Review: Forgotten by Cat Patrick

Title: Forgotten

Author: Cat Patrick

Publisher: Egmont Books Ltd

Publication Date: 6 Jun 2011

Synopsis: From Amazon

With the intrigue of Memento and the romance of The Time-Traveller's Wife, Forgotten is the perfect YA novel. Here's the thing about me: I can see the future in flashes, like memories. But my past is a blank. I remember what I'll wear tomorrow, and an argument that won't happen until this afternoon. But I don't know what I ate for dinner last night. I get by with the help of notes, my mom and my best friend Jamie, and the system works ...Until now. Everything's falling apart. Jamie's going of the rails. My mom is lying to me. And I can't see the boy I adore in my future. But today, I love him. And I never want to forget how much ...Forgotten is the story of a girl for whom yesterday is lost, today is an adventure, and tomorrow is a memory. An unforgettable read.

Review:

It has taken me awhile to figure out exactly what I wanted to say, this is one of those books that just draws you in, keeps you turning the pages compulsively to the point that even sleep doesn't matter as long as you get to know what happens next.

Initially thoughts of the movie 50 First Dates went through my head with the memory loss at  the start of each day and the way in which London had to keep notes on even the smallest detail of her life. Revelations regarding her memory loss were almost subconsciously slipped into the plot took the story to a whole other dimension. Multi-layered plots so tightly woven together to give a three dimensional realistic and relatable world within the imagination.

What still stays with me from this book long after finishing it is the paranormal twist in the tale with London's ability to retain future memories but not the past. From the start you question what it must feel like for London to know the awful things that are going to happen to people and not know how to even begin to alter things or if she should try to alter things in case it makes them worse. What a predicament. Just try imagining how you would feel if you foresaw the death of a loved one and didn't know how to change the course of their lives to stop it happening OR if you did prevent that tragedy from happening and something infinitely worse occurred instead (yes there are worse things than death). It is like being caught between the frying pan and the fire. My heart really went out to London in this respect, you could literally feel the weight she carried on her shoulders emanating from the pages.

Don't get me wrong London isn't a perfect character she can be mean and insensitive; making her a typical teenager and therefore all the more realistic.  Her relationship with Luke is one of the cutest romances I have ever read. I still *swoon* whenever I think of Luke. I cannot go into too much detail about their relationship as it is quite pivotal to all the levels of the plot. I will say that Luke is like London's lynch pin holding her together. I laughed, I cried and I swooned over this relationship. The word perfect comes to mind.

I have heard a few people say that they thought the ending was abrupt and that the need for a second book to finish off some of the plot threads would be beneficial. I actually don't agree, I liked the ending the way in which life continued and developed for London was something I could cope with as a reader. It left it open to imagine the future (for me this was the optimistic future of London and Luke <3).

I really loved this book, its a stunning, original, refreshing, compelling debut. Such fantastic writing style that I am eagerly awaiting anything else that Cat Patrick writes. Seriously go read it you wont regret it.