Tuesday, November 3, 2015

The Great Forgetting by James Renner

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5 Stars
 
“Life is long. Longer than we allow ourselves to remember.”

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Understatement of the year. I motherf-ing LOVED this. Holy hell. Where do I begin? Okay, so The Great Forgetting grabs you right from the cover. So appealing to the eye, so understated, so perfect. Then you open it and discover it’s totally un-put-down-able . . . and that it’s also one of those books where anything you say about it might be considered too much. Which leaves a Kelly and Mitchell combo who have looked pretty much like this ever since finishing the book on Saturday . . .

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The basics are our MC Jack is a history teacher who plans to spend his summer vacation giving his sister a much needed break from dealing with their father who is quickly fading away due to dementia. It doesn’t take long for Jack to catch up on small town gossip – mainly that his old bestie Tony (who also happens to be his high school sweetheart Sam’s husband) has gone missing. Reluctantly Jack agrees to help track down his old friend which leads him to one of Tony’s former psychiatric patients – a boy named Cole who will attempt to open Jack’s eyes to the truth of The Great Forgetting. Then . . .

“Sometimes I get the feeling that none of this is right.”

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So much mindblowing. Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd that’s all I can tell you. Okay, well maybe not alllll. This book is smart. Like wicked smart. But don’t let that intimidate you. Renner has done a great job of providing a cast of characters that are all Average Joes. While they find themselves put in spectacular circumstances, they are people with not-genius IQs so you never get lost in the crazy that is being thrown at you. Renner also does something that normally I hate – he inundates the reader with the present. Now, this may end up being a novel that doesn’t quite stand the test of time, but for today? Right now? This sonofabitch WORKS! If you’re into conspiracy theories and a story that stays on eleven for the duration, The Great Forgetting is not one to be missed. Be prepared to question everything. Oh, and make sure to get your foil hat fitted before even beginning . . .

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Every star there is to star.

Alright. Review over – now for the full disclosure B.S. I had never had contact with James Renner until he personally messaged me and asked if I would like to review his new book. Turns out he saw my review of The Man From Primrose Lane (which all of you should immediately read because the man ain’t no one-hit-wonder) and didn’t despise my giffy style (SUCK IT, GIF HATERS!). Upon receiving said message, I was very grateful to have stocked up on my supply of . . .

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and proceeded to run around the house screaming about how awesome I am to my non-book-loving family who haven’t yet figured out that I’m kind of a big deal. I should probably float my reviews all day every day more frequently in order to break into the Top 5 of the fake popularity contest. Whatevs. Anyway to make a long story even longer, endless thanks to Mr. Renner (and to Trudi who turned me on to his work in the first place). I can’t wait to see what your crazy brain comes up with next.

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