"Jessi Kirby's books just keep getting better and better, and The Secret History of Us is her best yet. It beautifully touches on all the most important things in life-love, family, friendship, memory, and bacon. I loved it."-Morgan Matson, New York Times bestselling author of The Unexpected Everything In this gorgeously written, emotional novel that fans of Sarah Dessen will enjoy, a teenage girl must piece together the parts of her life she doesn't remember after a severe collision leaves her with no memory of the past four years. When Olivia awakes in a hospital bed following a near-fatal car accident, she can't remember how she got there. She figures it's because she was in a coma for a week, but as time goes on, she realizes she's lost more than just the last week of her life-she's lost all memory of events that happened years ago. Gone is any recollection of starting or graduating high school; the prom; or her steady boyfriend Matt. Trying to figure out who she is feels impossible when everyone keeps telling her who she was.
As Liv tries to sort out her family and friends' perceptions of her, the one person she hasn't heard enough from is Walker, the guy who saved her the night her car was knocked off that bridge into the bay below. Walker is the hardened boy who's been keeping his distance and the one person that has made Liv feel like her old self...whoever that is. With feelings growing for Walker, tensions rising with Matt, and secrets she can't help but feel are being kept from her, Olivia must find her place in a life she doesn't remember living.
This book has quite a few good things going for it, and then a few that kind of missed the mark for me. Overall, it was enjoyable, but let's get to the good versus the not-as-good!
The Good:
Olivia was quite a sympathetic character. How scary must it be to have no idea what happened over the past four years? Olivia is going through this, and she is understandably shaken. Reading about her handling this tumultuous situation certainly kept the pages turning for me. She had to try to repair relationships, forge new ones, and figure out how the new and old fit together. Quite intriguing, really.
It's incredibly readable. Not only is it a quick book, but it's a nicely flowing book. I read it in one sitting, partly because of the length but also because I was definitely curious to see how it all turned out.
The summery vibe was perfect for this time of year! It wasn't something I was expecting, but I enjoyed that Olivia was trying to reclaim her life, but in a really nice setting, with people who were caring and kind, for the most part.
The Less So:
The ending felt very... abrupt. It seemed as though it was rushed a bit, and perhaps it could have been better if it had been fleshed out a bit more. I liked the ending, but I wanted more of it.
I was fairly certain what some of the "secrets" were. While it wasn't a complete deal-breaker for the story, it did take away some of the sense of urgency.
Bottom Line: The Secret History of Us was a quick read, entertaining certainly. I loved watching Olivia try to rebuild her life, I just wish we'd gotten a bit more time with the closure.
