Oh my I’ve never read a Dani Atkins book and I couldn’t put it down. I smiled and I cried at Lexi and Amelia’s beautiful story. The whole book had love at the heart of all elements and I enjoyed the supernatural aspect of the book. I look forward to reading more of Dani Atkins books

Initially this was a bit of a slow burn. But then the pace stepped up and everything was what I have come to expect of books written by this author.
There was so much to like about it. A slightly different type of love story running alongside the storyline of a close family (mother and two daughters) whose lives are turned upside down by one of the daughters having an accident and the repercussions of that. There were movements of sadness which made me cry and those of happiness making me smile. The characters were brilliant and so realistic. The depth of love between the sisters was strong and heartwarming.
Not wanting to give any spoilers away in this review there was plenty more to enjoy.
I absolutely loved this book and cannot recommend it enough.
5 stars

In a Nutshell: There are some beautiful moments herein, but on the whole, it was a mixed read for me. If you are prepared for a whole load of suspension of disbelief, this will work better for you. And if you enjoy cutesy + emotional books, this might even be a winner.


Plot Preview:
Somerset. When Amelia is found unconscious with no discernible pulse on the mudflats outside her home, it is almost a miracle that she survives. When her younger sister Lexi rushes over from New York, she finds Amelia in the hospital but with false memories of being happily married to someone named Sam. Neither Lexi nor their mother have any knowledge of a ‘Sam’ in Amelia’s life.
Determined to help her sister, Lexi ropes in a local vet named Nick, who bears a striking resemblance to the non-existent Sam and gets him to recreate some of Amelia’s dream dates with Sam, in a bid to help her “remember”. But (as you might have rightly guessed), Lexi soon finds herself falling for Nick. Can they have a future together when Amelia thinks she is married to him?
The story comes to us in Lexi’s first person perspective.

Bookish Yays:
😍 The prologue: Utterly marvellous in its description and action. It is a treat when authors use the prologue well without merely repeating some future event from the plot.
😍 Nick: Too goody-goody to be real, but this book required someone like him for strength and steadiness, and he delivers what is required.
😍 The emotions: The book covers an entire spectrum of human emotions, mostly resulting from Amelia’s diagnosis and the family’s reaction to the same.

Bookish Mixed Bags:
😐 Lexi: Loved her sincerity, her emotions, her strong feelings for her family, and her determination to do anything to make Amelia happy. But I simply couldn’t believe she was 31; she never acted her age.
😐 The other characters: Amelia is impressive but we don’t really understand her or her decisions. The girls’ mum, who is “Mum” for almost the entire book, has a powerful role, but her portrayal was somewhat unsteady. She was one character with an amazing potential that was not realised. Amelia’s neighbour Tom is the only other major character. He was a typical coconut with a grumpy exterior and a soft heart. While I liked him, I wish his depiction hadn’t been so clichéd.
😐 The twin bond: Amelia and Lexi are supposed to be twins but born eight years apart. (Twin eggs separately implanted through IVF.) I liked how the book uses their “twin sense” to understand each other’s feelings, but the story never explains why their parents, so desperate to have children, waited eight years before going ahead with the second egg implantation.
😐 The mishmash of genres: The book tries to be a medical fiction, a family drama, and a romance all at once. The medical part was decent, and the family drama was quite good – both of which were reasons I picked up this book in the first place. Unfortunately for me, it spends most time on the romance.
😐 The romance: The connection between Nick and Lexi is written very well, with some sweet moments and fun banter. But it doesn’t help that we already know they will end up together. The middle section is too repetitive because of the elaborate detailing of their recreations of Amelia’s “dates with Sam”. There is also an extensive steamy scene that had nothing to offer to the core plot.
😐 The overload of themes: The story includes too many tropes, some of which are not even necessary to the main plot of Amelia’s health. It feels very cluttered. That said, a couple of the themes (can’t mention them as they come up towards the end) are well handled.
😐 Amelia’s imaginary marriage with Sam: The best and the worst feature of the book. It was intriguing to see how Amelia’s temporary “death” created such fake memories in her abut an entire life not lived. However, the resolution of this issue was eyeroll-inducing!
😐 Lexi’s first person perspective: As the entire story is from Lexi's pov, we feel her emotions as she goes through the uncertainty and frustration of her elder sister’s medical struggles and her growing feelings for Nick. Because we don't get a glimpse of what's going on in Amelia's mind, her struggles are known only to her, and we, just like Lexi, are on the outside, trying to make sense of what's happening. However, a part of me feels that at least some interlude chapters should have come from Amelia’s perspective. These would have added a greater poignancy to the story.
😐 The ending scenes: The final few chapters of the main plot and the epilogue are really beautiful, and if you are the crying type, these might even leave you sobbing. However, I hated that the ending left many things unexplained.

