The One Memory of Flora Banks by Emily Barr

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 320
Publisher: Penguin

Released: 12th of January 2016 

Seventeen-year-old Flora Banks has no short-term memory. Her mind resets itself several times a day, and has since the age of ten, when the tumor that was removed from Flora's brain took with it her ability to make new memories. That is, until she kisses Drake, her best friend's boyfriend, the night before he leaves town. Miraculously, this one memory breaks through Flora's fractured mind, and sticks. Flora is convinced that Drake is responsible for restoring her memory and making her whole again. So when an encouraging email from Drake suggests she meet him on the other side of the world, Flora knows with certainty that this is the first step toward reclaiming her life. 

With little more than the words "be brave" inked into her skin, and written reminders of who she is and why her memory is so limited, Flora sets off on an impossible journey to Svalbard, Norway, the land of the midnight sun, determined to find Drake. But from the moment she arrives in the arctic, nothing is quite as it seems, and Flora must "be brave" if she is ever to learn the truth about herself, and to make it safely home.

What I Have to Say 

This book was not as good as I was hoping it would be. I'm not sure if it was because my expectations were too high going in, as often is the case with books that are given a lot of hype before their release, but I think it also was the way the story was told. 

It wasn't that I didn't like the character, because even though she was quite child-like, as to be expected from someone with her condition, but I guess I feel that her entire story was centered around a boy, when the reveals later into the book showed a deeper story that I was far more interested in. I almost feel like the ending of the book should have been stretched out and made to be more of the bulk of the book, rather than her chasing a boy to the arctic. 

I hope there's a sequel because I feel that there's a story in there that was barely told and I would much prefer to read /that/ story than this one. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Penguin for providing me with this copy for review.