldn’t wrap my head around all the details that were thrown at us in that short time. I admit that I did like where the story went and of all the scenarios I had thought up in my head, it was not one of them but I just wish it was handled a bit better, maybe a bit slower. That’s all I’m going to say about that because I am getting dangerously close to spoiler territory here and I don’t want to ruin anything.
While this one started out as an exciting read that captured my interest immediately, it quickly became a very passive read that I was just trying to get through. I like where the story went in the end but the road to get there (and during the reveal) were much too rocky for my taste. Had there been some characters that I could have really liked and gotten emotionally invested in I think I would have cared more about the events that unfolded but as it stands this was a very weak read for me and one that I can’t recommend.
An Advanced Reading Copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
--
You can read all of my reviews at Alluring Reads.
September 24, 2016
Loved it! This may be the most underrated book I've listened to this year. Although the actual broad theme was not unique- - the delivery was unique. The big reveal was interesting as were the twists. One I did not see coming at all. I nearly finished in one sitting. If sleeping hadn't got in the way I would have. I even put my Saturday plans on hold to finish and it was worth it. I would start book 2 now, but some plans can't be changed...or maybe I could fake being sick?? No, I wouldn't do that, but I'm anxious to start the second book later today.
Here's why I gave it 5 stars:
1. The first 40% of the book was more thrilling than most so called thrillers. More because of the mystery than being in a dangerous situation...so it was a different kind of thrilling.
2. No love triangle.
3. Fast paced. The plot and story just kept moving with lots of surprises and a few things you could see coming too.
4. Very entertaining- a page turner for sure.
5. A sorta hybrid insta-love... that worked for me.
6. I enjoyed all of the characters and the settings.
If you're a die hard science fiction fan this book might be too light for you, but if you dabble or just want a great read it's for you.
I listened to the audio version which was narrated by one of my favorite narrators, Julia Whelan, which bumped up my rating by a half of a star. She was perfect the role.
Here's why I gave it 5 stars:
1. The first 40% of the book was more thrilling than most so called thrillers. More because of the mystery than being in a dangerous situation...so it was a different kind of thrilling.
2. No love triangle.
3. Fast paced. The plot and story just kept moving with lots of surprises and a few things you could see coming too.
4. Very entertaining- a page turner for sure.
5. A sorta hybrid insta-love... that worked for me.
6. I enjoyed all of the characters and the settings.
If you're a die hard science fiction fan this book might be too light for you, but if you dabble or just want a great read it's for you.
I listened to the audio version which was narrated by one of my favorite narrators, Julia Whelan, which bumped up my rating by a half of a star. She was perfect the role.
January 14, 2015
*Genre* Young Adult, Science Fiction
*Rating* 3.5
*My Thoughts*
Unremembered is a young adult, science fiction story that is filled with love, an evil corporation, conspiracies, and a protagonist who knows nothing of the world she finds herself in. The only apparent survivor of Freedom Airlines Flight 121, 16 year old Seraphina finds that she can't remember anything about her life before the crash. Her memories are gone, she has no idea how she got on the plane, nor how she managed to arrive at the hospital unscathed. She can't even understand the simple things that humans today take for granted like accessing the internet.
“Forgetting who you are is so much more complicated than simply forgetting your name. It's also forgetting your dreams. Your aspirations. What makes you happy. What you pray you'll never have to live without. It's meeting yourself for the first time, and not being sure of your first impression.”
*Full Review Posting @ Talksupeblog.com*
http://www.talksupeblog.com/2015/01/s...
Published March 5th 2013 by Farrar, Straus, & Giroux (BYR)
*Rating* 3.5
*My Thoughts*
Unremembered is a young adult, science fiction story that is filled with love, an evil corporation, conspiracies, and a protagonist who knows nothing of the world she finds herself in. The only apparent survivor of Freedom Airlines Flight 121, 16 year old Seraphina finds that she can't remember anything about her life before the crash. Her memories are gone, she has no idea how she got on the plane, nor how she managed to arrive at the hospital unscathed. She can't even understand the simple things that humans today take for granted like accessing the internet.
“Forgetting who you are is so much more complicated than simply forgetting your name. It's also forgetting your dreams. Your aspirations. What makes you happy. What you pray you'll never have to live without. It's meeting yourself for the first time, and not being sure of your first impression.”
