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izzys_internet_bookshelf's review against another edition
3.0
3.5/5
Wow this book was so different in a good and bad way. I loved the concept but I wish the author would have dug deeper into this futuristic world and how the process even started. The bad side of the story for me was the romance, I felt like it was barely there and that the plot was more focused on Blue, which in my opinion should have been. The climax had so many twists that it made me enjoy it but I wish there would have been more to the story. Also it did not feel like 260 pages! It felt more like 400! But in a way that is good.
Wow this book was so different in a good and bad way. I loved the concept but I wish the author would have dug deeper into this futuristic world and how the process even started. The bad side of the story for me was the romance, I felt like it was barely there and that the plot was more focused on Blue, which in my opinion should have been. The climax had so many twists that it made me enjoy it but I wish there would have been more to the story. Also it did not feel like 260 pages! It felt more like 400! But in a way that is good.
smittenforfiction's review against another edition
3.0
Mayhem was so good, I can't wait to read this one. Approved for an arc on Netgalley :) ♥
Update March 13: finished reading. Thought-provoking concept! Will share a review soon.
Update March 27: review
Update March 13: finished reading. Thought-provoking concept! Will share a review soon.
Update March 27: review
Hey book lovers! I'm here with a new YA romance sci-fi book by Estelle Laure called Remember Me that reminded me of the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
About The Book
jenlovesbooks's review against another edition
3.0
Thanks to partners NetGalley, Wednesday Books, and St. Martin's Press for the digital ARC of Estelle Laure’s Remember Me in exchange for an honest review. The book will be published on March 22!
I was really intrigued by the premise of Estelle Laure’s Remember Me: I got total Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind vibes, and I absolutely love that movie.
The book starts when Blue Owens wakes up one day with the sense that her world doesn’t make sense. She goes through her normal morning routine and, in the course of getting ready for school, finds a note that says “Meet me on the Little Blue Bus, 7:45 5/19/32.” She has no idea what it means.
Everyone is acting weird—her grandmother, her best friend Turtle and her partner Jack, even her art teacher Mrs. Duran—and Blue becomes convinced that the reason will reveal itself on that bus. And she’s right.
Here’s where things get spoilery, so proceed with caution. (This part is in the synopsis, but I wish I hadn’t known.)
Blue gets on that bus and meets Adam Mendoza, and it quickly becomes clear that they know each other. Ultimately, Blue figures out that she’s had her memories erased, including her memories of Adam. Now, she just has to figure out why.
The book comes in at only 272 pages, and it’s ambitious, mixing romance and sci fi and mystery. For me, the mystery parts were the strongest. I was intrigued by just what caused Blue to have her memories erased. While I didn’t think the book quite lived up to its ambitions, I did enjoy it, and I was rooting for Blue the whole time. I just think it needed to be a bit longer to fully realize its potential.
I was really intrigued by the premise of Estelle Laure’s Remember Me: I got total Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind vibes, and I absolutely love that movie.
The book starts when Blue Owens wakes up one day with the sense that her world doesn’t make sense. She goes through her normal morning routine and, in the course of getting ready for school, finds a note that says “Meet me on the Little Blue Bus, 7:45 5/19/32.” She has no idea what it means.
Everyone is acting weird—her grandmother, her best friend Turtle and her partner Jack, even her art teacher Mrs. Duran—and Blue becomes convinced that the reason will reveal itself on that bus. And she’s right.
Here’s where things get spoilery, so proceed with caution. (This part is in the synopsis, but I wish I hadn’t known.)
Blue gets on that bus and meets Adam Mendoza, and it quickly becomes clear that they know each other. Ultimately, Blue figures out that she’s had her memories erased, including her memories of Adam. Now, she just has to figure out why.
The book comes in at only 272 pages, and it’s ambitious, mixing romance and sci fi and mystery. For me, the mystery parts were the strongest. I was intrigued by just what caused Blue to have her memories erased. While I didn’t think the book quite lived up to its ambitions, I did enjoy it, and I was rooting for Blue the whole time. I just think it needed to be a bit longer to fully realize its potential.
_basicbookworm's review against another edition
3.0
If you could erase all of your painful memories would you?
Blue wakes up one day feeling something is wrong with only a note telling her to get on the Little Blue bus to guide her. She gets on the bus and soon learns from a boy, Adam, that she had paid to have her memories removed. Blue then goes an a journey to try to reclaim her memories and find out why she wanted to lose them in the first place.
This book was beautiful in so many ways, but also so heavy. It very strongly deals with depression, trauma, grief, loss and what it means to move on, and will likely be difficult to read for many people. I enjoyed the build up in this story - there was a lot of tension as we saw flashbacks from Blue’s life before the memory erasing and there was a lot of suspense waiting to learn more about her past. Despite the heavy themes, I thought the ending and the overall message were so beautiful.
Thanks to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy.
Blue wakes up one day feeling something is wrong with only a note telling her to get on the Little Blue bus to guide her. She gets on the bus and soon learns from a boy, Adam, that she had paid to have her memories removed. Blue then goes an a journey to try to reclaim her memories and find out why she wanted to lose them in the first place.
