Review: Forgetting August by J.L. Berg

Title: Forgetting August
By: J.L. Berg
My Copy: Ebook from Publisher
The BookWhisperer's Rating: 

She can forgive, but can she forget?

Some days, Everly still thinks she sees him. In the food court at the mall, or in a car speeding past as the light changes. It only lasts a second, but when it happens, she slips back to a time when she was ruled-and nearly ruined-by August Kincaid. And it doesn't matter that she's moved on, that she's about to marry another man. In those moments the only thing she can do to regain control is take a deep breath and remind herself that August can't hurt her-because he's in a coma. Except that he's not anymore.

August is awake. With no memories, he sets out to solve the mystery of his lost life. He unearths a photograph of a beautiful redhead named Everly and knows instinctively that she's the key. But when he finds her, the August she describes is more monster than man.

Tortured by the thought of having hurt her, August wants only to become the man Everly deserves. As the new August emerges, Everly glimpses the person she first fell in love with. But can she trust that this August is real? When the final secret of their shared past is revealed, one of them will make a choice that changes their future forever . . .

Forgetting August is one of those books where even after finishing it you still are reeling from the emotions that it has bestowed on you.  I seriously felt everything throughout the course of this book.  At the beginning, I loved Everly and Ryan together.  He was so sweet and kind to her and it is exactly what she needed after learning about her past with August (needless to say that I hated August.)  Then the dice rolled and while I didn’t hate Ryan, I felt like maybe Everly and Ryan were good together but not great (at this point I still didn’t like August, but I didn’t hate him.)  And then it all changed – I wanted Everly and August together to have the life that they deserved to live and I felt so excited about this but scared at the same time because surely this couldn’t be a HEA so early on in the book.  Then the dice rolled again and everything changed and every emotion was felt while worlds were ripped apart.  This definitely kept things interesting, not knowing who you were voting for to succeed in Everly’s heart.

I will admit that at first, I did not like Everly.  She seemed very wishy-washy and I felt like she made bad decisions constantly.  But I will admit that my view of her changed the farther along I got into the book.  You start to realize that she is just as lost as August and even though the birdcage is open, she can never fly out and just be (referencing her tattoo.)  Everly is torn between two worlds, two men - she loves Ryan for the ability to be her safety net, everything she has ever needed and never had growing up. But she also loves August because deep down he is her one true love and the soul her heart yearns for. So this is what we, as the readers, do; we long for both, we cheer for both, and we hate for both. 

All these twist and turns have me sideswiped and the ending has left me with a craving of more.  I need to know what is going to happen!