The Last Thing I Remember

Hunstanworth Village Hall Book Group received ten copies of this for the group.
'The Last Thing I Remember' is told from dual perspectives and alternating chapters focusing on two females, comatose Sarah who is struggling to piece together what has happened to her and to remember who she is, and Kelly a young schoolgirl who has a close link to Sarah.
Book Group members initially found Kelly's chapters difficult to read as there is a huge amount of swearing with almost every other work being f**K. But reading on we all warmed to Kelly and felt that the author had managed to give a realistic teen voice to this character.
The ending of the novel was felt to be fairly abrupt and as readers although we discovered what had happened and whodunit...some questions remained...what is going to happen to Sarah, will she gain consciousness (she remains in a coma throughout the novel - medical team and family see no signs of awareness or movement) or end up having her life support switched off, and will Kelly spill the beans?
Using Reading Group Questions found at the back of the novel we had a great discussion about: first impressions, bullying and 'lounge pants'!
Rating: The Book Group were almost unanimous in giving this book a high score as we all found it a gripping read and a fairly quick one too. Several 4 out of 5 scores and a couple of 3/3.5 out of 5 means that this has probably been the most well received of our books over the last two years.

This pacey page turner was an excellent choice for a fairly light read for our Book Group.
The novel is written through the eyes of not one, but two unreliable narrators. The dual first person narration was considered more successful by some than by others: either creating a realistic, teenage voice and a contrasting terrified and trapped young woman; or instead merely two indistinct voices and a device which limited character development.
The plot line certainly stimulated debate: the nightmare of being aware in a comatose body; the many manifestations of abuse - domestic, institutionalised and peer-based; the rights and wrongs in the revenge that Kelly and Sarah plan.
Overall an interesting first novel which certainly got us talking!