Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 352
Source: Bought
Genre: YA | Contemporary
Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity
My thoughts
So now this is the part where I start to post reviews of books that I missed out on reviewing back when I was away from the blog. I only read this book last month so thankfully this one won't be too difficult to revisit. Let me say that I was super excited for Remind Me How This Ends. First off, look at that cover! It is stunning, and I am reluctant to let go of this book simply because of the beautiful cover. Secondly, it is a #LoveOzYA title! I love to support local authors and I think all Aussie readers should make more effort to read more Aussie YA! Now, on to the review.
I wish I had loved this more than I did. It had EVERYTHING going for it: I adore reading about friends-turned-lovers, post-high school stuff, grief, relationships, family issues, etc, etc. This book ticked ALL of the boxes. But somehow it just fell flat for me. I felt pretty disconnected from the characters, and overall I felt pretty apathetic about their circumstances. I don't know why that is. Why have so many other people come to love this book to bits while I'm left scratching my head, wondering what I missed out on? I think it just comes to it's-not-you-it's-me. I appreciated what Tozer was trying to do. I loved the idea of the story. It just didn't work out for me quite how I wished it had.
Remind Me How This Ends is written in dual narrative, which I love reading. I like reading one person's perspective of events, and then instantly knowing how the other person felt about that same event. I think it's a clever way of generating a more well-rounded understanding of the entire situation, and it's just great to get into as many different character's heads at once. The voices were well established and I had no real qualms about the actual writing style, which was quite strong and witty.
Layla's experiences of loss and grief were pretty good, and I must say that the ending was a bit surprising and truthful and heart-achey. I just expected to feel more, to have had more of a reaction to what happened to them in the end.
For me this one was just okay. I don't really even have much else to say about it... I mean, there were parts that I did like (and I felt like the over-arching plot was super cute), but it just didn't evoke in me enough emotional response for some reason. Maybe their dialogue was just a bit too cheesy and not realistic enough for me to believe in them. That said, I would be interested in reading more from Tozer in the future. I think she is a great writer and I believe I will fall in love with one of her novels someday.
Quotes
First lines:
"It's barely past seven but the party's already messy: sticky carpet, cigarette smoke spiralling in the air, tinny music bleating out of a speaker that no one seems to care sounds rubbish. Everyone's leaning against torn op-shop couches, leaning against the walls, leaning against each other. Everyone except two girls doing cartwheels outside on the grass - and me. I hesitate in the doorway, wondering if it's too late to do a runner, and see a pile of puke decorating the steps at the entrance to the uni residences' rec centre. Not surprising really: homemade punch's been flowing for hours.
Buy
AUSTRALIA: A&R | Booktopia | Boomerang Books | QBD
INTERNATIONAL: Abe Books
