Flora's narration of her story is in parts charming, confusing, irritating, and downright scary. She seems to be a charming young lady, an innocent, who is constantly surprised and confused by what you and I would find normal - including her appearance. Well, no, her appearance is a little bizarre. She dresses unlike a seventeen year-old and doesn't do what most seventeen year-olds do in their spare time. Although she is at her friend's party, and like many seventeen year olds, she's thinking about boys. The blurb gives you a good idea of what happens next, including eventually setting off for an island in the Arctic.

The trouble with the narrative is that it is highly repetitive. Flora has to go through her notes every morning (and after a nap) to remind herself who she is, where she lives, who her parents are, and just about everything that belongs to her current life. There is a certain poetry about this; it reads like a mantra. It invokes your empathy, and once she gets up to doing odd things, it is a bitter-sweet amusement, too. But around 26% in, it starts to pall. I'm not the only person who hit the wall around then, judging from other people's reviews. If, like me, you have by then forgotten the blurb, you may forget that you were also drawn in by the stupidity of going to the Arctic.

For me, that was part of the draw. Someone was writing about Svalbard! And it is not easy to get to Svalbard when you are a relatively fully functional adult with control of your money and passport, and a travel company to arrange the trickier bits. And Flora arrives at the main town of Longyearbyen in her jeans and trainers, and a faux fur coat that she got from the charity shop, and I'm thinking 'My goodness, she'll freeze! I hope to heck it's June or July.' Well, happily it was. And going to Svalbard is a stroke of genius by the author, because it is the one place in the world I am relaxed about Flora not being a victim of something really horrible that you'd get in cities all over the world. It's the best place for an innocent to go, and the author describes it exactly as I remember it.

And that's where the truth starts to come out. Flora's behaviour and memory get increasingly disjointed. You start doubting your own memory of what was narrated earlier. But still things don't quite add up...

The twists in this tale are truly superb, some things you feel you should have spotted, but you were so drawn into Flora's world that you suspended disbelief at the wrong times for the wrong reasons.

This book is genius.

The only other book I read last year that was as good was Dear Amy. Both deal with fractured memories. And apart from having equal genius authors, that's all they have in common.

This may be one of those books that you love or hate, but if you can press on through the need for Flora to repeat herself until things start changing, you'll be well rewarded. Even if you haven't been to Svalbard.

Nice read and easy to follow story line. Look forward to reading more from this author

There are so many emotions at stake in The One Memory Of Flora Banks. This story unfolds with snippets of the truth tantalisingly in the fog for Flora. I feel for her mother wishing to protect her daughter and the guilt she must endure but her father sees beyond that and the fact that Flora must be allowed to lead her life freely. Tragic that Floras brother is no longer there to support her but thank goodness that Paige steps up to the challenge in the end. A thoughtful and engrossing novel.

Reviewed on Goodreads and my blog.

A must-read, and a great way to start my New Year reading.
Flora is a warm and wonderful character, who fills me with admiration.

There are some books you stay up until 2 AM (on a work night) to read. This was one of those books. It was one of the weirdest books I've read in quite some time, with a unique protagonists and a fantastic plot.

Not your usual YA read for me, as I tend to focus on fantasy, but I do like high school and life-themed Young Adult books too, and this was truly one-of-a-kind. I think this is one of those books, that you wouldn't have to be a genre reader to enjoy. This is one of those books that anyone from any genre would love because it is just that well-written.

Plot

The plot was fantastic, a new concept, to me anyway. Flora has retrograde amnesia, her parents have lied to her her whole life and when they're called away suddenly everything starts to untangle.

The central concept is of a girl living her life with retrograde amnesia when she can only remember things for a couple of hours. It was amazing and made me grapple with the question of how someone would live like that. The story depicts her life in an extremely plausible way. The author comes up with believable and authentic coping methods and tactics Flora uses to prod her memory. All in all, it was a beautiful portrayal of how someone with that type of amnesia might live.

Characters

The characters are fantastically unique. Each one gave me something to either love or hate about them. I particularly liked the mother of Flora and all her complexities. It was almost a shame I didn't get to see more of her. The main love interest (without giving too much away) was a dick! Flora was brilliant, despite her disability, she was fantastically strong, capable, and independent. I did feel that in her mind she thought she was incapable at the end, which was a strange kind of character arc. But thankfully on the very last page she came back to herself. But I would have liked to have seen a bit more of that, or at least seen a bit more of the story. But that's a good thing; the author left me wanting more... SO, SO MUCH MORE.

