About Books #16: Never Never

Sometimes your expectations are just too high. Whether you’re talking about people, events, or books, sometimes it’s better to go in expecting nothing. Less of a chance you’ll be disappointed, you know? As for this one, my first introduction to Colleen Hoovers work? Well, suffice it to say I’ll try not to cross her out based on my experience with Never Never.

Now, let me tell you first: I’ve heard a lot of good things about Colleen Hoover and her work. Some of my favourite booktubers and bookstagrammers love her. So when I got the chance to get a copy of Never Never via Kobo, of course I was all for it. What a let-down that was. I don’t know it’s just the fact that she co-wrote this with Tarryn Fisher (whom, admittedly, I’d never heard about before), or if it was just this book, but… well… Let’s just get to the review, shall we?

Plot

It’s an ordinary school day, for everyone but Silas and Charlie. They’ve just woken up in the middle of that day, but they have no idea who they are. Nothing. They don’t remember their friends, their families, or even each other. Which seems rather odd, considering they’ve apparently been friends since they could walk, and in love since they were 14. Together, they have to figure out exactly why they forgot everything, why they weren’t, maybe, as happy together as they thought they were, and just what exactly is going on with their lives.

Basically: romance meets mystery meets possible sci-fi meets definite amnesia. Sounds pretty great, right?

Characters

Silas seems to be a pretty great guy – sure, his dad looks at him with disappointment, he seems to have been treating the housekeeper rather badly, and apparently he cheated on his girlfriend, but oh well…
Now if only he could actually remember who he was.

Charlie doesn’t know who she is, either, appart from the fact that she seems to have had no personality at all, and that her sister hates her. Which is rather unfortunate, considering their mother is an alcoholic and their father is in prison. And why exactly does her mother absolutely hate Silas’ family?

Narration

This, in my opinion, is where it all went wrong. Having two characters being written by separate authors within the same book will usually go either really good, or really bad. In this case, it seemed to be the latter.

While the set-up for both the plot and the characters sounds amazing, the reality is a story that’s just rather boring. Maybe the two authors had some problems getting their stories coordinated, maybe they just don’t really work together. Either way, I found myself struggling (and eventually failing) to keep my interest in this story. And it wasn’t because of a lack of trying.

Overall: 2/5

The only reason I didn’t give this one 1 star out of 5, is that I simply didn’t dislike it enough for that. Sure, it didn’t manage to catch my attention beyond the idea and I felt kind of let down by the authors. And sure, I couldn’t even finish this one because the reading got to be such a task.

But, you know, I try to save my one star ratings for books that really did something wrong. This one? Just a huge waste of potential.

If you did like this one, or find yourself agreeing with every word of this review, be sure to let me know below! I am definitely aware that people seem to either love this one or feel very strongly apathetic towards it, so if you would like to see for yourself what all the fuss is about? You can find Never Never at thebookdepository! (affiliate link)

(Also: I ended up looking up what exactly caused the amnesia – curiosity killed the cat, I know. Suffice it to say: I’m so relieved I didn’t force myself to continue with the rest of this trilogy!)

-Saar