Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to preview this book. I might bump it up to 3.5 stars. Strange story that I didn't really find gripping. Lead characters were interesting. Somewhat recommended

This was an interesting yet difficult book to get into (for me) as I'm not very versed in VR but I enjoy science fiction novels set in the future as I realize it's our reality. When "Linda" meets a new friend, she is reluctant to "bond" because she doesn't really know how...and part of the plot revolves around why this is. The premise is really fascinating and I wish I'd been more invested as I do love forward-thinking plots. Somehow, I just got lost in the past/present format (which I"m usually fine with). So don't take my word for it. There's a lot to be said for the author's writing and the plot which is fresh and unique. Other great reviews so enjoy!

Set in the not too distant future, Linda is birthed by her mother to replace a sister lost to tragedy using embryos frozen by her now divorced parents when they were married. Tucked away from the world on her mother’s acreage, Linda basically raises herself isolated and alone until one day she is startled by a stranger and flees the property. Her father is made aware of her existence and takes over her care. As long repressed memories arise, Linda isn’t sure who to trust or where to turn in this strange new world and finds herself in danger.

Forget Me Not isn’t in one of my normal comfort genres, but I enjoyed the science fiction aspect of the future, and the quick moving action of the story. Linda is a likable and interesting protagonist. I cheered for her to find out the truth and live a happy life.

In the opening of this novel, we see the main character Linda learning to live in our world rather than the one she lived as a child. She still finds life difficult . She isolates until a new neighbor Anvi with a dog named Nibbler. They become friends very slowly. Linda had a twin named Emmer. They are clones that their mother (Lorielei) had to replace her dead 4 yr. old daughter. However Lorelei finds that her “new” daughters are not satisfactory. The twins are left to take care of themselves with an occasional visit with Lorelei appearing and taking Emmer away for periods of time, seldom taking Linda. One time after Emmer has gone with Lorelei, she learns that her sister is not coming back. Why? What will she do? When Linda finds out that the family home has been burned, she decides to leave Seattle and goes back home. Why?

An unusual novel that starts out a little slow. It’s due I think that the story goes from the present to the past to the present time in different locations. It is science fiction in the sense that technology has advanced, no cell phones, just shields worn on your arm (replacement for cell phones plus). It’s a mystery as there are unexplained things that you don’t find out until much later in the book. I enjoyed the friendship developed between Anvi and Linda. It’s an unique novel that I will not forget reading.

I could not put this book down! So many twists and turns that I did not see coming. Compelling and well-written, would definitely recommend!

Linda climbed over a wall and out into the real world as a teenager. She was totally unprepared. But what happened to her? Why was she kept inside for so long? And what is still going on?

This is the story the book follows, and answering any of these would definitely be a spoiler because the fun is in the discovery. My personal favorite parts of this book were watching Linda continue to discover and try to interact with the world. I especially liked her interactions with her neighbor Anvi, who may have been my favorite character.

I also really enjoyed slowly uncovering what was happening and why.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book. I would recommend it to people who like the adventure of discovery and a twisty plot.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. Set in the near future (cellphone are now on arm sleeves and VR is big) the timing was just odd. Raised, or not raised without interactions with many people, she now doesn't know how to interact and is constantly be chased because she is thought of as clonegirl. It was interesting but not super entertaining, and I felt it ended with a lot of questions left unanswered.

Gosh I struggled with this one unfortunately.

I liked the general idea of the story, but the devil was in the details. There seemed to be a lot of extraneous characters and storylines that didn't have a ton of relevance. Here are my brief thoughts:

-I thought the virtual reality (VR) component was intriguing but it never really reached its full potential. We spent a lot of time following Linda around her VR world learning about the development of her VR character, her VR puppy, fighting goblins, setting things on fire, etc. etc. and none of it really mattered. I honestly think the entire VR plotline could have been removed with very little impact to the overarching story.
-The author said the main character's name a distracting number of times. "Linda did this..." "Linda did that..." "The man spoke to Linda..." "The dog barked at Linda..." You get the idea here. For some reason I found the writing style, and particularly this stylistic choice, extremely distracting, and it caused the writing to feel a bit juvenile and unrefined.
-The story line about the therapist who was killed is a mass shooting.... what was the point? I don't get it.
-Also, the story line about GH and the social media post about the alternate world/simulation hypothesis... also irrelevant.
-Pacing was off for me. The first 50% of the book was pretty boring and slow moving. And then out of nowhere, the whole story flipped on its head and frankly transitioned to the unbelievable. The transition as pretty extreme and left me with a little bit of whiplash.

At the end of the day, I feel like the author tried to incorporate too many elements, and many of them were either confusing or didn't add substance. I would have enjoyed this story so much more if we just took a deep dive into a mother's struggle with mental illness and the repercussions on her daughter.