This book was beautiful in so many ways, but also so heavy. It very strongly deals with depression, trauma, grief, loss and what it means to move on, and will likely be difficult to read for many people. I enjoyed the build up in this story - there was a lot of tension as we saw flashbacks from Blue’s life before the memory erasing and there was a lot of suspense waiting to learn more about her past. Despite the heavy themes, I thought the ending and the overall message were so beautiful.
Thanks to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy.
thindbooks's review against another edition
4.0
*this arc was sent to me by the publisher to give an honest review in return*
This was such an amazing book that deals with grief, pain and loss. This book is about a girl who wakes up to notice that something isn't right and receives a note to meet someone at the bus. This book kind of gave me The Program vibe but with this having more pain and healing to the story. I really enjoyed the author's writing in this book as she did such an amazing job with talking about grief and pain. The storyline was greatly done but honestly the story was spoiled for me from the synopsis. There were some surprising elements that made up for it (for me). The pacing was great and this was also a very short read (around 300) pages!
The main character in this book is Blue who was such a great character but kind of needed a better character development. I enjoyed the fact that we got to learn more about her and how she learned who she is but it wasn't something new for her if you know what I mean. There is also a main side character who is Adam and he helps Blue get her memories back. I enjoyed his character and his building relationship with Blue. There are also great side characters including a non-binary one. The romance is super sweet with I guess you can say second chance romance.
The ending was really great but expected with how the story was going. I honestly didn't expect this book to be sci-fi in the sense of The Program but it felt close to that book. I wish the synopsis didn't spoil the story so we got more of the surprise element in the book. I totally recommend reading this book as it talks about pain and loss which would break your heart a thousand times.
This was such an amazing book that deals with grief, pain and loss. This book is about a girl who wakes up to notice that something isn't right and receives a note to meet someone at the bus. This book kind of gave me The Program vibe but with this having more pain and healing to the story. I really enjoyed the author's writing in this book as she did such an amazing job with talking about grief and pain. The storyline was greatly done but honestly the story was spoiled for me from the synopsis. There were some surprising elements that made up for it (for me). The pacing was great and this was also a very short read (around 300) pages!
The main character in this book is Blue who was such a great character but kind of needed a better character development. I enjoyed the fact that we got to learn more about her and how she learned who she is but it wasn't something new for her if you know what I mean. There is also a main side character who is Adam and he helps Blue get her memories back. I enjoyed his character and his building relationship with Blue. There are also great side characters including a non-binary one. The romance is super sweet with I guess you can say second chance romance.
The ending was really great but expected with how the story was going. I honestly didn't expect this book to be sci-fi in the sense of The Program but it felt close to that book. I wish the synopsis didn't spoil the story so we got more of the surprise element in the book. I totally recommend reading this book as it talks about pain and loss which would break your heart a thousand times.
kristensreadingnook's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 rounded down
It took me a long time to get to the 35% mark. But then I flew through the rest of the book. I had to know what it was that Blue forgot. This book will pull at your heartstrings and it won’t be for everyone as there are a number of content warnings. But, if you can handle the issues presented, you will be left pondering some ethical issues which would make for great book club discussion.
It took me a long time to get to the 35% mark. But then I flew through the rest of the book. I had to know what it was that Blue forgot. This book will pull at your heartstrings and it won’t be for everyone as there are a number of content warnings. But, if you can handle the issues presented, you will be left pondering some ethical issues which would make for great book club discussion.
heather425's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to like this book more. But the story felt like other YA stories I've read. The whole idea of removing bad memories sounds like a good idea, but really in practice that would not work. And it doesn't go well for Blue in this novel.
I don't want to give anything away and I think others will enjoy this book. I'm way out of the age range for the target audience and I think that's a major factor in why I didn't enjoy this as much I thought.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!
I don't want to give anything away and I think others will enjoy this book. I'm way out of the age range for the target audience and I think that's a major factor in why I didn't enjoy this as much I thought.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!
chasingholden's review against another edition
3.0
I was quite taken with the premise. What would we be without our pain? That was a very thought provoking idea for me, and I enjoyed exploring it via Blue’s experience. These questions have been asked before in the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and the idea has fascinated me since the movie came out, so if you have seen that movie this story may seem a bit familiar.
This book is all about feelings, whether it be about pain, love, sadness or friendships. Whilst the book is sad and even a bit messy at times, it definitely ends positively and compassionately, as ultimately at the core of this book, it’s all about love I think there are many directions the reader is given the opportunity to take this story with but bringing it back to it's essence,, Remember me is full of emotion and thought provoking questions
not a must read, not bad either. I think this will be a love it or hate it hot topic book and its worth exploring
thank you to netgalley for providing an e-copy for me to leave my honest feedback
This book is all about feelings, whether it be about pain, love, sadness or friendships. Whilst the book is sad and even a bit messy at times, it definitely ends positively and compassionately, as ultimately at the core of this book, it’s all about love I think there are many directions the reader is given the opportunity to take this story with but bringing it back to it's essence,, Remember me is full of emotion and thought provoking questions
not a must read, not bad either. I think this will be a love it or hate it hot topic book and its worth exploring
thank you to netgalley for providing an e-copy for me to leave my honest feedback
missprint_'s review against another edition
4.0
Something is not right on Blue Owens' seventeenth birthday. Her art teacher seems mad at her. Her grandmother and best friends are oddly gentle, timid. Her backpack is filled with orange juice which everyone keeps reminding her to drink.
