“‘Some researchers believe that poltergeists, for example, are an example of powerful emotions marking a space and causing it to skip like a needle on a record. Ghosts, quite likely, are created as a result of an emotional ending.’”

I received a free eARC through NetGalley from the publishers at Blue Moon and DigiWriting. When the book was slated for re-writes, I agreed to read and review it a second time. It's sort of exciting to be involved in the process, even in such a small way.

When Nora and her boyfriend, Andrew, are attacked by a monster on prom night, only Nora survives. The attack triggers episodes of what her psychiatrist calls paramnesia, a confusion of reality with a dream world. Except Nora’s dream world seems all too real. Suddenly, she can see ghosts everywhere, including Andrew’s. The creature that attacked them, a soul-eating monster called a Revenant stuck halfway between living and dead, is planning to finish what she started.

It was a struggle to get through this a second time. Part of the problem is that I think I'm well outside the target audience now, and that matters more in some YA books than it does in others. It matters here. The beginning is still rough, and the first several chapters are rushed and flimsy as Nora meets Andrew, they fall in love (immediately, it seems), and go to prom. I’m not much for romance in the first place, and theirs is too much sweet and not enough substance. The novel would have been fine skipping all of this and beginning with the car accident, since these events and the weak characterization involved don’t add a lot to the rest of the novel.

The writing leaves something to be desired, and it would do better with half the adjectives and a quarter of the moralizing. I don’t think even younger readers need the messages about appreciating life, friends, and family to be so spelled out for them. There’s also a tendency to tell rather than show, especially in the beginning, but this gets better as the novel goes on. Nora's best friend, Vee, is a vast improvement on the second round, as she goes from a walking cliche to a decent friend with more intellect. I never found the Revanant frightening; she's condescending and evil without motivation (that's just what evil things do). Her chapters don’t usually bring anything necessary to the main plot, since the Others never really feature in Nora’s story.

Once Wilkinson actually gets into his plot, it’s a lot of fun though. There are a few too many ghost characters to keep track of, but for the most part, they’re funny, cute, and heart-warming. (I love Peepers and his search for his sweet Adelaide.) I was reminded a lot of The Frighteners; it has that sort of vibe to it, and the supernatural world-building is similar. While I was annoyed by Nora and Andrew’s insta-love, Wilkinson does a nice job leaving her feelings with another character open-ended. Neither of them are rushed into another relationship, and it felt a lot more realistic.

Overall, it seemed like this second copy was an attempt to make the novel more palatable for younger readers, and I think that's an appropriate goal for the material. The comedy is high on toilet humor, teasing Nora about her snoring, and cheesy running in-jokes that weren't funny the first time. The one sex scene is edited out, Vee becomes more of a role model, and if Wilkinson were to remove the swearing, it would probably work fine as a middle grade novel. While the story ends on a bit of an R.L. Stine-like twist, I probably won’t continue with the series.

I have received the second ARC, and the story is definitely tighter. Nora is the heroine whom young adults could relate to, and a symbol that it is okay to be scared even if you are brave. I like how the pace is faster than the previous ones, despite not much changes to the overall plot and story. I definitely like this version a lot more

There was an enjoyable book. Many of the basics -- high school/teenage love; deaths on prom night; seeing/communicating with ghosts; a monster feeding on souls -- can be found in numerous other paranormal stories and/or mythology, but the author has put enough of a twist on the story, especially the paramnesia element, that the story does not feel stale or like a rehash of other paranormal novels. The story is engaging and keeps your attention; I read the book in a day. There is a mix of love, loss, hope, despair, mystery, drama, horror, and humor. The first fight scene among the ghosts is particularly funny, as is Nora's visit to the mall with some of the ghosts. There are no big surprises in the book; even the true identity of the revenant, which is not officially revealed until near the end of the story, is apparent to any reader who is paying attention. The epilogue foreshadows the next book in the series, which I look forward to reading.

A small complaint is that the revenant's disguise is as an EMT (which is revealed early in the book, so no spoiler here) and Charlie, one of the characters who also has the ability to see ghosts, is an orderly at the hospital were the EMT often brings patients, but somehow their paths have never crossed, which seems somewhat unrealistic considering who they are and what they do. However, this is a minor gripe in an overall enjoyable book that I would encourage people to check out.