-I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Alexandra Oliva, and Random House Publishing for the opportunity to review.-

Forget Me Not, by Alexandra Oliva, is a strange, but compelling thriller set in the near future. The protagonist, Linda, has led a forlorn life, alone and deprived of normal human interaction. She is odd, scared, and with good reason. I didn’t come close to guessing the resolution of the many mysteries that lead to the ultimate reveal and resolution.

While this is an unusual novel in its setting and its unsettling vision of the future, it is the characters and their relationships that set this novel apart. Linda’s first true friendship with a neighbor and her developing relationship with her father are simultaneously tentative, heartbreaking and touching. However, it is Linda’s quirky courage that you will remember long after you close the book. I recommend this book to readers who enjoy a thriller that is a little off the beaten track.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the opportunity for an unexpected enjoyable read.

Forget Me Not by Alexandra Oliva
This story is a tale of mental illness and its ramifications. The main protagonist was a feral child who is struggling to integrate into society. Due to social media, she often finds herself trending in a negative way. Suspicious of any contact her life is a lonely hell.
The addition of a friend to Linda’s drab world starts to draw her out of her self-imposed isolation when she is suddenly the focus of negative social media posts again.
The author touches on a lot of psychological issues. She writes of aberrant behavior due to grief, false memories, paranoia, god complex, and more.
A simultaneous plot could have been provided a little more text but it still had an interesting impact.
I enjoyed the book.

Forget Me Not is an atmospheric novel that, though slow paced, grabbed my attention from start to finish. I guessed some of the twists and turns, but that didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book. Recommended!

Linda Russel grew up in a walled off property in rural Washington. She lived there with her twin sister Emmer, and their mother, Lorelei. One day, her mother took Emmer away. When Lorelei returned, she told Linda that Emmer would not be coming back. When Linda was 12 she saw something she was not supposed to see. Badly frightened, she scaled the wall around the property and was thrust into the modern world.

Social media seized upon her story and once they discovered that her mother had birthed her only to replace another daughter who died in a tragic accident years before, dubbed her Clone Girl. Many write hateful and frightening things. She had to move once, due to someone posting her address on the internet. Now, Linda lives in an apartment in Seattle. She only leaves the apartment when she absolutely has to, to get supplies. She avoids talking to anyone.

Then someone new moves in a few doors down from Linda.A vivacious girl who seems determined to be Linda's friend. She also introduces Linda to virtual reality games. Then an unexplained fire at her infamous childhood home jolts Linda back to reality. She must Go back there for the first time since she was 12. She ends up triggering a chain of events that will not only threaten her life but challenge her understanding of family, memory, and the world itself.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this book from the publisher and Net Galley in exchange for an unbiased review.

This is an odd story which seems to address a story of “cloning”. The story is somewhat difficult to follow as it is a semi futuristic tale. The whole “clone girl” story becomes complicated to the point of feeling uneventful.

Linda Russell lives an extremely anxious existence under the watchful eye of her father Arthur Neiquist who is a wealthy man left to protect his daughter when his first wife dies. Through vague memories Linda’s past seems to reveal itself it her where she recalls her unconventional childhood. She remembers her mother, Lorelei, as a lively woman who raised her and her twin sister Emmer outdoors where they slept in trees. Some of her memories trouble her especially those that involve the disappearance of her twin sister Emmer.

As an adult, Linda lives an isolated but protected existence funded by her father. She wears a “sheath” on her arm as many people do in this time era. Her sheath is programmed to record her daily mandated activities, such as talk a walk outside everyday. It also provides a method for Arthur to check in on her to ensure she has everything she needs.

One day Linda is approached by a new neighbor in her building, Anvi Hendrickson, a purple haired woman 29 year old from New Jersey. Linda becomes intrigued by the woman and eventually learns that Anvi is older than her and a PhD student at Cornell. Although difficult to trust people, Linda starts to feel comfortable sharing and spending time with Anvi.

It’s only when Linda receives alarming news from Arthur that her childhood home was set on fire, that Linda is determined to fill in the blanks of her memory. Linda is astonished and confused with the story that is revealed to her about her childhood. It questions everything she thought she knew about her parents and childhood. It seems everyone else knew more about her than she did herself.

This was a sci-fi thriller set in the not too distant future. Social media is still highly prevalent and virtual reality video games are rising to popularity. Everyone wears a "sheath" which is some gadget that tracks their movement, can make calls, send text/email, provide GPS, etc. (similar to an Apple watch maybe?) Unfortunately I had a really hard time following this story and connecting to the characters, mainly Linda and Anvi.

The story has an interesting premise - Linda was cloned by her mother, Lorelei, after her beloved daughter Madeline dies. After her mother realizes Linda and Madeline are not the same, she abandons Linda at a young age, forcing her to survive on her own until one day she 'escapes' and then we find ourselves 12 years later with Linda learning to live on her own. Linda continues to battle with the demons of being a clone and being abandoned by her mother.