*Full Review Posting @ Talksupeblog.com*
http://www.talksupeblog.com/2015/01/s...
Published March 5th 2013 by Farrar, Straus, & Giroux (BYR)
April 24, 2019
Check out my review/giveaway here: http://thepaige-turner.blogspot.com/2...
May 3, 2018
In this first of a series, we have a pretty intriguing start. A girl finds herself alone. She is the only survivor of an aeroplane crush. She has no memories, and knows nothing about herself. Then we learn she is not recorded as being on the flight. An interesting premise, and I was keen to learn what/who she was.
Pretty quickly we can see Violet/Sera is not quite your typical 16 year old. There’s some lovely exchanges between her and her foster-brother, Cody, but it’s very obvious that there is something odd going on here.
I don’t want to give details away, but this is an intense read which gives fairly plausible details. The characters are fairly well presented and we’re given enough info to interest us. I’d have expected more about why these events happen, but I can understand how we’re being prepared for the next part.
Pretty quickly we can see Violet/Sera is not quite your typical 16 year old. There’s some lovely exchanges between her and her foster-brother, Cody, but it’s very obvious that there is something odd going on here.
I don’t want to give details away, but this is an intense read which gives fairly plausible details. The characters are fairly well presented and we’re given enough info to interest us. I’d have expected more about why these events happen, but I can understand how we’re being prepared for the next part.
January 1, 2022
Review in Wrap Up Vlog to come...
March 3, 2013
BookNook — Young Adult book reviews
Unremembered has everything I love in a sci-fi: genetics, evil corporations, love, technology, and conspiracy. It's almost like it was made for me! However, I have to warn you. This story isn't exactly original. It's awesome, and I loved it, but it is one of those things that has been done many, many times. It just so happens to be a "cookie cutter" that I adore, so it didn't bother me in the slightest. But if that WOULD bother you, then this book is not for you.
However, despite my love for this book, it wasn't perfect. And I'll address some of the frustrating things first:
The first ~35% of the book is clouded in mystery as the girl—Seraphina—attempts to answer all of the questions in the blurb. Why wasn't she on the manifest? Was she actually on the plane? Why aren't her fingerprints and DNA in any of the databases? This was the first frustrating thing for me, because I thought the answer was obvious, but we don't get the reveal until the 35% mark. I honestly already had a good idea of what the 'secret' was from the synopsis alone. Now, that doesn't mean the beginning was terribly boring or painful for me to read, but I did get frustrated at times because it felt like it took her AGES to figure it out.
My one other problem is with the romance. I wanted to love the romance, and there was definitely potential there, but I didn't; I didn't hate it, I just didn't love it. The problem is that memory loss aside, Seraphina and Zen are already in love when the story begins. This is just a universal thing for me: I can't love a romance if I don't see it develop from the beginning. If you don't have that problem, then you might love this romance! But as much as I tried, I just didn't connect to it fully. Zen is totally a sweet character, and with more development I think I could have really loved the romance, but it just wasn't all there for me. There are some flashbacks to help us relive the beginning of the romance, but again, it just wasn't quite enough to get me to love it.
Okay, moving on! Overall, I adored this book. It is super action-packed and there are loads of twists and turns. There is one twist in particular that I feel like I'm a bit stupid for not having seen coming, but OMG it blew me away and I LOVED it!! Towards the end, it was a bit of a mindfuck at times, but that's one of the things that really drew me in. I love a complex story that can be so baffling that you need to take a time out to process it.
Unremembered also has a great ending. This is the first book in the series, so there is still an opening for it to be continued, but things do get wrapped up super nicely and there's not much of a cliffhanger. And despite my lack of enthusiasm for the romance, the ending still had me Awww'ing!
I kind of feel like I'm not saying enough with this review, but the problem is that all the juicy bits are spoilers! There's so much that I want to say, but I can't say it because I don't want to ruin the story for anyone. This book is almost like putting together a puzzle. There are so many pieces that Seraphina picks up along the way, but then everything at the end comes together beautifully to form an overall picture that finally makes sense. Even the small details that you thought you had figured out, suddenly come into focus even more at the end.
If it doesn't bother you that this plot has "been done before" (click the spoiler tag to see what I mean. It is sort of a spoiler, but it gets revealed at the 35% mark—so not that far in) then I highly recommend this book! It's a great story and will definitely keep you engaged!
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