Forget Me Not
A Novel
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
She was born for all the wrong reasons. But her search for the truth reveals answers she wishes she could bury in Forget Me Not, a suspenseful and deeply moving near-future thriller from the author of The Last One.
“A page-turning mystery . . . highly original, sharply insightful, and thoroughly riveting.”—Kimberly McCreight, New York Times bestselling author of A Good Marriage
What if your past wasn’t what you thought?
As a child, Linda Russell was left to raise herself in a twenty-acre walled-off property in rural Washington. The woods were her home, and for twelve years she lived oblivious to a stark and terrible truth: Her mother had birthed her only to replace another daughter who died in a tragic accident years before.
Then one day Linda witnesses something she wasn’t meant to see. Terrified and alone, she climbs the wall and abandons her home, but her escape becomes a different kind of trap when she is thrust into the modern world—a world for which she is not only entirely unprepared, but which is unprepared to accept her.
And you couldn’t see a future for yourself?
Years later, Linda is living in bustling Seattle, but she has never felt more alone. With social media more ubiquitous than ever before, she is hounded by the society she is now forced to inhabit. When Linda meets a fascinating new neighbor who might just be a potential friend, and who shows her the possibility of a new escape through virtual reality, she begins to allow herself to hope for more by being sucked into a world that feels safe, but isn’t real.
What would it take to reclaim your life?
Then an unexplained fire at her infamous childhood home jolts Linda back to reality. She must return to the property for the first time since she was a girl, unleashing a chain of events that will not only endanger her life but challenge her understanding of family, memory, and the world itself.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This harrowing near-future thriller from Oliva (The Last One) centers on 24-year-old Linda Russell, whose mentally ill mother, Lorelei, artificially conceived her in an attempt to replicate the 14-year-old daughter Lorelei lost in an accident. A few years after Linda was born, Lorelei realized she wasn't a clone and left Linda to fend for herself. When Linda finally escaped Lorelei's walled estate at age 12, she was thrust into the spotlight, trading one nightmare for another. Now Linda hides from the world in her Seattle apartment, interacting only with her new neighbor, computer scientist Anvi Hendrickson, and the characters who populate the virtual reality games to which Anvi introduced her. She's content to remain there—until her childhood home catches fire, returning her name to the headlines and compelling her to confront her past. The overstuffed plot contains myriad soapy twists, but Oliva also deploys some devastating reveals that illustrate trauma's ripple effects. A present-tense narrative creates immediacy and drive, capturing Linda's mental state and investing readers in her plight. Oliva is a writer to watch.
Customer Reviews
Awesome.
Her first novel is my favorite book ever so it’d obviously be hard to compete with, but this one’s a winner, too. I can’t wait to read more from her.