Lara Avery

Fans of All the Bright Places and The Fault in Our Stars will fall head-over-heels for this wonderfully original portrait of love and loss. Samantha McCoy has it all mapped out. First she's going to win the national debating championship, then she's going to move to New York and become a human rights lawyer. But when Sam discovers that a rare disease is going to take away her memory, the future she'd planned so perfectly is derailed before its started. Realising that her life won't wait to be lived, Sam sets out on a summer of firsts. The first party. The first rebellion. The first friendship. The last love.

The Memory Book

Ally

I know how love works, Future Sam, I read about it in National Geograpbic. It's a firing of neurons and a release of dopamine. what neuroscientists call "attachment chemicals," and this combined with the evolutionary imperative to reproduce creates a conditioned pattern of behavior. You seek out your love object for the same reason you seek out another piece of candy: because you want those sweet feelings again. But no one ever told me how easy it would be, how good it would be. I mean, they did, they tried, Shakespeare tried, the Beatles tried, but I still didn't know it would be like this.

They tell me that my memory will never be the same, that I'll start forgetting things. At first just a little, and then a lot. So I'm writing to remember. Sammie McCoy is a girl with a plan: graduate at the top of her class and get out of her small town as soon as possible. Nothing will stand in her way--not even the rare genetic disorder the doctors say will slowly steal her memories and then her health. So the memory book is born: a journal written to Sammie's future self, so she can remember everything from where she stashed her study guides to just how great it feels to have a best friend again. It's where she'll record every perfect detail of her first date with longtime-crush Stuart, a gifted young writer home for the summer. And where she'll admit how much she's missed her childhood friend Cooper, and the ridiculous lengths he will go to make her laugh. The memory book will ensure Sammie never forgets the most important parts of her life--the people who have broken her heart, those who have mended it--and most of all, that if she's going to die, she's going to die living. This moving and remarkable novel introduces an inspiring character you're sure to remember, long after the last page.

Melissa Palmer

Book #37 Read in 2016
The Memory Book by Lara Avery

Samiey is a senior in high school, valedictorian of her class. She is planning to head to New York City to college and then law school. But Sammy's health has other ideas and she is struck with a disease where dementia is setting in. Will this disease put an end to all of Sammie's plans? Sammie finds out a lot about herself, her family and her friends when her health begins to decline. Told in a journal-like format, this book is a great read for both high school students and adults alike. I received a copy of this book from Amazon Vine in exchange for a honest review.

Addie 🌻

Oh my god, I’m absolutely sobbing right now 😭😭. What a beautifully heartbreaking book.

The Memory Book has been on my to be read pile since it came out in 2017 (I think) and damn I wished I read it sooner!! This book was so quick to read, once I got into it I read 304 pages of it in one sitting. The characters felt so real and the story was full of so much hope and trying to find good memories when in the worst of times. Overall I can’t fault this at all. My wee heart hurts now.

Yesenia Vargas

Worth the read. Unique premise

It took a while to get into and get going but I enjoyed the journal format and the story overall, especially towards the end. The story and characters were well done. I really liked the ending. Bittersweet but satisfying. Recommend this book!

Ella Zegarra

Original de: El Blog del Gato - El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Este es el tipo de libro que me confirma una y otra vez que tengo el alma podrida y ya no hay salvación para mí. Razón por la que leí el libro: absolutamente todas las personas que hablaban de él, no paraban de mencionar una y otra vez las cascadas de lágrimas que habían derramado por su culpa, y en el momento en el que yo lo leí, necesitaba algo con el que desahogarme. Pero, ¿crees que esta cosa a la que llamo sentimientos reaccionó?


  


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Jane The Bookaholic

⭐️ 1.5 Stars ⭐️

The story was so sad and hard to read, it is a very difficult subject. I feel like it was hard for me to connected to the characters, something in the writing made me not wanting to keep reading this book. I’m just feeling like I have a heavy feeling I my chest, I feel sad from the book and I just wished I didn’t “wasted my time” reading it because it wasn’t for me.

Rachel Barresi

An amazing book, full of truth. It will make you laugh, smile, and ball your eyes out.
This book isn't like some cheesy Hollywood movie, not everything is perfect but it shows readers the truth behind a person with any disease like NPC and how the person deals with this and what has been taken from them. Through Sammie readers connect to the message and through her they get a deeper understanding of taking advantage of what you've got before it's gone.

This book is so far one of my favourites,

it sets a pretty high bar!

Hayley 📖🌈💜🌸

4.5-5 stars. 

I'm so glad that I picked this up on a whim. I was deciding between this book, one I had not even heard of, and one that I had wanted to read for a while but read mixed reviews on. 

I loved this book from start to finish, I could see some of the ~twists~ from a mile off, but I didn't mind. I loved the writing style and Sammie was a delight. Coop was my favourite, as well as the siblings. ("SURPRISE!") I loved the little stories into their "futures", and their letters. 

SEMI-SPOILERY BUT NOT REALLY: 
I could feel Sam's parents' hearts breaking, and the ending made me cry big fat tears. The only thing I would have liked more of is a better resolution with Maddie, but I get that in life that doesn't really happen either. 

Overall, I really, truly loved this. One of my favourite reads this year.

Charlot van Dijk

Ik pakte dit boek op, omdat ik even iets minder heftigs nodig had, maar omg dit boek was heftiger dan ik had verwacht.. Ik heb gehuild op het einde, gelachen door het boek heen en meegeleefd met Samantha. Ik kan me absoluut niet voorstellen hoe het is om te hebben wat zij heeft, maar ik kan het net wat beter begrijpen op deze manier. Een boek in dagboekvorm heeft vaak weinig impact (sterker nog, ik irriteer me er vaak aan..) maar dit boek... <3

The Memory Book

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