Review: Cancer part was well written and what kept me going, but the build up of the love story wasn't what I had expected
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 19, 2013
Will contain spoilers:::::::::I think the story had potential, and I really liked the cancer part, but I had this idea that it would be a sweet story with a girl, that can't remember her earlier boyfriend, and he will try through out the whole book to make her remember him with telling and showing her memories from their past......... it just wasn't. It was kind of an insta-love story with memory loss. Meaning in my head; within the first three chapters you are told the couple are so meant for each other (without them really speaking together) and within a day they have sex, and their conversations afterwards only consists of cheesy words. I know that doesn't mean that it wouldn't be a story you wouldn't love - but I think I have reached a point now, where I can say - insta-love just don't do it for me.The story starts with Evelyn, a 20 years old girl that just have survived brain cancer, just about to start on college, you hear her first evening when she is moving into her room that she shares with Adella. After ten minutes she decides that this girl is her BFF (they speak like ten words together) and they go to this bar to see a band playing. She meets the band, and discover that two of the boys in the band already know her, but she doesn't remember them. One of them are our hero Tristan. He has been hurting over this girl for years, and won't let her go again - and she just want to remember the four years of her life that she have lost during her cancer.The same night she is at his house to see videos from their past, they kiss, the next morning they have sex.The relationship between the two main characters feels very rushed, I would have wished that she at least would remember something from their time together, before something romantic happened between them, and not react on the fact that she saw a video with her 14 self loving this boy. It might have been special then between them, but both are adults now and have experienced things that should/could have changed them, and........ well it could just have been nice that they had known each other more than 12 hours. Giving me some story, so that I could follow too they had an connection other than just from the memories on the video.It annoyed me when the word infinity and crazy-ass beautiful girl was repeated for every ten lines. That was pretty much the only thing they told each other all the time. There are no deep conversations, that could have helped me to see that what they have is not re-living the dream of what they had as teenagers.Being told they are so infinity didn't really convince me.There were some other things that annoyed me a bit through out the book - some was the kind of things she couldn't remember. I can understand that she can't remember memories, or where the wine opener is, but her personality and things she normally do shouldn't be something she can't remember. Example; before cancer she is sassy of nature, but the first time she says a swear word she hold her mouth and tell like the church girl she is "I never swear". She always have loved to drink juice from the container, but that's a thing she can't remember either. She did still live through those 4 years with cancer, right?There were things that seemed unrealistic to me.And then there is a MEGA SPOILER here:::::::::And then there is this whole thing with her mom being the villian.Tristan and Evelyn lose contact after Evelyn is diagnosed with cancer, instead of telling her friends and Tristan what is going on (she knows that she quite sure will lose some of her memory at that time) she cut the connection to her friends herself, and let her mom do the telling for her. But what her mom do is not telling anybody, and forge her daughter's name to make sure she will get an abortion, before her surgery.I must honestly say that I hated that there needed to be a villian, when her actions could have been explained otherwise. Evelyn's reason for not telling Tristan is because she knows he will say "do as the doctors and parents tell you". The doctor tell her that with all the cancer treatment she will receive the outcome of her pregnancy will not be good - but 5 years after she is pissed at her mom for not making her keep the baby. Didn't she hear what the doctor said? You don't worry about an another humans life? Selfish really.And I really disliked that Evelyn (and everybody else really) blamed her mom that Tristan and Evelyn had been kept apart (I blame Evelyn myself, She knew she would lose her memory. Man up and tell people will you. It's just as hard for relatives, as it is for her) Cancer is a serious business, and that in itself would have been villian enough for me.But no - her mom is just one vicious bitch that dont like Tristan.It was an okay story, the cancer part was well written, and what made me want to read it to the end, but the rest of the story - the love story - wasn't what I had expected.