If you love emotional books and “The Vow” this is for you. I read this one in a matter of days I was so obsessed. The emotional highs and lows are masterful. Keep reading this book review for my full thoughts.
Summary
What would you do if you forgot the love of your life ever even existed?
Stevie and Nora had a love. A secret, epic, once-in-a-lifetime kind of love. They also had a plan: to leave their small, ultra-conservative town and families behind after graduation and move to California, where they could finally stop hiding that love.
But then Stevie has a terrible fall. And when she comes to, she can remember nothing of the last two years—not California, not coming to terms with her sexuality, not even Nora. Suddenly, Stevie finds herself in a life she doesn’t quite understand, one where she’s estranged from her parents, drifting away from her friends, lying about the hours she works, dating a boy she can’t remember crushing on, and headed towards a future that isn’t at all what her fifteen-year-old self would have envisioned.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
TW: racism, homophobia
Forget Me Not begins with a fabulous premise which asks us what would happen if we forgot. If those revelations, new friendships, and tender love would disappear. Could we find our way back? What would it be like to be the one forgotten? To witness the traces of love fading into the background? Forget Me Not is emotional and tender. It oozes love and longing from the beginning.
To realize that for Stevie it’s a process of loss – both of her love (which she doesn’t remember) and the vision of herself. Not only is it a joy to see Stevie come into herself, but also to witness the letters from Nora. How many things about ourselves, our lives, and our futures can change in a moment. There’s this immediate sense of tension – will Stevie remember? But Derrick explores this story while also asking what pieces of ourselves are hidden within and even from ourselves.
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Above all else, Forget Me Not is a tender and moving YA contemporary. In Stevie’s journey she experiences the pain of not being accepted, of needing to escape the lies people keep from us. It’s about both being surprised by people and having them let us down. This one is for those who love emotional tension, falling in love, and discovering yourself. Find Forget Me Not on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, & Blackwells.