REVIEW: Forget You by Jennifer Echols

There’s a lot Zoey would like to forget. Like how her father has knocked up his twenty-four- year old girlfriend. Like Zoey’s fear that the whole town will find out about her mom’s nervous breakdown. Like darkly handsome bad boy Doug taunting her at school. Feeling like her life is about to become a complete mess, Zoey fights back the only way she knows how, using her famous attention to detail to make sure she’s the perfect daughter, the perfect student, and the perfect girlfriend to ultra-popular football player Brandon. But then Zoey is in a car crash, and the next day there’s one thing she can’t remember at all—the entire night before. Did she go parking with Brandon, like she planned? And if so, why does it seem like Brandon is avoiding her? And why is Doug—of all people— suddenly acting as if something significant happened between the two of them? Zoey dimly remembers Doug pulling her from the wreck, but he keeps referring to what happened that night as if it was more, and it terrifies Zoey to admit how much is a blank to her. Controlled, meticulous Zoey is quickly losing her grip on the all-important details of her life—a life that seems strangely empty of Brandon, and strangely full of Doug.

I love Jennifer Echols, I really do. And I loved Forget You in a very different way than I loved Going Too Far. Forget You really makes me think of how messy things are, in relationships, and families and life. Everything is such a mess. And however much we all want things to be neat and tidy in the end, that's just not the way things work.

Zoey's life is pretty much a mess. Her parents are divorced. Her father knocked up a much younger woman, her mom is spinning into a downward spiral. So in retaliation for the chaos in her life, Zoey tries to cling on to her 'perfect boyfriend' Brandon, who's not in any way perfect and certainly not perfect for her, but she doesn't quite know that yet. And then Zoey is involved in a car accident and cannot remember the events of the previous night. How come Brandon and Doug are acting so strangely around her?

I really adore memory-loss books. It's such a great chance for characters to take a good look at their decisions and choices and change them, really work what's important and which relationships mean the most to them. It took awhile for Zoey to catch on ('Brandon is my boyfriend' repeated again and again) but the concept is still there. And I loved Zoey and Doug, they had such great chemistry! Jennifer Echols really excels at writing sexy tension between her characters and absolutely steamy scenes! This one is one not to miss!

Forget You by Jennifer Echols is published 20 July 2010. Special thanks to Dwayne from Girls Without A Bookshelf for organising a UK book tour!