Unremembered (Unremembered, #1) in The Reader's Lounge

Jan 16, 2013 Jasprit rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, arc-galley, out-2013, mystery, read-in-2013, sci-fi

Books dealing with memory loss is my biggest pet peeve, I enjoy the entire concept; of for whatever reason a protagonist loses their memory and spends most of the story trying to discover who and what they were before the accident. But I’ve never found a novel which deals with memory loss which has totally wowed me. I’ve found that novels which take a light hearted approach to this such as What Alice forgot, I’m more likely to enjoy, where as those with a big conspiracy theory behind everything Books dealing with memory loss is my biggest pet peeve, I enjoy the entire concept; of for whatever reason a protagonist loses their memory and spends most of the story trying to discover who and what they were before the accident. But I’ve never found a novel which deals with memory loss which has totally wowed me. I’ve found that novels which take a light hearted approach to this such as What Alice forgot, I’m more likely to enjoy, where as those with a big conspiracy theory behind everything tend to confuse me even more. Unfortunately Unremembered for me falls into the latter category. Despite starting off fun, with Violet trying to find her place in her foster family and forming a relationship with her witty step-brother Cody, the path the story followed kind of dwindled off into strangers lurking in the shadows and accusations being thrown about all over the place of who Violet really was. I quite liked the first half when Violet and Cody become their own little detectives and did their own investigating, the second half unfortunately I didn’t like at all.

For me personally Brody attempted to throw too much into the mix, I barely got my head around what Violet was and then we had all these individuals popping up claiming to be “friends” of Violet, who could she trust? I liked getting into the back story into Violet’s life, but after everything I didn’t find it all that exciting. The romance also thrown into the mix didn’t win me over either, I usually like my action packed novels layered with a sweet romance. But the relationship between Zen and Violet had no substance for me, I enjoyed getting the small flash backs into how they once were, but now I wasn’t too confident that they could get that back.

The first half of Unremembered began solidly for me I even had the initial excitement that finally I had found a decent story dealing with memory loss. But the second half just went over my head. I’m not sure that I will be continuing with this series, but I definitely want to try Brody’s other books I have a feeling I may have more luck with her contemporary novels.

If anyone has read decent books dealing with memory loss, I would love to know your recommendations. ...more

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Oct 14, 2014 Pili rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Book events are not only a wonderful way of meeting authors you love but also a way to giving you a push to read books you've had a while but hadn't get to read yet. After attending the Fierce Reads event in NYC, I loved how Jessica Brody described her series so I started reading this one and bought the second book, the novella and preordered book 3!

Unremembered starts with a main character that doesn't know anything about her, doesn't remember anything except a year that is not the current one ...more

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Aug 05, 2013 Stacie (Shy Book Nerd) rated it liked it

Actual Rating 2.5 out of 5

Sera also known as Violet is lost, lonely and has no idea who she is or where she came from. She woke up from a plane wreckage as the only survivor. What's worse is she has no identification whatsoever, with no one claiming her as their family member. There isn't even a record of how she got on the plane! Since no one came for Sera, she is sent to live with a foster family. Everything seemed normal at first, but she soon realized she not so ordinary. For one, she is sup Actual Rating 2.5 out of 5

Sera also known as Violet is lost, lonely and has no idea who she is or where she came from. She woke up from a plane wreckage as the only survivor. What's worse is she has no identification whatsoever, with no one claiming her as their family member. There isn't even a record of how she got on the plane! Since no one came for Sera, she is sent to live with a foster family. Everything seemed normal at first, but she soon realized she not so ordinary. For one, she is super duper intelligent and two, she is mighty strong. From there, it kind of clues you in that something is inhuman about her.
Among the chaos of confusion that surrounded her life, Sera stumbles upon a guy named Zen who claims to know her from their past. She has no recollection of him, so she battles with herself debating whether she should trust him or not. The relationship doesn't progress much through out the story. The majority of their romance is shown in flashbacks. Since Sera and Zen weren't madly in love, I felt they were a bit bland together. If the story was a bit longer and detailed, they would be more believable as a couple. I wanted to see more fireworks between them. Only towards the end did I see that.
During the book we meet Cody. Cody is Sera's foster brother. He was cute in a nerdy, protect your little brother kind of way. He also brought out some humor to the story with his sarcastic banter, his babbling mouth, and he had a pretty wild imagination. Cody made the book more lively, a not so serious side, which I gladly enjoyed. I adored the bond that Cody formed with Sera. I honestly hope he comes out in the second novel because he made Sera not be so serious and she was actually was funny.
Overall, this was a good, light hearted summer read. It was short, a little romantic, with a science fiction background. Although I guessed what would happen was correct, there was a twist towards the end that I did not see coming. I loved Jessica's writing style. The words flowed so beautifully keeping me entranced by the story. I hope her next book, Unforgotten is better with more details. I don't want the romance to be bland like some chicken noodle soup. (It has to be more like some spicy tortilla soup, where they can't keep their hands off each other!) She left many unanswered questions that left me kind of hanging. I will continue reading this series though because I want to know what happens to Sera and Zen! Plus, I think there will be more kissing. Have you seen the just released cover of Unforgotten?! Let me show you a picture. It is absolutely beautiful! ...more

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