Bookanistas Review: UNREMEMERED

mood: forgetful

pandora/ipod: "if you leave" by omd

I'm back with another Bookanistas review. FINALLY!  It feels so good to be reading and reviewing books again, especially when (a) they are awesome and (b) they are written by a good friend.  UNREMEMEBRED by Jessica Brody hits both of these points.

Here's the Goodreads blurb:

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 compelling and suspenseful new sci-fi series, set in a world where science knows no boundaries, memories are manipulated, and true love can never be forgotten.

Killer, right? It is, just as Jessica pitched it when she first told me about the book, a YA Jason Bourne.  And that is exactly what you get with UNREMEMBERED - the sharp, witty voice you've come to love in Jessica's other books like 52 REASONS TO HATE MY FATHER rolled into a non-stop thrill ride.

From the moment you open to the first chapter, the story is off and running.  Sera wakes up in the middle of the ocean after a devastating plane crash.  She doesn't know who she is.  She doesn't know how she got there.  She doesn't even know her name (they call her Violet due to her unusual purple eyes).  But this isn't just amnesia, Sera has seemingly no memory of life at all - she doesn't know what cars are, or food, or, life.

As she enters the foster system, things get even weirder.  Sera has an amazing capacity for numbers, a brain that works almost like a computer.  And then there's a mysterious boy named Zen who shows up seemingly out of nowhere, and he knows her real name - Seraphina.

At this point, I have to be really careful about spoilers.  Like any good thriller, the twists and turns make it an exciting read, because you never know what's coming.  Is Zen who he claims to be?  What is going on with Sera's tattoo?  Was she a passenger on that plane that crashed or perhaps the cause of it?

You'd better make sure you start this book on a lazy Saturday afternoon when you have no plans for the day because you literally cannot put UNREMEMBERED down once you pick it up.  As a writer and fan of twisty-turny mysteries, I can say without a doubt this is one of my new faves in the genre.

Want to see what else the Bookanistas are reading?  Also, we have some new Bookanistas to introduce!

FIRST…Jessica Love welcomes our FIVE NEW BOOKANISTAS!

Carrie Harris croons about THE COLLECTOR by Victoria Scott (YA Paranormal Romance)

Corrine Jackson adores CONFESSIONS OF AN ANGRY GIRL by Louise Rozett (YA Contemporary Romance)

Shelli Johannes-Wells hails HYSTERIA by Megan Miranda (YA Contemporary)

Stasia Ward Kehoe celebrates YALSA’s TEEN LIT DAY

Nikki Katz raves about ROOTLESS by Chris Howard (SF/Dystopian)

Gretchen McNeil adores UNREMEMBERED by Jessica Brody (YA Paranormal Romance)

Rebecca Behrens and Tracey Neithercott share why they’re excited to be newbie Bookanistas