We Came Here to Forget was a fantastic surprise. I expected to enjoy it, but I wasn’t expecting to feel so much, so fast. I found myself pulled in, intrigued, and unable to put the book down. This story is multi-layered in the best possible ways. Dunlop brings Buenos Aires to life. The setting feels in many ways like a character in the book ~ a glorious addition. Katie and Liz are remarkable. I felt so much for her and her plight to escape a reality she had little say in. This was an amazing journey packed with angst, drama and steam. Complete with secrets and shared revelations, friends and family, love and loss, missteps and blindsides. This story carries a crushing weight that just when you expect to buckle under the pressure, strength and resilience surge. My heart pulled like a magnet to hope. From the very beginning I saw the light in the shadows, the shimmer of hope.

We Came Here to Forget is in fact unforgettable ~ from early beginnings to a satisfying ending Dunlop delivers. This is a top recommendation.

We Came Here to Forget, publishing July 2019, is the third novel from author Andrea Dunlop. Her previous novels, She Regrets Nothing and Losing the Light, are a slow simmer of sinister motives, with characters often driven by selfish desires and unforgiving flaws. We Came Here to Forget features Dunlop’s similar dark undertones, but with an important distinction: the characters, most of them anyway, know when they’re slipping into self-destructive territory, and beyond that, actually try and help save each other.

Told in alternating chapters between past and present, the story opens in a documentary-like fashion. I’ve found that Dunlop’s style is removed in the beginning of the her books, where she describes the characters and their backgrounds in a factual way, which I think creates an ominous foreshadowing. Some people’s demons are so dark, you can’t get emotionally wrapped up, from fear that you too will be taken down by them. So as she sets the scene in this book, by introducing the players and teasing the tragedy that’s to come, your skin prickles. Your imagination runs wild. The lack of emotive language is a preview into a dark mind of the same.

As the story builds, the writing becomes more involved—the language catching feelings, and the characters revealing their human elements. We watch as Katie becomes Liz, and how her desperate need to escape herself leads her to others doing the same. In the alternating chapters, pieces of the past slowly come together, and while I found myself guessing at the eventual horror during every chapter, it’s a slow coming together, with the picture not fully formed until the end.

I loved this book. Taking the past first, there’s an addictive quality to the seemingly perfect family being shattered by something that feels both at once preventable and inevitable. These chapters are about denial, about self-obsession, about such severe focus that we miss crucial things unfolding around us. And they make you wonder whether or not Katie and her family could’ve stopped what happened many years before it was even a possibility. For me, I never questioned their guilt or complicity, but I did question their avoidance, and how it could’ve led to what happened. Being able to hold up both of these sides, to consider them as separate, speaks to Dunlop’s writing talent.

Looking at the present, Liz (Katie) struggling to escape, to just find some relief for however long, is incredibly relatable. Who among us hasn’t dreamt about disappearing and starting over? And in this case, she meets a group of people all doing the same. A rarity in Dunlop’s novels, we’re introduced to a (mostly) supportive group of people (no dark motives against each other), and eventually learn the reasons for their being in Buenos Aires. I like to think of this as less about Katie/Liz finding herself again, but more about her realizing everyone has let something tragic define their lives, but whether or not it defines a moment, or the entirety, is a choice of resilience.

The relationships explored with Luke, Blair, and Gianluca are representative of Katie’s/Liz’s stages in life, and they’re well thought-out in that way. From raw ambition, to unquestionable empathy, to pure escapism, the men here are load-bearing support to the woman’s journey. They reflect where she’s going, and without spoiling, I’ll say I love where she ends up.

This book on the surface is addictive, each page a taste until you reach the “what” that’s been so slowly teased. Deeper, though, it’s also incredibly complex, making us question how blinded we become in the chase of our achievements, how family loyalty and trust is not a given, what it means to earn and give vulnerability, and how we manage to lose and find ourselves again and again throughout our lives.

We Came Here to Forget is everything you’re looking for in a great book. And even in its darkest moments, when that reveal will make you sick to your stomach, as will its consequences, you’re reminded by Katie, and everyone around her, that resilience is part of the human condition.

SO much drama but I love, love, loved this story. As a new-er mom, some parts were really hard to read but it was such a fascinating story.

I practically devoured this book in a day - I absolutely adored it. The best way I can think to describe this book is Eat Pray Love exotic locale meets Gone Girl dark & twisty meets my low key obsession with the Winter Olympics. This was an absolute page turner and totally solidified Andrea Dunlop as a must-read author in my arsenal of favourites - I loved Losing the Light and enjoyed She Regrets Nothing - but this one kept me up WAY past my bedtime! Thank you Atria Books & NetGalley for this advanced copy - this is a must read for 2018!

Wow, this is such a great story! I found myself so emotionally invested from the beginning which baffles me. But I guess it has to do with the fact that I always feel strongly about US Olympians and admire their focus and talent. It’s heartbreaking to think of something tragic happening to any of them. But this story is one that is so emotional and mesmerizing that I could hardly put it down!

Thank you NetGalley for a digital ARC. Put this on your 2019 TBR. 4.5 stars. A smart, sophisticated and wonderful novel told in alternating chapters of past and present that ultimately merge. We follow Katie as a little girl as she becomes an Olympic medalist skier, and when after family tragedy she flees to Buenos Aires seeking anonymity, healing and ultimately rediscovery and the ability to forgive. She meets a group on interesting friends who like her have sought a mental and geographical escape. A suite of engaging characters. Highly recommend. Coming summer 2019.

Right off the bat, I am going to say We Came Here To Forget is a book you will not want to miss!

Katie Cleary was always been a natural on skis and from a young child she knew skiing would be a lifelong passion. Having the support of her parents, Katie immerses herself in skiing and ultimately find herself a couple close friends that share the same love of the sport. She eventually competes in many competitions and makes it all the way to the Olympics and walks away with a medal and the world thought this was the first of many Olympics we would see Katie shine. Unfortunately, a series of unforeseen events have Katie fleeing from the US to Buenos Aires were Katie changes her name to Liz Sullivan in hopes no one will recognize her! As the novel unfolds we learn why a skier as talented, motivated, and determined as Katie, finds herself wanting to reinvent herself!

I was 100% entranced in this addictive novel!!! Andrea Dunlop has masterfully written a storyline that will have you hooked from start to finish. The novel alternates between the past and present which I felt added to the mystique and kept me glued to my kindle! We Came Here To Forget is a 5 star read that I highly recommend to everyone! I can’t wait to see what Andrea Dunlop comes out with next—an automatic 1-click for sure!