I struggled with the narration in this book. I struggled with connecting with any of the characters. Overally, I felt like the whole story just wasn't enjoyable to read. The psychiatrist in the story is such an arrogant jerk.

I do think that having a questionable narrator often improves the story telling of a book. This one just didn't do it for me. The final reveal at the end gave me very little emotion. I think it was due to such strong feelings of dislike for this doctor. Not my cup of tea.

Trigger warnings for this book- rape

Chilling both because of the subject matter and because of how it all happened. I think especially the not believing thing was hard for me to read about.

Note: clearing old books from before 2019

Did not have time to read this book - still on my TBR. Thank you for the opportunity and my apologies for not getting to it.

This was an amazing read for me.
Yes it has a rape story in this which it’s centres around however, it’s also telling us about this drug that can be used to erase parts of memory, this was the bit I was enthralled with.

It’s such a well written laid out book.

The person she is talking to (therapy) is also an intriguing factor.
He also is helping her mother and father through this.

We get to meet some other “patients “ within these pages.

I was riveted throughout and the twist at the end was extraordinary that really spooked my senses.

This author has fast become a favourite of mine. I have read books by her in the past and now this has rekindled my eagerness to see what other books I’ve missed by her.

This book has so many twists and turns. It will keep you guessing as to what is going on until the very end. It is fairly apparent, even, from the beginning, that the narrator is unreliable. But the extent of his involvement remains hidden until the very end. The author drops little clues, like Easter eggs, along the way, but even if you find them all, it is hard to put it all together.

A young girl is molested in the forest while at a party. The parents decide to give her an experimental drug that will erase the event from her memory. Months later, she is still troubled by this missing memory. And the story escalates from there.

I definitely recommend this. I love this author. I would recommend any one of her books.

Where do I even start about this book. Oh wow it was just brilliant, A book that I won’t forget in a hurry.

I stopped this book around 20% - I was bored, I hated the narrator, and it was just moving so freaking slowly. I really wanted to care, but couldn't connect with the narrator at all, or the idea. Even the scenes that should have been emotional fell completely flat. This was not the book for me.

Good read for those who enjoys plot twists and turns, and I do. I was distracted by the memory-erasing drug aspect, but I can see where it moved the plot along. All in all, a very interesting book!

This had an excellent premise and a super compelling beginning. The rape and the aftermath was heart wrenching to read about. And the book was really thought provoking: what choice would we make if we could seemingly erase memories of a trauma? I felt such a strong connection with Jenny and I imagined at times her pain as my own.

My issue with the book stemmed from the storytelling and the narrator. The book is told from the POV of "an outsider" who is at the fringes of the event. He's a psychologist who treats several of the characters. Although this type of narration can work, it didn't for this novel. This book needed a female voice and not the story dictated to the reader by a male psychologist who came off as a pompous jerk more often than not.

I struggled with rating this one, but I decided on a three star because despite the narration, Jenny's story was an important one and deserved a read.

If plot twister could pick a peck of plot twisters...seriously what did I just read and did I violate someone? Seriously I need to just sit with this one or a minute.
WOW! You must read this book.

All Is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker is a book that you will not be able to put down. It is a memorable novel of a horrible crime and how the crime affects not just the victim, but the parents, the treating doctor, and patients’ ancillary to the crime. This twisty, circuitous story is engrossing, absorbing, and fascinating. The story is told from multiple points of view as interpreted by the doctor who is treating the victim. The reader obtains a bird’s eye view of the victim and the feelings that accompany her as she attempts to come to grips with the horrific crime perpetrated against her.
I did not intend to review this superlative book until next week. I picked up my Kindle last Saturday only to get a preview. I ended up finishing All Is Not Forgotten on Monday. This wonderful psychological/crime novel will be available July 12, 2016. Buy it – read it – Have a great time.

I could not get onboard with the narrator, I couldn't stand him. Dr Forrester was an ass. Otherwise the book was very gripping and super intense. Small town drama and trauma was devastating but I couldn't put the book down. The book was well written and it was easy to follow along.

Fifteen year old Jenny Kramer attends a highschool party. When she sees her boyfriend with another girl, she heads off alone into the nearby woods. She is brutally assaulted and raped a few hundred feet from the party. Her parents, specifically her mother, consent to a medical treatment that will wipe out her memories of the event. The premise is that she will be able to move on easier. The only problem is that she doesn't remember the event, but she knows she was raped. Her body can still remember the incident. This causes serious problems and she eventually tried to commit suicide. At this point, her parents agree to memory recall therapy with Dr. Alan Forrester. Will this help Jenny? Will her rapist ever be caught?

Dr. Forrester is the unreliable narrator of this story. As we begin to uncover the secrets of the family in their sessions with the doctor, Jenny also begins to remember. As she remembers, it might put someone in the town in the police's cross-hairs. What will Dr. Forrester do to help her recall those memories and make sure she does not form false ones. The characters in this book are all pretty much unlikable except maybe Jenny. It seems everyone is out for themselves and how this situation makes them feel or impact their lives. This is a good, not great, thriller. I definitely didn't see the twists and turns coming at the end. I might have enjoyed it more if I had empathy for the characters in the story.

