Forgotten by Cat Patrick

Forgotten
By Cat Patrick
Publisher: Little, Brown Books
Date Published: June 7, 2011
Pages: 288

     Each night when 16 year-old London Lane goes to sleep, her whole world disappears. In the morning, all that's left is a note telling her about a day she can't remember. The whole scenario doesn't exactly make high school or dating that hot guy whose name she can't seem to recall any easier. But when London starts experiencing disturbing visions she can't make sense of, she realizes it's time to learn a little more about the past she keeps forgetting-before it destroys her future.

    Forgotten first caught my attention when Paramount bought up the rights for a movie adaptation starring young Oscar-nominated actress Hailee Steinfeld (a favorite of mine). This was months before the novel was even released on store shelves. I was intrigued.

     The premise for Patrick's debut novel is great. A teenage girl wakes up each morning unable to remember the past, but has the ability to "remember" visions from the future- until they happen. The best part of Forgotten for me was reading to see exactly what the ramifications of London's affliction were and how she dealt with them. The fact that she seemed to accept who she was despite her strange circumstances was admirable.There were a few instances where London wondering if she could rid herself of her problem, but they didn't drag the story down into a hole of angst.

      At the same time, I didn't particularly like her. Patrick's characterizations came off a bit flat and the dialogue and narration were cheesy at times. London's relationship with Luke was adorable but slightly cringe-worthy at times. I did genuinely like Luke, however, and was glad that this wasn't another "I love you but I have to stay away from you"set-up because I'm getting quite tired of those in YA fiction.

     Still, Forgotten kept me on the edge of my seat purely by its intriguing premise. The end of the novel is clearly set up for a sequel and I'm interested in where Patrick plans on taking London, Luke, and the rest of the characters.

Note: I'm back! I know it has been way too long; summer school and a host of other things have kept me extremely busy. But I'm anxious to return to that huge stack of books I still need to get through!