Forget Me Not by Alexandra Oliva #bookreview #thriller #scifi
Title: Forget Me Not
Author: Alexandra Oliva
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: March 2, 2021
Page Count: 352
My rating: 3 stars
About the book:
She was born for all the wrong reasons. But her search for the truth reveals answers she wishes she could bury in Forget Me Not, a suspenseful and deeply moving near-future thriller from the author of The Last One.
What if your past wasn’t what you thought?
As a child, Linda Russell was left to raise herself in a twenty-acre walled-off property in rural Washington. The woods were her home, and for twelve years she lived oblivious to a stark and terrible truth: Her mother had birthed her only to replace another daughter who died in a tragic accident years before.
Then one day Linda witnesses something she wasn’t meant to see. Terrified and alone, she climbs the wall and abandons her home, but her escape becomes a different kind of trap when she is thrust into the modern world—a world for which she is not only entirely unprepared, but which is unprepared to accept her.
And you couldn’t see a future for yourself?
Years later, Linda is living in bustling Seattle, but she has never felt more alone. With social media more ubiquitous than ever before, she is hounded by the society she is now forced to inhabit. When Linda meets a fascinating new neighbor who might just be a potential friend, and who shows her the possibility of a new escape through virtual reality, she begins to allow herself to hope for more by being sucked into a world that feels safe, but isn’t real.
What would it take to reclaim your life?
Then an unexplained fire at her infamous childhood home jolts Linda back to reality. She must return to the property for the first time since she was a girl, unleashing a chain of events that will not only endanger her life but challenge her understanding of family, memory, and the world itself.
Forget Me Not by Alexandra Oliva is a science fiction thriller set in the near future. The main character in the story is an unreliable narrator who as a child knew she was only meant to replace her sister.
Linda Russell practically raised herself in rural Washington on a property with no modern conveniences. The woods were more Linda’s home as her mother ignored her and letting her know she was not a suitable replacement for the daughter she had lost.
At twelve Linda escaped her woodsy imprisonment and now as an adult is living in Seattle mostly in fear of the modern world around her. One day Linda meets a new neighbor who introduces her to virtual reality where Linda finds herself more at ease but then Linda finds that there was a fire at the place she spent her childhood so she begins to seek answers about herself and her past.
Forget Me Not by Alexandra Oliva was a book that seemed to get off to a slow start for me and had it’s ups and downs along the way. I think that the world building could have been a little bit better in the story to better help navigate this future world. The main character was also one that was a bit hard to connect to but the story inside was one I wanted to know more about as it went along. In the end I’d say this one landed in the middle of the road overall leaving me at three stars.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
Find this book online:
Goodreads / Amazon **
About the author:
Nice review Carrie. I think I’ll skip this though.
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Thanks Kim, I don’t think you’ll miss it if you do.🙂
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