What I Liked:
- Genesis and Kalan The main character, Genesis (who often went by Gena) is likable, but flawed and often has a bit of trouble thinking and acting for herself. I can relate to this, and she is able to summon courage often, so I enjoyed her growth. Sure, she makes some bad (even dumb) decisions, but so do we all. I like that in a character, much more than I like a perfect character, so this worked quite well for me. Kalan was an amazing romantic interest, and definitely the most likable character in the book. I wasn't sure if the Christianity stuff would bother me (it has a tendency to get preachy in some books) but it absolutely was not overbearing- it was quite simply just a character trait like any other, which is incredibly refreshing to see. I loved that the author was able to make it a part of who he was, but not at all his whole identity.
- The Family Stuff I should kind of rephrase this, because I didn't like Gena's family. I quite disliked them in fact, especially her complete ass of a father. They were all so concerned with appearances and being socially acceptable and how Gena's thoughts or actions would affect them with absolutely no concern for Gena herself. And she was so used to this that it was incredibly hard for her to break out of the status quo. It's infuriating, but all too real. I loved that not only was it an involved family, but an involved family that had issues.
- The Mystery Come on, who doesn't love a good "whodunnit"? I seriously didn't know, though I kept having theories and guesses (most of which were wrong, until closer to the end). It was exciting, and the stakes absolutely couldn't have been higher- memories and brain functions and such? Yep, kind of important!
- It made me think. During the book, I kept asking myself "What makes us us?", since the book obviously delves into the roles memories play in our functioning, and in our humanity.
What I Didn't:
Not much! My only real complaint about this book was the end. Not the actual last few pages, but last few chapters/plot sequence. It got a bit cumbersome, and there were times that there was so much going on that I kind of had no idea what was happening. It was full of action, but maybe a little too much action. The pace got a little fast and I had some trouble keeping it all straight.
Bottom Line: It's a win for me. I enjoyed the story, cared about the characters, and aside from a bit of an overload at the end, it was overall quite good! The ending left room for a sequel, but certainly didn't require one. Certainly a book to check out!
*Copy provided for review from publisher via Edelweiss
This review was originally posted on It Starts at Midnight