Book Review: The One Memory of Flora Banks: Advance Proof by Emily Barr

The One Memory Of Flora Banks: Advance Proof – Emily Barr

*Warning – may contain spoilers*

Author: Emily Barr

Publisher: Penguin Books

First published: 2016

Edition: Advance proof; small paperback

Pages: 41

Blurb:    Darling,

You are Flora Banks. You are 17 years old. When you were ten, a tumour grew in your brain, and surgeons took it out. Part of your memory went with it.

When you are confused, you look at your hand, where you write your notes. These are the clues you leave to remind yourself of what is going on.

You remember us, and your best friend Paige, and other people you knew before you were ten. New people you forget.

You’ll never live anywhere but here, because this is the only place in which you’re safe. You will always live with us, and we will always look after you and you will be fine.

We will always make sure you have everything you need.

Love, mum xxx

Can I trust mum?

History of my copy: This little book came in the amazing November box for Illumicrate. I’ve been wanting a subscription box for a while, but couldn’t justify ~£30 a month. However, at £29.99 every three months (as it’s quarterly) with free postage, I decided to give it a go. November was my first box and it was worth every penny!

Plot: This little edition covers the event where Flora, the protagonist, kisses Paige’s (her best friend) sort of boyfriend, Drake. I say sort of boyfriend, because they kind of broke up because he’s moving away. It then covers the subsequent falling out, leaving us with Flora’s parent’s going away and Flora having no-one to look after her. Which makes no sense to me. You’d think that the parents of a girl who has a serious memory problem would make better arrangements for her, but apparently not.

Setting: So one thing that gives me the potential to fall in love with this book is the fact that it’s set in my home county, Cornwall! With such a beautiful setting, which isn’t really touched on in the excerpt, I hope Barr doesn’t use it as much as she can. However, I also hope it isn’t too cliché – Cornwall is not just beaches and seaside towns!

Characters: Of course an excerpt isn’t a lot to go on, but no character stands out at the moment. Flora is childish and repetitive, although I understand that that is because of her condition. Drake is a bit of a douche. Paige overreacts entirely. Flora’s parents appear to be incompetent imbeciles. But maybe that will change.

To read or not to read: Read. Okay, I know my review kinda just suggests that it is an awful book, but a part of me is hooked. In fact, I’ve actually bought the full copy and am kind of looking forward to reading it! Maybe it’s just because it’s so different to anything else I’ve read; maybe it’s because I do want to know what happens to Flora. I guess time will tell if the book itself is worth it.