First, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.  

I really, really enjoyed this book.  Flora, given the nature of her condition, is an unreliable narrator.  She's impulsive and spirited and honest.  She just forgets this.  She's not certain of anything, really...and then she is.  She makes a memory, and that memory leads her on an incredible path.  

This book is full of psychological suspense and adventure.  I found myself   on the edge of my seat wondering what Flora would do next.  The behaviour of all of the characters felt realistic and well-observed, something that sometimes falls astray in teen fiction.  And a strong female character?  Who isn't an orphan?  In a non-post-apocalyptic world?  With a mental illness that isn't written just because it's in vogue?  

Yes please.  My teen book group agreed and it's our next month's read.  :)

An enjoyable read and made accessable and interesting,. This reminded me a lot of a Nicola Yoon book which follows a similar vein but i liked that it was set in the UK and while elements felt a little far fetched it was a fun read dispute it being quite a difficult topic

This book is one of those little gems shining through in a sea of books.

Barr manages to present a rather tragic story with an incredible amount of humour, love and compassion.

The reader meets two versions of Flora, actually make that three, because there is also an in-between grey area. We meet docile Flora, the girl who follows rules and listens to her parents. Then there is Flora the impulsive adventurer. The girl who is off her meds. Third Flora is the girl who exists in the confusion of post-tablets and pre-clarity.

Flora has problems with her short term memory. She relies on post-it notes, written messages on her arms and a handwritten book of memory props to get along every day.

Now at this point I have to wag a finger at any a parent who would leave a vulnerable child, teen or young adult alone based on the assumption that another teen will be looking in on them. Teenagers can be as flighty as birds and as dramatic as a reality TV show character on LSD.

So Flora is left to her own devices and ends up coming off her medication. Even before that she spends an unhealthy amount of time obsessing about being kissed by her best friend’s boyfriend. The kiss becomes a pivotal part of the story, her obsession and a possible recovery.

Her search for Drake is a bold one, but it is also one ridden with dangers. The fact she is lucky enough to encounter people who care, which is perhaps a scenario we all wish for, if one of our children were alone and in trouble. Flora is halfway across the globe searching for love, and the only person who is aware of her exploits is her brother.

Barr makes an important point when it comes to vulnerable people and independence. Are they hindered by their loved ones when it comes to evolving, growing up and being able to make their own decisions? The gut instinct to keep them safe may also be the factor keeping them from moving forwards.

I really enjoyed the read. It is funny without being insulting, it is realistic without bending the boundaries of imagination and it definitely pulls on the heartstrings. I would love to know what Flora gets up to next. At this rate she may end up in a tent on top of Mount Everest.
*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my copy of The One Memory of Flora Banks.*

I’m not sure how I feel about this book… For one side I think it’s an extremely interesting idea, that was developed in a very realistic way. One the other side, the book turns a bit confusing and repetitive. Obviously that’s the idea, we are actually able to see the world through Flora’s eyes, but sometimes it annoyed me quite much.

Flora is a 17 year old girl with anterograde amnesia. For those who are wondering what that is, I’m pretty sure everyone has seen “Finding Nemo” before. Well, anterograde amnesia is what Dory has. You basically don’t have short-term memory. In Flora’s case, she can remember things from her childhood, until she was 10 years old, due to a tumor. Flora can only remember things for 2-3 hours. And after that, everything vanishes. It’s quite unsettling, and the book represented it gloriously!

Until… She kisses a boy. And the story is basically developing after that. She wants to get more memories. She wants to do everything she can to hold on to that moment. It was sweet, but sometimes a bit too much… Because she has amnesia, and the book represents her POV, we read, and read, and read something over and over. The idea is really good, but in some parts it made me terribly frustrated.

But I really liked that the book is set in the Arctic, and that there’s even a Finnish person in it and polar bears! 

