Release date: January 14, 2014
*SYNOPSIS*
My life was perfectly mapped out for me since before the day I was born. I followed it, begrudgingly, because it’s what was expected. And then one day, everything changed. I woke up. Different. Independent. Free from all the rules that had surrounded me. Only I have no idea how I got to where I am. I have no memory of graduating college. No memory of Adam, the boyfriend I live with. He loves me. And I love him. At least that’s what everyone says. Except when my memories return to me as dreams, I see a different man than the one everyone claims is perfect for me. He terrifies me. He makes my heart race and he makes me feel things I’ve never felt before. I have no idea if I want to welcome the emotional roller-coaster that his piercing brown eyes and messy black hair puts me on every time I get a glimpse of him, or if I want to run back to the safe shelter of the scripted life-plan that used to be mine.
*EXCERPT*
*EXCERPT*
“So who was the girl?”
I stare at the ceiling, ignoring my therapist’s question. I hate this room. The walls are yellow but not a happy yellow. More like what I imagine baby poop looks like. And the chairs haven’t been updated since at least the sixties. By the time my sessions are done, the only thing that’s changed is the imprint of the scratchy fabric on the backs of my thighs.
Instead of answering the question, I count the ceiling tiles and multiply the rows. Ironic that I use math at a time like this when it was a math class that got me into all this trouble in the first place. Reliving all these dreams every week is almost as exhausting as having them in the first place. Talking about them doesn’t make anything better.
“Adam?” Dr. Jamison has lost interest in my silence, again, and turns to him. She’s about fifty years old and her faded blonde hair that hangs down to her waist is always braided. She wears flowy, multi-colored hippy skirts and mismatched tops every time I see her. Sometimes I want to ask her if she has a joint, just to see what she says.
“Tina,” he says softly. I stare out the window at the playground that sits empty at the park across the street. “It was just Tina.”
“Who’s Tina?”
“She was a friend from home. We grew up next door to each other. She was in town that weekend visiting friends from our high school that went to college with me. That’s all.”
That’s all. It’s only two words, but they sound so condescending every time I hear them. It tells me that everything I’m either dreaming or remembering is made up or a half-truth of what the real life events actually were. It tells me that I’m being an idiot for believing them over my boyfriend who loves me. Or so I’ve been told.
Maybe I’d believe them if I remembered Adam at all.
*REVIEW*
3.5 stars!
I liked the premise of the book. It's original, unique, and a very real reflection of what some couples go through today. I admire and respect the author for tackling such a topic.
While Adam and Amy's story was deeply emotional and touching, I found myself getting....bored. I think the content was actually really light compared to other books with heroes/heroines trying to recover their memory so for me, I wasn't particularly invested in any one character, but interested enough to finish reading the book. I wanted to FEEL the devastation, the gut-wrenching emotions but there were many times I found the characters to just go through motions without really being there. It may be that I was looking for something deeper at the time and why I thought it missed the mark.
If you're in the mood for a quick second chance romance with a couple re-experiencing every memory, every moment of their time together, this may be the one for you!
ARC kindly provided by author in exchange for an honest review.
~Review by Feifei
I am a wife, a mom, and a writer. I can often be found curled up on the couch with a good book, or obsessively eating Skittles in a very complicated and organized manner. No joke.
*GIVEAWAY*
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Looks good I can't wait to read it Thank you for the giveaway.
ReplyDelete