Book Review | The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron

THE FORGETTING (The Forgetting #1)
by Sharon Cameron

Nadia lives in the city of Canaan, where life is safe and structured, hemmed in by white stone walls and no memory of what came before. But every twelve years the city descends into the bloody chaos of the Forgetting, a day of no remorse, when each person's memories – of parents, children, love, life, and self – are lost. Unless they have been written.

In Canaan, your book is your truth and your identity, and Nadia knows exactly who hasn't written the truth. Because Nadia is the only person in Canaan who has never forgotten.

But when Nadia begins to use her memories to solve the mysteries of Canaan, she discovers truths about herself and Gray, the handsome glassblower, that will change her world forever. As the anarchy of the Forgetting approaches, Nadia and Gray must stop an unseen enemy that threatens both their city and their own existence – before the people can forget the truth. And before Gray can forget her.

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The cover got to me. What can I say it's purple. It's your typical dystopian YA novel, kind of a mixture of The Giver and Divergent. The heroine Nadia lives in Canaan where every 12yrs the citizens forget everything. They have to keep a book with them at all times to make a log of their lives so that when they wake from the Forgetting they would know who they were. Except Nadia doesn't forget and she doesn't know why.

Nadia isn't so different from the typical dystopian heroine - questions authority, insufferably stubborn, rule breaker. The only thing that probably sets her apart is that she was described as the girl who doesn't talk much. Probably because of the fact that she retains her memories after the last Forgetting happened, and she can't be found out.

The pace of the book is a little bit slow but not so much that I wouldn't enjoy the development of the characters. I was thinking maybe the Forgetting is caused by the atmosphere of the planet, I didn't expect it to the pollen from trees. Some of the character were just accessories for Nadia, barely enough characterization much less development.

Overall, I did enjoy the book. It was an easy read.

Ratings: ⭐⭐⭐

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COMING SOON - Expected publication: October 10th 2017 by Scholastic Press

THE KNOWING (The Forgetting #2)
by Sharon Cameron


Samara doesn't forget. And she isn't the only one. Safe underground in the city of New Canaan, she lives in a privileged world free from the Forgetting. Yet she wonders if she really is free, with the memories that plague her and secrets that surround her. Samara is determined to unearth the answers, even if she must escape to the old, cursed city of Canaan to find them.

Someone else is on their way to Canaan too . . . a spaceship from Earth is heading toward the planet, like a figment of the city's forgotten past. Beck is traveling with his parents, researchers tasked with finding the abandoned settlement effort. When Beck is stranded without communication, he will find more in Canaan than he was ever trained for. What will happen when worlds and memories, beliefs -- and truths -- collide?

This pulse-pounding, evocative companion to Cameron's highly acclaimed The Forgetting explores the truth and loss that lie within human memory, and the bonds that hold us together.