The characters are really interesting too. It’s impossible not to like Flora… she is adorable, wild and strong. She is a bit like a child in terms of trusting and talking, which is normal because time kinda stopped after she was 10 years old. But that only adds to her character. She is stronger than she thinks, and she goes for what she really wants, without any fear, and remembering to always write what’s happening. Sometimes she gets frustrated, but she doesn’t quite. How many persons not suffering form amnesia do that?

We also read about a lot of persons in this book. Some that are amazing, some that are utter idiots. I really liked that the author decided to show both sides. Because I believe that a lot of persons would feel compassion towards a person like Flora, but there are some people that would also take advantage of her. And there were a lot of characters that I really enjoyed reading about! Like her brother, Paige, Agi, …

I was quite expecting the end… I feel that every book I read, with mental illnesses, has unfortunately the same type of end. But some parts of it still surprised me, and they are really pleasant to read.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, but I had some problem with so much repetitions, although I still found it really interesting and original! I think this is a book, that will go different with everybody, so I would recommend reading it.

This book was a difficult one to rate. I was torn between wanting to give it 4 stars because I adored Flora, or acknowledging the ways in which the novel feel a short of that fourth star. In the end, I decided on 3.5 stars.

The One Memory of Flora Banks was a bit hit and miss for me. Although it had its flaws, when the author got it right, she nailed it! Flora is the most adorable character I've come across since Noah Sweetwine in Jandy Nelson's I'll Give You The Sun, which is a champion of YA novels. 

Flora is so wonderfully weird that you cannot help but fall a little in love with her and want to desperately protect her from the world. She's undeniably charming in her honesty, much like a child, which makes sense when you discover that she has been unable to store any new memories since the age of ten. 

Although the story behind Flora's amnesia is a sad one, there are so many humorous moments that endeared her to me. The lines about the multiple jars of jam in the cupboard had me chuckling, as you realise Flora has no control whatsoever over her memories, but is doing the best she can.

I found myself mentally cheering her on as she embarked on a crazy expedition to the Arctic in the name of love. I could not help but get swept up in her feelings for Drake. Another character I adored was Aggi and her predilection for hilarious idioms. 

But while the novel is beautifully written, it wasn't without its flaws. The repetitive style in which Flora's internal monologue is presented quickly becomes tiresome. After hearing her repeat that Drake had kissed her almost every five minutes made me question whether I had the will to complete the book. But I'm glad I'm persevered!

Finally, I couldn't help but wish that Flora had been 12 years old when she'd developed anterograde amnesia, as her thoughts (and the writing style that reflected them) could be handled more maturely. It felt more like a children's novel than a YA novel a lot of the time.

Although I've rated this book 3.5 stars, I'm positive that younger readers will love this book and its main protagonist. I defy anyone not to find her charming.

I love it when I come across a book that opens me up to a brand new world. Granted that kind of happens a lot when you read as much as I do but what has to be said is that Young Adult fiction seems to be pioneering in its attempts to enlighten people to the unusual and tragic.

Take The One Memory of Flora Banks for instance. I’m sure that there have been many books that have been written about memory loss or amnesia. I, myself, have not read any that I can remember. What is certain is that I definitely hadn’t when I was a teenager. Don’t get me wrong, I loved and treasured the series of books that I read as a teen but it is only as an adult that I realise just how much they weren’t very enlightening.

Flora Banks, however, is. Flora is a teenager but she knows very little about her own life. She can’t retain memories and hasn’t had a new memory since the age of 10 when she was in an accident which caused her to experience severe memory loss. 

After a party thrown by her best friend Flora kisses a boy. This is something that she remembers and holds on to. She kissed a boy. Days later she still remembers it. After this kiss her whole world as she knows it is thrown into chaos.

The One Memory of Flora Banks is a courageous tale of love, drama, family loyalty, adventure and most of all one of independence. It is a story that will resonate with teenagers (amnesia aside) as we all have had a little bit of Flora Banks in us at some point in our youth.

