Title: Unremembered Series: Unremembered #1
Author: Jessica Brody
Published: March 5, 2013
Genre(s): Science Fiction
Page Count: 320
Rating:
Summary from Goodreads: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?
Though this is not a perfect novel by any means, Unremembered by Jessica Brody was quick, entertaining, and different—all qualities that made it very worthwhile, in my opinion. The story was unique and kept my attention throughout, and it’s obvious that this is a book by an experienced author, and not at all a sloppy or half-baked debut. In light of that, I enjoyed myself very much while reading.
The story features first-person narrating protagonist Violet, who wakes up at the site of a plane crash as the sole survivor. She has no memory of who she is, where she came from, or how she survived. A mysterious boy starts following her around, and we realize her past might be more sinister than otherwise.
I admit that, as described above, Unremembered does not have an extremely unique plot. Girl requires strange boy to help her unlock secrets of her past. It’s an oft-used storyline in YA. However, there was something engrossing in Brody’s delivery. The book is a very quick read, and even though readers kind of know where everything is headed, there’s still the element of the unknown. There were a few plot twists that, while not entirely surprising, went a long way toward keeping this story interesting.
There is a potential case of instalove in the book, though it’s something of a hybrid. Because Violet and her love interest knew each other/fell in love in her “past life” or whatever, technically they already have a bond. However, because Unremembered establishes that Violet has no memories, the fact that she fell in love with him so quickly, previous relationship notwithstanding, makes things a bit more unbelievable. Violet’s romance is right on the instalove/not-instalove border, but it’s probably just as annoying as any other kind of “instant, inexplicable attraction” type situation.
I think, though, that what made this book so compelling was Brody’s talent. This isn’t her first novel, and it shows. She has control over her craft and she knows the ins and outs of telling an engaging story. Her writing is strong and mature, not plagued with beginner’s mistakes. The quality of the writing is consistent throughout, and that background foundation helps tremendously.
I’m going to be honest and say that Unremembered is far from a perfect book. It has a lot of issues. But it’s also well-written and professionally executed. There’s probably better YA science fiction out there, but Jessica Brody writes in a way that moves things forward and makes you believe in her story and her characters. Good, quality writing really does make a difference.
