I recently finished the author's second book and liked it enough to seek out this one. I had more difficulty getting caught up in the story. I've known a number of people with head injuries (enough so that I wore a helmet riding my bike long before it was fashionable or easy to find.) I've experienced first-hand the subtle and not so subtle changes that can occur in an injured brain (someone else's, not my brain, though at times I've wondered if I was the damaged one,beefing the world in a weird slant because of the vehemence of reactions thrown my way.) it's hard, truly. But my issue with the book is that the peri jury relationship between Marissa and her best friend Julia had weird pathologies without a brain injury. There were a few moments I really liked (like the conversation about swans never forgetting wrongs done them, as opposed to human, who do, which led to the title of the book), or some of the ways the author chose to exacerbate and explore conflict and resolution. ( )

If only I could remember why I wanted to read this... ( )

**I received this book through a giveaway for an honest review.**

This is the second book I've ever won from Goodreads and sadly the first one that i really just didn't lose myself in.

I loved the beginning of the story line, two women who have been friends for a long time but have what can only be called a some-what unhealthy relationship. Throw in the drama of a tragic event and the tables are turned on their friendship. I really thought that this was going to be a book about their friendship and how this tragic event would change their friendship but it wasn't. the book moved into a totally new place of "i am woman, hear me roar"!

I feel like the author really had the start of a great novel here but took off in a whole different direction so for me, she completely missed the mark. Not what i was expecting or hoping for. ( )

THE ART OF FORGETTING by Camille Noe Pagán is a young adult novel, and my four-star rating is for a YA book. I made the mistake of assuming it was a more advanced book, which I prefer, and would give it one star that. But I don't think one star would be fair just because I accidentally picked the wrong book for me.

I call this YA, but I'm over 50, and the term "chick lit" is new to me. I suppose that people more familiar with "chick lit" would call it that. But THE ART OF FORGETTING is one of the types of novels I read as a young adult. Therefore, I call it YA.

I've read a couple of Kristin Hannah's books for book groups. I didn't like them; at the same time, I know that this style is popular with many. If you are one of these, you'll like THE ART OF FORGETTING.

In short, Marissa and Julia are two best best friends (a favorite subject of chic lit and Kristin Hannah books) who met in high school, stayed best friends through college, and are even now that they are each successful career women. They apparently are friends to the point that Marissa even gave up the love of her life at Julia's urging 10 years earlier. Now Julia has suffered a severe head injury and forgets parts of her past, including this. ( )

The plot of this novel was intriguing, and I think that my personal experience allowed me to enjoy it more. I did, however, want Pagan to go beyond the cliche, to find a more unique voice.

Marissa is similar to many characters in contemporary women’s literature: she believes she is happy but lo and behold she isn’t. Pagan adds to this similarity by occasionally having her characters speak in tired lines. Frequently the dialogue was just a tad off.

Marissa finds herself, and Julia deals with her TBI. But the best part of The Art of Forgetting isn’t the plot or the medical information. The best part of Forgetting are the explanations about why we love and love changes over decades and decades of being together.

“He said that most people get the whole idea of love totally wrong. They think that love is about being the smaller person-putting aside your own needs and wishes to serve someone else. But the truth is, when we do that, we become resentful. It isn’t until we acknowledge our own needs and let ourselves shine just as brightly as the people around us that we can truly love them.”

For that message alone The Art of Forgetting was worth the time I spent immersed in Camille Noe Pagan’s world. Because who doesn’t need a reminder about how to love and how to forget? ( )