Bookish Nays:
😟 The time jumps: There’s no time/year reference anywhere, but many a time, months have passed. The epilogue even jumps years. Most of the time jumps happen in the final section. So the middle part feels dragged out and the finale feels rushed because of the quick span of months and years.
😟 The plotholes: The story disappoints in how much it leaves unsaid and also in how much it takes for granted. To give just two examples without going into spoilers, 1. We never know what Amelia was doing on the mudflats that ill-fated night. 2. Lexi’s plan to recreate photos based on Amelia’s description of her dates has one great flaw: Amelia was mostly describing her *imagined* dates with Sam, not the photos of the dates. How does Lexi know exactly how and where to recreate the pics, and more importantly, that there was a pic of the said date? (It is tough to accept that a couple took a pic of themselves while passionately kissing in heavy rain. Think about the poor phone! And the phone doesn’t get even a little waterlogged! What magical brand is it?)
😟 The plot jumps: Many events happen just in the background and we learn about them only later through the conversations. Some of these were crucial to the narrative, such as how Amelia never realises that her house has nothing owned by “Sam.”
😟 The suspension of disbelief required: There is no way to accept the plot without keeping your head firmly locked up. My heart did enjoy the initial part of the read, and did its best to ignore my head going “But… but… but…” BUT after a point, even my heart felt tired of being flexible about the proceedings. The whole thing was too farfetched!

This was my first book of this well-rated author, and based on this experience, I feel like she is good in writing human emotions but I am not the right reader for her works. Such stories require readers to listen only to their heart while ignoring their head, and I simply can’t do that.
Nevertheless, there are some truly touching moments in the story. So if you can go into this book ready to suspend disbelief and not ask too many hows and whys, you will surely have a better experience than I did.

2.5 stars, rounding up because I think it will work better for the right reader.

My thanks to Aria & Aries, The Pigeonhole, and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Memory of Us”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

3.5 stars I didn't like the ending especially because Holly was never mentioned again. The rest of the book was okay but not good enough to make me forgive the ending

I can never resist a book by Dani Atkins. I always know that I will be in for an emotional and heartrending read and The Memory of Us didn’t let me down.

There may be a few years between them but twins Amelia and Lexi have a special bond. Amelia is the oldest who has traditionally looked out for her younger sister however when Amelia is found in the most desperate of situations it is Lexi, together with her mother, who must be the protector. The only difficulty is that Lexi lives and works thousands of miles away in New York and needs to put her life and publishing career on hold with no idea as to when she will return.

The story is focused around memories, but not all of them will be true. How far would you go to ensure not just the physical but also the mental recovery of a loved one. Lexi realises that in order to assist Amelia’s recovery and her wellbeing, she has to go above and beyond but needs the help of someone else. There are some aspects of Lexi’s mission where you might just have to go with the flow but I just immersed myself in the story with the desire to know how everything unfolded.

