Throwback Thursday: All Is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker

Throwback Thursday is a meme created by Renee at It’s Book Talk to share old favorite books rather than just the new shiny ones. This is a great idea to bring back to life some much-loved books. Please feel free to join in.

My choice for this week is: 

 

All Is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker

Published July 12, 2016 by St. Martin’s Press

 

Goodreads Description:

 

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.

My Thoughts:

 

I find that I can usually read a book and still have my mind on other things.  That was definitely not the case with this novel. I was focused on everything I was reading.

After she was brutally assaulted at a party, Fifteen-year-old Jenny Kramer undergoes an experimental treatment that is supposed to rid her of memories of that night. However, this doesn’t work out like everyone had hoped.

There will be unexpected consequences for everyone involved….

I thought this was a fantastic novel. But I understand it may not be for everyone. While there were some very emotional and disturbing events in this novel, I didn’t feel like the author was trying to sensationalize anything. It was graphic and I did have to put the book down a time or two, but I felt the author just wanted to try to show readers what Jenny went through.

I can’t imagine being given the opportunity to literally erase an event from my memory, traumatic or otherwise. I feel that prior to reading this book if I had suffered a horrible trauma, I may have jumped at the opportunity. But now? I’m not so sure.

Imagine if a pill could make you forget something horrific? A pill……instead of years in therapy. It might sound good at first. But trauma cannot be cured by taking a pill. But what if a doctor was telling you it WOULD work? I think it would be a difficult decision to make. I’m sure I would desperately want to believe it would work.

In my opinion, this was a very well written psychological suspense novel with an amazing plot and great characters. This book had many shocking moments that snuck up on me, leaving me stunned. But I was always eager to get back to the story to see what was going to happen next. I was hooked from the start right up until the very satisfying ending.

I can’t wait to read more from Wendy Walker.

 

***The author does clarify that the drug treatment in the book does not currently exist (entirely). Scientists have in fact used drugs to successfully alter memories and alleviate the emotional impact of similar drugs and therapies described in this book. They are still looking for a drug to erase the memories completely. Originally intended to potentially help soldiers with things like PTSD. But apparently it has already made its way into the civilian world. And as the author says it’s likely extremely controversial.