Joanna Luloff's Remind Me Again What Happened presents itself as a good mystery. At first. But the more we delve into the story, we begin to feel a growing frustration with characters that seem not to show any growth or development and a plot that advances at a sluggish pace. After the main character Claire wakes up in the Florida Keys without any recollection of what happened to her, she finds that she must rely on her husband Charlie and her best friend Rachel to piece back together the pieces of her elusive memory.
The story is told from the point of view of all three characters, but it doesn't take long to figure out that Claire is a selfish brat, Charlie a weakling and Rachel a pushover. Although imperfections and character flaws are by no means a deal breaker for a good story, in this case the plot falls through the cracks. As Claire remembers bits and pieces, her behavior towards her husband becomes colder and towards Rachel more hypocritical. We find that Claire and Charlie had been living apart for a while, the latter a willing keeper of his wife's secrets of which she is sure he doesn't know about. But Rachel and Charlie have secrets of their own, that while relevant to the story, are left tragically underdeveloped.
In the end, the story finishes pretty much as it began. Except we readers join Claire in not knowing at all what really happened.

This one took me a bit to get through and the end left me in a ponder. I am not sure if that was the author's intention but I enjoyed it never the less. Good storyline and I liked the characters.

Remind Me Again What Happened by Joanna Luloff asks the question, what would you do if you woke up unsure of your memories? You don’t know where you are, how you got there. So many questions that you can’t answer. How would you even go about piecing your life together?



Claire wakes in a hospital room in the Florida Keys. She has no idea how she got there or why. The loss of so many memories is paralyzing. Some things she can piece together by looking at old photos saved by her husband, Charlie, and her best friend, Rachel, and by combing through boxes of letters and casual jottings. But she senses a mystery at the center of all these fragments of her past, a feeling that something is not complete. Is Charlie still her husband? Is Rachel still her friend?

Told from alternating points of view that pull the reader into the minds of the three characters, the story unfolds as the smudge that covers Claire’s memory is gradually, steadily wiped away, until finally she can understand the why and the how of her life. And then maybe she and Charlie and Rachel can move forward, but with their lives forever changed.

This well-written and interesting book will leave you thinking long after you finish it.

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me the chance to read and review, "Remind Me Again What Happened"
by Joanna Luloff. Overall, The story takes place when Claire wakes up in the hospital, not remembering how she got there. Her husband Charlie and her best friend soon join her at her bedside. Claire suffers from memory loss and Charlie and Rachel try to help her piece her life back together. I really enjoyed this work of fiction. I found the characters to be likable and the story to be intriguing. In the end, it felt like there were some loose ends that did not get tied up. I would have liked to have seen those loose ends tied up.

4 ‘It’s Complicated’ Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟

This was a complex character driven book... Full of unlikable characters... leaving me with more questions than answers.... it is a straightforward unraveling of the personality and friendship of these three complicated people.... no twists, no turns, just a real story about real relationships...

Claire has developed encephalitis from a mosquito bite which ultimately wipes out her memory from age 17 to34... told from the point of views of Claire, her BFF Rachel, and her husband Charlie... we get a look into this trios complicated relationship with one another, from all sides... These three were the best of friends, living together, practically family, until....

The very best part of this book was the characters, even though they were unlikable they were very well-developed... I also really appreciated that there was no extra fat... no unnecessary storylines, no unnecessary characters, it was all pretty above board.... my only complaint is the ending, it was just a little lackluster, probably because I wanted that twist, LOL 😝 so that is clearly a me problem! And I would really like to see what happens to these characters in the future, follow up???

Recommend to fans of the character driven book, with some pretty complicated characters....

*** many thanks to Algonquin Books for my copy of this book ***

A character study of three interchangeable friends/lovers/spouses, this story is told from each perspective.

Claire, a journalist, has contracted a mysterious virus in India, which has caused her to lose her memory of recent years and which also causes her severe short term memory loss.

Charlie is her husband, and one who loves her and is angry with her and probably feels betrayed by her as well.

Rachel is the best friend of both and a former lover of Charlie, back before he and Claire were married.

