Remember

December 15, 2014
After suffering a major loss, one girl utilizes her father's new memory-erasing technology to ease the pain only to spiral down a rabbit hole of shocking family secrets.Harper has it all: a devoted boyfriend, a prizewinning horse and a rich father who's created Memtex, a medical treatment that "softens" traumatic memories. But when a sudden loss rocks her perfect world, she finds herself unable to get past it. She asks her father for the Memtex treatment, but he forbids it with an eerie adamancy. Harper enlists Josh, her boyfriend and an intern at her father's company, to help her get the treatment she thinks she needs. And though the pain vanishes just as promised, a dark new puzzle presents itself to Harper in its place, and the truth hidden within it turns everything she knows on its head. Cook populates Harper's charmed life with a few dynamic characters, like her sharp best friend, Win, and her Memtex protestor-turned-alternative love interest, Neil. However, Harper reads as self-involved as her suspicious father does, leaving little room for readers to root for her. Much time is spent arguing over her relationship with Josh, though she isn't keen on him from the beginning. The pace crawls until the ending arrives in a rush. A rehash of the memory-loss trope weighed down by too little action and an unengaging protagonist. (Science fiction. 14-18)

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November 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-After a tragedy leaves Harper Byrne depressed and lacking in her characteristic optimism, she sneaks into her father's hospital and gets a controversial memory-altering procedure called Memtex. When inexplicable memories arise and strange side effects occur, Harper goes on a quest, with the help of a mysterious social activist named Neil, to uncover secrets about her past and her father's research that could change her life forever. Cook adeptly addresses complicated relationship issues in this YA novel. Unfortunately, the protagonist is forgettable. Her spunky attitude and sense of humor barely redeem her bland flatness. Best friend Win is far more developed and interesting, and thankfully plays a big part throughout the story. Harper's relationship with Josh, her boyfriend of two years, also takes up much of the plot. Josh has a better relationship with Harper's father than she does, because of his passion for science and medicine. While teens looking for a good mystery could find a lot to like in Remember, the lack of character development, messy pacing, and predictable story line fail to create the necessary emotional tension.-Eden Rassette, Kenton County Public Library, KY

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