Forgetting What I Couldn't Remember

The Rewind Duology, Book 1

By: Angelina Singer

Narrated by: Chelsea Kwoka

Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

"Maybe getting older lets you finally see all sides of the dice - not just the ones that are facing up."

Vera Bartlet is a soon-to-be college graduate with absolutely no idea how messy her life is about to become. It’s not just the job search looming on the horizon or her lack of a boyfriend that’s got her stomach in knots - rather, her dad has been missing for almost a decade, and no one knows what happened to him.

When Uncle Edgar mysteriously arrives back onto the scene, he comes armed with some interesting new ideas about what may have happened to Vera’s dad - and an even more revolutionary idea of how to find him. With nothing short of bending time and space, Edgar sends Vera back in time in the hopes that she might find the clues they need to get her dad home.

As she sifts through the mangled pieces of reality and her altered memories of middle school drama become jumbled in between truth and fantasy, Vera has to choose which elements of her past should stay in the past, and which she might like to incorporate into her future. Time travel is never simple, and there are always side effects - but in this case, it might just hold the key to finding her dad. Will Vera stay sane long enough to find her dad and make peace with the bullies who made her miserable?

©2019 Angelina Singer (P)2020 Angelina Singer

Entertaining, but a little improbable

There is a lot to love about this audiobook, and the best of it is Singer's writing voice. Sprinkled throughout Forgetting What I Couldn't Remember are punchy, direct lines that are memorable, real, and entertaining. She knows it too, as many of them are chapter titles that give you a reason to wonder how she'll creatively weave them into the story. It was a joy to run into them as I went through. One of my favorites was "moms are people too" because, a) I'm a person who is also a mom, and b) it was applied so well in its context, like the rest of them were. The characters were great as well, bursting with distinct personalities that jumped right out of the story. I also loved how genuine Singer's love for punk rock and 2000s culture comes off. It totally warmed my millennial heart and it was effortless!

The narrator, Kwoka, was also a delight to listen to. Her voices for each of the characters were distinct and appropriate and her energy was phenomenal, besides her voice being pleasant to listen to in general. It was easy to be immersed in the scenes.

What was challenging for me in this book can be summed up in a quote by Oscar Wilde. "Man can believe the impossible, but man can never believe the improbable." It wasn't hard at all to believe the time travel (which has really interesting mechanics!) nor was it hard to believe all the sci-fi corrupt organization stuff that appeared later. But some of the events, the characters' responses to them, and the connection of Vera's real reality with the science fiction reality were hard to believe. For instance, there was a date scene that, while well-written, was out of place in the overall story because it didn't actually affect Vera's time travel/sci-fi adventure at all. A lot of the story felt like, even if the impossible things did happen, they wouldn't have unfolded in that way. This, of course, is my own opinion and certainly may vary depending on the reader.

Knowing Singer, and listening to the insightful author's note at the end, I have to say that I adore her honesty and care in this book. It's a worthy read if given the chance.

One Amazing Adventure

This young adult novel is the first one in the "Rewind Duology". It's all about fun and entertainment: action, time-travel, middle school memories, romance, friendship, family and the list goes long!

Vera, the protagonist, is attending her last year of college and racking her brain about her career like every final year student. Her family isn't exactly the kind that you think of when you think of a good upbringing. Her father abandoned her family few years ago and their life has never been the same. But her mother was a strong woman who worked away her entire life to give her and her elder brother a good life.

This incident scarred Vera for life. Her family was all that she was committed to, so being in a relationship was out of the question...yet. She now spares the prime of her life wondering if she is pretty enough to find that special one. But this isn't her biggest problem. Edgar, her uncle, makes a come back into their lives after a very long time and nobody is exactly happy about this arrival. She has her suspicions about this unfamiliar concern and she turns out right.

He kidnaps her, but SHE has to bid for him! Edgar came with an unexpected invention - time travel! He sends Vera back to the time she was in school. He sees what she lived through -the bullying and lost friendships.

Will she ever recover from the shock and confusion of that short journey? What will she find about her lost father? Does she have to live with those bullies all over again? Hooked?

This book made me think of all the Sci-fi and action movies I have ever seen. The narrator Chelsea Kwoka did an amazing job to keep it entertaining.The author bought us into the world of friendship and family and, how one girl and her brother can come up with ideas you probably wouldn't deem possible on a regular day!

I finished the whole book in two days!

This was quite an enjoyable read for me! The main characters are lovable, and the plot thoughtfully develops and evolves with every chapter. Can’t wait for a part 2!

Amazing Story!

This book was full of twists and turns. I love that Angelina can take a story and incorporate so many different genres into it. There was fantasy, romance, sci-do, you name it. Chelsea was an amazing narrator (like superb) and made the story come alive. Highly recommend as a audiobook!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Awesome!

Angelina did such an awesome job writing this story! It had great detail, plot, mystery, and a little romance sprinkled in. I loved how the book made me think back to my childhood and made me question what I would do if given the same choices that Vera had. I love the fact that she states how connected she is to the story!
Chelsea Kwoka was a phenomenal narrator!

A coming of age story and a dystopian subplot

Angelina is a good friend of mine and reading how much she has grown as a writer AND as a person has been incredible. This book is witty and has a cool plot and relatable characters. The time travel, the foreshadowing, and the emotions shown throughout this whole book were so cleverly thought out and awesome that I was blown away that this is just an indie book. I guess I shouldn't say "just" because this book is amazing. I would give it a go if you like coming of age stories with dystopian undertones, because that's exactly what this book is. The cover is so bright, and at first I didn't get the walrus tail, but at the end once it was revealed, I applaud the thought and work put into this novel. Congrats Angie on your 5th book. Im not trying to sound biased, but in every honestly I really did love this book. Chelsea also did an amazing job and really helped bring the story to life.

such a great story!

Thrilling from start to end! This is such a different take on your typical time travel story. I love the message, and feel many people who have been bullied can find refuge in this story