Their relationship is close, awkward, and although they all apparently love and care for each other immensely, is fraught with secrets and deceit.

I found Rachel and Charlie much too wishy-washy for my taste. I wanted them both to have taken different stands earlier in their lives and to get on with living. As it is, they both are living unfulfilled and half-hearted lives in the shadows of whatever Claire wants or needs, while Claire prances off around the world just being Claire. And then, when she loses part of herself, her memory, the protectiveness that Rachel and Charlie wrap around her almost suffocated me.

I found this book to be well-written, and I believe it's actually a good story, just not one that suited me very much, as I found myself frustrated with every character continually throughout the book. I wanted them to DO, not so much just BE. I rated it a solid three stars for the writing and the premise of the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Algonquin for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Claire Scott contracted Japanese encephalitis from a mosquito bite in India. She is hospitalized with a high fever in a Florida hospital before her panicked husband Charlie finds her. Charlie was in love with Claire once, but they have been separated for some time. When Claire comes out of her coma, her seizures and memory loss cause them to reunite, soon to be joined in Boston by their old friend Rachel. The novel explores the evolution and disintegration of their triangular relationship, and the discomfort that comes from their reunion.

Claire’s memories from age 17 to 34 are gone, and her ability to form new memories is impaired. She doesn’t recall living with Rachel and Charlie after the death of Rachel’s parents. Rachel is helping Claire sift through memories with old photographs and boxes that Claire packed away, but Claire spends most of her time keeping track of Charlie’s sighs and unspoken criticisms of her endless questions about her past. Charlie does not respond well to not being remembered. He wonders if Claire, who traveled the world as a journalist, was sleeping with Michael, her photographer, during their separation. Claire wonders whether Charlie was sleeping with his co-worker Sophie. Neither of them seem capable of recapturing the love that united them in marriage.

Remind Me Again What Happened is told from the perspectives of its three primary characters. Claire’s and Charlie’s chapters explain why each is irritated by the other. Claire feels suffocated by Charlie, who fears that she will suffer a seizure if she leaves the house and does not understand why she resists his desire to keep her safe. Claire feels Charlie blames her for her memory loss and that he resents the time he spends filling in the gaps, reminding her of events again and again because memories refuse to form. Those perceptions are accurate, as Charlie tells us that he is “still too twisted up with old anger and hurts” to treat Claire, who clearly feels no desire for him, as anything other than an obligation.

From the photographs and Claire’s stories, the reader learns about Claire’s childhood, which she remembers vividly. Recalling stories told by her parents shapes her current understanding of how she should be living her life. It is easy to feel sympathy for Claire, both because her memory loss has robbed her of an identity and because her seizures have robbed her of the opportunity to leave home long enough to gain new experiences and build a new identity. It is harder to sympathize with Charlie, because he is controlling and selfish (at least from Claire’s perspective), but the chapters that are told from Charlie’s point of view make it possible to understand that he also feels trapped in a situation that is beyond his control.

Rachel’s chapters focus on the relationship she once had with Charlie and the difficulty she has deciding whether to forgive Claire for an act that she views as a betrayal. She also recalls her anxiety when Claire and Charlie began to date, signaling the time when Charlie and Claire would move out and leave Rachel alone. She wonders if Charlie is correct in saying that Claire has not forgotten the past but is trying to rewrite it, to make it more palatable. Rachel finds herself caught in the middle, her loyalty to two friends divided, wondering if she will eventually choose sides in the growing divide between Charlie and Claire. Joanna Luloff builds sympathy for Rachel, as she does with the other characters, but like all people, Rachel sometimes lets undefined anger overcome her better nature. The reader likes Rachel in her better moments and is able to understand why there are times when her conduct is less than exemplary.

As is usually true in memory loss novels, the plot feels a bit contrived, but this relationship drama is character-driven. The plot is just a framework to reunite the characters after they have drifted apart. The reader wonders whether the characters will be able to reconcile their feelings, to gain insight into their own behaviors rather than blaming each other for making them act as they do. They all have secrets (even if Claire does not remember her secrets), and the reader wonders whether they will finally reveal their secrets to each other, or whether some secrets are better left concealed.

