Forget this ever happened

Forget This Ever Happened by Cassandra Rose Clarke

 

Genre: Young Adult Sci-fi Mystery

Publishing Date: October 6th, 2020

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5

Synopsis

Sometimes there’s a town called Indianola.

And sometimes there isn’t.

Summer, 1993. Claire has been dumped in rural Indianola, Texas, to spend her whole vacation taking care of mean, sickly Grammy. There’s nothing too remarkable about Indianola: it’s run-down, shabby, and stifling hot, a pin-dot on the Gulf Coast.

Well, there is one remarkable thing, she discovers. Something otherworldly.

But if you leave Indianola, you forget about it… and if you stay, you have to live with it every day.

Because there’s a confluence of energies at Indianola, a fissure in time and space, a gap in reality. Nothing is as it seems. And unless Claire can figure out this town–the talkative lizards under the pecan trees; the honey-sweet but terrifying girl next door; the cute daughter of a powerful family, who would answer Claire’s questions if she had any answers; the pervasive sense of history coming unspooled, like a video tape–she might never leave.

Featuring a mindbending plot, heartfelt queer romance, brilliant writing, and intricate worldbuilding, Forget This Ever Happened is a lush and thrilling genre-bender perfect for the Black Mirror generation.

About The Author

Cassandra Rose Clarke’s work has placed in the Rhysling Awards and beennominated for the PhilipK. Dick Award, the Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award, the Pushcart Prize, and YALSA’s BestFiction for Young Adults.She grew up in south Texas andcurrently lives in Houston, where shewrites and serves as the associate director for Writespace, a literary arts nonprofit. She holds anM.A. in creative writing from The University of Texas at Austin, and in 2010 she attended the ClarionWest Writer’s Workshop in Seattle.Her latest novel is Halo: Battle Born, out now from Scholastic.
Cassandra Rose Clarke

Review

Forget This Ever Happened has such an interesting an unique premise for those who enjoy YA mysteries with a bit of a sci-fi twist. We start off in a small Texas town in 1993, and for starters, I loved experiencing a YA book in a different era. With the exception of historical YA fiction, I feel like it’s rare to see YA books in decades other than the present. This added several details and interesting elements to this book to make it more fun.

It doesn’t take long before this book begins to enter the mysteries behind the town. And not only do you have the core mystery of what’s happening in Indianola, but you also have the exploration of the families within town and what their histories really are. For this reason, it was hard for me to put the book down – I only really did so when I was too tired to keep reading! This is the kind of book where you get more questions with every answer, and with the supernatural twist you can only keep reading because you don’t know what to expect next.

I also really liked the relationship and the exploration of identity in this book. While this book is overall a light read and doesn’t go too deep into this part of the story, I liked the way the characters began to think about themselves and each other differently over the course of the summer.

I do wish that we got to learn a little more about the monsters though! I loved the oddities surrounding them and I was hoping to learn a little more of their history. I definitely enjoyed the scenes with them as they provided such an eerie vibe to this whole book and would have loved to get a little more time with them or have them be more developed in general – whether that was more dialogue with them or something like Claire and Julie searching previous records at the station.

Overall, Forget This Ever Happened was a pretty unique read! It’s delightfully weird and eerie and works well for YA readers that are looking for a light mystery with some spooky elements.

Book Look

I originally wanted to do some outfits for Forget This Ever Happened – I thought some 90s styles would be super fun! But Audrey’s outfits were a major challenge for me, given that most of my wardrobe containers darker colors.

So, instead I went for makeup look inspired by the cover! My makeup skills really aren’t that great either, but it was fun attempting some color since I don’t normally do that either. I managed to make some pink eyeliner by wetting some pink eyeshadow, then I outlined it with my real eyeliner to touch up the shape. I usually wear thick eyeliner already, but putting on the liner made me think of Julie in the scene where we’re introduced to her! Then I added some blue glitter eyeshadow to my inner corner since there’s a bit of blue in the cover as well. Although you can’t see it as  well and that’s okay because eyeshadow is hard for me 🙈

I also used some pink lipgloss, which is probably the most Audrey thing I own! On a side note, I’m so glad there are lip gloss formulas now that aren’t so sticky! I’m not sure if I’ve ever been able to wear it without my hair constantly getting stuck to it, but regardless, it was a 90s staple that seemed like the perfect pair to go with this book look.

Anyway, here’s the look!

Forget This Ever Happened Book lookForget This Ever Happened Book Look

Tour Schedule

Blog Schedule

October 5th
TBR and Beyond – Welcome Post
Rajiv’s Reviews – Review
Kait Plus Books – Review, Favourite Quotes & Interview

October 6th
Yours A-fiction-ately – Review & Favourite Quotes
Stocked Up on Starbooks – Review
Storme Reads A Lot – Excerpt & Promotional Post
Julie Anna’s Books – Review & Book Look

October 7th
The Tattooed Librarian – Review, Favorite Quotes & Playlist
The Writer’s Alley – Review, Mood Board & Top 5 Reasons to Forget This Ever Happened
Mahkjchi’s Not-So-Secret Books – Review & Favourite Quotes

October 8th
Justice For Readers – Review, Mood Board & Interview
PopTheButterfly Reads – Review
Manic Femme – Top 5 Reasons to Read Forget this Ever Happened

October 9th
Forthenovellovers – Review
Fangirl Pixie Blog – Promotional Post
Page by Paige Books – Review, Mood Board & Top 5 Reasons to Forget This Ever Happened
Forever In A Story – Review, Favourite Quotes & Top 5 Reasons to Forget This Ever Happened

October 10th
Young at Heart Reader – Promo Post
Moonlight Rendezvous – Review & Favourite Quotes
Notes From a Paper Plane Nomad – Review, Favourite Quotes & Top 5 Reasons to Forget This Ever Happened
Lizzy Writes Reviews – Review

October 11th
Enthralled Bookworm – Interview
The Book Dutchesses – Promo Post
Paperback Jedi – Review, Favourite Quotes & Playlist

Bookstagram Schedule

October 5th
TBR and Beyond (Blogger’s choice)
Rajiv’s Reviews (Blogger’s choice)
Tasting Pages (Review)

October 6th
Yours A-fiction-ately (Blogger’s choice)
Julie Anna’s Books (Blogger’s choice)
Kathreadsya (Review)

October 7th
The Tattooed Librarian (Blogger’s choice)
The Writer’s Alley (Blogger’s choice)
Mahkjchi’s Not-So-Secret Books (Blogger’s choice)
Pagcturncr (Review)

October 8th
Justice For Readers (Blogger’s choice)
Popthebutterfly Reads (Blogger’s choice)
Manic Femme (Blogger’s choice)
Paddy Pikala (Review)

October 9th
Fangirl Pixie Blog (Blogger’s choice)
Page by Paige Books (Blogger’s choice)
Forever In A Story (Blogger’s choice)
Books and Dice (Review & Favorite Quotes)

October 10th
Young at Heart Reader (Blogger’s choice)
Moonlight Rendezvous (Blogger’s choice)
Notes From a Paper Plane Nomad (Blogger’s choice)
Lizzy Writes Reviews (Blogger’s choice)

October 11th
Enthralled Bookworm (Blogger’s choice)
The Book Dutchesses (Blogger’s choice)
Paperback Jedi (Blogger’s choice)

Giveaway

You can enter to win a copy of Forget This Ever Happened! The giveaway ends October 12th.

Let's Chat

Do you enjoy reading mash-ups of different genres? If so, what do you like? I enjoy a mix of sci-fi with just about everything! But I think my favorite is space opera mixed with horror!

Julie Anna
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