Book Review Wednesday: We Came Here to Forget

When I saw that Andrea Dunlop was coming out with another book, I immediately went to NetGalley to see if I could get an advanced copy. Well, I was in luck and scored one!

"We Came Here to Forget" will be released on July 2nd and is a follow up to Dunlop's first novel "She Regrets Nothing" which I did a book review on a while ago.

"We Came Here to Forget" centers around "Liz" who has escaped her life and headed to Buenos Aires. At first, we don't know the reason Liz wanted to get away but we quickly learn through flashbacks of her childhood and teenage years. We learn that Liz is not infact Liz but Katie Clearly, an Olympic medalist skiier and she has experienced some family trauma that led her to leave her life and skiing career behind.

The book is laid out as one chapter is a flashback, one is present day in Buenos Aires, and we flip flop back and forth. Personally, I found the backstory of Katie/Liz more interesting than the Buenos Aires chapters but I think that's because where the meat of the book was. That's where you learned what was going on with Katie and her family and how we ended up here. The Buenos Aires chapters felt jam packed with details and characters that didn't seem important.

Despite that, "We Came Here to Forget" was a really great book. It was super well written, really well developed characters and honestly, wasn't too long. I think that's important when you want to read a book, well written book -- sometimes the books are too long and too confusing.

I found myself obsessively reading this book every night for a week straight (it took me probably 5-6 days to finish it) because I found myself needing to know what happened next; I was addicted to the interesting story and the twist at the end, when you finally find out why Liz/Katie had to leave her life behind is something stripped straight from real-life headlines.

As the book goes on you see Liz/Katie really grow, come to terms with what happened to her and end up where she was always meant to. I am just really obsessed with the character development in this story because it is so inspiring to be able to make you feel the character's growth. I almost can't explain it!

I think I ended up liking this story more than "She Regrets Nothing" but both books show Dunlop's talent as a writer.

If you're someone who likes a typical nonfiction book mixed with a bit of mystery, you'll love this "We Came Here to Forget".

xoxo
B