This is a very beautiful cover but I forget what I read! JK...you'll get the joke if you keep reading!

Hello Dear Readers!
I am so excited you are all here! Can you believe it's already January 21st? Another week, and another post! I'm feeling really good about this month: 3 posts in 3 weeks! This is a new record and high for me. I think the key difference, besides motivation levels, this time around, is having a giant stack of "to-reads" already. I just pick one that matches a challenge, and BOOM! Success! Which is particularly incredible for me, because I am not a multi-tasker. I give too much attention to the thing I'm working on, and pretty much blank out everything else. This is really a two-birds in one stone thing for me, even though it's not technically multitasking...because I can't do that! It drives my sister crazy! If I'm reading an article and she wants to talk to me? I hear nothing of what she just said, except maybe a handful of words. Anyways...that's enough about me! We are here for books, not my inability to function in life!

This week I'm reading a book that is on the Surrey Teen Reads list. Surrey, for those readers not from around my parts, (I see you, and I love you!) is a city in British Columbia, considered a part of the
"(Vancouver) Lower Mainland". It is also the city (district) where I teach. Surrey Teen Reads is a literacy program put on by the district's librarians to not only encourage reading, but showcase diversity and issues that affect contemporary society.
In their own words:

The Surrey Teens Read program offers Surrey secondary students exposure to a suite of ten to fifteen exceptional contemporary titles, selected by secondary educators.  Every reasonable effort is made to select titles which appeal to a wide range of readers; which explore ethnic, cultural and other perspectives respectfully and inclusively; and which provide thoughtful and engaging content, reflecting young adult interests. (Surrey Teens Read)

Image Information Here

It's a great program, and there is a lot of consideration done by a volunteer community of teacher-librarians on what gets selected. They often read about 80-100 books and pare it down to 10-15 on some strict criteria. I am going through this year's list, because I want to be able to encourage students to read the books. I also want to be able to engage with those students who already have read a few. It is therefore lucky for me, that today's book comes off this list and fulfills: a book with a plant in the title or on the cover. 

Dear readers, I present to you: The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron.

So what was the first thing I thought of when I read this book? To be honest? The Hunger Games. There were so many similarities that I was annoyed with the introduction, where we meet our protagonist, Nadia the Dyer's Daughter, hiding because she has broken the rules and may be caught.
How did she break the rules? She went over the wall that surrounds her town, to explore and gather food for her family. You know, the way Katniss sneaks out to hunt for food for her family!
What happens next for Nadia? She thinks she might be caught because a braid becomes loose, and ends up in plain view of the town's council member she's hiding from. Fancy braid-based hairstyle? Where have I heard that from?

Wait, what am I reading again?

Okay, I know braids are a popular and common hairstyle for many people. I know Lady Mockingjay was not the first one to wear them. However, sometimes a genre series becomes so popular, it unwittingly creates tropes for later authors, on a subliminal level, to draw from. I don't think Cameron realized the similarity in hair to Katniss Everdeen. I think she genuinely thought my tough female rebel character will need something practical, something strong, something that says, "I'm not like the others"... I know elaborate braids! And that's the key difference between two characters with braids for hair, and one character playing homage. Katniss didn't just have an elaborate braid, it was a part of her, as a symbol. The hair was defining. When Cameron made the choice to make Nadia's braids (semi) defining, rather than just a hairstyle, she set herself up for comparison.

But we are not done there...
Katniss had a mom who due to trauma, was an ineffectual caretaker for her and her sister, forcing Katniss to step in.
Nadia has a mom, due to some trauma we do not know yet, is also an ineffectual, and suicidal (ooh twist!) caretaker for her and her sisters.
One of Nadia's sister's, is younger, sassy, and incredibly sweet. She's the only person Nadia lets touch her, and can make her laugh. Otherwise Nadia is silent and keeps to herself. She also has an anger problem.

There is a teasing, attractive, boy named Gray. This is far too close to Gale for my liking.
Remember how Katniss remembers Peeta from a moment they had as children? Well Nadia has her own moment with Gray, which in an interesting twist he doesn't remember. (We're going to get to that soon, but I really had to get the HG comparisons off my chest) However even the twist is parallel to Katniss and Peeta, because Katniss assumes Peeta has forgotten.

Now, friends, you might think this book is one big remake under a different cover, but it is not! My annoyance quickly faded away as I delved more into the book and its world. It is just unfortunate that the beginning starts off too similar for my liking.