This is a brave novel that tackles an issue that, without literature and fictionalised accounts, many of us will never come across in our lives. The One Memory of Flora Banks is definitely a novel for your TBR pile.   

The One Memory of Flora Banks by Emily Barr is available now.

For more information regarding Emily Barr (@emily_barr) please visit www.emilybarr.com.

For more information regarding Penguin (@PenguinUBooks) please visit www.penguin.co.uk.

For more information regarding Random House (@PenguinRHUK) please visit www.penguinrandomhouse.com.

5 Words: Memories, family, love, friendship, betrayal.

I don't really know how or what to feel right now.

This will take time.

[IMAGE]

While I don't think that every reader will gel with this novel, The One Memory of Flora Banks has been one of the most endearing titles that I have read in a long time. As the blurb suggests, it is a story about a young girl with anterograde amnesia. As brain surgery at the age of ten left her unable to make new memories, her brain "resets" after every couple of hours. Thus, she's technically a ten year old girl in a seventeen year old's body.

The first person narrative captures this very well. Although Flora repeats things constantly (you will hear about her brain tumour and that Paige is her best friend roughly 10,000 times over the course of the novel), this underlines the severity of her condition. It can be entertaining to read, but it's more than a little sad that she can't remember the faces of people that she meets every day.

My biggest issues with the story was the way that everyone else treats her. Flora was instantly sweet and loveable, but her family and friends are all just jerks. What kind of parents leave a girl like Flora in the care of a seventeen year old when they leave the country? What kind of seventeen year old would leave Flora alone, knowing full well that she could leave the stove lit and burn the household? What kind of boy sends sexually explicit emails to a girl with the mental age of ten? Yet the reason behind every characters actions slowly to come to light, and they're not all as you would think. The novel has some nice twists in the tale that I won't spoil, which kept me curiously reading as I noticed that something wasn't quite right.

The romance with Drake is actually a very minor part of this story. While it serves as Flora's initial inspiration to go on an adventure (spurred by the child-like fantasy that the kiss was magical), the story never really focuses on this point. It's more a journey of self-discovery, as Flora leaves her protective mother and proves that she's more capable - and braver - that she ever imagined. It's nice how much support she gets from strangers along her way too. Although Flora is vulnerable and must seem an easy target, the book shows the human race in a favourable light as the strangers that Flora meets are all lovely.

All in all, this was a very sweet story that really warmed my heart (I admit, I did even shed a few tears in the final act). While I note that some others have critiqued its tone and message, I would respectfully disagree. To me, it wasn't a story that makes light of mental illness. It was more a story about a young girl's journey of discovery - showing how one can live even when they've been dealt a rough hand. It was beautiful, moving and I would certainly recommend it.

Provided by NetGalley for an honest review.

I really didn't know what to make of this. It had such a real feel to the situation that some times I found myself panicking about it happening to me! Flora's situation is quite scary and unfathomable. How does a person cope with short term memory loss and the lack of ability to form new memories of the now? You 'wake-up' every few hours and have to go through the whole process of remembering through notes and messages written on your arm and post its. I felt sorry for her at the beginning, but by the end of the book I was amazed and happy that and so proud at her abilities. This young woman turns out to be amazing and very able to look after herself through her methods of remembering things.

I did very much enjoy this book, I think fans of romance YA books will absolutely love it, however it wasn't what I was expecting. I was expecting it to be solely a mystery book, with a touch of romance in, but instead the whole book was based around romance. Whilst it wasn't Flora's fault, many of her decisions annoyed me too. However, if you like a good romance book, this is very well-written and I would recommend it.

This was a must read book. A story of mixed emotions and a mother guilty of child abuse of mammoth proportions but which she justifies as being best for her child. The conclusion completely turned the story upside down and left me with a feeling that Flora can thrive and have a great life with the help of her best friend.

