So I asked for a recommendation for a Morgan Lee Miller book, and got back “you can’t go wrong with any of them, but how much do you want to cry?” I said my last read was pretty light so I’m up for something more emotional, and this was the suggestion. It wasn’t wrong. Also, I’m a big Eternal Sunshine fan, so there’s that. Basically, I thought this book was amazing, but definitely not light!
The first two-thirds or three-quarters were pretty heartbreaking, as over the course of multiple treatments Marlie works through her memories from childhood forward, and decides which ones to discard. She has her reasons, but some of the ones she chooses to get rid of, OMG. Then, later on, she starts to meet people or hear references to people she’s lost important memories of and has to grapple with how to explain herself and whether to continue with the memory-deleting treatments or stop and possibly even try to recover what she’s lost.
The specific events of the story were well-done as well, from Marlie’s childhood with her parents and then in the foster system, to getting discovered, to the huge variety of shows (and movies and etc.) she was part of, to her life with her friends outside of work, to the awards shows and parties, and ultimately leading up to her decision to go forward with the memory treatment and the consequences of doing so. Marlie’s life included both good times and tough times, close relationships and casual ones, professional successes and failures (though not too many of the latter), and so on… both the highs and the lows.
Beside the story itself, the characters were great. A lot of this was on Marlie, who both had to justify her decisions to go with this treatment, and then work through all the memories, and then work through the implications of it. But the rest of the cast was wonderful too, primarily Elle and Peter and Nathan, and because the story spanned the better part of 60 years we got to see them at many different ages and places in life.
Overall, everything came together and worked really well, even if I wasn’t exactly dry-eyed as things played out. This was a great read, and I would heartily reiterate the recommendation I received. :)
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Kindle Customer
Sappy and im absolutely in love with it.
Reviewed in Australia on March 26, 2024