Language

The language was at first, quite difficult to get to grips with. This is not because it was poorly written, quite the contrary, Barr has a beautiful stylistic prose and one that I devoured rapidly. But the language was difficult because of Flora's amnesia. This meant that Barr used a lot of repetition to create Flora's unique character. After a while, you sink into the flow of Flora's mind and the repetition is both a comfort and part of her unique character and in fact helps add depth to Flora's character.

The Ending

I liked the ending. I like where it went; I like what happened to the characters, and I liked the style in which she ended it. But because I liked it, I would have liked a little more from the final couple of chapters. Conveyed through letters, much of the ending and the big reveal is given away in those letters which are told from another character's perspective. I understand why Barr did this, but for me, I would have liked to have seen a little more of the reveal and what happened to Flora from Flora's point of view. That's not a criticism, more of a 'the author smashed it; I wish it hadn't ended' type comment!

The very last page had the perfect amount of showing you what happened and leaving a little to the reader's imagination. A fantastic read, four stars from me and a book that I will recommend to anyone from any genre.

Review left on Goodreads, and on Amazon. It will go live on my blog in February 2017.

A very different take on the coming of age story. Flora Banks is 17, but can remember nothing for any length of time. Her emotional and physical journey makes a highly memorable story that I read in one go. Very well written, with a cast of engaging characters.

"I look at my hands. One of them says 'Flora, be brave'. I am Flora."

Flora has anterograde amnesia. She can't remember anything day-to-day: the joke her friend made, the instructions her parents gave her, how old she is.

Then she kisses someone she shouldn't have kissed - and the next day she remembers it. The first time she's remembered anything since she was ten.

But the boy is gone.

Desperate to hold onto the memory, she sets off to the Arctic to find him.

Why can she remember Drake? Could he be the key to everything else she's forgotten?

I have been given an ARC by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review...

The book introduces us to 17 year old Flora at a party. She has things written on her arms. That's how she remembers them. The writer illustrates Flora and her world so cleverly. You are there in the moment with her as she takes her first sip of wine at a party and then as she has her first kiss with the boy who just happens to be her best friend's ex boyfriend...

This book cleverly details what grief can do to people and what untreated grief can make people do to others. It's beautifully poignant.

It's inspiring, it's beautiful, it gives you hope.

A five out of five star read.

I am profoundly grateful to NetGalley and Penguin for my copy of this book.

A 17 year old girl with amnesia thinking she is still 10 years old each time she forgets (no new memories) kisses a boy and remembers it! Unfortunately he has moved to Norway. In love with him and also believing him to be her cure she overcomes her problems to follow him alone while her parents are in Paris with her brother (due to being ill) Flora is a brave girl and this is a gripping story with a few surprises throughout. Would highly recommend.

That was....unexpected. I didn't know what to expect and that was a good thing. In the beginning it was confusing. Never knowing, what was real and what was only in Flora's mind. But it felt real, it felt like being Flora. Spiraling down into something. Not knowing if it was a good thing or bad. It was frightening being Flora. Everything was new, all the time. How can one live like that? Is it possible to be independent? It was a good thing Flora had her best friend Paige. Even if their relationship was off for a while, but in the end Paige comes through and helps Flora to stand up for herself. And then there is DRAKE. The one pushing Flora out of her save zone into the world. He's the one, Flora thinks, helping her getting back her all her memories. But, what does she find? I couldn't find one single nice thing to say about this boy. Sure, I'm happy Flora got to experience the kiss and had an amazing time on her journey. But he was a let down and sadly there is not happy end. Not really. In the end it's clear Flora has a long, difficult road ahead of her and she's going to need all the help she can get. But is she going to make it?
A great book, to get some inside in the mind of someone with mental health challenges. I really recommend it to everybody.

I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley and Penguin Random House UK Children’s!

The One Memory of Flora Banks is a quirky, contemporary fiction with a unique protagonist. Our protagonist, Flora Banks, is truly an unreliable narrator due to her anterograde amnesia. We experience the world from Flora's perspective, and as such, there's a lot of mystery. You can never be sure if what Flora is reporting in her diary is the whole truth, or what she's missed. This concept is brilliant and makes following along with Flora on her grand adventure really fascinating. The pacing of the story was good and I was engaged throughout.