I'm sorry to say this, but I can't get into this book. The plot interested me a great deal, but the story itself isn't holding my attention. After eight days and very little progress, I've reluctantly decided to stop reading it, so I won't be posting a review.

Thank you for the opportunity to read the book. I really appreciate that, despite the book not being a good fit for me as a reader.

As is the case this year with most of the books I have read, I wanted to like this book more than I did. While I was drawn in by the premise (victims of violence can take a drug that makes them forget the experience, but the repercussions could outweigh the benefits), I absolutely could not stand the narrator. At times, he was so unlikeable that he appeared almost like a caricature - he considered not marrying his wife because he feared her "low IQ" would affect any potential children's academic limitations, but she was "very attractive", so what the hell, lets get hitched! The narrator was a pompous misogynist who made such self-serving decisions as to render them unbelievable.

This was an incredibly dark, extremely graphic novel that left me at times feeling the need to take a shower. I would think if the reader is a victim of violence, there would be triggers throughout the book and this fact is not made clear prior to reading. Luckily (?!) the book starts out incredibly graphic, so people can make a decision early on whether to continue.

I do plan to read "Emma in the Night" and give the author another try.

Imagine if you could take a pill and forget a traumatic event in your life. Sounds great right? But what happens when you still feel the emotions tied to that event? And how do you deal with those emotions when you're not even sure why you have them. Months after Jenny Kramer is raped at a party, she starts to see Dr. Alan Forrester to help her deal with the emotions of the trauma. All Is Not Forgotten is told from the Doctor's perspective as he treats Jenny and her family.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

One thing that really struck me about this book, is the perspective it is written from. They say that all therapists have therapists and as a reader of this book, I felt like Dr. Forrester's therapist. You feel as though you are sitting across from him as he tells you the story from his point of view. He talks about Jenny's case, her parents and a couple of his other clients that are relevant to this story that takes place over the course of a year. From the time of Jenny's attack to the time her attacker is caught, you hear the story as it was told to him, by Jenny, her mother, her father, the police detective investigating the case, and even his own involvement in the situation apart from his care of Jenny.

This is a twisted story with lies and surprises around each corner. You never know who you can trust. Trying to attach Jenny's emotions to an event that has been eradicated from memory, is no easy task. Trying to avoid outward influences on the outcome of the situation and trying to make everyone understand that whatever is recovered can not be used in court stirs the emotions of all involved.

Released last year, but released this week in paperback, get your copy today!

What if there was a drug that could erase your memory? Especially of an event that was so horrific that dealing with it could send you over the edge? Jenny kramer was brutally raped at a high school part and was administered the drug, approved by her mother Charlotte, but not by her father Tom. It happens that her therapist's son Jason, was also at that party. What would any parent do to protect his child? Would it be to the detriment of his patient? Which is more important, the love for your child or the oath you took as a doctor? Jenny's rape affects her parents, who have secrets to hide and it isn't until she is befriended by someone from a totally different walk of life that she can begin to heal.

I struggle with where to rate this one. I really struggled to get through this book (and it was on audio, so I couldn't really skim sections or flip around to decide if it was something I should just put down). The subject matter is extremely difficult, and described very graphically, and the story's narrator, as a medical professional, describes things in a clinical manner that, while it might be professional, came across detached and cold (not that I think the subject matter in this book could or should ever have been described in a way that was pleasant). I will say that in terms of performance, the audio edition of this book could not possibly have had a better narrator. His tone, voice, and performance style was unbeatably suited to the story.

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

In the small, affluent town of Fairview, Connecticut, everything seems picture perfect.
Until one night when young Jenny Kramer is attacked at a local party. In the hours immediately after, she is given a controversial drug to medically erase her memory of the violent assault. But, in the weeks and months that follow, as she heals from her physical wounds, and with no factual recall of the attack, Jenny struggles with her raging emotional memory. Her father, Tom, becomes obsessed with his inability to find her attacker and seek justice while her mother, Charlotte, prefers to pretend this horrific event did not touch her perfect country club world.
As they seek help for their daughter, the fault lines within their marriage and their close-knit community emerge from the shadows where they have been hidden for years, and the relentless quest to find the monster who invaded their town - or perhaps lives among them - drive this psychological thriller to a shocking and unexpected conclusion.

Well, that was certainly disappointing. Very disappointing. Just have a read of the blurb - sounds exciting right? Well, it's not.

The two biggest problems with this story are this: the ultra slow, almost sluggish, pacing and the incredibly dreadful narrator.

The pace of this novel was so slow that I was considering quitting after about 40 pages. So much time was spent waiting for something to happen...and instead, we got...

Dr. Forrester, quite possibly the most annoying narrator I have ever come across. Lots of sprouting psycho-babble like it is important; the incredibly irritating use of big words to try and sound clever (but makes him sound like a goose); and the constant reference to the reader...in one example - ""It is hardly worth the effort to elucidate the vapid motivations of this particular girl.

Nuff said...


Paul
ARH