Forgotten by Cat Patrick

Forgotten by Cat Patrick
Buy Forgotten by Cat Patrick at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Teens
Reviewer: Jill Murphy
Summary: Teen fans of The Time Traveler's Wife will love this story of a girl who can only remember the future - excluding her drop dead gorgeous boyfriend. It was lighter than I expected, but it will find an eager market.
Buy? Maybe	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 388	Date: June 2011
Publisher: Egmont
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 1405253614
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Here's the thing about me: I can see the future in flashes, like memories. But my past is a blank. I remember what I'll wear tomorrow, and argument that won't happen until this afternoon. But I don't know what I ate for dinner last night.

As you can imagine, life is quite tricky for London. At 4.33am every morning, her memory resets. She relies heavily on her mother and her best friend to get her through the day. And she also writes copious notes. Without them, she's lost. So, when she begins a relationship with drop-dead gorgeous Luke, London has a great deal to cope with. But even with her problems, London instinctively knows that this is an important and special relationship.

But there are secrets. London's mother is keeping them. Luke is keeping them. And London's dreams are keeping them. Her night-time visions are terrifying - showing strangers, funerals and huge grief. But what do they mean? And are they part of London's future? Or a glimpse into the past?

Forgotten is part mystery thriller, part romance, and the underlying themes are about free will and determinism. London can remember her future - but can she change it? There is great crisis in her past - but if she can't remember it, how can she move on? These are interesting questions and Patrick does explore them in some quite interesting ways, but I confess to a slight sense of disappointment. Forgotten was much lighter than I expected and it's much more of a romantic book with a mystery flavour than it is a mystery thriller with a touch of romance. Not that there's anything wrong with that - it's simply that I personally prefer a bit more meat.

Fans of teen romantic fiction will love it though. There's something very touching and sympathetic about a girl with a gorgeous boyfriend who can never get over those first date nerves because every date is a first date. The mystery does take second place to the romance, but it's well worked out and it certainly kept me guessing. And the style is perfectly pitched to its character - intense and vivid but introspective, just like London.

Recommended - for its niche.

My thanks to the good people at Egmont for sending the book.

If Forgotten is up their alley, they might also enjoy Wake by Lisa McMann, whose heroine can remember yesterday but can't avoid being sucked into other people's dreams. Those who like the paranormal even more to the forefront when they read might like the dangerous romance between Nora and Patch in Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick. You might also enjoy The Zigzag Effect by Lili Wilkinson.

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You can read more book reviews or buy Forgotten by Cat Patrick at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Forgotten by Cat Patrick at Amazon.com.

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