The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron

July 17, 2017     erinthebooknut     Book review

The Forgetting by Sharon CameronThe Forgetting (The Forgetting, #1) by Sharon Cameron
on January 1st 1970
Pages: 403
Goodreads

What isn't written, isn't remembered. Even your crimes.

Nadia lives in the city of Canaan, where life is safe and structured, hemmed in by white stone walls and no memory of what came before. But every twelve years the city descends into the bloody chaos of the Forgetting, a day of no remorse, when each person's memories – of parents, children, love, life, and self – are lost. Unless they have been written.

In Canaan, your book is your truth and your identity, and Nadia knows exactly who hasn't written the truth. Because Nadia is the only person in Canaan who has never forgotten.

But when Nadia begins to use her memories to solve the mysteries of Canaan, she discovers truths about herself and Gray, the handsome glassblower, that will change her world forever. As the anarchy of the Forgetting approaches, Nadia and Gray must stop an unseen enemy that threatens both their city and their own existence – before the people can forget the truth. And before Gray can forget her.

5 Nuts

What’s worse? Having no memories at all or being the only one who remembers? I don’t think I could choose. What if what I’d forgotten was horrible? Maybe it was worth forgetting. But I can’t imagine either scenario being good, or being accepting of it happening every 12 years like clockwork. You can bet my butt would be causing some real trouble for somebody.

Still, it’s a fascinating concept, and one that had me up until the early hours of the morning unable to stop until the story was over. This doesn’t happen very often, I like sleep very much after all. So what made me sacrifice my first few hours of rest? Compelling story, a great villain, and a ship I could actually get behind. Not to mention a fantastically written female lead.

Nadia is a protector, a Katniss-like character. She cares for her family even though they don’t really return the sentiment. She brings them extra food, she makes sure she is prepared for the next Forgetting, she does not want to lose any of them. They are her motivation. I’ve found that family motivated characters appeal to me much better than most others, though I couldn’t really tell you why. It’s why I liked Lea from ASSASSIN’S HEART so much. Like Lea, Nadia is determined, stubborn, a little bit reckless. I think I have a type.

Cameron’s other character’s are many and varied, some you love, some you hate, some you don’t even know what to do with. I enjoy this. It keeps the story interesting, and my mind engaged. It’s also not as easy to predict when all the characters are more than one dimensional.

I think I finished this book in a day or two. It couldn’t have been much more than that, I had a hard time just turning my phone off when other people wanted to talk to me (I listened to the audio for part of it). It’s a bit of a genre jumper, I thought I was reading one thing until the story took a quick right turn into something I didn’t expect. The clues are there, and I definitely picked up on them, but even so I found myself very happy with the twist. Or twists, as there are more than one.

The audio for this book is perfection. The narrator sounds similar to the one who did ASSASSIN’s HEART, but its not. I checked. The emotion as she reads is incredible, the sound of her grief and sadness or fear at various points in the story stirred emotion in me like I rarely get while reading. A testament both to the writing and the performance.

I wish I hadn’t waited so long to read this book. It would have easily been my favorite book of 2016, which considering its outside my preferred genre is praise in its highest form. Usually only high fantasy books make the grade. I’m excited now to read the companion, and to give Cameron’s other books a try.

What did you think of The Forgetting? Share your thoughts in the comments.

From my shelf to yours,

Erin

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