[Book Review] Forgotten by Catherine McKenzie

Forgotten by Catherine McKenzie is a book that will hook readers in immediately!

I received this book in the mail months ago. For some reason, it wound up on my shelf where it just sat getting bumped by the other books on my TBR. Today, I finally picked it up and oh my goodness. I am absolutely kicking myself for taking this long to read it!

Full disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in a Goodreads giveaway. In no way does that affect my review.

My Thoughts on Forgotten by Catherine McKenzie

Forgotten is about a lawyer named Emma Tupper who has recently lost her mother. When she learns that her mother had paid for her to take a trip to Africa, she decides to take a month and travel to both mourn and honor her mother. On this trip, Emma falls ill which separates her from her tour group. Then when she is recuperating in a remote village, they are hit with a devastating earthquake that leaves them cut off from all communication.

Six months later, Emma is finally able to travel back home. But unfortunately she was thought to have been killed in the earthquake, and life has moved on without her. As she struggles to get her old life back, she begins to realize that maybe her old life isn’t the life that she wants to lead after all. But will she still find her happily ever after?

I can’t say that I have been really hooked into a story by very many prologues, but that is certainly the case here! I could not put this book down once I began reading! I absolutely loved that the prologue fully set the scene before we dove into the action of Emma returning home. From there, the storyline flowed wonderfully. I really enjoyed that we stayed in the present but got a few flashbacks to her time in Africa every now and again. The pacing was perfect; nothing dragged on and nothing felt rushed to me.

I really enjoyed seeing how Emma handled getting her life back on track. The whole plot about her trying to figure out a crime was so interesting! I also really appreciated that while a few people were telling her that she could totally start over, that she didn’t want to do that. She wanted to take what worked in her “old life” and change what wasn’t working or what she didn’t like to create the life she really wanted.

The three main characters we so lovable, as were a few of the side characters. I really enjoyed all of their relationships with one another! Emma and Stephanie’s friendship was especially wonderful. Of course there were a couple characters that I disliked and therefore did not like the way they treated Emma, but these rotten characters certainly added to the drama of the story. But whether I liked the characters or not, each and every one of them seemed so real.

The romance between Emma and Dominique was the type of cutesy romance that I really enjoy. Though I will say that at times I wanted to scream at the two characters to just TALK to each other! But I liked that it was drawn out and a bit dramatic because it made perfect sense when considering the situations they were both still working through.

My Favorite Passages from Forgotten

It’s amazing, isn’t it, how some things can be so different while others remain the same?

I was sitting at my desk, staring at the map of the gallery like it could provide the answer to the mystery of how the painting had been stolen. I had this sudden urge to whisper the incantation Harry Potter uses to make people appear on the Marauder’s map. It left my lips almost unconsciously as I tapped the map with the tip of my pen. But of course, because I am a lawyer and now a wizard, nothing appeared.

He’s here. My great, big romantic ending is standing in front of me in a tux, for God’s sake. And what the hell am I wearing?
Is there a panic button I can hit? Or better yet, a button that will pause this whole scene while I figure out how I want to play it?
But no. That’s no how it works in real life. How it works is I say, “Oh no.”

My Final Thoughts on Forgotten

I cruised through this book in one day because I just needed to know how the story turned out. I loved everything about the book; the storyline, the pacing, the characters, the writing.  I gave this book 5 stars and I would highly recommend it!

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