I was really looking forward to this book, the blurb really sold me on it and I couldn't wait to read Flora's adventure. Unfortunately this book wasn't as good as I was hoping for.

Don't get me wrong it was an interesting read, the writing was very easy to follow and the concept of the protagonist having no short-term memory sounded brilliant, however there were a lot of things that for me worked against this book.

First off was Flora herself, maybe it's just me but I found it really difficult to feel much for her, there were points that I did feel sorry for her but I wasn't rooting for her at all. It's very hard to go into more detail on this without giving away too much of the plot, however I did wonder if it was maybe because of how young and childish she was. I know a lot of it was due to her condition but it did at points feel like it was aimed at a younger audience than YA.

The story itself took a few turns that I wasn't keen on and there were also some inaccuracies that could again just be my logic but for someone who immediately believes they are ten to be able to use a smartphone and wrangle an airport without thinking twice seemed really improbable.

I mean I am classed as a responsible adult (I may disagree with the prognosis but it doesn't change it) with no memory issues and I find airports hellish, stressful and leave me close to tantrums, so how she manages to without having a meltdown or someone noticing seems a bit ridiculous. Also for parents who are so protective their behaviour at a certain point in the book is absurd, I would love to rant a bit more about this but again it'll spoil it for anyone who wants to pick it up.

The next thing that got me was how repetitive it was, I know she has amnesia and of course the story was bound to be repetitive and for a part of the book I thought this was used well (there's a recurring jam jar that I particularly like). However, the more that Flora spoke about Drake the more annoyed I got. I realise that he is a catalyst for quite a momentous thing for her but it began to get on my nerves.

Also I know her determination to find Drake stems from a need to see if it will help her condition but I think it went a bit too strong on that and the message started to feel like "the boy will save me", which also started to put me off. Again I can't say too much about it so as not to spoil things but I really wish that brother had made more of an appearance, he could have made a very credible catalyst.

This was an entertaining read and maybe if I was younger it would work for me, I think there will be plenty of people who will like this book and it is definitely a concept I've not come across before. For me though it just fell shy of it's potential.

I received a copy from Netgalley.
Not for me, read about 30 pages and I hated it. It's an interesting concept about a girl who can't remember anything until she kisses her best friends boyfriend which she actually remembers. The best friends boyfriend is a dick who is clearly taking advantage of FLora because he KNOWS she won't remember, yet says some bullshit about her being different from all the other girls, so she's convinces herself she loves him. That alone is eye rolling enough to make me want to throw things. The narrative is also very repetitive I'm guessing because of the uniqueness of Flora's illness she can't remember things so she writes the down and says it to herself over and over, dry annoying very quickly. Not for me. Marking as did not finish. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House UK Children's books for approving my request to view the title.

When I first saw this book on Netgalley, it reminds me of the movie 50 First Dates, which I've watched several times and loved. So naturally, I requested it. I didn't really have a high expectations on this one other than hoping to enjoy it, which I, unfortunately, didn't.

Here's the thing : I think it was a "it's not you, it's me" case. Given that Flora Banks has anterograde amnesia, I should've expected that there will be a lot repetition in this book. And by "a lot", I mean A LOT, like a scene could be written 5 times. Sadly, I didn't expect it, which makes me extremely bored while reading this book and end up skimming like, two third of it. Also, the repetition made this book kinda pointless in my opinion. This really saddened me because Emily Barr has such a beautiful writing, but because of the repetitive nature, I couldn't enjoy it like I want to.

Another thing that made this book didn't work for me is the MC herself, Flora Banks. Not because I hate her, but more because I couldn't connect with her at all. If she's a normal teenager without anterograde amnesia, I'm pretty sure I would hate her. Not to mention, the whole I-kiss-someone-so-he-must-be-my-true-love thingy is annoying. But then, she's not, so whenever I feel annoyed about her (which is almost all the time, by the way), I feel really bad. Still, that doesn't change the fact that I couldn't understand her.

In conclusion, there were some good things that I actually like from this book. I do love Flora's relationship with her brother (eventhough there's only a little of it) and the time Flora spends in Norway. I honestly didn't know whether to recommend it or not. So I guess it depends, if you don't mind repetition, I think you'll find that this book is beautiful. But if you're like me (who gets bored easily, I guess?), then I think you better skip it.

Well, where do I even start with this book. I was lucky enough to get it through NetGalley and unfortunately had so much uni work to do that I just didn’t get round to reading it soon enough. Boy am I sorry I didn’t read it sooner.