As is common in character-driven novels, the ending provides little closure because the lives of the characters will continue to evolve even after the story ends. That can be frustrating, but even if the ending of Remind Me Again What Happened isn’t entirely satisfying, it allows the reader to imagine any number of ways the story might continue by opening the doors to potential futures, just as all of us are engaged in a constant process of reinventing our own futures. Luloff scores points for reminding the reader of life’s uncertainty and of the struggle we should undertake to be good to each other, even if we do not ultimately succeed. She also scores points for telling the story in elegant, understated prose that brings the characters fully to life.

RECOMMENDED

Remind Me Again What Happened by Joanna Luloff is a recommended debut novel about friendship and memories.

Would you choose the same lover and friend if you lost all of your past shared memories with them?

Claire is a journalist who has awakened in a hospital room in Florida. She has no memory of who she is and how she got there. Apparently she was bitten by a mosquito and contracted Japanese encephalitis while on an assignment overseas in India. She was lucky enough to survive, but part of the unlucky group of survivors who have lasting damage to their nervous systems. She suffers from seizures and a complete loss of memory. Her husband, Charlie, and best friend, Rachel, have flown in and brought photos, letters, and memories to help her.

Once she is able to leave the hospital, she moves back to the house in Vermont with Charlie. Here Rachel and Charlie go through boxes of her things trying to help her remember who she is and her relationship to both of them. Claire, Charlie, and Rachel all shared a house years ago when they were in grad school. They have a long documented relationship with each other. So why does Claire have an uneasy feeling that the whole story isn't being told and that there are secret resentments being unsaid? A picture emerges that she is an independent and fearless woman, who travels overseas and does whatever it takes to get her story written.

The novel unfolds through the alternating points-of-view and stories of the three main characters. With Claire's memory gone, do the three have any reason to continue a relationship with each other? Claire was distancing herself from Charlie before her illness. Rachel ruminates that it was Claire who led the continuing friendship between the three. While most long-term relationships require much forgiveness and forgetting of flaws, the myriad of details about each character's life make it clear that Charlie and Rachel haven't forgotten or forgiven past grievances and they are full of resentment. They aren't confronting Claire, but she senses it. Will Charlie and Rachel be able to help them all find a way to continue their relationship without any input from Claire?

Basically the novel is well-written and the characters are all developed as individuals. For a rather short novel, however, it felt a bit longer because it is bogged down by all the backstory of the relationship between the three and you really begin to wonder why they remained friends. You may also find yourself secretly encouraging Charlie and Rachel to be honest and tell Claire the truth and help her truly remember her life.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Algonquin Books.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2018/06/remind-me-again-what-happened.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2437780602
https://www.librarything.com/work/21347447/reviews/157703566
https://www.facebook.com/shetreadssoftly/
https://twitter.com/SheTreadsSoftly/status/1012038635225600009

Claire wakes up in a hospital room, yet has no idea why she is there or what happened. She has lost years of memories. Her best friend Rachel and her husband Charlie take care of her and help her during the aftermath as she continues to suffer memory loss and seizures. Claire tries to piece together her life before she landed in the hospital amid this memory loss. This book is the slow unraveling of that story. Like the peeling of an onion, the author peels back a layer bit by bit. Told in the POV's of Claire, Rachel, and Charlie we see the ebb and flow of their relationships. I thought the writing was excellent but I couldn't get past the dysfunctional relationship between these three. This was a quick, easy read yet it left me with unanswered questions. For me, Remind Me Again What Happened was ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars. Thank you @algonquinbooks for this advance reader in exchange for my honest review.

Claire, a globetrotting freelance journalist, contracts encephalitis which has her experiencing seizures and memory loss. In fact she has lost most of her memories from after the age of 17 so the second half of her life is a black hole. Charlie, her husband, asks for the help of Rachel, the friend with whom he and Claire lived while in graduate school. Charlie and Rachel look after Claire who becomes increasingly frustrated with the limitations placed on her by her condition. Claire relies on them to help her regain her memories, but it becomes obvious to her that there are secrets and resentments that they are not sharing with her.

