The Memory Book by Laura Avery
Reading Group: High School+
Personal Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
Given Summary: They tell me that my memory will never be the same, that I'll start forgetting things. At first just a little, and then a lot. So I'm writing to remember.
So the memory book is born: a journal written to Sammie's future self, so she can remember everything from where she stashed her study guides to just how great it feels to have a best friend again. It's where she'll record every perfect detail of her first date with longtime-crush Stuart, a gifted young writer home for the summer. And where she'll admit how much she's missed her childhood friend Cooper, and the ridiculous lengths he will go to make her laugh. The memory book will ensure Sammie never forgets the most important parts of her life--the people who have broken her heart, those who have mended it--and most of all, that if she's going to die, she's going to die living.
Sammie McCoy is a girl with a plan: graduate at the top of her class and get out of her small town as soon as possible. Nothing will stand in her way--not even the rare genetic disorder the doctors say will slowly steal her memories and then her health.
So the memory book is born: a journal written to Sammie's future self, so she can remember everything from where she stashed her study guides to just how great it feels to have a best friend again. It's where she'll record every perfect detail of her first date with longtime-crush Stuart, a gifted young writer home for the summer. And where she'll admit how much she's missed her childhood friend Cooper, and the ridiculous lengths he will go to make her laugh. The memory book will ensure Sammie never forgets the most important parts of her life--the people who have broken her heart, those who have mended it--and most of all, that if she's going to die, she's going to die living.
Cover: I really like the cover of this book. It's Sammie, but it's almost like she's fading away. Similar to how her memory is slowly being lost.
My Review: I'm going to apologize now that the first two books I have reviewed in the new year are a little sad/depressing. But neither of them are sad in the standard way in my opinion. They were both sad in a way that you saw coming so you were able to prepare yourself for it when it actually hit. Having time to prepare yourself for the sadness doesn't make it less sad, but it does make you have less of a reaction I think. Obviously, in Thirteen Reasons Why the reader knows right off the bat that Hannah is dead and in this book it was pretty clear (to me at least) that Sammie's disease was going to cause her to die young. Yes, there were moments that Hannah said it wasn't going to stop her and that she was going to go off to college, but even reading it I could tell it was a pipe dream. It was great that she was so optimistic, but her disease was really serious. It was sad to go through it with Sammie as she documented her good days and bad. All that being said I really enjoyed this story. I liked the idea of Hannah writing down her days, even the ones that didn't seem that important so that she could look back and remember them. For me, it really hit home because that's essentially what I am doing with this blog. If I ever wanted to, I could go back and read about what I did during any given week of 2015.
I also loved Copper and Hannah because they shouldn't have worked out the way they did. If Cooper were a stranger at the beginning of the novel, Hannah wouldn't have liked him. He was a popular stoner who cheated his way through high school, and Hannah was a nobody on the debate team and valedictorian of her graduating class. The reason they worked so well was that they grew up together. A lot of people have friends like that. The ones who you stick with because you know every side of them and you remember the time (s)he tripped and cried on the playground in third grade or some unimportant thing. Heck, Style and I always tell each other that at this point in our lives we've simply known each other too long to give up on our friendship. Plus, Hannah needs the history she has with Cooper because her memory is failing. She needs someone who can tell her stories about herself from the past and make new memories with her in the present.
This book was really interesting... I know that term may make you feel like it's some type of informational pamphlet, but that's a good word for it because I have never read anything like it.
Sure, I've read books about teenagers dying from all sorts of different diseases, but this one was different. I feel like I always personify diseases when I read books that have to do with teenagers with different illnesses, but I have to say that although any disease is awful, one that takes away your thoughts is just such a low blow. To me, losing a leg or your hair to a disease is awful and takes away from the individual, but losing your memory is a new level. Maybe you guys disagree, but I would rather lose a leg than forget where I am at any given moment.
Check this book out if you get the chance.
Smile! I'll talk to you soon!xxx
Did this book remind anyone who's already read it of the movie "50 First Dates" because that was all I thought about the whole time I was reading it?
I also loved Copper and Hannah because they shouldn't have worked out the way they did. If Cooper were a stranger at the beginning of the novel, Hannah wouldn't have liked him. He was a popular stoner who cheated his way through high school, and Hannah was a nobody on the debate team and valedictorian of her graduating class. The reason they worked so well was that they grew up together. A lot of people have friends like that. The ones who you stick with because you know every side of them and you remember the time (s)he tripped and cried on the playground in third grade or some unimportant thing. Heck, Style and I always tell each other that at this point in our lives we've simply known each other too long to give up on our friendship. Plus, Hannah needs the history she has with Cooper because her memory is failing. She needs someone who can tell her stories about herself from the past and make new memories with her in the present.
This book was really interesting... I know that term may make you feel like it's some type of informational pamphlet, but that's a good word for it because I have never read anything like it.
Sure, I've read books about teenagers dying from all sorts of different diseases, but this one was different. I feel like I always personify diseases when I read books that have to do with teenagers with different illnesses, but I have to say that although any disease is awful, one that takes away your thoughts is just such a low blow. To me, losing a leg or your hair to a disease is awful and takes away from the individual, but losing your memory is a new level. Maybe you guys disagree, but I would rather lose a leg than forget where I am at any given moment.
Check this book out if you get the chance.
Smile! I'll talk to you soon!xxx
Did this book remind anyone who's already read it of the movie "50 First Dates" because that was all I thought about the whole time I was reading it?
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