ARC Review: Unremembered by Jessica Brody

The only thing worse than forgetting her past… is remembering it.

When Freedom Airlines flight 121 went down over the Pacific Ocean, no one ever expected to find survivors. Which is why the sixteen-year-old girl discovered floating among the wreckage—alive—is making headlines across the globe.

Even more strange is that her body is miraculously unharmed and she has no memories of boarding the plane. She has no memories of her life before the crash. She has no memories period. No one knows how she survived. No one knows why she wasn’t on the passenger manifest. And no one can explain why her DNA and fingerprints can’t be found in a single database in the world.

Crippled by a world she doesn’t know, plagued by abilities she doesn’t understand, and haunted by a looming threat she can’t remember, Seraphina struggles to piece together her forgotten past and discover who she really is. But with every clue only comes more questions. And she’s running out of time to answer them.

Her only hope is a strangely alluring boy who claims to know her from before the crash. Who claims they were in love. But can she really trust him? And will he be able to protect her from the people who have been making her forget?

From popular young adult author, Jessica Brody comes a mesmerizing and suspenseful new series, set in a world where science knows no boundaries, memories are manipulated, and true love can never be forgotten.

_________________________________________________________________

My Review of Unremembered

When I first heard about Unremembered, I knew it was a mystery I wanted to get to the bottom of – and I was not disappointed. Right away, you are thrust into a curious, almost hopeless-feeling predicament: this girl survived a deadly plane crash without a scratch, and without ANY memory of ANYTHING. I mean, WHAT?

I loved the way her story unfolded: piece by piece, with new clues that were little mysteries in themselves. I found Sera’s narration to be believable, amusing, and enjoyable. The extent of things she didn’t remember was surprising, and so I found myself giggling at her elation over a grilled cheese sandwich or her eagerness to “go to” the internet. By far, my favorite part about Unremembered was Seraphina’s determination to find herself, to answer the questions plaguing her, and her interaction with the other characters. Thoroughly satisfying!

As I was reading, the story often felt familiar, reminding me of other books, movies, and TV shows that I enjoy. I’ve seen other reviewers chalk this up to “been there, done that” but I have to fervently disagree. Unremembered was surprisingly more sci-fi than I anticipated, but all of the elements worked well together and were very satisfying to read about. I would have liked to have learned more about some of the technologies, but I’m hoping they’ll be explained more in the sequel.

And the romance. Oh! I adored it. It was so sweet, and so artfully done, that I just could have cried. That is one piece of Unremembered that sets it apart from other similar books. Maybe I’m just a sap, but… Oh, and I don’t want to ruin the mystery of this story. Jessica Brody did such a great job with this romance, in my opinion. It is definitely one of my favorites from any YA book!

In conclusion, Unremembered was a satisfying, memorable (wink-wink) sci-fi mystery. I definitely want to read more. And I heartily recommend it, especially if you are a fan of books like False Memory by Dan Krokos, Origin by Jessica Khoury, or Beta by Rachel Cohn.

[NOTE: I read this book as an ARC, borrowed from my sister, who receives many, many awesome things in her mailbox.]

__________

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
More of Unremembered: goodreads | amazon | official website