The book is narrated alternately from the perspective of each of the three characters. Each reminisces about the past and how they arrived where they are in their relationships. As a result, the reader comes to learn the secrets and to understand why both Charlie and Rachel feel anger towards Claire.

One of the issues with the book is its glacial pace. I kept hoping for something to happen but it never does. Instead, there is needless repetition: there are 4 discussions of ice cream flavours and 3 references to lemon curd! And there is background information that seems irrelevant; for instance, the family histories of all three characters are given but these detailed backstories serve little purpose. The reader expects some great reveal at the end since the author uses a number of suspense techniques. For example, both Charlie and Rachel speak of a need for revenge. Yet nothing happens. Then the ending, when it finally arrives, is too far-fetched to be credible considering Claire’s condition.

Another problem with the book is that none of the characters is really likeable so after a while I didn’t care what happened. Claire is described as “the one who took charge and made decisions and rescued everybody else.” Charlie remembers “her willfulness, her confidence, her courage and sharpness” and Rachel sees her as “shimmering, fearless, proud, defiant.” One can sympathize with Claire because she feels “like a stranger in her own skin”: “Where am I, Claire, the actual person, in any of this?” But it is revealed that she has forgotten “the slights and the deceit and the silences” of which she is guilty, all of which negatively impacted the relationships. To me, she comes across as selfish and self-centred. Yet Charlie and Rachel put their lives on hold to look after Claire despite what she did to them? Charlie and Rachel are both cowards, as they both acknowledge; as a consequence, it is difficult to admire them.

This book was not for me. Its description is deceiving: “But still she senses a mystery at the center of all these fragments of her past, a feeling that something is not complete. Is Charlie still her husband? Is Rachel still her friend?” These are not questions that Claire ever considers. I found the book a very slow read with its lack of plot and its microscopic focus on three characters, none of which is likeable or memorable.

Note: I received a digital galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

Joanna Luloff’s Remind Me Again What Happened is easy to get lost in. Lost in a good way, the kind of way where you can’t put down a book and you think about it for days after you finish it. Not lost in a bad way, like the way Claire, the character on whom the story is centered, gets lost in her mind when she contracts Japanese encephalitis and loses much of her memory and ability to remember anything at all.

Claire is a woman on the go, a writer for the AP who chases stories from New England to India, when she falls ill. The medical mystery is eventually resolved when her estranged husband Charlie tells doctors that she was in India and they make a diagnosis that explains her memory loss, her seizures, and her lack of fine motor skills. It’s a predictably crushing blow for Claire, who remembers just enough to know that she does not like to stay home in rural Vermont and be looked after like a toddler.

That is her life, with Charlie being joined by their mutual graduate school friend Rachel in looking after Claire to be sure she takes her medication and doesn’t get lost or hurt by herself. Herein lies a twist I didn’t expect and one that has moments of… working just a bit too hard to be a twist in a story that may not have needed one.
Rachel dated Charlie for a year when she studied abroad in England. Rachel was still dating Charlie when she introduced him to Claire. And she was dating him the first time he kissed Claire. Meant to bring tension to the narrative, it works at the same time it doesn’t quite.

Needless to say, the three of them - really the only three characters in the novel - are each on edge for the entire span of the story. It is clear that they love each other but nobody seems to get just the right love that they need from the others.

And it’s because of the secrets they keep. The secrets Charlie thinks Claire is keeping. The secrets Rachel keeps from Charlie. The secrets Claire wishes she could keep, and the ones she wishes her mind didn’t keep from her.
It’s a toxic story, really, always on the edge of erupting in a micro-world that very much does not need eruptions.

One of the most compelling parts of Luloff’s novel are the questions that are asked and never answered. She could have answered them, made it all clear as day, but that wouldn’t have been reality with Claire’s medical condition. So we don’t know if, as Charlie suspects, Claire remembers more than she says. We don’t know if, as Claire suspects, Charlie was having an affair with someone from his work. We don’t know if, as Rachel suspects, Claire could be happy with Charlie or with her but never with the three of them in the same place. Those unknowns give the reader something to think about, a way to put themselves into the story and feel like a part of it.

