Book: Memoirs Of A Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin, Narrated by Caitlin Greer

Published August 2007 by Listening Library|6 hours, 40 minutes

Where I Got It: I borrowed the audio book from the library

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

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.

I liked Memoirs Of A Teenage Amnesiac!   I didn’t love it or anything, but it’s a cute story about a girl re-discovering things after losing her memories from the last few years.

Even though the book had its predictable moments, I also had no idea how things would be resolved or where they were headed.  I really liked that, and I think it fit really well with Naomi’s story.  I didn’t quite connect with Naomi, because she definitely came across as selfish and spoiled and stupid at times.  I did feel for her, though, because I can’t begin to imagine what it would be like to have an accident and lose the last few years of your life. It’s amazing how one moment can change everything, and this book really highlights that.

A lot of the other characters were really interesting (like Will and James), and I thought their stories really brought out Naomi’s story.  There’s definitely a lot going on, but overall, the book had a really good balance of serious moments and some more light-hearted moments.  And I really liked the narrator!  Her voice sounded so familiar, and I don’t know why, because I’ve never listened anything narrated by Greer before.  But her voice was perfect for Naomi, and she was exactly how I pictured Naomi’s voice to sound.

I don’t really have much else to say about Memoirs.  I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve forgotten what I wanted to say, or if it’s because not a lot stood out to me.

3 stars.  I liked it, and it was really cute, but I also didn’t love it.