Oh, my heart. I just finished reading Teach Me to Forget and I. Can’t. Stop. Feeling. All of the emotions. Love. Hate. Anger. Frustration. So much sadness. Ugh. But I loved this book. So darn much.
I have to be honest with you guys and tell you that despite my love for contemporary books, I tend to stray far away from emotional reads. Not that they are not good, but because they tend to affect me so darn much. And I’m always scared to find the next one that would break my heart into a million little pieces. However, books like Teach Me to Forget remind me that I shouldn’t be scared. Books like Teach Me to Forget remind me that there are so many stories that we should all learn about. To learn from them and to try to understand, thinking twice before beginning to judge someone because you don’t know their whole story.
This book is a tough read because it deals with suicide and self-harm and it doesn’t sugar-coat it. The main character, from page one, tells you she wants to die and she indeed tries, but to her dismay, the gun doesn’t work. And she considers all possibilities to do so but instead opts again to plan it and live her last few days trying to detach herself from everyone who knows or loves her. But as life would have it, instead of getting more secluded, more people start slipping past her walls and she makes friends. People she thinks she doesn’t deserve. And she falls in love.
I know the above description makes it sound like the same kind of trope–boy comes in, they fall in love and eventually saves her– but this novel wasn’t really like that. Ellery (which is the main character) constantly deals the pain and guilt of a tragedy that happened to her family, and she lives day by day thinking “I have these number of days to live”. And you suffer along with her and discover how it is painful to live but also how beautiful it is. Of how unfair sometimes life can be for those that go and those that stay.
Teach Me to Forget is an emotional read, but also very beautiful and … I liked how it made me smile and laugh and tear up with Ellery. Because this book also introduces some cliché lines but the characters know that they are cliché so it brought the necessary humor to lighten up the somber mood. Like some of the references used about Nicholas Sparks’s novels that probably in another book it would have made me roll my eyes, but not in here. It worked perfectly and actually made me swoon! (The romance in here is so swoony too!)
Final Verdict:
I highly recommend Teach Me to Forget if you are looking for a thought-provoking read and if you can deal with subjects such as suicide, self-harm, and loss. The story is well written and despite being a tough subject, I am glad that I braved its pages.
Trigger warnings: Suicide & self-harm.
This one is completely new to me. I am so happy to see you loved it so much 🙂
Great review!
Happy Reading 🙂
Michelle @ Book Briefs
Thanks, Michelle! It definitely is a must add to your TBR! 😀
I just finished this book, I agree with everything you said. My heart is in a million pieces. So many emotions and so well done!
HOLY SHIT. Excuse my French, but I need this booK! I was actually just talking about this book with my friend Gabby. She's going crazy looking for it all over and waiting for the library to get it in so she can snatch it for herself to read. This book also sounds a lot like Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock, which is essentially about a boy who has his death all planned out. I can't wait to pick this up and give it a read because I really like reading this types of stories, as it is something personal to me! Love love this review 😀
Alex @ The Book's Buzz