Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac
by Gabrielle Zevin

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac
List Price: $17.00
Our Price: $8.29
You Save: $8.71 (51%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: Gabrielle Zevin
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-08-21
ISBN: 0374349460
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

Book Reviews of Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac

Book Review: disappointing
Summary: 3 Stars

There were a lot of things that bothered me about this book. It wasn't terrible by any means, but nothing was done particularly well. I don't know, I was really disappointed with it.

First off, the whole amnesia thing. Can you imagine, waking up being told you're 18, but not remembering anything since you were 13? Can you imagine the trauma and the shock? That was all completely absent here. Naomi is just like "oh, ok, update me on what's been going then." I thought that was really lazy and a really obvious thing to miss. It was not handled at all realistically, they just treat it like a vague disability that acts more like a plot device than anything else.

And if the author was not going to deal with the infinite and fascinating emotional possibilities from such a situation, I don't know why she stuck in the amnesia at all. It seems to me she could have just started from where the memories left off and it would have been much more focused. pretty much the only point of the amnesia was enabling her to fall in love with one character because she forgot she was in love with this other guy. it just seems so random. The first line is "Above all, this is a love story," but I didn't realize we were supposed to interpret that as "this really has nothing to do with amnesia, despite the title, and i could have just eliminated the central plot device completely." I thought the plot was that she remakes her life, but she really doesn't. She basically remakes all the mistakes she had made before, and even her disliking her forgotten boyfriend turns out to be nothing new, as they were "having problems" before she lost her memory.

That was the main thing that bothered me, the author's treatment of the amnesia. the entire story could really have been written without it, and i think it would have been much better, more focused and without so much pointless content.

But the content itself wasn't that good either. None of the characters are particularly deep. There were a lot of "type" characters. What especially bothered me was Naomi's and James's relationship. It consumes most of the book, and then completely out of the blue, we're told Naomi now realizes that she never actually loved him, she just liked their linked mysterious pasts. WTF? First of all, he caught her eye way before she even new anything about him, so this contradicts the book itself. But more important, this was complete "telling and not showing at all." WE just spent the whole book being told how much they love each other, and Naomi really did care about him. She snuck away from home to take care of him when he needed her. and then suddenly - conveniently after they've broken up - she realizes she never really loved him from the start? She just tells us, with no evidence from the rest of the book, and then drops it, case closed. It's ridiculous.

A lot of reviews talk about how the book had a theme of finding your identity, but I didn't see that at all. There was that one scene everyone's quoting where she finds birth control pills and a food diary in her room, but that really has nothing to do with the rest of the book. I guess it started out seeming like it would go in that direction, but then completely drops it and turned to teen romance. like I said, it's very unfocused.

I have to add it was an ok book. I mean it wasn't that bad. After it was done, I was left wondering what the amnesia had to do with anything, and the ending with James was really sloppy. There was nothing particularly good, nothing I particularly liked. but aside from what i mentioned, there wasn't much particularly bad. It was just a sloppy and mediocre disappointment from a writer who can do much better.

Summary of Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac

If Naomi had picked tails, she would have won the coin toss. She wouldn?t have had to go back for the yearbook camera, and she wouldn?t have hit her head on the steps. She wouldn?t have woken up in an ambulance with amnesia. She certainly would have remembered her boyfriend, Ace. She might even have remembered why she fell in love with him in the first place. She would understand why her best friend, Will, keeps calling her ?Chief.? She?d know about her mom?s new family. She?d know about her dad?s fiancée. She never would have met James, the boy with the questionable past and the even fuzzier future, who tells her he once wanted to kiss her. She wouldn?t have wanted to kiss him back.
 
But Naomi picked heads.

 After her remarkable debut, Gabrielle Zevin has crafted an imaginative second novel all about love and second chances.
 
Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac is a 2008 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Love & Romance Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Love & Romance Books
This Lullaby ImageThis Lullaby
by Sarah Dessen
Speak; Speak; Published: 2004-03-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.98
Price in other shops: $8.99
If You Come Softly ImageIf You Come Softly
by Jacqueline Woodson
Speak; Published: 2010-01-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.96
Price in other shops: $7.99
Just Listen ImageJust Listen
by Sarah Dessen
Speak; Speak; Published: 2008-02-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops: $8.99
Owl in Love ImageOwl in Love
by Patrice Kindl
Puffin; Published: 1994-10-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.50
Price in other shops: $5.99
Frozen Rodeo ImageFrozen Rodeo
by Catherine Clark
HarperTeen; Published: 2004-02-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.95
Price in other shops: $6.99
Pretty Little Liars #5: Wicked ImagePretty Little Liars #5: Wicked
by Sara Shepard
HarperTeen; Published: 2008-11-25; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.85
Price in other shops: $16.99
Never Cry Werewolf ImageNever Cry Werewolf
by Heather Davis
HarperTeen; Published: 2010-09-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.20
Price in other shops: $8.99
Ink Exchange (Wicked Lovely) ImageInk Exchange (Wicked Lovely)
by Melissa Marr
HarperCollins; Published: 2008-04-29; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.50
Price in other shops: $16.99
I Am Number Four Movie Tie-in Edition (Lorien Legacies) ImageI Am Number Four Movie Tie-in Edition (Lorien Legacies)
by Pittacus Lore
HarperCollins; Published: 2011-01-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.74
Price in other shops: $17.99
Ready or Not: An All-American Girl Novel ImageReady or Not: An All-American Girl Novel
by Meg Cabot
HarperTeen; Published: 2005-08-01; Library Binding; Book
Best price: $5.59
Price in other shops: $16.89
Similar Books and other products
Matched ImageMatched
by Ally Condie
Dutton; Dutton Juvenile; Published: 2010-11-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.94
Price in other shops: $17.99
Enclave ImageEnclave
by Ann Aguirre
Feiwel & Friends; Feiwel & Friends; Published: 2011-04-12; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.07
Price in other shops: $16.99
If I Stay ImageIf I Stay
by Gayle Forman
Speak; Speak; Published: 2010-04-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.31
Price in other shops: $8.99
The Fox Inheritance (Jenna Fox Chronicles) ImageThe Fox Inheritance (Jenna Fox Chronicles)
by Mary E. Pearson
Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); Published: 2011-08-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.86
Price in other shops: $16.99
You Against Me ImageYou Against Me
by Jenny Downham
David Fickling Books; Published: 2011-09-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.30
Price in other shops: $16.99
Hate List ImageHate List
by Jennifer Brown
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Published: 2010-10-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops: $8.99
Thirteen Reasons Why ImageThirteen Reasons Why
by Jay Asher
Books; Razorbill; Published: 2007-10-18; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.44
Price in other shops: $17.99
Elsewhere ImageElsewhere
by Gabrielle Zevin
Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Published: 2005-09-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.84
Price in other shops: $16.00
All These Things I've Done (Birthright) ImageAll These Things I've Done (Birthright)
by Gabrielle Zevin
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); Published: 2011-09-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.97
Price in other shops: $16.99
Elsewhere ImageElsewhere
by Gabrielle Zevin
Square Fish; Square Fish; Published: 2007-05-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops: $7.99