Remember Me: Book Review

This week was filled with traveling, a wake and a funeral, and a first birthday, as well as tons of workouts and healthy eating... but as you can tell I haven't been blogging as much because of said busyness. I'm trying to slowly get back into it, so I'll start with a simple book review. I wrote down a list of all the books I have that I have yet to read yet, and it filled a whole page! I need to stop buying new books, and start reading the ones I have, therefore, I read Remember Me by Deborah Bedford, a book I believe I picked up at a goodwill store, but I can't remember. I have to admit though, the back of the book was much more intriguing than the actual book.

Synopsis According to Barnes&Noble:

Sam Tibbits loves life--especially life at Piddock Beach, where his family spends their vacations. It's here that he's come to care for Aubrey, his childhood confidante. So the year Aubrey's family moves away with no forwarding address, Sam is crushed. He was going to propose.
Aubrey McCart enjoys being with Sam; he accepts her unconditionally like her father never has. But when her father's pride and joy--her brother--is killed in Vietnam, Aubrey is unable to cope. She chooses a path that changes her life forever, leading her away from Sam. 
Years later, when Sam and Aubrey find themselves back at Piddock Beach, the two are forced to confront their abandoned friendship and make peace with their lives. But can they do so without overstepping their moral boundaries?

My Review:

Aubrey and Sam meet at Piddock Beach one night in the summer when he's trying to find clams with his sister Brenda - unable to find any Aubrey helps and from there a friendship blooms, eventually into a first love, when they share their first kiss together. However, only seeing each other in the summer seems to be difficult, but the good thing about their relationship is that they write to each other during the school year. I enjoyed reading Aubrey's letters, knowing what was on her mind filled in some of the gaps as to what she was doing throughout the year, but I wondered why the author didn't include Sam's letters - it would have really put their relationship into perspective if I could have read his letters, and felt his feelings through words. Aubrey's brother, Kenneth - the beloved son of their father, dies while in Cambodia at war - and I believe this is the turning point in the book, the point where Aubrey's relationship with her father is forever altered, as well as the one she held on to so tightly with Sam. Sam is never told, and Aubrey leaves two months prior to the day he visits her to propose. He leaves to finish college, and eventually the seminary.

The author gives us both Sam and Aubrey's perspective though, and the chapters are written quite nicely. Many things have occurred in their lives, but I must admit I like reading about Aubrey's life, because it's a little more interesting than Sam's, not that I'm not religious, but I just can't relate to Sam's life. It amazes me that events in both of their lives lead them back to Piddock Beach, looking at the same things like the lighthouse, and yet not together - not even realizing that they're that close to each other. I honestly believed that when Sam and Aubrey saw each other for the first time in years, the scene would have been more passionate, more exciting. things happened very abruptly in this book; I felt like I was reading about the next event before the current event even finished.

Remember Me, reminded me of a less well-written Nicholas Sparks book. I wasn't a fan of the ending, even though it was happy in some aspects. I feel as if the book wasn't worth my time, even though it wasn't as predictable as I thought it'd be.

"She taught him that there were parts of human love, too, that never end. That love doesn't always die and that, sometimes, love becomes stronger when it changes" (page 283). 

My Rating: 2 Stars