The secret history of us by Jessi Kirby

Standalone

Publisher: Harper Teen

Publication Date: august 1^st, 2017

Source: eArc from the publisher

Rating: 5 hearts

Synopsis (from goodreads)

Gorgeously written and emotionally charged, The Secret History of Us explores the difficult journey of a teenage girl who must piece her life together after losing her memory in a near-fatal accident.

When Olivia awakes in a hospital bed following a car accident that almost took her life, she can’t remember the details about how she got there. She figures the fog is just a symptom of being in a week-long coma, but as time goes on, she realizes she’s lost more than just the last several days of her life—she’s lost her memory of the last four years. Gone is any recollection of starting or graduating high school; the prom; or her steady boyfriend Matt. Trying to figure out who she is feels impossible when everyone keeps telling her who she was.

As Liv tries to block out what her family and friends say about who she used to be, the one person she hasn’t heard enough from is Walker, the guy who saved her the night her car was knocked off that bridge into the bay below. Walker is the hardened boy who’s been keeping his distance—and the only person Olivia inexplicably feels herself with. With her feelings growing for Walker, tensions rising with Matt, and secrets she can’t help but feel are being kept from her, Olivia must find her place in a life she doesn’t remember living.

Review

Olivia wakes up in the hospital; she doesn’t remember anything and finds that her parents and her best friend have changed. This is quite normal since she has not remembered anything for four years, she doesn’t remember her boyfriend either. Everyone told her what she was but Olivia didn’t feel comfortable with herself, she knew that basically she had already changed.

I liked Olivia very much, I understand all her fears quite easily, she lost 4 years of her life, it’s not insignificant, she no longer knows how to drive while she has her license, she doesn’t remember school that she had during her 4 years. Her life is complicated and I’m wholeheartedly with her. Olivia is a character with a fairly impressive strength of character, she gets to overcome the accident, she tries to understand several things and even if sometimes the choices she makes aren’t the right ones, she gets out grown.

Matt is her boyfriend, he hides a lot of things and it’s a thing that doesn’t go at all with Olivia, she has the impression that people lie to her or hide the essential while they speaks of her life. I haven’t really enjoyed Matt, I don’t find that he is interesting.

Walker isn’t very present but we talk a lot about him, we feel immediately that the story is more complex than it seems. Let me tell you right away that I was not surprised at all by the plot.

I liked the story and I liked that Olivia’s brother Sam explained that it was her second chance, that she could start all over again and make different choices. I found it interesting to see that Liv had already begun to change before the accident even if she didn’t remember it.

This is the first book of Jessi Kirby that I read and I like her pen very well, she wrote well and I managed very easily to put myself in Olivia’s place.

Quick Word: A story about second chances we sometimes have in life.

About the author

Jessi Kirby is a former English teacher and librarian. She lives in Orange County, CA with her husband and two kids, where she writes stories and runs the beach every day. Well, almost every day.

You can contact Jessi at jessi@jessikirby.com

Amazon – Goodreads