The description for this book is incredibly compelling. Unfortunately, I did not find the writing as compelling as the storyline and hook.

I found the dialogue stilted, the objectifying of women, off-putting, and the relationships between the teens unconvincing. I wanted to love this book, but the writing left me wanting. DNF at 65%.

When I saw the cover of Paramnesia by Brian Wilkinson I was immediately interested. The cover itself is beautiful and its simplicity caught by eye. What really sold me on the book was the fact that the main character, Nora, is able to see the dead. I love me a good supernatural read and this seemed to be right up my alley - and I was right.

Paramnesia is a YA novel set in Canada. The main character is a teenager named Nora who goes to prom with her boyfriend when they are attacked by a supernatural monster. After the attack Nora is able to see the dead. Her new ability is explained away as paramnesia, but Nora is able to meet a few living people who know her ability is real. The creature that attacked her on prom night is still after her and with her new ability Nora makes friends with a group of ghosts who help her fight her tormentor.

The book is a classic YA novel - young love, tragedy, confused heroine who is unsure of herself in the beginning but ends up finding her strength. I have to say, if there was no supernatural aspect to this book I probably wouldn't like it. It reminds me of the times I've been watching a show on TV and am much more interested in the supporting characters than the main characters. The supporting characters in Paramnesia are lovely and really make the story worthwhile.

If you are looking for a quick read, really like YA novels and are also into the supernatural genre then I think Paramnesia is worth the time.

*I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This review will be slightly different to what I normally review because I started to read the original text, and then continued with the updated version that was emailed out. I truely appreciated that the author and publishers took on board constructive criticism and fixed various issues found in the original text. I think this is a great mindset to have as an author, and can only lead to a richer story.

This had an interesting premise. Nora and Andrew meet. Fall in love. Then are attacked by a supernatural creature that leaves Nora with the ability to see the dead. What follows is a quest for Nora to help Andrew and battle for the city of lost souls, with the help of the Deadish Society.

I wasn't keen on the instalove elements. There's no real connection that develops between Nora and Andrew before they're seemingly so in love. I like a slowly developed romance, artfully crafted. This was definitely more clunky. The story and concept were good, and flowed well. It was well paced and kept me interested throughout.

I just wish there was less instalove.

Sadly, when I was about to read the book, the license on Adobe had already expired and I could not download it again from Netgalley since it already been archived. I apologize, but I thought I had more time since the book is going to be released this year.

Is there any way I can get it again? Thank you for your attention.

Such an amazing book! I was hooked from page one. I look forward to the next book

ARC Copy...I liked that the setting is Canadian setting and the depictions of the ghosts. I especially liked the good ghosts giving strength-comfort to the main heroine in her darkest hour. Plus the whole premise of...heroine has to be a "hero" while trying not to look mentally insane to "normal" people felt tense.

Like those before me, I'm writing a message to alert you. I received the book but I still have not got to read it. A few days ago I received an email from the publisher that soon they would send a correct version of this book. Don't make a definitive rating without having read it yet and i review this book when I have read the correct version.

I received an email from the author/publisher stating they would send me a correct version of this book. For now, I am giving this a 3-star rating. I appreciate the communication about the update and will edit this when I have read the corrected version.

<i>I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.</i> 

Brian Wilkinson's <i>Paramnesia</i> is the kind of book that you pick up on first glance because of its beautiful cover, and then start reading without checking the summary or anything else. This means you end up being a little confused when you start reading it, so you go to the back, you read the summary and think "oh, okay. Cool." Then you are a little miffed by the way the female character is introduced, talking about her as "the beautiful girl", instead of giving you some other thing to hold onto, the color of her hair, the way she was biting her lips, maybe how terrified she was. 

Sadly, this carried on, albeit subtly throughout the book. I don't mean to say I hated it because I didn't. Unfortunately, this also happens to be one of those books where you can sacrifice a little of character depth and some of the cringe for the sake of knowing where the story is going.

The plot was honestly quite interesting, the comedy was almost always executed perfectly, and though it might have some definite downsides in character development and some problematic vocabulary while dealing with  mental health (which can be 100% be attributed to the main character's beliefs and personality, no shade), the concept is interesting enough to keep your attention through it all.

So, what is <i>Paramnesia</i> about? 

The story is centred around Nora Edwards, who in the first couple of pages is exactly how every single giggly romance protagonist is, up to meeting the boy of her dreams who is dreamy and cool and only has eyes for her. Oh, he's also the new kid in school, so there's that.

Up to here, everything's pretty par for the course in teen romance, including Andrew being incredibly thoughtful, and pretty much the perfect boyfriend. The twist? Andrew dies. This is not even a spoiler, it's part of the summary provided. 

Nora and Andrew are attacked by an evil entity called the Revenant, who eats people's souls in order to survive and is quite frankly a pretty poor antagonist, who is designed to screw up on everything due to their greed and pride. During the attack, Andrew is killed and Nora is granted the ability to see ghosts, including her recently deceased boyfriend. This revelation is threaded in a tragicomic way, where Nora's PTSD, loss and depression about everything that's happened clashes with the absolute ridicule of having something like the absolute love of your life pop back into your life while you're peeing (honestly, one of my favorite parts of the book).

The rest of the book follows a path of discovery: who the Revenant really is, and what dangers they bring with them, what her powers mean, who she can trust, and how she can get out of a tangle of a situation that she never saw coming. 

I would recommend the book if only for the fact that it's an interesting idea, as YA it mixes different genres, and it works most of the time. I already said this is not a perfect book, that it has flaws and the character models could use some work (especially the female characters, since the male ones were more carefully crafted. Which is sad considering your main characters are females), but it's not horrible, or unbearable (oh, I've been there, and I don't want to go back there).

So, not a perfect book, but not a horrible one, either.

3/5 stars from me for <i>Paramnesia.</i>

Firstly definitions from dictionary.com; Paramnesia-a distortion of memory in which fact and fantasy are confused. Revenant-a person who returns after death as a ghost or spirit. Now the book starts out in a bad, scary situation. Nora is an everyday teen until the prom with her first love and they have a run in with a hungry revenant. Chaos ensues. From the encounter with the revenant, Nora starts seeing ghosts. What makes this story different is the main character tells anyone and everyone who will listen about the "creature" and the ghosts. This revenant doesn't quite follow the definition. Another thing I quite liked is that Nora isn't going from ghost to trying to help them "cross over" like most books, the ghosts actually band together to help the living. It's great book that puts a different twist on the paranormal. Likeable characters with a little surprise at the end. Great story worth all 5 stars!