The Memory of You by Jamie Beck follows Steffi Lockwood as she navigates life back home following an assault that left her passed out in an alleyway in Boston. Back home in Sanctuary Sound, a coastal town in Connecticut, she attempts to rebuild her life without acknowledging the past. In her mind, the best way to get over it is to forget it. But Steffi will learn that perhaps she already forgot important details about the assault. These details just might play a very important role in her future.
Trigger Warning: This novel addresses physical and sexual assault. Although the details are not overly graphic, it does contain plot points that could be uncomfortable for survivors.
Synopsis
Steffi Lockwood left her small hometown looking for something more, and got more than she bargained for: a traumatic assault in an alley that left her with memory loss, panic attacks, and the desire to start over. Back home, she begins to rebuild her life as a home remodeling business owner with her best friend. What are the odds that their first project would be building a home addition for her high school boyfriend’s mother?
Ryan Quinn, that high school boyfriend, soon married and started a family after their breakup. But when his wife leaves him and their daughter, he swallowed his pride to move back with his parents. What are the odds he would run into his first love who broke his heart?
As Steffi and Ryan deal with their own pasts haunting the, they begin to rebuild their friendship and trust. But unfortunately they realize they can’t build a relationship with a damaged foundation, and to do that they would need to admit there is damage at all. Steffi refuses to admit her assault plays an active role in her struggles of day to day life. And Ryan denies his ex-wife ever loved him, nor would she try to get back together. But each of them will discover truths about the opposite’s past that changes things. Even if they aren’t ready to admit it for themselves.
Reader Thoughts
Big picture, I really enjoyed this book. I loved how there was a lot of character development with her friends. We learn about Claire and Peyton, both their current roles in Steffi’s life and their roles as kids. We also received a preview of their individual character flaws and struggles. The novel doesn’t focus exclusively on the two protagonists and name drop people without building the characters. We really get to know her friends and family who don’t play a huge role in the relationship aspect of this plot. We receive little cookie crumbs of upcoming relationships, and foreshadows the next books in the series. Overall, it definitely makes me want to keep reading the series so I can learn more the folks in Sanctuary Sound.
Without giving away spoilers, looking back I have some issues with the conceptual aspects.
In the end of the book, Jamie Beck includes a section explaining her inspiration and research for the book. After finishing the novel I thought it was a cute contemporary romance, but after reading the motive for writing the book I wanted more of the deep stuff. Steffi was assaulted, horribly. That plays a role, but I feel the author could have included more detail and plot content pertaining to the actual night, the consequences, and her backstory. Instead, Steffi suffers from occasional flashbacks and tries to ignore it.
The assault could have had a much stronger role in the plot, but instead it felt like a background detail to the romance. I would have much preferred the assault aftermath be the focus of the novel with the romance being the external arc. Their relationship couldn’t be restored until Steffi dealt with her assault, yet it was tip toed around. Maybe the author wanted to keep the novel light, and prevent triggering her readers, but I think it could have brought a lot more depth to the novel after reading all the research she put into writing it.
I also have a minor issue with the title: memory of you. This gives the illusion that the memory of her past relationship with Ryan has significance to the plotline. I expected flashbacks from their relationship that shaped the current plot. Instead, there were very few memories of their relationship explained, like their trips on the boat and dates at the pizza shop. The memory of that alley should have been incorporated into the title, since those memories (or lack there of) is what shaped the novel.
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