The Book:
Six Months Later by Natalie D Richards, 2020
The Characters:
Chloe
Her best friend Maggie
Her boyfriend Blake
Her classmate Adam
Get it on Amazon.
The Plot (from Goodreads):
When Chloe fell asleep in study hall, it was the middle of May. But when she wakes up, snow is on the ground, and she can’t remember the last six months.
Before, she’d been a mediocre student. Now, she’s on track for valedictorian and being recruited by Ivy League schools.
Before, she never had a chance with sports star Blake. Now he’s her boyfriend.
Before, she and Maggie were inseparable. Now her best friend won’t speak to her.
What happened to her? Remembering the truth could be more dangerous than she’d ever imagined.
The Ending:
I should have written this sooner because I can’t remember everything, but I think Chloe’s therapist was drugging the students and Blake’s dad was funding it. It was an experimental drug to make the kids better students. It worked, but had some terrible side effects like Chloe’s loss of memory and the other girl’s mental breakdown. Adam had been hired to keep an eye on Chloe or something.
Please correct me if I’m wrong!
The Review:
I loved the premise of losing a huge chunk of memories and having to act normal while Chloe tried to figure out what happened. The opening of the book did an excellent job of engaging me–I was eager to figure out what had happened to Chloe.
I’m conflicted on whether I liked Chloe. You could really feel her confusion and anxiety that she is in fact going crazy. At the same time, she didn’t really seem to try all that hard to figure out what had happened to her. I was trying to think what I would do, and decided I would definitely not keep it a secret. I would for sure tell my boyfriend and my family, and not just try to go on with life as normal. That all seemed pretty unrealistic to me.
Overall, it was an interesting enough book, but nothing to write home about. I don’t remember having any strong feeling about it either way, and I only read it a couple of weeks ago. Granted, I do have a terrible memory, but if I either loved or hated a book it usually sticks with me. I enjoyed Five Total Strangers by the same author a lot more.
