Book Review: "Remember Me" by Cheryl Robinson

Summary from BN.com: Mia Marks was an independent black girl from inner-city Detroit with an eye for the hottest fashions and a penchant for the good life. Danielle King was a soft-spoken suburban white girl with artistic ambitions. When they met at an all-girls Catholic high school, neither expected to form a deep bond that transcended race and background and lasted for years. And neither could have anticipated the one indiscretion that destroyed their friendship. Twenty years later, Danielle is a successful novelist living in Miami. Mia is a schoolteacher in Detroit. But they're still on common ground. Both are unhappily married and raising teenage daughters, and both are far to proud to make the first move to reconnect-until tragedy brings them back together in the most unexpected way. Now they must confront the past, discover its untold truths, and learn to survive the increasing complexities of their lives and of a friendship destined to endure.

This book brought upon feelings in me that very rarely happen. I see people do it all the time but I'm usually not able to say the same things because I usually end up doing well with picking books that I think suit me. I really hate to say that I wanted to throw this book across the room several times. I tried to like the story. Honestly, I did because I always enjoy stories with multicultural characters and interracial relationships. I felt that there was a lot of potential for the story but it just didn't go the direction that I felt would have best suited me.

I felt no sympathy for any of the main characters in the story. I found both Danielle and Mia to be unlikable characters and I felt nothing for them. I thought they were both extremely whiny and not considerate of anyone but themselves. Normally I always sympathize with the woman who is being cheated on by her husband but in this instance, I just didn't care. I'm not saying I liked Mia's husband (because I did not at all) but the way she handled it just turned me off. To begin with, I felt him to be a weak man. Every time he gave her an excuse, even AFTER she had hard core evidence, she just bought it or didn't want to deal with it. I think she was too dependent on the money that came with the relationship. It also completely baffles me as to why she kept having outside relationships with other men when she's mad at her husband for cheating on her. I absolutely hated how she treated her daughter and her boyfriend during Thanksgiving. That was appalling and embarrassing and I have no idea what came over her to speak to them that way. Danielle is not a likable character either. I did not like the way she treated her husband nor how she handled the rest of her extended family.

Throughout the entire book, we see how racial issues have affected the friendship between the women and how their families played a huge part in their decision to become friends. I realize that the way these women act is largely due to how they were raised and the social situations surrounding them. However I just felt that they were both very immature at how they handled things. To be honest, throughout the whole book I never really bought their friendship. The reason why they stopped being friends seemed like just an excuse to bring on the drama.

The only two characters who I wanted to know more about were their daughters, Tiffany and Alexa. These two young women seemed like they had more characterization and I wanted to know more about them as opposed to their mothers. However I just could not buy the end bit with Tiffany. It just seemed too good to bet true.

I'm not sure if it was because I had an ARC version of the book or if the story is just meant to be that way, but I felt like there wasn't any editing done on the story at all. Sentences were very choppy and I felt that the dialogue was just plain clunky. I truly tried to get into this book. I wouldn't have read it all the way through otherwise. In the end, this book just wasn't for me at all.

Remember Me by Cheryl Robinson is published by NAL Trade (2011)

This ARC was provided for a blog tour with TLC Book Tours