Tori's Review: Unremembered (Unremembered #1) by Jessica Brody

Unremembered by Jessica Brody

Series: Unremembered #1
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Romance
Rating: ♚♚♚♚
Pages: 320
Published by Farrar, Straus, & Giroux (BYR) on March 5, 2013
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When Freedom Airlines flight 121 went down over the Pacific Ocean, no one ever expected to find survivors. Which is why the sixteen-year-old girl discovered floating among the wreckage—alive—is making headlines across the globe.

Even more strange is that her body is miraculously unharmed and she has no memories of boarding the plane. She has no memories of her life before the crash. She has no memories period. No one knows how she survived. No one knows why she wasn’t on the passenger manifest. And no one can explain why her DNA and fingerprints can’t be found in a single database in the world.

Crippled by a world she doesn’t know, plagued by abilities she doesn’t understand, and haunted by a looming threat she can’t remember, Seraphina struggles to piece together her forgotten past and discover who she really is. But with every clue only comes more questions. And she’s running out of time to answer them.

Her only hope is a strangely alluring boy who claims to know her from before the crash. Who claims they were in love. But can she really trust him? And will he be able to protect her from the people who have been making her forget?

From popular young adult author Jessica Brody comes a compelling and suspenseful new sci-fi series, set in a world where science knows no boundaries, memories are manipulated, and true love can never be forgotten.

I haven't read a lot of memory books, so I think that's one of the main reasons I enjoyed this book so much. The one thing that bugged me throughout the entire novel though was the fact that it reminded me of Origin by Jessica Khoury. At one point, the man that "created" Seraphina tells her that she's perfect, and one thing I remember about Origin was that they always called the main girl Pia perfect. This wasn't a big issue for me, but it did annoy me at times.

The characters weren't explored that much, in my opinion. As a reader you barely get a glimpse at what Seraphina (or Violet) is really like, and Zen is barely around enough to see what he is really like either. In other words, when Zen is around Seraphina, he's very cryptic, because he wants Seraphina to figure her past out for herself. I really hope we get to see more of Seraphina and Zen in Unforgotten. Also, I'm glad that it wasn't exactly insta-love. That really grinds my gears.

My favorite character had to be Cody, Seraphina's foster brother. He was hilarious, and when he explained the world to Seraphina because she didn't remember the majority of it, I cracked up. I think for every book there needs to be a comic relief, and Cody was that comic relief.  

The plot was pretty good. I knew that there were going to be science fiction-y elements from the beginning after I found out she had purple eyes and was gorgeous. I think the science aspect was alright. I can't really judge that part since I don't know much about genetics. I don't want to spoil anything, but the science got a bit confusing when Seraphina's genetics were being explained to her. I had to read a sentence once or twice to actually understand what was being said.

I thought the pacing was great. Unremembered wasn't too fast, and it wasn't too slow—it was just right. There was the right amount of action and the right amount of seriousness to keep my interest throughout the novel. I can safely say that there isn't a dull moment whether or not the plot doesn't really and truly take off until around 70 pages in. Don't be intimidated though! It's a fun 70 pages.

Overall, I liked this book a lot more than I thought I was going to. I like that Jessica Brody has branched out from contemporary and decided to write a science fiction-esque book. (I read and reviewed her contemporary 52 Reasons to Hate My Father.) Albeit a bit confusing at time, I liked this book a lot. I can't wait to read the ARC of the second book Unforgotten that I have! I need to find out what's in store for Zen and Seraphina. I think Jessica Brody's writing is really easy to read, which I love, and I think she knows how to keep a reader's attention, which is another thing that I love. I would recommend this book to people that want to break into the science fiction genre!

"Forgetting who you are is so much more complicated than simply forgetting your name. It's also forgetting your dreams. Your aspirations. What makes you happy. What you pray you'll never have to live without. it's meeting yourself for the first time, and not being sure of your first impression."