WINNER of the Oldham Brilliant Books KS3 Award 2013
Minutes after Sophie visits her cousin Dani, Dani is dead. The police verdict? Suicide.
Once Sophie recovers from the shock, she knows instinctively that the verdict is wrong. But who could have wanted Dani dead? When she finds an incriminating memory stick in a pair of Dani’s jeans, Sophie decides to uncover the truth.
She asks her friend Reece for help and together they discover that Dani was involved with something very dark, something very dangerous. As they get in deeper they put themselves in huge danger too, accessing secret data, facing kidnapping attempts and worse – while also facing their feelings for each other…
Sophie needs to trust her instincts – and her heart.
Second novels are really hard. Anyone who says otherwise is lying. For the first time, you are writing to a brief/synopsis agreed by your publisher, you have a deadline and you have to deliver. And, as though you needed more pressure, Book 2 really needs to be BETTER than Book 1.
Forget Me Never was difficult to begin. I often struggle at the ideas stage and I was still feeling out my writing. In the end I decided to start with a classic crime plotline – the murder everyone dismisses as suicide.
Once again many of the places in the book – such as Hendon, Muswell Hill and Bournemouth – I know well. I had my aunt’s flat in mind when I wrote about the balcony Dani falls from, though I should point out that there have been no suspicious deaths there and that her balcony is very lovely! And without giving anything away, the episode at Brent Cross Shopping Centre is based on something that happened to me when I was little.
You can view the awesomely sinister trailer for Forget Me Never below. There’s also a great audio book version, which you can buy via Audible.
Reviews
“Forget Me Never is one of those really unexpected books that comes along and and whips the rug out of from under you… raw and powerful with an incredibly strong voice to carry us through the story. One moment my heart was pounding the next my eyes were stinging with tears. This book whizzed past in a blur as I gobbled up the words.”
“Forget Me Never covers a verity of topics…. There’s a major crime element to it …. also mental health, death, bereavement, friendship, love, family, foster care and a serious case of growing up and coming to terms with things. I really loved how it was all covered.”
“This is an entertaining combination of action and romance. The two main characters have strong voices and are pretty well-developed, with an interesting relationship which starts out as them trying to rebuild a friendship which had turned sour and then sees them having to work out exactly how they feel about each other.”