What an amazing novel - describing someone who has a brain injury and the tactics that the family establish to keep her safe. The medical routine goes radically away when her parents dash to Paris to see her brother Jacob and Flora heads off on an adventure when for the first time she remembers a kiss on the beach.  No ordinary destination is involved and she manages via a collection of characters to cope. A fascinating and insightful story, that really gets into the mind of Flora and with my experience of working with brain damaged children should be read by all.

The protagonist's voice appears fresh and convincing throughout. While she may go on a madcap dash of an adventure, and while some of the twists do seem rather surprising, the underlying issue of parental responsibility and love is explored in a convincing and thought-provoking manner.

Such a cleverly written book with a brilliant narrator - as an English teacher, it has been brilliant discussing this with my students! The narrator here is so brilliantly crafted and with such insight that the author makes an unbelievably difficult situation entirely relatable. Add to this wonderful character a masterfully twisting and turning plot and you've got the perfect recipe for a book that no teen can fail to love.

This book is one which confused me. I was really intrigued by its utter originality but it's hard to connect with a character who is continually forgetting everything. It's what made me lose interest in the book as a whole. That and the repetition. I got the need for it but it did get a bit boring. Also, I didn't enjoy the fact the characters maturity level didn't match their age. I know it was part of the forgetting but it didn't make it any more enjoyable to read.

I think this is a book where I went in expecting one thing and ended up with something completely different. It happens to the best of us but it was frustrating to realise.

No reader on the planet would have known where this book would lead. Every character was well developed and you were kept guessing right up to the end. I'm super proud of Flora! Hoping for a sequel.

What would happen if you had no short term memory since the age of 10? Then, one night before your best mate, Paige's boyfriend leaves town, kisses you and your memory comes back. You follow him of course, to Norway, convinced he can make you normal again. A very interesting concept. I liked the idea more than the content. Found some of it repetitive and found myself skipping pages. I understand the story deals with amnesia and wanted to like it more.

Imagine doing your everyday tasks and having some of the best moments of your life but 2 hours later those events are completely erased from your memory. The only way you can remember anything at all is by checking the notes you have written yourself on your hand. This is exactly what Flora Banks has to do. She had a tumour removed from her brain when she was 10 and this disabled her ability to create any new memories from that point.

This book and its entire concept drew me in so quickly just after reading the synopsis. I was drawn into the idea of being able to read an entire book from the perspective of someone with amnesia. I have quite a good memory and I remember certain things in extreme detail years later. I wanted to be immersed in a book where the character had an extremely short term memory.

I read this book a lot faster than I had anticipated. I was in a slight bit of a reading slump when I began this book and felt like it would have taken me a long time to get into it and then a couple of weeks to finish it completely. But after a couple of days of reading two or three chapters a night I couldn’t put the book down and was reading this book every free moment that I had.

I was a big fan of Flora in this book. Emily Barr has written her character perfectly. She has given Flora Banks the real and raw characteristics of someone who is an amnesiac. Although I couldn’t relate to her in any way at all I was still a big fan of the character. There is something about her that makes her character as likeable as she. I think one reason for this is because of how determined she is as a person. She is so strong-willed and I look up her for that because although I am determined I am nowhere near as much as her. The secondary characters in this book are all characters I enjoyed reading about too. There are only a couple of characters I was not a fan of in this book but you will have to read the book to find out who they are.

Emily Barr has done a fantastic job of writing this book from the perceptive of an amnesiac. You can tell that she did a lot of research before she began writing this book. This is something I am glad that she has done otherwise the book wouldn’t have had the feel that is does have. The plot of this book is one that kept me so immersed for the entirety of reading it and I would happily reread it.

The only problem I had with this book was how repetitive it was in points. Obviously, this had the purpose of showing what it is like to have amnesia but at times it does get frustrating to read the same thing repeatedly.

Overall, I would recommend this book to any young adult book fans. Especially if you want to know what it is like to be inside the mind of an amnesiac. The book touches on a lot of issues and is an poignant read.

Thank you to Netgalley, Emily Barr and Penguin Random House UK for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.