There is no cut and dry happy ending for Claire, her husband, and her friend. Rachel and Charlie act on behalf of themselves, things people with full ability always do, and that’s fine. But what is so great about Remind Me Again What Happened is that Claire claims her life again, chooses the path she wants to follow, no matter how hard it is. Charlie and Rachel are left to let her do it or go away. As the reader, fourth person in the story, I am so proud of Claire!

The premise for this book seemed a little strange at first and I was a little skeptical but it absolutely works. The imperfections in the characters who previously let themselves be controlled by the one who loses all control is stark and illuminating. That, without control of even herself, she is able to choose what life to lead is a perfect poetic ending.

*****I received a copy of this book through NetGalley and Algonquin Books in exchange for an honest and original review. All thoughts are my own.*****

I dislike it when I don't like a book - but I did not like this book.

Claire, Charlie and Rachel are friends from grad school; best of friends who lived together and have seen one another through difficult situations. Claire, a journalist, ends up in the hospital and with no memory of the past 15 years - the years shared with Charlie and Rachel.

This book starts with Claire back home with Charlie (they are married), trying to remember their past. Rachel has come to help out - and through their alternating narrations we get a sense of the past; lost loves, betrayed friendships, anger, hurt, etc.

This premise could have worked really well - except that it doesn't.

The thing is, with books that are about the relationships and not so much about a larger story-line (eg. historical fiction that's as much about the person as is it about the events that are occurring); you have to like at least one of the characters to feel drawn into the drama. I did not like any of them.

Claire - because she doesn't really remember anything, it's hard to get drawn into her narration. She basically just feels irritation at not knowing what is happening and being surrounded by people who won't fill in the blanks. FRUSTRATING.

Charlie - is angry at Claire. Obviously from what we can piece together, their marriage was on the rocks, however it's only ever just briefly touched upon. He never confronts her. We never delve into more than a superficial history of their relationship. Also FRUSTRATING.

Rachel - the friend who brought Claire and Charlie together. She starts off promising - she is angry at her friends for past wrongs - but then it doesn't go anywhere. FRUSTRATING!!!!

This is a book that starts and stops and never really goes into any depth regarding these friends. Their past stories are glossed over - it's almost as though since Claire isn't supposed to be stressed with too much information, the reader isn't given much either.

For such a short read (288 pages) this took me far too long to read. I could go days without picking up my book.

I'm sorry this is such a negative review. Like I said, I just didn't like this book. There was a depth missing to the story that just let the entire thing down.

Thank you Netgalley and Algoniquin Books for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

This book was just too slow and drawn out for me to love it. The story never really took off for me and I never fully connected with the characters. After making it to the end, I felt cheated with the unresolved ending.

Claire has been stricken and permanently neurologically impaired by an extremely rare disease while she is covering a story in India. Flown back to the United States to the care of her near-estranged husband and long-time best friend, she slowly learns to live again, suffering inexplicable seizures and requiring extensive care to make it through the day safely. Significant swathes of her life memories are erased, so she has to rely upon the photographs, stories of others, her own flashes of what might be memories to navigate the world, to try to find a way to live. Ultimately, she does find her own way, by leaving the passive-agressive love/hate/resentment of her supposed closest loved ones with their own clutching the past and the ruined present.
These are not fun or interesting or compelling characters with whom to spend a long slog through a painful recovery. I get it. Recovery, incomplete and impaired is horrific, particularly when you lose great periods of your own life and memory.
So, in sum, the story is an interesting premise, expressed in long, repetitive rehashing of small moments. I cannot believe, do not want to believe, that people live like this -- and am heartily glad that this threesome found each other to create their own living hell embroiled in supposition, accusation, mulling over every single last living thought, feeling they ever had -- and I'm not convinced that there was any feeling at all, but more the feelings that come when you decide what you should be feeling and then make it happen.
*Sigh!* I wanted so much more. I was rooting for Claire mainly because she felt so innocent. The love of the others does not make for a good life if that's all you have and they're whispering about you in front of you, analyzing your every move.

