Brody, Jessica. Un Remembered.

Brody, Jessica.   Un Remembered.    Macmillan/Farrar Strauss  2013      307p  ISBN 978-0-374-37991-9        hs    Hardback      VG   Science fiction   

Bio- and genetic engineering seem to be the mainstays of many of this year’s new science fiction.  While the science behind this offering seems a little shaky, it provides an interesting premise and a satisfying romance.  This one transcends time, place and memory.  A crash survivor, “Violet,” is taken in by a foster family.  But a strange boy keeps following her, claiming that he is her soul mate, and that they have escaped from the future.  His characterization is a little thin, but Seraphina (Violet) and her foster brother Cody are well drawn and integral to the advancement of the plot.  That said, the romantic angle of the novel will attract Twilight fans and perhaps develop a new type of science fiction audience.  It is a decent read, but not on a par with several other new, and similar, science fiction novels, including Starters and Fox Forever.

Un Remembered would be a decent addition to science fiction collections.  The hint of romance will attract a different kind of reader. 

Summary: A sixteen-year-old girl is miraculously found alive in the wreckage of a downed plane.  Suffering from total amnesia, she knows nothing about herself.  But the strange boy who keeps following her seems to know who she is. 

Science fiction, Adventure                                        --Pat Naismith