All Is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker
This past month I have been reading a book with a heavier topic. This was one of the reasons it took me a bit longer to read through this particular book. The book All Is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker was not quite what I expected it to be. Not necessarily good, but not really bad either. For me, it was one of those books that, once you've finished reading it, you just need to sit there with it for a while and let all that you have just read sink in.
The book is about a teenage girl named Jenny Kramer who goes to a party and ends up being assaulted in the woods. When her parents meet her at the hospital, after the attack, they are given the option to try out a new drug on their daughter that will allow her to completely forget about the incident she endured in the woods that night. Her parents ultimately decide that they don't want her to remember and Jenny is given the drug. The problem with this though, is that her attacker carved a mark into her back during the assault. Jenny struggles so much throughout the book with her memory of the assault and the fact that she has a physical reminder on her body of something that she is no longer able to recall.
Jenny becomes very depressed because of this situation and her parents and Jenny end up seeing a psychiatrist, Dr. Alan Forrester. This is who is telling the story. Through the eyes of this doctor, we are introduced to many different people that are a part of Jenny's life. We get to know intimate details about her parents and their internal struggles as well as their struggles to support each other and help their daughter deal with the traumatic events and the healing process after being given the drug. We also meet a veteran who is receiving the same type of treatment as Jenny in order to remember what happened during a specific incident in battle. These two characters become very close throughout the telling of the story. In addition to having his own practice, we learn that Dr. Forrester also helps treat inmates in his spare time.
This was one of those stories that was narrated in a way that was unexpected and for me, I wasn't really sure why the author made some of the choices that she did with this particular book until the very end. I am normally a pretty good fan of writing like this, but in this case, it didn't really work for me. On top of the weird narration of the story, the discussions with other minor characters were at times off putting and it was unclear why the conversation was important and even taking place at all.
I personally don't think that this would be my first choice at a recommendation for a read. It was really heavy and unclear as to where the story was leading to at times. If you are still interested in this book though, and you do end up reading it, please place your thoughts below. I would love to hear from others on their interpretation of the text.
The book is about a teenage girl named Jenny Kramer who goes to a party and ends up being assaulted in the woods. When her parents meet her at the hospital, after the attack, they are given the option to try out a new drug on their daughter that will allow her to completely forget about the incident she endured in the woods that night. Her parents ultimately decide that they don't want her to remember and Jenny is given the drug. The problem with this though, is that her attacker carved a mark into her back during the assault. Jenny struggles so much throughout the book with her memory of the assault and the fact that she has a physical reminder on her body of something that she is no longer able to recall.
Jenny becomes very depressed because of this situation and her parents and Jenny end up seeing a psychiatrist, Dr. Alan Forrester. This is who is telling the story. Through the eyes of this doctor, we are introduced to many different people that are a part of Jenny's life. We get to know intimate details about her parents and their internal struggles as well as their struggles to support each other and help their daughter deal with the traumatic events and the healing process after being given the drug. We also meet a veteran who is receiving the same type of treatment as Jenny in order to remember what happened during a specific incident in battle. These two characters become very close throughout the telling of the story. In addition to having his own practice, we learn that Dr. Forrester also helps treat inmates in his spare time.
This was one of those stories that was narrated in a way that was unexpected and for me, I wasn't really sure why the author made some of the choices that she did with this particular book until the very end. I am normally a pretty good fan of writing like this, but in this case, it didn't really work for me. On top of the weird narration of the story, the discussions with other minor characters were at times off putting and it was unclear why the conversation was important and even taking place at all.
I personally don't think that this would be my first choice at a recommendation for a read. It was really heavy and unclear as to where the story was leading to at times. If you are still interested in this book though, and you do end up reading it, please place your thoughts below. I would love to hear from others on their interpretation of the text.
Comments
Post a Comment