Title: The Art of Forgetting
Author: Camille Noe Pagán
Publisher: Dutton Adult
Publication Date: June 9, 2011
Hardcover: 291 pages
ISBN: 978-0525952190
Genre: Fiction
From the Publisher:
A moving and insightful debut novel of great friendship interrupted. Can the relationship survive when the memories are gone?
Marissa Rogers never wanted to be an alpha; beta suited her just fine. Taking charge without taking credit had always paid off: vaulting her to senior editor at a glossy magazine; keeping the peace with her critical, weight-obsessed mother; and enjoying the benefits of being best friends with gorgeous, charismatic, absolutely alpha Julia Ferrar.
And then Julia gets hit by a cab. She survives with minor obvious injuries, but brain damage steals her memory and alters her personality, possibly forever. Suddenly, Marissa is thrown into the role of alpha friend. As Julia struggles to regain her memory- dredging up issues Marissa would rather forget, including the fact that Julia asked her to abandon the love of her life ten years ago- Marissa’s own equilibrium is shaken.
With the help of a dozen girls, she reluctantly agrees to coach in an after-school running program. There, Marissa uncovers her inner confidence and finds the courage to reexamine her past and take control of her future.
The Art of Forgetting is a story about the power of friendship, the memories and myths that hold us back, and the delicate balance between forgiving and forgetting.
My Review:
After pondering far too long on how to word my review I decided brevity will work best in this instance. I agreed to read The Art of Forgetting by Camille Noe Pagán as part of a tour, and I am grateful I did, as readers will have the option to click the tour link below my review for other reviews of this book. While the title enticed me and the cover is astonishingly gorgeous, the story simply was not one for me. The Art of Forgetting is well written, and while I have enjoyed books where I did not care for the protagonist, I truly did not care for Marissa, Julia, nor any of the other cast of characters. As a stroke survivor, I applaud Pagán for bringing to light brain injuries which happen all too often and are not mentioned enough. I also believe the author did an exceptional job creating co-dependent relationships and then showing just how detrimental such relationships can be. The Art of Forgetting has several life lessons to teach the reader and if I was a lot younger or my life had gone in a different direction, I may have enjoyed the book. I strongly encourage readers to check out other reviews of The Art of Forgetting on the tour, as this is simply my opinion of a book that unfortunately was not for me.
CAMILLE NOE PAGÁN’s work has appeared in dozens of national publications and Web sites, including Fitness, Forbes.com, Glamour, Self, and Women’s Health. She lives with her family in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
To learn more about Camille Noe Pagán please visit her website.
For more reviews of the book, please follow the book tour.
I received an ARC of The Art of Forgetting by Camille Noe Pagán from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.
I’m intrigued over the relationship between the 2 main characters, someone else reviewed and said they didn’t like the characters either. I am still deciding if I am interested. Thanks for being honest.
Thank you Marce. The wonderful thing about reading is there are so many books to choose from and we do not have to like each book we read. This one I simply did not enjoy (I do adore the cover). However, I would read another book by the author and I really do suggest to anyone to read all the other reviews. I have not yet, but I am going to guess there are those who really enjoyed it, those who thought it was okay and then others like me. It is just the way it works with readers and books.
I appreciate your honest thoughts. I am intrigued enough to see how I respond to the book.
I look forward to your thoughts on the book. Happy reading.
I’m sorry this one didn’t turn out to be a good fit for you but I do appreciate you sharing your thoughts on the tour. Hopefully your next read will be a better one!
Heather, it is one reason I enjoy reading so very much. There are so many books and just because one did not work for me does not mean it will not be a top pick for someone else.
Your dislike of the main character rather intrigues me. I might have to pick this one up and see how I feel about it. Co-dependence does tend to bring out the worst in people; and most people who are codependent are that way in the first place because they are somehow wounded, and vulnerable, or damaged. I finished Sarah Gardner Borden’s Games to Play After Dark and was amazed at the accurate portrayal of these types pf relationships.
Wonderful review, btw. Fair and yet honest.
Thank you. I would be curious to learn how you view the book.