Everyone We’ve Been by Sarah Everett (review)

Addie is immediately drawn to the cute guy on the bus, but she doesn’t get his name, and when the bus has an accident that lands the passengers in the hospital, he is not among them. After a few more encounters it becomes evident that she is the only one who sees him, and her family and friends worry that she may have some brain damage from the crash. Flashback to eighteen months ago: Addison meets Zach, who offers a pleasant diversion when he asks her to star in one of his homemade “horrody” films. Though he warns her that he is still in love with his former girlfriend, she can’t help falling for him, and he seems just as unable to resist her. Flash forward again: When Addie goes to a clinic that advertises neurological procedures, a slip-up by a receptionist leads her to realize that she has been to this clinic before and that the help they offer is to erase memories. Through chapters that alternate between the present and the recent past, readers follow Addie and Zach’s romance as it develops and then crashes and burns, but meanwhile they learn that Addie has had her memories erased not once but twice in the aftermath of situations that brought her to the brink of serious depression. The effect is that of a twofer, plotwise: a pretty standard romance is overlaid with moral and existential questions about the ethics of dealing with trauma and the way emotional difficulties shape our personalities. While the dual plots are interesting, the unfolding of the romance is slow and protracted, and other relationships are disappointingly underwritten. Nevertheless, patient readers, especially those who have had their own hearts broken, will have lots to think about when considering the wisdom of Addie’s decisions.