I really couldn't get into this book. I kept trying to read but lost nterest. It was very slow starting and I couldn't figure no the nterest to continue reading. I stopped about 5 chapters into it.

Similar in concept to <i>What Alice Forgot</i>, by Liane Moriarty, this novel takes us on the journey of a character with amnesia, this particular case brought on by a rare form of encephalitis. Joanna Luloff exhibits a smooth style of writing, and chooses to unfold this novel from the alternating viewpoint of three different characters affected by this tragic turn of events.

I was lured in from the beginning, where we meet Claire, the main character, as she delves right into her current frustrating situation. Suddenly, her husband and best friend are front and center in her life, which we soon learn is a bit of a change from her recent past. Charlie and Rachel have their own demons to deal with, when it comes to Claire and the decisions she has made throughout her life. Claire's "grab the bull by the horns" way of living has most certainly caused challenges for others. Unfortunately, she has absolutely no recollection of the damage she's done. It's within this conflict, that an enthralling story ensues, and we, as readers, are led on an intricate journey of secrets and regrets.

Stories such as these remind us of the fragile nature of our memories, and the stability that such memories provide in living a life unhindered. This particular novel lends a voice to those "what if" moments, and causes the reader to reflect on decisions made, and the lasting effect such decisions can have on oneself and others.

Remind Me Again What Happened was a simple, pleasant novel, and though I dislike using the term "beach read" -as that has different connotations for different readers- it is a novel that can be read quickly and enjoyably, without a lot of added fluff or complexity.

Many thanks to Algonquin Books and Net Galley for gifting me with this book in exchange for an honest review.

https://mamasgottaread.blogspot.com/

Prepare yourself to reach deep and immerse yourself in the thoughts of three different characters that polarize around an event that is touching all of their lives in different ways.

Claire is a young, successful, independent journalist who wakes up one day in a hospital in Florida, attached to machines and different apparatuses. She is alone. She is confused.

“Before all of this doctor’s sleuthing work, before my induced coma, before all my bumps and bruises, I had been in a hotel overlooking the sea”
–Joanna Luloff

Claire’s last assignment was to Tamil Nadu, India. This is the place where she contracted Japanese encephalitis. It is transmitted to people through a bite by an infected mosquito. The virus and all those subsequent seizures damaged her temporal lobes and now she has lost her memories. This created a “black hole” of things she can’t remember between the ages of seventeen to thirty-four. That is a vast of unknowns for her.

“You can sense the many things that surround what you are looking at, but the closer you get to the thing itself, the blinder you become”
-Joanna Luloff

Charlie is her husband. He isn’t there immediately when Claire wakes up from her coma. As a matter of fact, he is not even always sure of her assignments, since Claire has opted to live in an apartment from time to time by herself, and their relationship is one of long distance and slightly estranged. He is the loyal and grounded one in the relationship, and she is a globe-trotter.

“Every time I look at her now, multiple images appear: the Claire in front of me, the Claire I fell in love with, and the Claire struggling against her mind and body in the hospital. Out of the three Claires, there may be only one I am still in love with, and I fear that the one in front of me is not a match. And of course I loathe myself for each and every one of these thoughts.”
-Joanna Luloff

Charlie takes care of Claire. He takes her to her appointments and therapies. Continues to work and gives her plenty of rest. But an underlying disconnect keeps surfacing.

“Our chats were polite and quick, and then we slipped back into our won, separate lives.”
-Joanna Luloff

“More than anything, I want her to really remember me, to encounter me with a look of real familiarity and recognition, and perhaps even regret, and maybe then I will be able to approach her again and call her to me. My Claire.”
-Joanna Luloff

Rachel is their best friend. She volunteers her time to help them out and do the household chores. She has different relationships with each of them alone, but a common ground from their pasts keeps them bonded and connected. Rachel shares her time and lends her ear to either of her friends.

