This summer she’s a counselor at Cumberland Creek summer camp, and she wants to put the past behind her. This summer Matt is back as a counselor too. He’s the first guy she ever kissed, and he’s gone from a geeky songwriter who loved The Hardy Boys to a buff lifeguard who loves to flirt…with her.Kate used to think the world was black and white, right and wrong. Turns out, life isn’t that easy… (From Goodreads)
I just love Miranda Kenneally. She made me cry in book about a girl who plays football and she made me totally fall for a dude named Corndog. She's magical. So naturally she's on my automatic-read list and I was so excited when I got my hands on a copy of Things I Can't Forget. I was looking forward to seeing Parker, Will, Jordan, and Sam again and I couldn't wait to see how Miranda would bewitch me this time.
In the acknowledgements, Miranda writes, "With this story, I want to show you (teenagers) that your beliefs matter - no matter who you are or where you come from. Your opinions matter. You matter." This is one of the truest statements, no matter which way you look at it and it's exactly what this book accomplishes. It's what Kate learns and it's what I absorbed by the end of her story.
Kate is struggling with her Christian beliefs in the wake of helping her best friend get an abortion and falling in love for the first time. I'm a little ashamed to admit that Kate drove me crazy at first. She's terribly close minded and some of the things out of her mouth made me a little ragey. But then she begins to separate her beliefs from the way that she loves her family and her friends. She loosens up a bit and she manages to hold on to her convictions while still allowing the people she loves to have their own. It's great. Which makes me sad that I was so hard on her to start out with.
This book doesn't shy away from issues of religion, abortion, and sex - yet it's never overwhelming. The story comes first. I had some traumatic camp experiences. I was always the kid who just wanted to go home. But it was fun to see the councilors, still kind of kids themselves, in this kind of setting. With all the things that went down at this camp, I kind of wonder now what my councilors got up to when we fell asleep. Even with all the crazy stuff that goes down, some awesome relationships form. It was great to see Will (Corndog) being so great to Kate, and to watch Parker forgive Kate for turning her back on Parker with the rest of the church so they could become really good friends.
And Matt. I don't know where Miranda dreams up these boys, but goodness gracious they're wonderful. Matt does romance right - he tells Kate he likes her, he shows her that he likes her and they are able to build a relationship like normal people do. Nobody is lying, nobody is pretending, and they're actually able to build a healthy relationship. Still, Matt is like a normal boy who freaks out when Kate expresses her issues with sex, and then calms down so they can talk through it. It feels real and it's amazing. I love them together. I don't know if they'll make appearances in any of her future novels like her last two couples have, but I'd love it if they do. I'm curious how their relationship will progress from here.
I can't say enough amazing things about Miranda Kenneally and her books. I'm so happy to say I've loved everything of hers that I've read. Things I Can't Forget left me all happy and smiley. There's importance and value in this story. Kate has something to teach everybody. Everybody. Because I consider myself an open minded person, but I still couldn't help but judge Kate. But her beliefs matter, too. So I'm taking a page from her book and respecting what other people believe. I can stand in my convictions and I can let other people have theirs as well. Read this book. Read any and all of Miranda's books. They could change the way you see other people and she just straight up knows how to tell great stories.
