This is basically what the provided synopsis says it’s about, for the most part. Charlotte awakes from a crash losing the last 4 years of her memory. She forgot she had a daughter and struggles to accept the life she had been living the past four years. The first 2-4 chapters are Charlotte waking up in the hospital, thereafter the rest of the story is essentially Charlotte trying to decide if she wants to stay home with her daughter or go back to work while balancing an estranged relationship with her husband.
There is no mysterious element with her memory loss because flashbacks are added in throughout the story. Early on, starting with chapter 3, readers quickly know what her old life was like compared to her present life. After chapter 3, the chapters alternate between flashbacks and the present. Do not expect mystery with this.
The themes explored are family, marriage, and women in the workplace—explained below:
- I love things that give women a voice and advocate for feminism, but this was not insightful towards either. The topic was touched on, albeit surface level, with Charlotte’s workplace and the treatment towards pregnant women, but it was not powerful enough; the story was too mundane.
- Also, based on the synopsis provided I was expecting a story-line for mothers that was heartfelt and moving; something that was also emotionally family centered like the movie Click or The Family Man, but it was neither. I expected an emotional rekindling with her daughter or captivating connection, and it didn’t happen. The style was bland. We do see a marriage crumbling, and it is easy to relate to; however, it is isolated without intense depth.
The story progresses at a snail-moving pace. Even at 60% (marked on my Kindle) it was still dragging. At 60%, Charlotte is still holding onto remnants of her past (job) while trying to accept bits of her present (daughter); nothing else has happened, the story has stayed completely stagnant at this point. This is much of the story: Charlotte prioritizing and weighing her options. No twists, turns, emotional scenes, or drama. After 60%, it stays on this same path.
Most of the story was anticlimactic, as mentioned above. The climax, in my opinion, was chapter 47; before this chapter the characters experience no growth or change, and little to nothing happened prior to this chapter. Please note there are only 48 chapters.
All in all, this is a story lacking a stimulating plot-line about a mother deciding to go back to work in order to climb the corporate ladder or stay at home with her toddler daughter. While this is a great premise and easy to relate to, feeling like you must choose between your career and a child, it wasn’t executed well. It was very monotonous and simplistic, repeating the same ideas again and again.
*This was an Amazon First Reads pick for October 2019. I do not recommend it.*