However, despite this unusual premise and interesting narration, I didn't absolute adore this book like I had hoped. Memory loss and chronic illness is such a big and important topic, but the story has very little depth. Everything is focused on romance and 'love is healing'. It doesn't feel realistic or at all representative. Flora's illness is who she is; the girl with the memory loss who wishes she was 'normal'. We don't get much of a sense of her, and it feels weirdly like we're exploiting her.

Immersive YA fiction that transports you not only to Penzance, but to the scared, unstable every day life of Flora - a seventeen year old girl with anterograde amnesia. Written in such a way to induce the panic of memory loss, the reader feels Flora trying to be brave, and the reader too hangs on to her one memory as if to try and break through the barrier and the limitations of her condition. Flora is surprised in various moments to find she is not ten years old, to find her own reflection, to find she has a brother, and to find her notes to herself. As a reader you become increasingly concerned for her - the time loss, the incoherent thoughts, the words on her arms, the youth and innocence of her bravery. You also want to be her friend.

All is not straightforward. Flora's parents have a secret. They tell lies. Who can she trust? She has a best friend but she has abandoned her and Flora knows why. Other people know her name when sometimes even she does not. Notes are all over the house telling Flora what she must do, but she has other ideas which she keeps writing down.


This is an amazing story, a book feast of emotions which are compelling and pressing. I made the mistake of putting this book down to sleep and it pervaded my dreams.

I can’t believe it’s the first day of 2017 and I’m already giving a book 5 stars but The One Memory of Flora Banks definitely deserves it.

I love books that are unique, different and a little bit weird and this story is all of those things and more. The writing is incredible and draws you in to the life and mind of Flora Banks from the very first page and I could quite happily have stayed there.

The whole story is told from Flora’s point of view and this makes for a very unique reading experience. She constantly forgets things and has to keep reminding herself of what’s going on or where she is, there are moments of panic, complete confusion as her thoughts starts jumping around in time, obsession and quite a few moments of complete joy. It’s a bit of an emotional rollercoaster and Flora is not the most reliable of narrators making you constantly question what’s real and what’s not and whether she truly understands what’s happening.

I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of amnesia and what it’s like to not remember anything. Would it be liberating to not remember (and beat yourself up over) the things you’ve done or would it be terrifying to not know who you or anyone else is? In this book it’s both. Flora is such an engaging character you can’t help but like her and cheer her on. She’s innocent and naive in a lot of ways which had me permanently worried someone would take advantage but there is something very infectious about the way she just does things because she wants to. Would you follow a boy you kissed once to the Arctic? She takes things at face value and just trusts which is so endearing and in a lot of ways I found it inspirational just how brave she was.

As the story is from Flora’s perspective you don’t get a lot of depth or insight into the other characters, they appear, say or do something and are then forgotten but they do still make an impact. One character in particular, who never actually appears in the book in person plays a huge part in the story and for me left the biggest impression. I’d absolutely love to hear his story.

The writing throughout is incredible and emotive. I found myself laughing and smiling and crying at points and I just couldn’t stop reading. Even picking it up now and flipping to a random page I have a huge big smile on my face.

I know there has been some criticism that this is a book about someone on a quest to be “normal” rather than accepting and living with her condition but I don’t think this is what the story is about. For me it was about someone who, despite a frightening condition, wants to go out and live her life. To have adventures, make friends and be out there doing what she wants without fear. Also, is it really a bad thing that she wants to find a way to hang on to her memories?

I will admit it’s not perfect, I feel that there are some issues which are slightly brushed over, but as it’s such an emotional, addictive and unique read I just had to give it the full five stars. I’m so happy to have had this book to bring in the new year. I think it’s a book that will stay with me for a while.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. The One Memory of Flora Banks is released on 12th January 2017.

What a memorable character Emily Barr has created in Flora Banks! I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it is funny, heart warming, sad and heart breaking without drifting into sentimentality. I don't know anything about this type of memory loss but the way it is described, how Flora copes with it and how her parents, mum in particular, try to protect her is so believable. What I think this book really achieves is to remind you that people with these kinds of difficulties, whether through accident or illness, are individuals who deserve as normal a life as they can get.
I don't want to say too much as I don't want to spoil it for anyone else but Flora's personality and character shine through from every page and I would love a sequel.
A wonderful YA novel which I will be recommending to all my young adult friends.
My thanks to Netgalley for this copy in return for an honest review.

I don't know what I was expecting when I started reading this, but man, it definitely exceeded them. The writing is beautiful, Flora as a character is fantastic - her journey in the book and the people she meets, and her reaction/rereaction to them is amazing. Flora, be brave is the best tagline for this book, because at its roots, that's what this book is about.