The One Memory of Flora Banks

Everyone is just doing the best they can, even if that's not very good.

Flora Banks has anterograde amnesia, which means she has no short term memory. I thought the author did an amazing job making the reader put themselves in Flora's place. Many people are saying that they didn't like the book because it was too repetitive. Here's the thing. It's supposed to be. Flora has to constantly read what she's written herself to know what's going on. When I finished reading this book, I felt a little brain broken myself. I put myself there in that spot and it was frustrating and frightening. TOMOFB is beautifully written and heartbreaking on so many levels. I feel that I can't say much without giving away the many twists and turns.

The thing I was worried about going into this book was that it was a “love cures all illness” trope and I was gonna rage if so. But thankfully, I was proven wrong and I'm glad I chose to not judge preemptively and read it! Flora kisses a boy and when she wakes up the next day, she still remembers it. It seems a bit dicey that she would remember her first kiss and nothing else but trust me, it gets explained. Don't let it stop you!

I've given this book 4 stars because of the masterful storytelling and beautiful writing but also because I felt the ending was a tad lacking, it was hinted at quite a bit throughout and I could've done with a little more surprise. But all in all, lovely and gripping, I couldn't put it down!