The world: Nadia lives in a world without technology, last names, and escape. Canaan is a town enclosed by a large wall, where every twelve years everyone forgets everything they know. No one knows why this "forgetting" happens, but it has been recorded in the "first book". Also included is the direction to write everything you do in a day in a journal, kept with you at all times. This is a person's book: Their memories, career, family, basically identity. This is what helps you relearn everything after a forgetting. Nadia has a book, but it's not hers. Her former father stole her proper one and gave her a new one. She's not supposed to know this, but Nadia can remember.

This book has a really good premise. What do you do when everyone forgets everything, but you don't? Nadia is silent because she is haunted by what she saw the days before the forgetting. Where everyone knows they are getting a fresh start, so why not do terrible things? No one will know or remember. This is one of the big plusses of the books. As you read on, character traits are explained implicitly and explicitly. You understand why they are the way they are. This is big for me, because I often feel like a lot of dystopic YA books have decided that they must have unlikeable (although this part may be unintentional) "tough" characters, with attitudes... but often there's no reason why they would behave like this. This is the whole reason I couldn't get through The Divergent series. There was no real reason for the that series' protagonist to be as she was, making me bored with her, and confused with why I should care. Not in this book! You get it. This extends to the antagonist (who I will not give away), you know why they are seemingly cold, uncaring, and devoid of empathy/compassion. I want to go into the parts that make the antagonist well written, but it will give too much away. If you want to hear my thoughts on it, because you've already read the book, or don't mind spoilers, leave a comment and I will get back to you!

This book also has incredible suspense building. There were lazzis (To borrow from Commedia dell'arte, because I'm a theatre person) that had my heart start to pulse loudly. I could feel it in my stomach, and then boom. Cameron is incredibly good at ending a chapter. She knows exactly where to leave a reader after her build-up to end the arc, but make you want to read more. This is a HUGE SKILL!

ALSO! Omgsh folks! Omgsh! Words matter, and this book KNOWS THAT! There is literally a section where Nadia figures something out by analyzing text. She realizes based on the pronouns used, that the person who created the first book, must also be a person that remembers. And I'm all sitting their like:

You analyze those words and make those inferences!

Now, if you can't tell, I did enjoy this book. It started off slow for me, but definitely picked up as I continued. That being said, it does suffer a little from YA-itis. There is a classic "You Don't Know You're Beautiful" moment... because what strong, smart, young lady protagonist can exist without also being the most beautiful?

There is a scene where Nadia's younger sister, Genivee, basically says their older sister is jealous of Nadia because Lilia  (her older sister) may be pretty, but people stop to stare at Nadia. This was a total...

There it is.

I mean in the larger context, it's given as one of the reason's her older sister hates her, but that makes it worse. Your sister hates you in part because you're more attractive than her? The main reason is Lilia doesn't think Nadia is their sister. She doesn't look like the rest of the family, and Lilia doesn't remember waking up with her in the room with everyone else after the forgetting. It's good tension, because it's heartbreaking and strengthens Nadia's resolve to find a way to make everyone remember. Lilia's arc is actually really impressive as one of the side plots. I was happy with how it resolves, if not for how it starts (a theme with this book for me).

On top of stopping people in the streets, Nadia is also pale as pale can be! I hate this definition of "I can't be pretty because I'm too white" representation, because we as readers already know...yeah that's part of your delicate, moon-glowing, beauty. So it reinforces whiteness as most desirable. For a person of colour such as myself? It rings the colonialism and colourism bell like there's a stampede of cows, who were just told where hamburgers come from.

Luckily, this book subverts the YA love triangle to semi make up for this. There is a third boy Eshan, who we think is in love with Nadia, but she never reciprocates. So it's one-sided! Not a triangle! Except it is! You see, she misread his intentions...he's in love with Gray! What!!!! A nice switch up.

There is a big reveal in this book that I don't want to give away, so I'm going to end this post by saying: Read the book! It's very good. It's interesting, and the characters I first thought unlikable, grew on me quickly. The things I thought would make me dislike the book, were flipped in interesting ways soon after. It's got a sequel, and I will definitely be reading it, although, full disclosure: Our two main characters were not the ones I found the most interesting, but maybe like the rest of this book, they'll grow on me more with time!

Join me next time dear readers for...I have no idea yet! It's a mystery! Stay tuned! And as always, thanks for reading. <3