The concept of this book is so different and refreshing. I absolutely loved Flora as a character and person. I had never heard of retrograde amnesia, and I’m sure a lot of people haven’t, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. A lot of things are repeated because of Flora’s illness, which could have got really annoying, but Barr’s writing really helps you to understand how Flora is feeling and how hard it is for her on a day to day basis without it being too much.

I loved this book so much that I went out and bought it after reading the review copy, so it could go on my bookshelf, I also bought copies for my friends too. My point, basically, is that you should all go out and buy it for yourselves and your friends because it is really really good!

I’m keeping everything crossed for a sequel!!

I was so disappointed with this one! I had been looking forward to reading it and I found it quite interesting in the beginning. Naturally, it became very repetitive, as she forgot and had to be reminded all the time, and that quickly lost its appeal. All the way through you're aware that something is being kept from Flora by her parents and you know they are lying to her - but you don't know exactly what is being kept from her. Flora's parents are quite protective of her and you quickly realises that it's way worse than you assumed in the beginning. While I felt for Flora and wanted to find out what had actually happened and what was being kept from her, I didn't really care for the story. 
I looked forward to the ending, to be honest, and while I loved part of it (a letter) I hated the twist it took and I definitely regretted reading it at that point. 

The absolute best part of the story is Flora's relationship with her older brother. I loved their emails and how he treats her. Unfortunately, he's only a small part of the story.

You always remember your first kiss.
Flora remembers nothing else...

"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?

This was an amazing read, well thought out and presented by the writer, in a way that engaged the reader, making you want to keep reading. A read you just can’t put down.

Unfortunately a DNF. I could not stand a narrative where the only thing Flora could remember is a boy. It's a deeply problematic "romantic" device within such a patriarchal society after establishing that her mental impairment is total and real. Once I realized I could not handle this premise that underpins the whole novel, I could not continue.

Emily Barr tells the story of Flora. Flora is a brave young woman. Despite her amnesia, she does things even a person without amnesia probably wouldn't do. 
The One Memory of Flora Banks is a beautifully written story that will break your reading heart at some point. Brace yourself!
It's sad to see that some people take advantage of her because they know she won't remember it anyway. But on the other hand, there were also a whole bunch of strangers who helped and cared for her. And that's nice to see. Very nice.

Emily did a great job writing this story and thinking out this original concept. Although it's understandable that it adds to the story, the repetitiveness began to irritate me for a couple of chapters. In those chapters wasn't really much happening, what can be the reason for my irritation. 

The One Memory of Flora Banks is a heart-touching story and hopefully, Emily Barr will write more of those wonderful books. Before reading the story of Flora, I had never heard of Emily Barr but this convinced me to read more of her books.

This book was amazing. After all the hype, I had to read it. Flora was an amazing character and this was a very detailed book written in a very honest way. Best YA book I've read for a long time!
Flora is 16 and has to write everything that happens to her down because she has retrograde amnesia. She forgets things as soon as they have happened, although she has some memories from when she was 10, which was when she was diagnosed.

Each and every character, Flora, her best friend Paige and Paige's boyfriend Drake, and realistically and vividly imagined by the author, as are Flora and her world. I always love first person perspectives as I feel that is a great way of the reader getting "inside" the story and character's heads. However, few accomplish this as well as Emily Burr.

This story is writing perfection for me. It takes me to many places emotionally. There's sadness, happiness jealousy friendship rivalry. The One Memory of Flora Banks is an unforgettable read.

Thanks go out to Emily Burr and publisher for a copy via NetGalley.

*This book was received via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

This was an interesting and thought provoking read. Flora suffers from amnesia since she was ten years old. By writing the book from Flora's point of view, the reader is given real insight into Flora's daily and even hourly struggles to remember who she is. The secrets revealed along the way were quite intriguing although at times it was hard to follow the book as the reader was left just as confused as Flora was. This made it quite a difficult read at times, Similarly, it was somewhat unclear what was fact and what was fictional due to Flora's unreliable memory. Overall however, this was quite a unique and interesting read.

I’ve read a few of Emily Barr’s previous novels and always enjoyed them so I was excited when I got approved to read this new book, Emily Barr’s first young adult novel, back in January. I read the book back then but didn’t manage to get my review finished and posted but I can say that the book has really stayed fresh in my mind, which is always testament to a great read!

Flora Banks is such a brilliant character, I loved reading about her from the opening chapter. I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like to not be able to form new memories, to only have memories from childhood. Flora is now a teenager but her mother, in her need to protect Flora, keeps her trapped as a child. Flora tries to keep a grip on her life by writing notes to herself but inevitably they get muddled up, or moved and then she has to try and piece things together. One night she experiences her first kiss and the next day finds that she has remembered it. The details around the kiss are not there but she remembers the kiss so clearly.

