Week 13

❄️Week 13 Reviews ❄️

November 25- December 1st

☃️ Book 1: How the Grinch Stole Christmas ☃️

By Dr. Seuss

Read November 25

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I figured that this would be the perfect way for me to get into the holiday and Christmas spirit. This is not my first time reading this book. I've read it countless times as a child. It's my second favorite of Dr. Seuss's books right below Green Eggs and Ham. This was a great jump back into nostalgia and such a great story. Many know this story because of the animated movie. This was just as good as I remembered it. What a great book.

🎄 Book 2: The Knowing 🎶

By Sharon Cameron

Read by Emily Woo Zeller and Andrew Eiden

Listened to November 29- December 2nd 

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If you have not read my review of the first book The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron, here is a link to it: http://whattoreadwithcag.blogspot.com/2017/11/friday-reviews-week-12.html.

 I recommend reading that book before this book but they are companions to each other so you don't have to. Both can stand on their own. 

This is the companion book to The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron and was just as good. It takes place nearly 400 years after the end of the first novel. Set in New Canaan, we follow around both Samara and Beck. Samara cannot forget and she is not the only one that can't. She is free of the Forgetting but her memories plague her and she wonders what is really going on. She leaves and escapes to the cursed city of Canaan hoping to find some answers. 

What really intrigued me about Samara was this idea of her never forgetting. She's one of The Knowing a group that is forced to constantly relieve, over and over things that have happened in their life. I really did not realize when reading the description of this book what this actually meant. It's quite insane the extent that this goes to. Samara literally just has to search her memory for information and she can remember it. She can scan pages of a book and read them fully later on. Also, she has vivid and complete memories of most her life after she became one of the Knowing. This is one of the most interesting concepts that I have ever read about. 

Our other narrator is Beck, a citizen of Earth, who is flying on a spaceship on his way to Canaan. His parents are researchers trying to find out about the settlement on Canaan and what has happened in the years since the original settlers left Earth. Beck becomes stranded on Canaan without a way of contacting the ship and meets up with Samara. Little does he or she know what secrets Canaan and the others on his spaceship are hiding. 

One of the best aspects of this book was the switch back and forth between Beck and Sam's perspectives.  I really enjoyed this aspect of the book and I felt that the dual perspective actually added to the story. These types of formats are always either a hit or a miss for me. Another aspect that I really loved from both this book and the first is the little snippets of their books scattered in throughout the story. This not only lets the reader learn more about the two main characters but also of other people in the world.

This story was a great companion to the first book and expanded onto this concept in an interesting way that I didn't expect. Sharon Cameron has such an intriguing world set up in these novels that I cannot get enough of. Each of the characters, especially the narrators are fully fleshed out, dynamic and compelling. I loved Nadia and Grey in the first book but I equally loved Sam and Beck. How they ( Nadia and Grey) are tied into this book was really interesting. Overall, this book had a tightly woven plot that pulled me in while I was reading. I enjoyed learning more about this world and how unexpected major parts of this plot really were. It was an enjoyable time listening to this book. All I know is that I really hope that she writes a third book because I'd love to see more. Maybe one that is set between these two, a prequel to both, or something else internally. I know that I'd read it. 

If this all sounds intriguing to you, you should pick this and the first book up. 

* I received a copy of this audiobook for an honest review *