My sincere thanks to Revell and Library Thing Early Reviewers for giving me the opportunity to read With Every Memory and give my unbiased opinion of it in the following review.

With Every Memory by Janine Rosche
Lori and Michael are married parents of twins Austin and Avery when a tragic accident claims the life of their son Austin and the last 9 years of Lori's memory. The book begins a year after the accident. Lori is returning home to her new reality. What will come out as her memories return? Will it bring her family together, or pull them apart?

The story is told in alternating points of view from both Lori and Avery. It is easy to read and at times heartbreaking. While I tend to shy away from stories containing a lot of heavy subject matter and sadness, I was truly drawn in by this one. I wasn't surprised by a lot, but still felt it was well written believable. I look forward to exploring more titles by Janine Rosche. ( )

One year ago the Mendenhall family suffered a devastating car accident, which killed the teenage son, Austin, and left the mother, Lori, badly injured and dealing with the loss of the last nine years of her memories. Now as Lori returns home from her care facility, she finds her relationships with her husband, Michael, and daughter, Avery, strained both by grief and in ways she no longer has context for. She struggles to understand the woman she became in the missing nine years and to uncover the source of her family's dysfunction which both her slowly healing mind and her husband seem intent on keeping hidden. At the same time, Avery, Austin's twin, must begin to pull herself out of her self-imposed isolation and redefine herself without her twin and the friends who abandoned her during her grief.

Despite the compelling premise, this book was only a 2.5 read for me. I generally felt apathetic towards all the characters, which was unfortunate for such a character-focused story framed around heavy emotions -- grief, loss, and the way relationships can crumble or reform. The characters' actions and emotional ups and downs - even those of the point-of-view characters - felt arbitrary, more so the further the story went on. At times I was also surprised by how little weight Austin's death had in the story. Michael seemed to have no raw emotions about it at all, despite being the most directly responsible for Austin's death, and Lori came across the same way at times. I had to keep reminding myself, 'it's been a year, feelings dull,' but it still came off as odd given the framing of the story. I think it was a product of trying to do too much in not enough space. If this had just been Lori's story or just Avery's, there might have been more balance between their rebuilding of surviving relationships and exploring of grief as well as more chance to bring out their character. ( )

This novel reminded me of the tragic yet upbeat, endearing 1991 Harrison Ford film Regarding Henry. In the movie Harrison Ford, the main character suffers a catastrophic brain injury, he must relearn everything because he has no memory of who he was, what he enjoyed, or who he knew before the injury.

These are the same issues the main character, Lori Mendenhall deals with. I liked how the narrative was told from the perspectives of two different characters—Lori, and Avery, her daughter.

The story starts off a year after the tragedy that left Lori with a severe brain injury and her young son dead. Lori finds life difficult because she has problems remembering the previous seven years.

Michael, Lori’s husband, sees his wife's memory impairment as a chance to restart their relationship. Blaming himself for the accident isn't helping. He's unsure what to do. Then there is Avery, a temperamental adolescent who lost her twin brother and best buddy

Michael is making every effort to take care of his wife. Since her twin brother's funeral, Avery, has been stuck and confines herself to her room. Lori is also trapped. She tries to understand her relationship with her immediate family and friends. She’s at a loss for what to do.

This author has masterfully created an emotional story that captivated me. I couldn't stop turning the pages to find out whether Lori would fully recover, whether her marriage could endure, and whether Avery would be able to graduate with her class. If you like stories that explore loss, family dynamics, and various mysteries. This story will interest you. It will work well for your book club too.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I requested and received a copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Nora St. Laurent
TBCN Where Book Fun Begins!
The Book Club Network blog https://psalm516.blogspot.com/ ( )

This wonderful tale demonstrates how adversity can lead to recovery and the development of trust. Although the story doesn't focus much on religion, it does provide useful examples of forgiving others, letting go of the past, and cherishing memories. Overall, I thought it was a really well-written and good novel. I believe the author did a great job with the issues she covered because it was something fresh for me. I recommend picking this up if you like women's fiction. ( )

This novel will grip you from the beginning and stay with you long after you finish the last page. I cried by page 12! This isn’t a typical genre I read, but I found myself greatly enjoying the depth and growth of the characters and their struggles. I was pulled into the emotion of the story and had a really hard time putting the book down. There were a few surprising twists that additionally kept my attention. The author does have a content warning at the beginning of the book, and I thought she handled these sensitive topics very well. I do wish she had incorporated a bit more Christian themes and hope in the midst of the struggles. This is a heavy book but good and well worth the read. Recommended!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell Publishing. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. ( )