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Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac

by Gabrielle Zevin

Reviewed by Coral


One lost coin toss is all it takes to change Naomi’s life.

Well, one lost coin toss and a fall down the stairs, resulting in Naomi losing the memory of her the last 4 years (ages 12 to 16). Suddenly she has a boyfriend she can’t figure out why she is with, a best friend she doesn’t know, divorced parents, a new sister, and a crush of the new boy in school who happened to save her after her fall.

Navigating this new life is hard for Naomi, as she struggles to remember who she was and to figure out who she is.

I enjoyed this book, even if I am probably a little older than the target audience. (Somehow I keep reading summaries of books that sound interesting without realizing they are meant for a teenage audience.)

I thought the Naomi’s conflict was well handled. The author made her struggle to try and understand and embrace the life she had while resisting the parts of it that didn’t feel right to her anymore relatable.

I liked that the ending wasn’t as neat as it could have been. It wasn’t the love conquers all ending, but it felt like a more realistic ending that fit the book nicely.

There were some parts of the book where I didn’t really like Naomi. I felt like she was too passive about some things, following along instead of voicing her opinion. I didn’t like her agreeing to visit someone and then sneaking away without saying anything. I also didn’t like how she didn’t seem to give her friend Will a chance (and not in the romantic sense). With Ace, the boyfriend she had pre-amnesia, she tried to see what is was about him that would have attracted her before, she hung out with him and his friends. With Will, it seemed to me like she didn’t try to understand why they had been friends, never bothered listening to any of the CDs he made her as gifts.

It was also weirdly random how some people called her Nomi instead of Naomi. I wish there would have been more context with that. Was it a nickname? That's what I am guessing, but it doesn't feel right to every situation where Nomi was used in the book.

Even though Naomi says she knows she isn't 12 and that she doesn't feel 12, the fact that her last memories are of being 12 made the dating scenes in the book feel a little creepy.

Grade: B