Title: The Forgotten Memories of Vera Glass
Author: Anna Priemaza
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Rating: 4 Stars
Description/Synopsis:
Vera has a nagging feeling that she’s forgetting something. Not her keys or her homework—something bigger. Or someone. When she discovers her best friend Riven is experiencing the same strange feeling, they set out on a mission to uncover what’s going on. Everyone in Vera’s world has a special ability—a little bit of magic that helps them through the day. Perhaps someone’s ability is interfering with their memory? Or is something altering their very reality? Vera and Riven intend to fix it and get back whatever or whomever they’ve lost. But how do you find the truth when you can’t even remember what you’re looking for in the first place?
The Forgotten Memories of Vera Glass is a cleverly constructed, heartbreaking, and compelling contemporary YA novel—with a slight fantasy twist—about memory, love, grief, and the invisible bonds that tie us to each other.
WARNING – SPOILERS MAY ENSUE BEYOND THIS POINT – REVIEW BELOW
Though this book started slow, I ended up liking it a lot more than I expected to. I’ll admit, I had my reservations. The book began with a lot of small mundane moments playing out, and I feared the book would continue at a sluggish pace. It didn’t help that the author had a penchant for awkwardly pointing out the color of each character’s skin – which I found rather jarring and unnecessary.
But as the story wound on, I became engrossed. Not necessarily because of the characters – they didn’t really grow or change much throughout the book – but because of the heart-rending “what if” of having people in your life disappear from one moment to the next and leaving no indication that they ever existed other than the feeling of loss. It was a powerful concept, and absolutely devastating for the characters. I found the story to be thought-provoking and emotional, and even if the book wasn’t filled with exceptional prose or character building, I still think it was an excellent read.
Author Unpublished 