Forgotten by Cat Patrick: Audiobook Review

Book: Forgotten by Cat Patrick, Listening Library, June 14, 2011

Audiobook Info:  Young Adult, Library audiobook,  Audio length: 6 hours 22 minutes, read by Julia Whelan.

Rating: 4 / 5 Stars

More Info: Audible | GoodreadsAmazon

In Cat Patrick’s high concept Forgotten, 16 year-old London Lane wakes everyday with a blank memory of yesterdays events. Her memory resets at 4:33 am every morning, and London must rely on her notes as a cheat sheet on her life. A twist is that though London can’t remember the past, she gets visions of the future. Nowhere in her future, though, does she see boyfriend Luke Henry, and everyday she sees him it’s like their first meeting.  Meanwhile, London gets a disturbing glimpse into the future, and needs to unravel the clues to try to stop the chain of events.

I read the synopsis for Forgotten and thought the memory-reset idea would play out well on audio format.  And it does work well, but you really have to be a very active listener because of the main character’s short-term memory loss to be sure you don’t miss anything. The concept hooked me and made me want to keep listening to find out the root of London’s memory lapses, and why she can see flash-forwards. Ultimately the payoff wasn’t as exciting as I had imagined, though it is an interesting ride overall.

London wakes up everyday and reviews her notes and then goes off to school. If she doesn’t remember to write something down then life can get very confusing for her. The only people in on her little secret are her mother and her best friend Jamie. I thought it was interesting how she handled certain situations where her memory fails by taking a look at the future for clues. It sounds confusing, and it is, and I was trying to pay close attention to all the details about future, past, current and dream events to piece it all together.

Luke is a sweet love interest for London, and super patient with her. They do have close calls where her memory issues threaten to be exposed, and I wondered when he would catch on. The whole time I was reading I was trying to think of the movie this situation reminded me of, and it’s 50 First Dates with Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler, where she also has short-term memory loss. I was very intrigued with the mystery of why Luke didn’t appear in London’s future, and just when I thought I figured it out there was a new twist.

Veteran reader Julia Whelan narrates the audio. I’m familiar with her from Die For Me so was confident that she would do well with the material. She is great with the voice of London, and sounds like a teenager, and speaks clearly and with a nice pace. She conveys London’s different emotions well, and brings the mysterious plot to life. She does use different voices for the characters, but I preferred her voice for London and the female characters best. Like I said before, the nature of the story is a bit mysterious and confusing, so you have to pay close attention. I usually don’t rewind audiobooks to listen to passages again, but I was tempted with this book. This is a short audio of only 6 hours, and it kept me entertained throughout. I have other audiobooks by Julia Whelan and look forward to listening to more from her.

I liked the mystery of Forgotten, and that the story is different from the norm. It has a lot to offer from mystery, and romance, to family drama. Though the ending did not quite live up to its promise for me, I’m still glad I read it. Forgotten is a standalone book, and I look forward to picking up Cat Patrick’s next offering Revived, due out in May.

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3 thoughts on “Forgotten by Cat Patrick: Audiobook Review

  1. So was Patrick able to differentiate it enough from things like 50 First Dates and Memento?

    1. Lucy says:

      It’s been a while since I’ve seen either of those movies, but the idea works well as a book concept. The flash-forward and mystery ideas I’d say made the story unique.

  2. Sara says:

    I’ve been having a hard time writing this review. I enjoyed “Forgotten” by Cat Patrick while reading it, but as it came to an end, I found myself disengaging from the plot line. Ms. Patrick is a very talented writer and I hate to put a negative vibe out there because as I said, I did enjoy “Forgotten”, but the plot line was very ambitious and I just feel like it was missing…something. I’m not quite sure what that something is though. I enjoyed the ride and would definitely recommend it despite this weird hang up of mine.

    “Forgotten” is such an interesting read and as I mentioned before, an ambitious concept. I really enjoyed watching London unravel her past without being able to access the memories locked in her mind. Ms. Patrick’s writing is splendid. She took on a lot with this novel and I think she handled it quite well. I fell in love with the characters and the romance between our heroine and Lucas. It’s just SO sweet. I absolutely love friendship based romance and this one is delightful. The book started to lose me towards the end, partially because I wanted to stay focused on Cat and her life rather than on the conflict presented. It wasn’t like Ms. Patrick’s writing wasn’t engaging (I cannot emphasize enough that this book is so well written!). I don’t know why… I’m just a weirdo.

    Seriously, this book is really interesting and a great read for anyone who enjoys a good psychological drama and/or romance. It is unlike any other book on the market right now so read it for a complete change of pace. I’m sure you’ll love it!

    Have a nice day,
    Sara

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