The Girl You Forgot – Giselle Green

 

*I received a free copy of this book, with thanks to the author and Boldwood Books.  The decision to review and my opinions are my own.*

 

Blurb:  Does the heart never really forget?

When Ava’s partner Will is diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour, the doctors give Will one chance to survive – an operation which means he will lose his recent memory. Ava begs him to take the chance, sure that she can cope with Will forgetting her. After all, they have something very special to live for.

But they are also keeping a heart-breaking secret, and if Will loses his memory, Ava will have to carry that secret alone.

Can they rebuild their love from scratch or will their secrets and past come between them? Will Ava really be a stranger when Will wakes up – or does the heart never really forget…

Giselle Green returns with a heart-breaking, deeply moving story of love, loss, and what it really means to be alive. 

 

The Girl You Forgot is a deeply heart-wrenching story of love, secrets and promises.

The two main characters, Ava and Will are introduced to the reader as soulmates who have already had a rough time, but have made it through together.  Unfortunately for them, things are about to get a lot tougher.

Ava finds herself caught between two completely contradictory promises, with very good reasons for both, while Will struggles to reconcile a world he doesn’t remember, after a brain operation removes seven years of his memories… including any memory of ever meeting Ava.

The story hinges around issues of trust, and whether it is ever acceptable to lie to those we love, or keep secrets from them, or break promises.  These aren’t simple issues, as Ava’s dilemma clearly shows that there are relevant moral considerations on both sides.  That said, I did feel there was an element of her sacrificing the truth to her wish to play happy families with the man she loves, and therefore attempting to avoid the consequences of her decisions and actions.  Similarly, whilst I had a lot of sympathy for Will, reeling from blow after blow, and suffering from extremely understandable depressive feelings as a result, I did feel that he was so focused on his own ‘happy ever after’ dreams that he kept forgetting those around him might have feelings, hopes and dreams of their own.

Both characters grow and develop as the story unfolds, and by the end of the story, both are different characters than they were at the start, before Will forgot.  With the story  moving between the two main characters, as they each tell their side of events, the reader gets the benefit of, not just both sides of the story, but both sides of each character too.  It’s an intimate experience which makes the issues covered (fertility problems, suicidal thoughts, depression, betrayal) all the more heartbreaking for the reader.

Whilst there is a lot of pain and despair in the book, there is also strength, hope and lots of love.  Fans of character-driven dilemma stories will enjoy this story, but will need to have a large box of tissues standing by!

 

   He gave the tiniest nod and I sent up a prayer of thanks, then.  We had a solution.  All I had to do was promise him he’d never know the truth about this child…
I thought in that moment that disaster was averted, that everything was going to be okay.  He’d live, and my child would be blessed with the best, most loving daddy in the world, and we would all go on and be just fine.
That’s what I thought.

– Giselle Green, The Girl You Forgot

 

 

Find more from Giselle Green at her website here, or follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.

The Girl You Forgot releases on Amazon TODAY!!!

 

 

 

 

 

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