Book Review / The Memory Book by Lara Avery

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.

Sammie was always a girl with a plan: graduate at the top of her class and get out of her small town as soon as humanly possible. Nothing will stand in her way--not even a rare genetic disorder the doctors say will slowly start to steal her memories and then her health. What she needs is a new plan.

So the Memory Book is born: Sammie's notes to her future self, a document of moments great and small. It's where she'll record every perfect detail of her first date with longtime crush, Stuart--a brilliant young writer who is home for the summer. And where she'll admit how much she's missed her childhood best friend, Cooper, and even take some of the blame for the fight that ended their friendship.

Through a mix of heartfelt journal entries, mementos, and guest posts from friends and family, readers will fall in love with Sammie, a brave and remarkable girl who learns to live and love life fully, even though it's not the life she planned.




Published:     13th January 2015
Publisher:  Riverhead Books
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone
Source:  Owned

 MY REVIEW

What I liked about this book...  This was a very interesting book to read with the main character suffering from a disorder that is very similar to dementia, which is a condition you usually associate with the elderly but unfortunately Samantha is still in school and because the disorder is hereditary she can develop the systems at any age.  What I liked was the fact that you were not just reading a story with this novel, Samantha is actually writing a Memory Book to help her when the disease gets hold and that is what we are reading, along with text messages with her friends and family.  This book shows a very slow decline as Samantha gets worse.

What I didn't like about this book...   I have to be honest and say that if I had read this book ten years ago I would have loved this more.  I have the impression with this book that it was written more for a younger audience, it certainly tells as you read more and more of the story.  Being in my 30s I enjoyed the story but because most of the characters in this story are teenagers living in a teenager's world, at home and at school, I think I would have appreciated this story more if I was living that same life while reading it.