Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales (http://darkfaerietales.com/)

Quick & Dirty: An unusual story about unexplainable memories surfacing after a heart transplant.

Opening Sentence: The first thing I remembered was a great big push.

The Review:

When this book started I had no idea it would explore such intense and serious issues but it did, and it did so very well.

Georgie has survived a heart transplant and although she’s been told she will feel different for a while, she has no idea how true that statement would be. Everyone’s expecting her to feel a little ‘off’ but then go back to being smart, goal-driven, oboe-playing Georgie. The problem is that she doesn’t feel like the same person whose heart failed; she’s woken up a different person and its confusing her and everyone around her.

“Why? What is it about me you like?”
His brow furrowed, but when he spoke it was without confusion. “You have guts. I like how willing you were to get involved with FAIR Girls.” He smiled. “You have a good heart, Georgie.”

The concept of your heart being more than an organ is a crucial part of this story. The previous owner’s memories are imprinted on the heart but each time Georgie recalls one of ‘hers’ she forgets a memory of her own. Her struggle to remain ‘Georgie’ is clear because she’s forgetting pieces of her own life and losing herself whilst trying to learn more about Annabel.

In terms of the characters, the main ones (Georgie, Nate, Jules and I guess Anna’s ghost) were very well developed, but the side characters were brushed over. Normally that would irritate me but since there was so much happening with the main ones, the supporting characters didn’t hold much importance so I almost forgot about them! Now that I think of it, where did Georgie’s old friends go? They must have gotten fed up with Georgie’s odd behaviour!

As the story progresses, it gets more graphic and intense. I know child sex trafficking is an issue that needs greater awareness and it doesn’t just happen in other countries far away, but I wonder how many people would be willing for their kids to read a story like this? We try to ignore these issues by pretending they don’t exist but these problems do need greater awareness and I’m glad this book explained the issues so well. However, I am a little concerned about how well this book will be received by parents of young adults…

Notable Scene:

She rolled the machine toward the door and paused. “It doesn’t matter who she was, Georgie,” she said. “The heart is yours now. It’s what you do with it that matters.”

I shook my head as she left the room. How could that be? If part of Jane Doe was imprinted on her heart, how could I ever be myself again? As long as I heard the Catch, as long as I could still feel her echo there, the heart would never be mine.

FTC Advisory: Sourcebooks Fire provided me with a copy of The Forgetting. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )

The Forgetting was not a fluffy young adult novel, but a novel that looks at the very real issue of sex trafficking. It is dark and often disturbing, but it is also beautiful with its moments of love and change. Georgie has just had a heart transplant and she can't help but feel like something is a just a bit off with her new heart. It is as if the new heart still belongs to someone else and, at first, she doesn't know what to make of that or what to do about it. But she follows it's guide, feeling as if she needs to find out what it is trying to tell her in order to get her own life back. But the path the heart takes her is one that is dark and dangerous and it irrevocably changes her.

As Georgie goes deeper and deeper into the underworld of Boston, she sees things that she never knew existed in her sheltered world. No matter how dangerous it may be, she cannot let things rest, cannot turn away from what she has seen and what she has learned. One of the things I like best is that Georgie, when she acts impulsively, has enough self-awareness to know it and admit it, rather than be portrayed as a foolish girl. I also like that she doesn't try to do everything herself and knows when she needs help.

There are so many elements to this book... love, loss, friendship, change, growth. In the course of Georgie's search for answers, she meets Nate. He is inextricably involved with her search and he opens her eyes to the reality of these young girls. As Georgie learns more, she loses parts of herself in ways and for reasons that she never expected. Her friendships change as she changes and there is a bit of a message about how deeply life-altering events can affect all aspects of your life.

My Recommendation: The author does a great job of describing a world that most of us know exists, but tend not to see or consider. These girls are forced into the sex trade, controlled and abused. They are very young and they are used in unspeakable ways. This is an eye-opening and thought-provoking book that I think is a must-read for girls and adults alike. ( )