I think people that enjoy science-fiction and virtual reality gaming will connect to this book a lot more. For me, I felt a big disconnect and therefore was disinterested in most of this story.

I really enjoyed reading Forget Me Not by Alexandra Oliva. I read a lot of domestic & psychological thrillers, so it takes a lot to “wow” me, but this book did exactly that. The plot is original, the characters are intriguing, and there’s the perfect amount of suspense. I can’t wait to tell my friends & customers about this book!

Forget Me Not is a compelling and genre-bending thriller that will leave you on the edge of your seat. Every time I thought I could predict where the author was taking the story, another plot twist would completely throw me off. Living alone in a near future Seattle, Linda Russell spends her days keeping to herself and only leaving the apartment long enough to please her over protective father. When a new neighbor seems to be oblivious to Linda's past, Linda feels like she may have a chance at friendship for the very first time. When her abandoned childhood home is a target for suspected arson, Linda finds the courage to return to the place where she spent the first twelve years of her life. This unexpected visit will trigger a chain of events that will force Linda to come to terms with her abusive mother, her distant relationship to her father, and the emotional trauma of learning you were only born to replace the daughter a mother couldn't bear to lose.
This is a stunning and fascinating take on the effects of isolation, trauma, and the power that science gives people over the lives of others. Highly recommend for fans of Blake Crouch, Alex North, and Sarah Gailey.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

I do love a good slow burn mystery! The characters are endearing, the narrator is unreliable, the story is creative...I branched out from my usual genres and I am so glad I did! I loved the nerdy nods - the definitely-not-Skyrim VR game, the "Nibbler" and lightning fast "Leela" reference, the wait-is-this-ACTUALLY-a-simulation moments. It skirts the edge of sci fi without ever making that leap, but it works for the story. It's lacking a bit of the shock factor that people seem to like in mysteries, so if you need a huge twist, this mystery probably isn't for you. The story unfolds with good pacing, and the added "extra" bits between chapters really do seem necessary. I can't tell you my favorite part without giving away some of the story, but....the author NAILED the mindset of a fifteen-year-old girl. The depth of understanding she gives to each character is wonderful. I can't say "Forget Me Not" makes my list of favorite reads of the year, but if you want a relevant, modern, interesting mystery, don't miss it!

This book is a tricky one - the first third of it is all over the place: narrators, style, place and time, but once the pieces start fitting together, it goes at a breakneck pace. I lost track of time and found myself reading for hours when I had only meant to take a little break - HA!

The story takes place in the near-future, so technology is a little more advanced than what we are using now, but not so far off that you can't believe they will be here soon. Linda is 24 years old and living on her own in a small apartment in the city. Her distant father is also very controlling - he has secured this place, keeps an eye on her bank account and all technology, even tracking her to make sure she goes outside once a day.

When a new neighbor (and her dog, Nibbler) move in, Linda starts up her first ever friendship.

Linda spent the first 12 years of her life being (not) raised by her mother in a cottage in the woods. She was born there, as a replacement for her first daughter who had died. But she could never be that daughter and was always doing the wrong thing. Her twin, though? She was perfect. And then one day, Emmer was gone and Linda climbed the fence and left the cottage and her mother. She became a sensation as a nearly feral girl and her father began taking care of her.

So what happened to her mother? Her twin? What is the truth and what is made up?

My thanks to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What an Interesting Book…

3.75 out of 5 stars

This was another book that I was really excited about, and the I probably got a lot of other new books around the same time. I should have jumped on it sooner. I checked some other reviews before writing mine because I wasn’t sure how others felt about it. It’s not that I wasn’t sure about my feelings, but there was something about this book that I couldn’t describe.

Forget Me Not was a crazy book from beginning to end. It started off slow, and soon we start to figure out who Linda is and what makes her tick. The nickname she’s given by those who don’t know her was just the beginning of the amount of times I thought “wtf?” while reading this. Oliva did a great job keeping the payoff and the twists a surprise and honestly a few times she really got me.

This book is also really hard to categorize because it’s a technothriller, a thriller, and definitely a mystery, but it’s also so much more. Oliva put so many different things in front of us that at times I thought I was going to get lost, but she dragged me back in.

Overall, Forget Me Not was one of those books that gnawed at my subconscious throughout and will be one of those books that I remember randomly. One that is genre-bending while also being distinctly a mystery and suspense book. One that I enjoyed but wasn’t in love with.

Forget Me Not is an emotional read. I experienced a full range of emotions from sadness to anger and occasionally even happiness. The pace stalled in some points and in others it raced. The author is skillful in character development and attempts a lot with the plot. I found the alternate realities really pushing the envelope for me to follow along and enjoy the read. Overall, I enjoyed the story. I found there were unnecessary plotlines that drew my attention away for the main story. While this wasn’t the book for me if you like a unique story with a lot going on take a chance on Forget Me Not.