[ARC Review] Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover
Kenna has spent the last four years in prison, living with the guilt of accidentally killing her boyfriend. Now out and trying to make it on her own, Kenna returns to Scotty's hometown in hopes of finding some closure, a new start, and maybe the chance to finally meet her and Scotty's daughter. Taking from her immediately after birth while in prison, Diem is the missing piece to make Kenna feel whole again. But men like Ledger - Scotty's best friend - are standing in her way. A whole lot of people still hate and blame Kenna for what happened to Scotty, and Kenna soon realizes that the people that love her daughter the most are the ones who are most determined to keep mother and child apart. In Reminders of Him, Kenna and Ledger learn to put the past behind them in order to prove to everyone that people can change.
I found Reminders of Him to be at times harrowing and heartbreaking, with just enough happiness sprinkled among the darkness to keep me turning the page. Kenna's story is fraught with hang ups, obstacles, and trials around every corner; this girl just cannot catch a break. Kenna made a mistake when she was younger, and it will haunt her forever. I felt bad for Kenna; when she was struggling to find work because no one would take a chance on someone like her, I wanted to reach into the pages and force someone to see past her sentence. Kenna was very much broken - as anyone would be in that situation - and I was relieved that she was able to work through it.
I hated how mean Ledger could be to Kenna, especially in the beginning, but Hoover wrote him in a way that made him very relatable as well. I hated that he purposely kept Kenna from her daughter, but I also understood every reason he had for doing it. Hoover does a fantastic job at creating these dynamic characters that are so easy to both love and disagree with at the same time. All of these characters - from Kenna, to Ledger, to Scotty's parents - are all so perfectly imperfect in their handling of the situation and it made me love them and hate them all at the same time.
As with any Hoover novel, I went in expecting an easy to read story that would provide tears, heartache, and happiness. Once again, Hoover delivered on all these fronts. Is this my all time favorite Hoover story? No. But did it give me feelings and make me think about forgiveness and the perception of guilt? Definitely.
A huge thank you to Montlake for providing a review copy of Reminders of Him via Netgalley!
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Release date: 1/18/22
Format: eARC
eARC provided via: Netgalley
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