BOOK REVIEW: Memoirs Of A Teenage Amnesiac – by Gabrielle Zevin

Title: Memoirs Of A Teenage Amnesiac
Author: Gabrielle Zevin
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction
First published: August 21st 2007
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Finished reading: August 27th 2016
Pages: 288

“Someday, we’ll run into each other again, I know it.
Maybe I’ll be older and smarter and just plain better. If that happens, that’s when I’ll deserve you. But now, at this moment, you can’t hook your boat to mine, because I’m liable to sink us both.”

I’ve seen this book around a few times in the past and I decided to get a copy as well. And Memoirs Of A Teenage Amnesiac was without doubt a superfast and quite entertaining contemporary romance story with a twist. It wasn’t as good as I would have hoped though and I had mixed feelings about the whole amnesia theme. I just felt it was pushed into the background most of the time, which was a shame since it’s basically the most interesting thing about this story in the first place. Gabrielle Zevin‘s prose is easy to read, quite quotable and fans of the genre will probably end up flying through the pages. It could have done without the romance. It could have done without the sort of love triangle. It could have done without all the drama (especially the main character; boy she is annoying!). But I loved Will’s character and overall it’s definitely worth reading despite the flaws.

If Naomi had picked tails, she would have won the coin toss and everything would have been different. But she picked heads, and had to go back for the yearbook camera. She then hit her head on the steps when she slipped, and woke up in an ambulance with amnesia. Naomi doesn’t remember anything from the last few years; not her boyfriend Ace, not why she’s with the yearbook in the first place and definitely not about her dad’s fiancée or her mom’s new family. She doesn’t really know how to deal with it all and the ‘mystery boy’ James that helped her when she fell is intriguing her as well. Will Naomi be able to figure out the truth about her past and overcome her amnesia? And will the people around her accept the changed Naomi?

If you are looking for an entertaining amnesia themed YA novel, Memoirs Of A Teenage Amnesiac is a good choice. The amnesia unfortunately doesn’t play that big of a role in the story, but it does give you global idea of what a teenager with memory loss has to deal with. It’s all a bit superficial, stuffed with drama and I wish the romance wouldn’t have played such a big role in the story, but I liked the prose and the pace is superfast. Recommended!