11 Paper Hearts by Kelsey Hartwell

The Quick Cut: A girl with amnesia after an accident finds herself wrapped up in the mystery of her past when she starts receiving paper hearts from an admirer. A Real Review: The brain is the most complex organ in the human body. It's smaller than a supercomputer, yet has all the same processing power of one. So for how much that it handles, it is no surprise that when things go wrong it can be the hardest to correct. What would you do if you found yourself wondering what happened to you? How would you cope when your brain found itself not quite in control? This is the case for Ella. Ella has everything you could ever hope for as a teenager. Great friends, perfect boyfriend, and a future looking brighter than ever. However, a car accident leaves her with retrograde amnesia and wondering what happened to the life she had. She apparently broke up with her perfect boyfriends weeks before the accident and yet was in love with someone. She was getting ready to go to the school dance and yet did not do it with her best friend. Then, she starts receiving mysterious paper hearts from a secret admirer. Is her ex sending her the hearts to get back together? Or is there someone new that is trying to work their way back into her good graces? This is such a sweet story and I wanted to give it a 5 out of 5 so badly. At the end of the book, though - I just couldn't justify it. While it is adorable, quick, and has you swooning at all the right parts, it is still problematic for a few reasons. First off, a few early mistakes in the book pulled me out of the story. It has a prologue, but no chapter 1. A few typos crop up in the second chapter, one involving the name of a character. Small things, sure. However, for someone like me - it bugged me that these weren't caught in the editing phase before publishing. Then again, I was the person in college who proofread her textbook for fun in class.... so this is likely just a me issue. Secondly, the story is a happy one. Great right? The big problem is that it's also highly predictable. Any savvy reader is going to see right through the material and be able to see the ending coming from a mile away. If you're looking for something to sink yourself into and not think too much - this will fit the bill. Anyone who enjoys a story and all the magic of unraveling the tale is going to be frustrated though. This particular sticking point will differ depending on your reading style. Ella is relatable for what she is going through. She's always had such close friends and a life that she spent going through the motions with. Why wouldn't you do that when you had everything you wanted? Waking up to a very different life than she remembered would be strange. To have that happen and then suddenly start receiving mysterious messages? Who wouldn't be curious how those connect to what she doesn't remember. You'll get invested in what's happening to her based on that alone. I like the way the author handles the retrograde amnesia, but it feels a bit too much like a trope overall. It's nice to see someone talk about amnesia without making it look like you forget EVERYTHING about your life when it happens. Amnesia can look very different case to case. That being said, there is a lot about the reality of amnesia that the author doesn't include. Sometimes therapy is used to help recover from what's happened. It would have been nice to feel like the amnesia was more than just a reason for the plot to work. A cute story where you can predict the ending easily. My rating: 4 out of 5