Sci-Fi Thriller Pick: Unremembered

Unremembered
by Jessica Brody
Farrar Straus Giroux
2013
320 pages

Available March 5, 2013


Visit the author's website to see the U.S. and U.K. covers and download the first five chapters here

Author Jessica Brody just keeps getting better. Her earlier novels 52 Reasons to Hate My Father and My Life Undecided were funny and spunky, but Unremembered is taut, thrilling, complex and supercool. The pages practically turn themselves. Don’t sit down with this book if you have anything planned. You’ll be cancelling your plans in order to finish this exciting sci-fi thriller in one sitting.

Waking up in the water seems crazy. The only thing she remembers is “1609.” Is it a year? Or a code? Is it an address? They tell her she’s been in a horrible plane crash and that she’s the only survivor. The doctors and nurses try to help her remember, but she doesn’t remember anything: not her name, not her address, nothing of her past; she doesn’t even know what common items are: a television or a computer, for example. The media covering her story makes her the darling of network television, but no family members step forward to claim her.

She seems to remember a boy visiting her bedside and claiming to know her. He tells her he’s going to get her out of there, but then he vanishes. The nurses begin calling the Jane Doe “Violet” since that’s the color of her eyes. And another thing, Violet is drop-dead--runway model--gorgeous.
Soon, she is well enough to leave the hospital and the state finds a foster home with a family who has one younger son Cody. Violet leaves the hospital with her only belonging: a mysterious locket with the inscription: S + Z = 1609—that’s the number she remembered when they pulled her from the water! What could it mean?

Soon, Violet discovers her real name is Seraphina and that she can do difficult math problems in her head and that she speaks Russian fluently. Is she Russian? Seraphina discovers that not only is she blessed with model good looks she also has super-human strength and speed. She begins to notice her body can do incredible things. Cody tries to help Seraphina discover who and what she really is.

When she visits the airport where her plane took off, she discovers that she was never even on that plane? How did she get in the water? And who are the people who seem to be following her? And where is the mysterious boy who appeared in her hospital room? And why can’t she remember anything in her past?

Don’t miss this exciting new YA thriller. It’s going to be HUGE! And it has already been optioned for film by the producer and screenwriter responsible for the movies The Departed and The Ring.

I can’t say enough about how much I LOVED this book. It pulled me in from the very first page and raced me along at a breakneck pace through the pages. I was only sorry when the thrill ride came to an end. Readers won’t have to wait long though; this is book 1 in a planned trilogy. Fans will be clamoring for more.

Highly, highly recommended for all paranormal romance junkies grade 7-up. Some romance, some sci-fi.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.
This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)