<b>**UPDATED REVIEW 1/22/18**</b>

dnf/lost interest @ 20 percent, but more by my fault than the books

oh boy, I promise I tried really hard on this one. I have to admit, I went into my reread of this book with low expectations. I didn’t like it the first time I read it but, with problematic aspects changed, I decided to give it another go.

And I just think this book isn’t my kind of thing. I was excited when I first requested the arc copy of this, but even though that was four short months ago, my tastes have very dramatically changed in the past while. I think this will appeal to those who enjoy horror and the paranormal, but those kinds of books and movies no longer appeal to me.

<b><u>Stuff that made me want to keep reading:</u></b>

1. Thank the Lord above, literally everything that I had an issue with the first time around was fixed. I was ready to let this book burn, but the changes done allowed me to look past certain aspects and enjoy the story. Thanks to everyone involved who listened when reviewers got angry.

2. The romance, albeit cheesy and very insta-lovey, was actually kind of cute?? Maybe I just loved their date night ideas. Idk. But it wasn’t half-bad!

3. The characterizations of Nora and Vee are well-done, especially for a horror novel. Usually horror books focus a lot on the scariness aspect and, in doing so, let having three-dimensional characters fall by the wayside, but this had both strong lead characters and a creepy aspect.

4. There was a lot of fun humor in there too, when it wasn’t being too cheesy. Nora wanting to come up with something witty and flirty to say to her crush, but only playing carnival music in her head is so funny and relatable.

<b><u>Stuff that made me eventually stop reading:</u></b>

1. It was too scary for me. This is actually a good thing, though! It’s a horror story so it should be scary! And I know you’re probably thinking <i>Well duh, why even request it if you knew it was going to frighten you </i>, and my answer just all goes along with my tastes changing. Four months ago, I would have loved a book that incites terror in me, but I can’t really do scary books right now. But for those who don’t mind a little (or a lot) fright, it’s a creepy, gory, paranormal horror story that will make you shake and leave the lights on at night.

2. Okay, the romance was maybe a little too insta-lovey. I didn’t really get any characterization of Andrew, and the fact that they fell in love in the first ten percent of the book was a little annoying and cringe-y. I don’t know if the romance is a focus of the rest of the story (because,, like,, that plot twist though), but I was just kind of like let me breathe a little before having to deal with a fully fledged relationship. jfc they just met like fifteen pages ago

3. The gore was a little too much for me, too. Again, definitely not a problem with the book! gore just personally makes me feel icky and so I didn’t think it was best for me to keep reading. For readers that don’t mind it, though, it’ll still be a worthwhile read!


To conclude, I just want to state that <b>even though this wasn’t a good pick for me, it might be a good pick for you.</b> If the blurb interests you, I say go for it. It’s literally making me sleep with the lights on at night and now I’m scared of walking somewhere alone. This will work a lot better for fans of horror!
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<b><u>Original Review 10/22/17</u></b>:

DNF at 10% simply because I just couldn't take it anymore. Goodness. I usually don't read supernatural but I picked this up because it has a five star rating and I now literally do not understand why.

I didn't find it very scary at all and the instalove was just way too much for me. That above quote is the first thing our male love interest says to the heroine (after heroine's best friend HITS HIM WITH HER CAR and he's just totally fine).

The dialogue was also really choppily written and unbelievable.

But mostly, what ticked me off was the way that this book treated women (especially the one poc character).

First off, didn't like that the entire female student body is pit against each other in order to win over this new guy. It felt like there were definitely some underlying misogynistic tones that said that, sure, girls can be best friends, but as soon as a hot guy shows up, all hell breaks loose and they all rescind back to their primal urges and become worst enemies. There was too much "seething.". It was absolutely ridiculous how Nora and the girls could switch from being best friends to "staring daggers" at each other or being "ready to kill the [other] girl" all over some cute guy who has literally just walked into the room?? Like what??? This never happens?? They don't even know if he's nice or not?? Also he literally just got hit by a car twenty minutes ago and it is never brought up again and I'm pretty sure he should go to the hospital?

