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cozysabie 's review for:
The Forgotten Life of Ella Moon
by Melissa Naatz
medium-paced
"A broken heart is a powerful thing, Sissy would whisper. Wars have been started over one."
"Some believe we lose things we take for granted and only when we have made amends do we get back those things."
GENRE: Romantasy
RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
FORMAT: eBook Arc
Long Review:
This is a beautiful, lyrical story. It talks about the beauty and essence of memories and why it is important. It discusses the importance of a friendship, a relationship and of understanding the importance of who we are
"Memories were like stars. Without the stars, the night sky would be empty and dark. And without memories, Ella felt empty and alone. She had hoped this day would be different. That somehow a memory had slipped through the fog of her mind. But the only things that filtered through were the sounds of her new life."
This is a tale of Ella (view spoiler), a Goddess who lost her memory. She lives a live before regaining the memory and after regaining it. We get to read this throughout the book as two different parts and I enjoyed the division between both of these two. It was an emotional journey, getting to see Ella experience who she is as "Ella", not recognising herself fully and wanting to learn who she was before the memory loss in order to understand herself more
"The fact that stared back at her looked familiar, but some pieces were not. She didn't know how she had gotten the scar on her lip. Or why this morning her eyes shone a bright blue green instead of the stormy gray blue they had been last night. but the memory she missed the most was her name. A name made her someone. Someone to miss and someone to love."
We go through a journey of Ella wanting to be more than the forgotten pieces. She wants to know who she is and why she cannot accept the life that has been set for her. She feels as if her clothes are borrowed, her experiences and friendships are stolen moments in a life that isn't hers. And not only that, when she wakes up with no memory of who she is, she feels heartbroken
"When Ella first came to Riverton, she had been heartbroken. She was unaware of the reason for, nor could she put a fact with, that heartbreak. For days she cried over something or someone she didn't remember."
Naatz manages to merge the things Ella has ingrained in who she is as a person in her experience in the new life she is living. For example, she cannot withstand noise, lights and she is still able to see a strange glow in people's chest even though she has no memory of who she is. Not only that, this beautiful, lyrical book is about Ella sticking to her beliefs when others around her tell her to accept reality
"Enough. it is time to let go of this silly idea that your past will catch up with you. You will be twenty-eight in a few short weeks. You are too old to believe in fairy tales."
There is only one friend who Ella has that is strongly encouraging her to stick to her beliefs and in the end, this friend will be the solution to a curse, the way to learning patience for a goddess
"It will happen, Ella. I feel it in my bones. You will marry for the greatest love known to man. I promise."
Oh and here is a quote I loved about pity and how people hand it out, which is quite fitting in the book. Ella struggles with sticking to what she knows is true and what everyone around her tries to tell her to do and pity is a strong emotion that drives a lot of these advises
"She didn't want to see the pity in Thane's eyes. That was an emotion that people gave so freely. They never asked before they handed it out and expected the recipient to be grateful and accepting."
And in the end, Ella is left to deal with all her emotions, all the heart breaks and all the things she cannot mend without remembering who she truly is. We then move to the part of the book where she remembers who she is
"Such was the story of Ella's life. A life of burrowed pieces that didn't fit together."
I truly did enjoy this book, the parts of learning about Ella, her remembering who she is and then how the story ended, which was a justified ending for this book. Let's end this review with a quote that is very fitting for the book:
"Once there was a god who lost her memories. She wished them away. The silly god found herself in the mortal realm. There she found a boy and a girl, both wishing for the same thing: love. Then came a mother and daughter, both with a heart big enough to love everyone. But as curses go, one must die, and one heart must break. Who is it ...."
Thank you to the Nerd Family, NetGalley and the author for the eArc in exchange for my honest opinion.