Book Review: Notes to Self by Avery Sawyer

Title: Notes to Self
Author: Avery Sawyer
Genre: Teen Fiction, Realistic Fiction
Publication Date: November 20, 2011
Publisher:  Avery Sawyer, via Smashwords
Sold by: SMASHWORDS - EBKS  (Available from either Amazon or Barnes and Noble)

Source: I received a copy from the author for review. This is my honest review.

Notes to Self by Avery Sawyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

All Robin remembers is that she and Emily both climbed up the Sling Shot at Fun Towne, and then they fell.  When Robin wakes up she can’t remember the details of that evening, but knows there is something important there.  Worse, Emily hasn’t woken up yet and Robin must learn to live her life anew with the results of a traumatic brain injury.

I can’t tell you how much this novel amazed me.  The premise intrigued me from the beginning, but the writing and the story are so engrossing I couldn’t put it down.  Robin is a likable narrator who is struggling to put her life back together after the fall.  She knows there is something about that night that she is missing and she wants so badly to remember, but when she can’t even remember how to take a shower, how can she expect to remember that one night.

The character development in this novel is well done.  You can believe that Robin is a real person, and you can feel and understand her pain.  Her support system is so small you really can see how hard it is for her to find people she can really trust.

The story often flashes back to memories from Robins past, and especially memories of Emily.  This isn’t at all distracting to the story, and adds quite a bit of dimension to the writing.  You can see how she and Emily got to the places they are now, and it does much to further the character development.

Overall this novel was a fast and interesting read.  I highly recommend it to readers of realistic fiction.  It was definitely a hard one to put down.

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