Also, tokenism, and the sexualization of women poc. Nora's best friend, Vee (the ONLY poc in the novel), is described as having "long legs, perfect mocha caramel skin, silky brown hair primped and primed to perfection, [and] the incredible chest that Nora did not have, would not have, or would kill to have." Stop comparing poc's skin to food????? It's not okay. This is a thing that ONLY happens to poc, it's not like you see a white person described as having "skin the color of a snow cone" or some crap like that. It is honestly just so creepy to compare a poc's skin to food. There are literally so many other ways to describe brown than "perfect mocha caramel." an article that I like that talks about why authors need to refrain from doing this, can be found here.


There was another paragraph that didn't sit well with me, and it takes place in the homeroom of the high school Nora and Vee attend:
"'You could definitely be a model,' said Abrar, one of the kids from their class. He was hot enough to get away with comments like that. Besides, Vee loved attention."
Like????? what? the? frick? Why?? Let me lay it out for people that don't see what's so wrong with this: a) it implies that if guys are attractive it's okay for them to harass girls in class, and b) it implies that harassment like this is "attention" and that girls who like attention will like it when guys harass them.

Not only that, but what I read of this book was FULL of boys objectifying and harassing women. Nora's brother calling a girl "Big Boobs Casey," (and sure, Nora calls him out on it briefly, but everyone laughs it off and just says that Nora doesn't like the nickname because she's "jealous" which is just,,, wrong?). All this objectification paired with the instant cattiness the girls feel towards each other over a hot guy just made this an uncomfortable read for me. And all of this content is literally only in the first ten percent of the novel. I could not physically bring myself to continue.

The description for this book is incredibly compelling. Unfortunately, I did not find the writing as compelling as the storyline and hook.

I found the dialogue stilted, the objectifying of women, off-putting, and the relationships between the teens unconvincing. I wanted to love this book, but the writing left me wanting. DNF at 65%.

When I saw the cover of Paramnesia by Brian Wilkinson I was immediately interested. The cover itself is beautiful and its simplicity caught by eye. What really sold me on the book was the fact that the main character, Nora, is able to see the dead. I love me a good supernatural read and this seemed to be right up my alley - and I was right.

Paramnesia is a YA novel set in Canada. The main character is a teenager named Nora who goes to prom with her boyfriend when they are attacked by a supernatural monster. After the attack Nora is able to see the dead. Her new ability is explained away as paramnesia, but Nora is able to meet a few living people who know her ability is real. The creature that attacked her on prom night is still after her and with her new ability Nora makes friends with a group of ghosts who help her fight her tormentor.

The book is a classic YA novel - young love, tragedy, confused heroine who is unsure of herself in the beginning but ends up finding her strength. I have to say, if there was no supernatural aspect to this book I probably wouldn't like it. It reminds me of the times I've been watching a show on TV and am much more interested in the supporting characters than the main characters. The supporting characters in Paramnesia are lovely and really make the story worthwhile.

If you are looking for a quick read, really like YA novels and are also into the supernatural genre then I think Paramnesia is worth the time.

*I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This review will be slightly different to what I normally review because I started to read the original text, and then continued with the updated version that was emailed out. I truely appreciated that the author and publishers took on board constructive criticism and fixed various issues found in the original text. I think this is a great mindset to have as an author, and can only lead to a richer story.

This had an interesting premise. Nora and Andrew meet. Fall in love. Then are attacked by a supernatural creature that leaves Nora with the ability to see the dead. What follows is a quest for Nora to help Andrew and battle for the city of lost souls, with the help of the Deadish Society.

I wasn't keen on the instalove elements. There's no real connection that develops between Nora and Andrew before they're seemingly so in love. I like a slowly developed romance, artfully crafted. This was definitely more clunky. The story and concept were good, and flowed well. It was well paced and kept me interested throughout.

I just wish there was less instalove.

Sadly, when I was about to read the book, the license on Adobe had already expired and I could not download it again from Netgalley since it already been archived. I apologize, but I thought I had more time since the book is going to be released this year.

Is there any way I can get it again? Thank you for your attention.

