** Trigger warning: self harm. It only happens once, but the effect is mentioned throughout the remainder of the book. **

I really, really enjoyed this book. Much more than I expected I would.

When I got this in the mail about a week ago, I was only mildly intrigued. I hadn't heard much about it, and I assumed it would be an average story. I'm happy to say I was very wrong.

Let's get the issues I had out of the way first.

I thought the story was a bit too romance-driven. I knew there would be a romance, because it's in the synopsis. Flora and Drake kissed in the first couple of chapters, and after that it was almost all Flora thought about. I can understand that she was excited, and that's to be expected. Kissing Drake is the only memory she's remembered from the last seven years of her life. That's a huge thing. But she practically lived by her laptop to wait for emails from him, and planned a secret trip to Norway just to see him, in hopes of getting more memories back. I admired her determination and her ability to actually pull it all off, but to me the situation was a bit of a stretch.

The last 75 or so pages seemed kind of rushed. Flora returns home, and then a lot of stuff goes down. I really liked the direction the story took, but I do think it went by a little quickly. It was a good excuse to fly through the end of the book, but I think pacing could've been improved.

And on that note, the ending was a bit abrupt. The stuff that went down was resolved, and plans were made… then it was over. I still have questions. What happens to Flora? To her parents, and to Paige? Does the help they sought work? Did they stay in Penzance? I liked how it ended, but I would've appreciated an epilogue.

Now on to what I liked, which is a much longer list.

This is the first book I've read that features a character with anterograde amnesia, and I think it was done brilliantly. The knowledge I have of it essentially came entirely from this book. It was interesting to learn about, and see how it affected Flora's and her parents' lives. She wrote almost everything down, either in a notebook or on her arm. When she would forget, she could glean key details from notes on her arm or read her exact diagnosis in a passage her mom wrote. The writing was a nice touch to the story on top of being informative.

Flora's brother, Jacob, was never physically present in the story, only through childhood memories, texts, and emails, but he was still great. It was clear he cared so much for Flora, and that he would do anything he could to help her. It was really sweet.

On that note, I liked Flora's parents too. I don't agree with their choices and I definitely think they were overly protective, but I liked their presence. One thing that YA needs more of is present, caring parents, or at least a parent. There are too many dysfunctional families in YA, and while this one did have flaws, it was nice to read about parents that acknowledge their children's existence.

Early on in the story I posted a status update about how Paige was such a horrible friend, and that was true. However, even with her absence in the middle chunk, she realized her mistakes and came back to fix them. Her development was great, especially for a secondary character, and in the end I thought her friendship with Flora was wonderful. She was devoted to helping Flora, and like Jacob, encouraged Flora to live her life how she wanted.

I don't know how big Penzance, England really is, but in this story it felt to me like a sweet, smaller town. And Svalbard, similarly, had a lovely cozy vibe to it. It was a small, snowy town in the mountains and forest where polar bears lived, and I loved it. It felt so homey.

The last thing I'll say is that I like the recurring message in this book. Flora's mantra is "be brave," and it's written on her arm throughout the entire story. She manages to do exactly that, and to me that was a way of saying anyone can do anything, no matter what sort of obstacles they face. I mean, a girl with amnesia planned and went through with a trip from England to Norway entirely on her own, without telling anyone and using only her notebook as her guide. It might not have been logical, but it was really empowering and admirable.

So yes, this book had its faults, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it. It comes out May 2, and I definitely recommend giving it a try when it comes out.