Then there's the note to meet someone on a little shuttle bus outside of her small ski town Owl Nook, New Mexico.
When a stranger named Adam gets on the bus, Blue starts to put the pieces together. The boyfriend--Adam Mendoza--she doesn't remember, the painful loss she's desperate to forget.
Following the clues brings Blue to a doctor to who can help her get back the memories she asked to have removed. But Blue will have to move through the memories herself--process the joys and the sorrows that have been erased--if she wants to get back to herself in Remember Me (2022) by Estelle Laure.
Find it on Bookshop.
Blue and her family are white. Adam's family is Latinx and one of Blue's best friends, Jack, is nonbinary. The linear story includes a larger story within the story as Blue rediscovers her lost memories making for an interesting structure and unique reading experience.
Laure's prose is imbued with a deep and abiding love for Blue's New Mexico landscape and its natural wonders. The speculative fiction framework is used well to tell Blue's story although the greater ramifications of memory erasures are not fully explored in the story outside of Blue's immediate circle.
Blue moves inexorably toward the memories she's tried to forget as she and readers put together the pieces of Blue's past. Moments of sweetness with Adam and her friends contrast against the sharper loss--and grief--as Blue understands everything that has been lost.
Set in 2031 Remember Me is an eerie and powerful story about moving through grief and making it to the other side.
Possible Pairings: The Leaving by Tara Altebrando, No One Here is Lonely by Sarah Everett, Loud Awake and Lost by Adele Griffin, Edited by Barry Lyga, The Program by Suzanne Young, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Then there's the note to meet someone on a little shuttle bus outside of her small ski town Owl Nook, New Mexico.
When a stranger named Adam gets on the bus, Blue starts to put the pieces together. The boyfriend--Adam Mendoza--she doesn't remember, the painful loss she's desperate to forget.
Following the clues brings Blue to a doctor to who can help her get back the memories she asked to have removed. But Blue will have to move through the memories herself--process the joys and the sorrows that have been erased--if she wants to get back to herself in Remember Me (2022) by Estelle Laure.
Find it on Bookshop.
Blue and her family are white. Adam's family is Latinx and one of Blue's best friends, Jack, is nonbinary. The linear story includes a larger story within the story as Blue rediscovers her lost memories making for an interesting structure and unique reading experience.
Laure's prose is imbued with a deep and abiding love for Blue's New Mexico landscape and its natural wonders. The speculative fiction framework is used well to tell Blue's story although the greater ramifications of memory erasures are not fully explored in the story outside of Blue's immediate circle.
Blue moves inexorably toward the memories she's tried to forget as she and readers put together the pieces of Blue's past. Moments of sweetness with Adam and her friends contrast against the sharper loss--and grief--as Blue understands everything that has been lost.
Set in 2031 Remember Me is an eerie and powerful story about moving through grief and making it to the other side.
Possible Pairings: The Leaving by Tara Altebrando, No One Here is Lonely by Sarah Everett, Loud Awake and Lost by Adele Griffin, Edited by Barry Lyga, The Program by Suzanne Young, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
thereadingraccoon's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Book Review: Remember Me by Estelle Laure
Remember Me is a young adult novel that takes place in 2032. It explores the topics of young love, grief and memory.
Remember Me is a young adult novel that takes place in 2032. It explores the topics of young love, grief and memory.
Blue Owens is an average teenager living in a New Mexico ski resort town when she finds a note in her pocket telling her to get on a particular bus on her birthday. She has no idea who wrote it or why they’d leave her a note. When she arrives on the bus she meets an attractive young guy that feels like familiar but is also a stranger. Blue will quickly discover that big pieces of her past are missing and it’s up to her to decide if they are worth bringing back.
This novel explores the ideas of memory and grief. If we erase the painful things are we still grieving? If we delete all the bad don’t we get rid of the good too? And how far do we have to go to feel better?
It isn’t easy to enjoy Blue as a character. She is a typical dramatic teen so she feels every emotion and when she falls she falls hard. She is obsessed with Adam throughout the book (one criticism I have is that a lot of their relationship feels one sided) and when she is filled with grief and guilt it consumes her as well. Although I understood the temptation of the memory erasing I was never quite convinced that she really wanted it to succeed which was a little confusing as the reader. I also wish I would have liked the supporting characters more but everyone from her family (except Gran), friends (specifically Turtle and Jack), Adam’s mother and the doctors in charge of her treatment are all kind of annoying and a few border on awful.
Overall, this is an interesting and entertaining young adult take on the “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” type of plot. Although, I had some small issues with the characters and plot I found it a well-paced and a worthwhile read.
4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️