Dani Atkins knows how to write an emotional story that slips effortlessly from sadness to humour. There are some fabulous characters – Amelia we don’t get to know quite so well because much of the story is told from Lexi’s perspective but the relationships there, both old and new, are touching and poignant, whatever the age. I also fell in love with Nick – he is the perfect book boyfriend!

The Memory of Us has so much to enjoy. A heartrending story of drama and romance with characters that are sympathetic and compassionate. As ever with a book by Dani Atkins the reader is taken on an emotional rollercoaster and for me she is very much a ‘must read’ author.

The Memory of Us explores a very deep sisterly bond and had me shedding a tear at points.
I have to say I was more of a fan of the Lexi / Nick thread of the book, I found Amelia and Sam irritating, it was so far fetched however it all wrapped up in the end and the last 60% had me gripped!

I loved the epilogue even though I really wanted to know the outcome written on the letter!

Although this wasn’t my favourite Dani Atkins book, I will definitely recommend it.

I really adored this story and couldn't put it down,
Amelia had an accident which ended with her in hospital, she had been saved just in time, Her sister Lexi makes her way back from New York to be by her side and very quickly they realised that Amelia had no memory of her life, but instead could remember a whole life that just wasn't her own.

I wasn't sure where the story was going and at the beginning it felt a little eerie, especially since Amelia had a whole fake memory of a life she wasn't living!

Highly recommend!

This story started a bit slow after the initial excitement of Amelia's incident and hospitalization. There's the set up of the story where some of the sister's history is told, the recalling of dreams of another life with her nonexistent husband, then Lexi finds veterinarian Nick and things started to get more interesting/complicated. I didn't completely agree with Lexi's plan and thought it would only confuse Amelia even more and then denying her own feelings toward Nick even if she's trying not to hurt her sister just seemed selfish and unfair to the poor man. Overall it's more family drama than romance and I didn't really like the open ended conclusion to the story. Just an ok read for me.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is probably a 3.5 star read for me. I quite enjoyed it, but it doesn’t bear scrutiny in terms of the plot.
Amelia is found dead on the beach and is revived by two doctors who are out fishing. Her sister Lexi (an identical twin born 7 years after her though IVF), rushes to her bedside from her swanky home and job in NYC. When Amelia wakes up she wants to know where her husband Sam is. Only Amelia has never been married.
I think at this point the book could have gone in multiple directions. Lexi finds a man who meets the description of Sam and recreates magical romantic moments described by Amelia. With the inevitable outcome that she falls in love with him. There are more plot twists and turns, medical drama, and crises of identity. There’s a romance for their mum too. It’s quite the rollercoaster.
This is, in fact, quite a mad book in many ways. Lexi makes some quite odd choices, and Nick (alternative Sam) just goes along with a lot of very interesting ideas. Supporting Amelia in what appears to be a delusion seems a bad idea, although without it, there would be no book. Despite the challenges of the plot, I actually quite enjoyed this. It’s quite sweet, and a different concept for a romantic novel. I imagine I won’t forget it any time soon, which is not the case for all these genre books. It’s a bit of a confusing one. Probably worth it if you love the author’s previous books.

I’d like to thank Aria & Aries and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Memory of Us’ written by Dani Atkins in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Two doctors on a fishing trip catch a glimpse of a woman unconscious on mudflats and manage to get her heart beating again. When the woman, Amelia, regains consciousness in hospital she recollects false memories including being married to a man called Sam. Despite her younger sister Lexi knowing that Sam doesn’t exist, she’ll do whatever she can to recreate him even if it means finding a stranger to take on his identity.

‘The Memory Of Us’ is an exceptional love story that describes the special relationship between two sisters who are IVF twins but born eight years apart. I’ve been gripped from the start as Lexi strives to correct Amelia’s false memories by finding a man who looks like Sam, not realising that it might not be in her sister’s best interests. I’ve loved every story that Dani Atkins has written but this beautifully written novel must rate as one of her best and I’m so grateful that Aria & Aries have allowed me to read it. It’s been a joy to read and is worth far more than the five stars I’m allowed to give and while I wholeheartedly recommend this novel I do suggest having a good supply of tissues to hand as they’ll definitely be needed.

