Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository{Affiliate Link}
Synopsis via Goodreads:
Shelby is nervous to start her senior year after spending the whole summer away from home. After all, it's hard to be carefree when you're trying to protect a secret.
Shelby was in a devastating car accident, and everyone in town thinks that she was undergoing more physical therapy in Denver. Instead, Shelby's mother enrolled her in a clinical program to stop the panic attacks that started after the crash. The treatment erased Shelby's memory of the accident, but she can't help feeling as if a piece of herself is missing, that the treatment took more than the doctors claimed.
So when Shelby starts hallucinating a boy with dark and mysterious eyes, she knows it must be a side-effect of the clinical program. Except you can't kiss hallucinations. And this boy insists that they know each other and are in love...
*Publisher approved request via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I fell in love with Renee's writing in Until We Meet Again, which turned out to be one of my favorite romance novels. So when I saw Remember Me Always I just knew I had to read it, especially after getting pulled in by that blurb.
The story starts off with Shelby returning home after receiving some sort of procedure that wiped away her memory of a terrible accident, along with other things that mattered to her. This is the second time I've read a book surrounding the erasure of bad memories and while I disagree with altering the mind, I'm understanding of this treatment being used on individuals with PTSD, like soldiers or others who have experienced abuse.
Right away I'd suspected there was more to the accident and to this boy trying to convince Shelby they were in a relationship. Her apprehension to talk to him came off a tad annoying at first but then I started to see things from her perspective, in the sense that she wasn't sure about who to trust since she couldn't recall important details. Once her defenses came down and she realized that her heart refused to deny this guy, I liked how she opened up to the idea of relearning about herself and the intense feelings that came so naturally toward him. The whole thing seemed sort of strange though and I had a lot of questions throughout, but those were all answered as the story progressed even though by the time the truth was revealed I had already figured it out.
In regards to the characters, Shelby was the only one I trusted since she was a blank page who didn't know anything and was pretty much a confused girl desperate for answers. Her "boyfriend", best friend, and even her mother were all hiding things. The latter, mind you, I could not stomach for the majority of the story. I found her rather insensitive at times and very controlling, which was something Shelby struggled with. As for her step-father, I wish he was more present in the story. I would have liked to know his feelings about the whole thing and how he could tolerate being married to Shelby's mother. I kid you not, the woman was a trip. She encouraged her daughter to run away from her problems instead of facing them head-on, and basically pressured Shelby into doing the procedure. The woman even dragged her back when she felt like her daughter just wasn't conforming to her ways. Like seriously, I could hardly stand her scenes.
Aside from that, loved the premise of the story and how Shelby dealt with the situation before and after everything was revealed. And even though I had figured out the truth a tad earlier, it still was an interesting read and I liked how it ended with new beginnings for each character. It left me feeling hopeful for them, yes even for the mother.
Overall, this is another great Renee Collins book. Loved the writing and the perseverance of Shelby's character. She's not perfect but I found her quite likable in spite of what happened. Please do give this one a read if you're curious about the memory erasing thing and most importantly, how powerful love can be. As crazy as it seems, somehow the heart always know even when the mind doesn't remember, and the truth always comes out no matter what lengths are taken to forget it. So yeah, definitely check this out, especially if you love emotional young adult stories.
About the Author
Renee Collins grew up on a beach in Hawaii. Sadly, she never met anyone from the past on those shores, but she did go on to get a degree in History, which is almost the same. She currently lives in Colorado with her family.