Such an amazing book! I was hooked from page one. I look forward to the next book

ARC Copy...I liked that the setting is Canadian setting and the depictions of the ghosts. I especially liked the good ghosts giving strength-comfort to the main heroine in her darkest hour. Plus the whole premise of...heroine has to be a "hero" while trying not to look mentally insane to "normal" people felt tense.

Like those before me, I'm writing a message to alert you. I received the book but I still have not got to read it. A few days ago I received an email from the publisher that soon they would send a correct version of this book. Don't make a definitive rating without having read it yet and i review this book when I have read the correct version.

I received an email from the author/publisher stating they would send me a correct version of this book. For now, I am giving this a 3-star rating. I appreciate the communication about the update and will edit this when I have read the corrected version.

<i>I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.</i> 

Brian Wilkinson's <i>Paramnesia</i> is the kind of book that you pick up on first glance because of its beautiful cover, and then start reading without checking the summary or anything else. This means you end up being a little confused when you start reading it, so you go to the back, you read the summary and think "oh, okay. Cool." Then you are a little miffed by the way the female character is introduced, talking about her as "the beautiful girl", instead of giving you some other thing to hold onto, the color of her hair, the way she was biting her lips, maybe how terrified she was. 

Sadly, this carried on, albeit subtly throughout the book. I don't mean to say I hated it because I didn't. Unfortunately, this also happens to be one of those books where you can sacrifice a little of character depth and some of the cringe for the sake of knowing where the story is going.

The plot was honestly quite interesting, the comedy was almost always executed perfectly, and though it might have some definite downsides in character development and some problematic vocabulary while dealing with  mental health (which can be 100% be attributed to the main character's beliefs and personality, no shade), the concept is interesting enough to keep your attention through it all.

So, what is <i>Paramnesia</i> about? 

The story is centred around Nora Edwards, who in the first couple of pages is exactly how every single giggly romance protagonist is, up to meeting the boy of her dreams who is dreamy and cool and only has eyes for her. Oh, he's also the new kid in school, so there's that.

Up to here, everything's pretty par for the course in teen romance, including Andrew being incredibly thoughtful, and pretty much the perfect boyfriend. The twist? Andrew dies. This is not even a spoiler, it's part of the summary provided. 

Nora and Andrew are attacked by an evil entity called the Revenant, who eats people's souls in order to survive and is quite frankly a pretty poor antagonist, who is designed to screw up on everything due to their greed and pride. During the attack, Andrew is killed and Nora is granted the ability to see ghosts, including her recently deceased boyfriend. This revelation is threaded in a tragicomic way, where Nora's PTSD, loss and depression about everything that's happened clashes with the absolute ridicule of having something like the absolute love of your life pop back into your life while you're peeing (honestly, one of my favorite parts of the book).

The rest of the book follows a path of discovery: who the Revenant really is, and what dangers they bring with them, what her powers mean, who she can trust, and how she can get out of a tangle of a situation that she never saw coming. 

I would recommend the book if only for the fact that it's an interesting idea, as YA it mixes different genres, and it works most of the time. I already said this is not a perfect book, that it has flaws and the character models could use some work (especially the female characters, since the male ones were more carefully crafted. Which is sad considering your main characters are females), but it's not horrible, or unbearable (oh, I've been there, and I don't want to go back there).

So, not a perfect book, but not a horrible one, either.

3/5 stars from me for <i>Paramnesia.</i>

Firstly definitions from dictionary.com; Paramnesia-a distortion of memory in which fact and fantasy are confused. Revenant-a person who returns after death as a ghost or spirit. Now the book starts out in a bad, scary situation. Nora is an everyday teen until the prom with her first love and they have a run in with a hungry revenant. Chaos ensues. From the encounter with the revenant, Nora starts seeing ghosts. What makes this story different is the main character tells anyone and everyone who will listen about the "creature" and the ghosts. This revenant doesn't quite follow the definition. Another thing I quite liked is that Nora isn't going from ghost to trying to help them "cross over" like most books, the ghosts actually band together to help the living. It's great book that puts a different twist on the paranormal. Likeable characters with a little surprise at the end. Great story worth all 5 stars!