Another beautiful and will written book from Dani, with twists and turns that keeps you continually reading the book to the end. Thank you for the ARC.

As with all of Dani Atkins novels this is beautifully written from the heart and has family and love at the very centre of it.

Amelia and Lexi are sisters, twins but from ivf eggs fertilised at different times in their parents lives. When older sister Amelia is found unresponsive on a beach near her home, Lexi flies from New York back home to the UK to be with her.

Amelia wakes believing that she is married to a handsome man called Sam and Lexi believes she must encourage this to help her sisters recovery. In the process Lexi meets dashing vet Nick and the real love story, beside the tragedy of Amelia’s diagnosis, begins.

An emotional and interesting story and one that I found at first was a little difficult to understand. Maybe being a twin would make me feel differently but I went with the story and was blinding along with happy and sad tears at the final chapters.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

What an emotional rollercoaster!
This story delves into the strong bond between twins Amelia and Lexi, born 8 years apart..
When Amelia is found unresponsive on the mudflats near her cottage, twin Lexi rushes over from America to be by her side. As Amelia
finally recovers consciousness, she remembers false memories and is adamant that she is married and even draws a picture of her ‘husband’.
When Lexi meets the man in the picture the real problems begin.
I loved this book; it made me laugh and cry and allowed me to make my own decisions at the end.
I have read previous books by Dani Atkins and can recommend them all.

Oh my goodness what a book it has everything romance, sadness and laughs one of the best books I have read.

Lexie lives in New York as an editor when she gets a phone call from her Mum saying her sister Mimi is in hospital. She goes flys back to be by her sister’s side. She Mimi wakes up she seems to think she is married and keeps asking for Sam her husband. Lexie meets Nick who is the spitting image of Sam from what Mimi had described. Lexie and Nick help recreate the things that Mimi said she and Sam did on dates.

It was very emotional and you will need tissues at the ready. It was like a rollercoaster one minute happy the next sad.

I would recommend this book would be a lovely film to make on this book.

I do not think I have ever read a Dani Atkins novel before. She has a very easy style of writing and a smooth way of telling a story. I thought I was going to be reading a simple family story and love story. I was wrong! Best friends and sisterly love are there for each other the length of what you do for family. Lovely concept. Plot twist sister is diagnosed with SPOILER ALERT FAD. Probably not the right choice for me to be reading as I just lost my mother to Alzheimer’s, but I continued. Atkins does not focus on the disease as much as she does about choices early detection and love.


Thank you #netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Aria Books for gifting me a digital ARC of this wonderful novel by Dani Atkins - 4.5 stars!

Amelia was found collapsed on the beach and is only alive due to two passing doctors who found her and restarted her heart. Her sister, Lexi, races from her home in NYC to be at her side. Amelia and Lexi are more than sisters - they are twins conceived by IVF and born 7 years apart, but they've always had that twin connection. When Amelia wakes up, she is convinced she is married to Sam and is distraught that he's not there. She's even able to draw a picture of him. But Lexi and her mom know that it's not true. However, walking on the beach later, Lexi sees a man who looks just like the picture of Sam that Amelia drew. She eventually convinces this stranger, Nick, to help her with a plan to recreate Amelia's memories.

I'm not always the biggest romance fan, but I loved this story. It's full of magical realism, heart, loyalty, and the connection between sisters. And while it may be a tad predictable, my heart was still fully engaged throughout and I dare anyone to not shed a few tears along the way! I haven't read any of this author's previous works but I can definitely recommend this one!

➡️ Did I like the book?

Never had I imagined I’d get stuck on the first question of my review format! Don’t worry and don’t run, I am not about to tell you The Memory of Us sucked. It didn’t. It doesn’t. It simply falls into the category of “books that should come with a warning: tissues needed” or “it will break your heart but you’ll love it” Like however. I can’t decide if the word is too strong or too weak. It just doesn’t feel right to associate “like” with The Memory of Us. This novel is a beautiful but tough slice of fiction that really hit close to home for me. So close it has now become part of my home. 

