The One memory of Flora Banks

 "Flora,be brave."

*I wanna thank Penguin Random House and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This doesn't effect in any way on my opinion on book.*


The One memory of Flora Banks is a book about a girl who has a problem with her memory and she is stuck. But one night,something happens and everything changes.

"Seventeen-year-old Flora Banks has no short-term memory. Her mind resets itself several times a day, and has since the age of ten, when the tumor that was removed from Flora's brain took with it her ability to make new memories. That is, until she kisses Drake, her best friend's boyfriend, the night before he leaves town. Miraculously, this one memory breaks through Flora's fractured mind, and sticks. Flora is convinced that Drake is responsible for restoring her memory and making her whole again. So when an encouraging email from Drake suggests she meet him on the other side of the world, Flora knows with certainty that this is the first step toward reclaiming her life.

With little more than the words "be brave" inked into her skin, and written reminders of who she is and why her memory is so limited, Flora sets off on an impossible journey to Svalbard, Norway, the land of the midnight sun, determined to find Drake. But from the moment she arrives in the arctic, nothing is quite as it seems, and Flora must "be brave" if she is ever to learn the truth about herself, and to make it safely home.(synopsis from goodreads.com)"

  
There were so many good things about this book. I liked the writing,and that's the thing I liked the most. Because of the writing,I could try to  understand how Flora feel all the time. It was kinda annoying in the begining,but then I started to realise that that's how it must be if you have problem like Flora. Also,I think that everyone who read this book and everyone who still have to read it,want to go Norway after reading the book. It was wonderful to read about the place and I felt like I was there. 

"To be normal is to be brave."

Unfortunately,I couldn't actually relate to the characters. And by that I don't think the problem is with them,I think it's problem with me maybe being too old for this book. I couldn't understand Paige,not for a minute. Drake was already leaving,so why she was mad at her? And even if I could undertand,why she didn't tell her mother she will not be with her while she's away? That thing bothered me all the time. Although I love what she did at the end of the book. Drake was a jerk,and no one can say otherwise and there is nothing more to say about it. But I loved Jacob's character.  He was so well written,and even though we don't read about him much,there is no person who will not love him,I guarantee you! I liked how he treated Flora,like she was normal 17 year old girl,like she was. Their bond is something special and I'm just sad there's no more of it in book. 

"Time is a random thing. It is the thing that makes us older. Humans use it to organize the world. They have invented a system to try to make order from randomness. The other humans,all of them but me,live their lives by hours and minutes and days and seconds,but those thimgs are nothing. The universe would laugh at our attempts to organize it,if it could be bothered  to notice them."

So,overall,I liked the book. I wish it wasn't so slow at some points,but it didn't bothered me that much. This is a spoiler free review,so I can't say it,but I really hope there is gonna be a sequel,because I need explanations! That ending just didn't suite me. I liked that in the end writer showed us that girl can be alone and happy but even though the twist blew my mind,I wish there was a better ending. Crossing my fingers for a sequel because I think it deserves it and I would definately read it! I would recommend this book to all of you,no doubt! Even though this wasn't a 5 star read for me,I know it will be to a lot of you for whom it will be a 5 star read and I totaly see why,book is amazing! Go and preored it,what are you waiting for? :)

Rating: 3,5 ladybugs 🐞

Title: The One Memory of Flora Banks

Author: Emily Barr

Publisher: Penguin Random House

Genre: Social Issues, Mental health

Release Date: January 12th

Pages: 303

Format: eARC via NetGalley

 

Preorder book here.

About the author

Emily Barr worked as a journalist in London, but always hankered after a quiet room and a book to write. She went travelling for a year, writing a column in the Guardian about it as she went, and it was there that she had an idea for a novel set in the world of backpackers in Asia. This became Backpack, which won the WH Smith New Talent Award. She has since written eleven more adult novels published in the UK and around the world, and a novella, Blackout, for the Quick Reads series. Her twelfth novel, The Sleeper, is a psychological thriller set on the London to Cornwall sleeper train.
In 2013 she went to Svalbard with the idea of setting a thriller in the Arctic. The book that came out of it was The One Memory of Flora Banks, a thriller for young adults, which attracted universal interest from publishers before being bought pre-emptively by Penguin earlier this year. It will be published globally in January 2017.
She lives in Cornwall with her partner and their children. Author's site: http://www.emilybarr.com/