The novel is all about Flora learning to forge her way in the world in spite of her memory problems. Flora believes that if she can just find the boy she kissed that it will unlock her memory, that he is now the answer to everything. Life never goes as planned though and Flora encounters a lot of difficulties on her journey to find him. She becomes fiercely determined to prove to herself that she is growing up and that she will be able to manage on her own. Reading about Flora as she attempts to find the boy she kissed is really touching. To see this girl making such valiant attempts to remember things, to find ways to trigger her memory is incredible.

I felt quite on edge at times as the novel went on, it was nerve-wracking seeing Flora out in the world without her support systems in place. There are moments when she becomes really quite confused and upset, and I was so involved in the novel that I wanted to reach into the pages and tell her it would be ok. I was really cheering her on and wanting her to find the boy on her own and for everything to work out fine.

I love how Emily Barr managed to show us Flora’s life, to show us how it is to have amnesia and while inevitably some things are repeated throughout the book as we experience Flora’s confusion each day, the book never feels repetitive.

I also really appreciated how this novel never became too cliched. I was fully expecting Flora to easily find the boy and for them to fall in love and live happily ever after as is often the case, but it wasn’t remotely straightforward for her. She has so many challenges to overcome and life is never going to be easy for her. The novel for me felt so much more about Flora finding a way to have some independence and to gain a life of her own than it is about a boy, although the boy is the catalyst for the story.

It was also really interesting how we get to see Flora with her childhood best friend Paige, who’s a healthy seventeen year old. The contrast between them is quite stark at times and it really highlights just how much Flora has missed out on due to her amnesia. Early in the book the two girls are at a party together and Flora really does seem like a child, it’s quite sad to see. Paige is tied to Flora because they were friends before the amnesia – Paige tries hard to be a good friend but you can see how hard it is for her at times, particularly in the early part of the novel. It must be so difficult to be growing up and having more and more independence while the girl you grew up with is still ten years old in her mind. This is so sensitively written and I was really hoping that their friendship would survive as the book goes on, more so than I was wanting a romance between Flora and the boy.

I really enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to everyone. It is aimed a young adults but it’s a book that can be enjoyed by anyone.

I received a copy of this book from Penguin via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It just wasn't my type of book. I got bored with it, sorry.

This book had such page-turning quality, I couldn't put it down.  Flora's amnesia was portrayed so sensitively, you could literally feel her confusion on the page.  Having to start afresh every day was bewildering for her, and it actually made you ache.  The strength of her brother, and her parents, was admirable.  We'll leave the Drake stuff out!  Brilliant book, just loved it.

I have discussed this book in my April Wrap-Up on my Youtube Channel!
https://youtu.be/PYOhDpxJ314

This was a total change from my normal reading habits but i have to say i thoroughly enjoyed it. Flora had brain surgery at the age of 10 and can no longer retain memories from after the operation. Flora has to constantly read notes written on her arms to remind her of important things and she has a letter that reminds her that when she was 10 she had a brain tumour which was removed when she was 11. Life is very difficult for Flora, she can remember how to do daily tasks but cannot remember situations. After a party her best friend's boyfriends kisses Flora and this memory stays with her. A family crisis leads to Flora being left alone to fend for herself and this is where things start to go badly wrong. There are many twist and turns in this ultimately uplifting book. Thanks go to NetGalley for the chance to review this wonderful book.

Flora Banks is a seventeen-year-old girl who has no short-term memory - the result of a tumour that was removed when she was ten.
But then she kisses Drake at his leaving party and remembers it.
Determined that Drake is the key to restoring her memory, a series of events lead to Flora embarking on a journey to Svalbard where Drake has moved.
Can Flora find Drake with only her notebooks and the writing on her hands to help her?
Will Flora's memory be restored?
Can she have a normal life?

I have mixed feelings about The One Memory of Flora Banks.
On the one hand it was interesting to have a protagonist who couldn't remember everything - talk about an unreliable main character.
However, while I did like Flora and felt sorry for her, I found her naivety annoying at times but it was understandable that she would be childlike given the memory loss after the tumour.
There also wasn't much of a plot - not much happened and things took longer to happen because of Flora's memory loss.
While the idea for this book was interesting and unique, I didn't connect with it.

Overall this was an okay read.

Excellent read - gripping and moving in equal meausre and a writer woth a neat turn of prose

This story was a weird one for me - and I can't decide if it's a good weird or a bad weird.

