The Secret History Of Us by Jessi Kirby

The Secret History Of Us

by Jessi Kirby

"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.

Reviewed by Sam@WLABB on

4 of 5 stars

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Rating: 3.5 Stars

There are many mixed reviews on this one, and I feel like I am somewhere in the middle. I thought this was quite an interesting story of self identity, and overall, enjoyed the book.

Olivia had been in a horrific accident. She didn't lose her life, but she lost four years of memories. She spends a great deal of the book trying to figure out who she became during high school. I thought Kirby did a nice job conveying Olivia's struggle and the emotional turmoil she was experiencing during this post accident period. My heart really went out to her during this time.

I really liked being there with Olivia as she rediscovered her home, her family, and herself. It was beautiful for her to be able to get back to some of the things that were once really important to her, and be more true to herself. There were things in the story, which hinted at Olivia kind of losing sight of things she loved in order to please others, and I was happy she was getting this second chance to fulfill her wants and needs.

Then, there were the secrets. I suspected both big secrets, but I still really enjoyed watching the pieces fall into place. My biggest problem was with the ending. One of the reveals was made my heart pitter patter, and I would have liked more. I have a thing about endings, and this one felt like a LifeTime movie ending. We had this decent build, and then it's over all of a sudden, and I feel like I was cheated from something that could have been great. I only say that, because I love where the story ended up, I just wanted more of it.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 26 July, 2017: Finished reading
  • 26 July, 2017: Reviewed