“I have never told him about the many times Claire came to visit me without him. Nor about the confessions she has made to me only after I promise not to reveal them, usually after we have finished a bottle of wine out on my parents’ back porch.”
-Joanna Luloff

“I have to admit, her drifting filled me with a tangle of emotions I’d rather not admit: jealousy, smug satisfaction, anger. She was providing me with a passive revenge, which, if I can be honest with myself, is the only kind of revenge I’m probably capable of.”
-Joanna Luloff

Their deep friendship and individual histories with secrets is explored in 3 different voices and viewpoints.

“This is our present tug-of-war; the line in the sand is our shared past and each of us wants to tug the other across to see it our way.”
-Joanne Luloff

But is Claire’s memory loss the real culprit for their struggles? Or is there more? What secrets do they know of each other and hold back?

***

This novel was written with intent. Each sentence conveyed a powerful message for thought. It is nice when you read a book that makes you think and turn the words, come to find out, it could not have been written any more concise. Albeit the many emotions explored, it isn’t sappy. It was written well, from a learned and experienced perspective. A tantalizing journey of the heart and mind, I highly recommend.

I received a digital copy of 'Remind Me Again What Happened' from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Thank you.

I found the concept of this novel deeply touching and complex. I think it would be difficult to be put in the position in which Claire finds herself, but the rolls of Rachael and Charlie are equally conflicted and convoluted. To find yourself on either side of this sort of diagnosis would be extremely hard to handle. I found this to be a very interesting idea to explore in the pages of this novel. I hope I never have to experience this sort of tragedy from either side of the problem however.

Though only lightly touched on as background, the information on and photos of Pondicherry, the possibilities of Auroville, the snippets of information about this area of India were interesting and presented a side to modern India that I personally had not considered, before. Thank you. This is a novel hard to put down. It is one I am happy to recommend to family and friends.

I received a free electronic copy of this intriguing novel from Netgalley, Joanna Luloff, and Algonquin Books in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

A interesting character-driven debut novel about complex relationships and the secrets that can transform those relationships forever.

SUMMARY
Claire, a journalist on assignment in India is stricken by a mysterious illness. She wakes up in a hospital in Florida with no idea how she got there or why. She has lost a portion of her memories, and is having seizures. Her husband Charlie and her best friend Rachel rally to help her with her recovery and her memories. They take her back to their house in Vermont. Claire attempts to piece together her past by looking at old photos and notes. She senses a feeling that something is not right. She’s not sure where she is supposed to be, but she is pretty sure it’s not where she is. She is not even sure if Charlie is still her husband or if Rachel is still her friend.

Before her illness Claire was a bright, fearless, vibrant woman alway on the go. Charlie and Rachel try to help her regain her good memories as much as possible, but they are all keeping secrets from each other. Secrets of hurts and resentments from long ago that have never gone away. Secrets that could have made a difference back in the day when they were all roommates.

REVIEW
The novel is told from alternating perspectives that pull you into the minds of the three friends. Using this approach gives breadth to the story and a wealth of information about the characters. But the more you learn about the characters and their past together, you can’t help but develop feeling about them. You may find you do not like them very much: one is restless and self-centered, one is dutiful but passive, and one is selfless, stoic but very angry and sad.

REMIND ME AGAIN WHAT HAPPENED is a emotional story with frustrating circumstances and unlikable characters. The story was slow-paced and leaves questions unanswered. My favorite part of the book was when one of the characters in a fit of anger, finally lets loose and gives some clarity about past events that have cause so much dissension among the friends.

Readers who like character-driven novels of complex relationships may appreciate this story. Remind Me Again What Happened is the debut novel for JOANNA LULOFF. She has also authored a collection of short stories titled The Beach at Galle Road. She lives in Denver, Colorado where she teaches at the University of Colorado. Thanks to Netgalley, Algonquin Book and Joanna Luloff for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Publisher Algonquin Books.
Publication Date June 26, 2018

I read about 10% of this before losing interest. It just didn't hold my attention. Lackluster writing--and amnesia is so overdone in novels.