The book follows 17-year-old Flora. When Flora was ten, she had a tumor in her brain that had to be removed, leaving her with anterograde amnesia, basically, she remembers things that happened before the surgery, but is unable to make new memories afterward. Until one night, when she kisses her best friend's boyfriend Drake on the beach after his going away party and, when her other memories fade a few hours later, she remembers the kiss. And when her parents have to take an emergency trip to see her older brother, Jacob, in France, they leave Flora with Paige, the friend they don't know isn't speaking to Flora. After emailing back and forth with Drake, Flora decides to meet him in Norway, where he is studying.

There's more to the plot but I'll leave it at that for now.

It took me a little bit to get used to the writing style of this book. Every once in a while, Flora would lose her memory and had to reorient herself. That kind of jarred the narrative at times, having to hear the basics over and over. It did, however, give an impression as to what life is like for Flora.

Maybe it's just the cynic in me, or perhaps because I haven't lived with amnesia like Flora does, but I thought chasing down Drake because she was in love and remembered their kiss was a bit far-fetched to me. I was a little skeptical of the relationship from the get go. Not only was he Paige's boyfriend, but he'd only been in the country a little while in the first place. It was like a strange sort of insta-love that happened before the book started. Also, I'm willing to bet that falling in love isn't going to cure your LACK OF BRAIN TISSUE. Just saying.

I don't think I liked Flora's character as much as I should have. She felt very young, younger than 17, but I suppose that is because she sometimes gets stuck in the time for the surgery when she was ten. But I just found her extremely naive and annoying at times.

I pretty much figured out the plot twist with the parents fairly early on, at least part of it. They just seemed off - at least in the few chapters we saw before they left. It's the typical absentee parents of YA, but with a 'good' reason. In the end, I understand why they didn't bring Flora with them, but I thought it was extremely far-fetched that they would leave her with her friend, and not even check in with the friend in person before leaving. But I suppose if they did, there wouldn't be a story.

I guess the big problem I had with this book was that I was expecting so much, and it was just meh. There were some intense moments throughout the book, but they all seemed to resolve themselves fairly quickly and easily. The concept was really amazing, and I've read other amnesia books that are done well, I just don't think this was one of them.

Overall, I wanted to love this book, but I think it missed the mark for me.

The One Memory of Flora Banks by Emily Barr, was an incredibly special book. In fact it was so special that after finishing it I had to take some time out to gather my thoughts before sitting down to write my review of it, hence why the review is coming some three weeks after finishing it. As a book that will stay with me for a long time, this was a truly memorable story and one that was quite unlike anything I’ve ever read before. I can only hope that within this review I do the book the justice that it so very much deserves. 

As the title correctly suggests this book tells the story of Flora Banks, a 17 year old girl who has had anterograde amnesia since the age of 10 when she had an operation which removed a tumour from her brain. With her amnesia meaning that she is unable to keep memories in her head for longer than a mere couple of hours, one evening after going to a party Flora kisses a boy on a beach, something which she is so desperate not to forget and something that she writes down. Whilst perhaps not the most sensible thing to have done given the repurcussions it has on her friendship with her best friend, we see how that one kiss completely changes Flora’s life as she breaks free from the control of her parents and sets out on the biggest adventure of her life. 

Whilst I struggled to understand exactly what young Flora was going through, I have to say that I thought Flora was an extraordinary lead character. I loved seeing Flora develop and grow as the story progressed and thought that the transformation she went on from being completely dependent on her parents for everything to being so much more independent entirely fascinating, she certainly proved herself to be a brave and fearless character. For me, even though Flora was considerably younger than me, I found Flora’s whole story to be extremely powerful and one which made me feel that little bit more grateful than I already was before starting the book for my health. 

The way that Emily has written this novel is something that I found to be extremely clever although very different to books I’ve read previously. There was a lot of repetition in this book, which I have to say at first somewhat annoyed me until I grew to appreciate why it was there, the fact that it was really giving us a glimpse into Flora’s mind and accurately portraying exactly what she was both thinking and feeling. I loved the effort that Emily had put into her story, creating one that really set the scene for the reader and transported them to a whole new world particularly when the location of Svalbard was introduced to us. 

Whilst this is a book that seems to be being marketed as a YA book, I’d say that it’s actually a book that can be read and appreciated by anyone of any age. With a number of themes being touched on throughout this is a very important book that raises awareness about a condition that perhaps is poorly understood and which people may not have very much understanding of. Having now taken the time to really think about this book and all that it represents, this is a book that more than deserves to be read and given a chance. I’m looking forward to seeing what Emily writes next.

This is equal to Paper town's and Love Rosie I really enjoyed this book and can't wait for others to read it as well