When I read the blurb, I was NOT expecting to 1) get so invested in Lexi’s quest to help her sister and her memory 2) find an adorable vet that would make me wish I had one just like that (sorry but not sorry, when you have fur babies, dating a vet is such a plus!!!!) 3) get one of the biggest plot-slap of my book reader’s career! I don’t feel like letting you on on the twist that got me all twisted and teary-eyed… and frankly sobbing because I would betray Lexi and Alexa. I refuse to do this. But we warned: the author knows how to create characters you fall for. She knows how to break hearts with a crystal-clear, heart-beating writing that makes you feel you’ve jumped right into the pages. If you are not ready for anything medical-related, come back to this book when you are in a better place. 

➡️ Did I enjoy reading it?

Apart from the moments when I had to blow my nose because I was full-on crying, yes, I did. Very much. Somerset, sisters with a special bond, charming men (in their own ways). And strong women. So strong.  Oh and don't worry, I might talk about tears a lot, but there are many awesome moments to make you smile and laugh too!

➡️ What did I feel?

A better question would be “what did I not feel?” !!!!!!! I remember being surprised when right from the beginning, I felt connected to Lexi. Was it the invisible string of all the souls who have left everything they knew to create a life a world away? Maybe. I definitely could relate to her anxiety at not being close to her family, the rush of coming back… and the shadow of having to go back to one’s life. I think that night on the beach, two hearts stopped beating. One literally. Both were shook back to reality and this story is about reconnecting, syncing, rediscovering one’s balanced heart beat. 

I read A Million Dreams by Dani Atkins and was swept away by her poignant writing and how she was able to convey so much without relying on the “tell, don’t show” In this novel, the magic happens again. I am in awe of the author’s way to paint life as it is, with its laughs, its emotions, its tears, its fears, all mixed up. Because we are all made up of a million things and we can’t really separate one from another. The yellow, the blue, the grey, the black. Dani Atkins does it all with such precision it cuts right to your heart. Seeing someone fear, fall in love, hope, try, and jump and step back and… You get the idea, seeing all of this served in such a beautiful yet realistic way was a gift. 

➡️ How would I describe it?

Better than onions to make you cry. Filled with love with a L. And Life.

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the story has you hooked from beginning to end. You will need tissues handy.

Lexi and Amelia are sisters and live in different countries. Lexi receives a call informing her that Amelia has been found on a beach on her own and taken into hospital.

When Amelia regains consciousness, her memory is so different that she informs her family that she’s married to Sam.

The story is about the bond of the sisters and the lengths they go to for each other.

I highly recommend this book.

Wow. What a book. The tension and story builds so much, it becomes unputtadownable. And get the tissues ready.
This story really twisted and turned and I was utterly captivated by it. I loved the story and bond between Amelia and Lexi. They are IVF twins born 8 years apart and live in separate countries when Lexi gets the call that Amelia has been found hypothermic and needing rescuitation on the beach. When she is brought back she has a very different memory of her past and she believes she was married to Sam.
The book features on the relationship between the sisters and what they will do for each other.
A brilliant book and I’d highly recommend. I think this book will stay with me for some time

What an original idea for a story. The strong bond between sisters, the bond between a mother and her daughters.
This is a tearjerker of a read.
The connection between Amelia and Lexi was so interesting- almost two like, they shared emotions and feelings all through their lives and Amelia’s accident was another link for them to work through.
I must admit I couldn’t quite get my head around Lexi’s method of helping her sister - but you can’t deny the love between them. The memories so clear in Amelia’s mind were so important in her recovery.
This is a true love story, and although I loved the Lexi and Nick thread, it was more about the bond between the sisters that gave me all the emotions.