Book Review: The Song Remains the Same by Allison Winn Scotch

 

A fresh start. A clean slate. Starting over.

Sometimes life is such a disastrous mess that it seems like the only way to fix things is to just begin all over again. To rip up all your notes and re-write the book. But being in a plane crash and suffering from amnesia is probably not the ideal way to go about it. That's what happens to Nell Slattery, the main character in best-selling author Allison Winn Scotch's latest novel, The Song Remains the Same.

Nell wakes up in a hospital after being in a devastating plane crash, with no memory of who she is or anything that has ever happened in her life. She is surrounded by well-meaning family members who think it might be best for all parties involved to re-write Nell's history, without cluing her in. Nell, for her part, decides this might be the perfect opportunity to recreate herself.

As Nell follows clues and struggles to unearth her memories, she finds that listening to a play list of her supposed favorite music ends up becoming a bridge to her past, helping to chip away at her amnesiac wall. What secrets have her loved ones kept from her? Little by little, Nell uncovers the truth, and along the way does her best to heal old wounds that won't stay buried.

The Song Remains the Same is an engrossing, quick-paced novel that reminds us that no one ever really knows how they will react in the face of trauma and disaster, and that trying to bury our problems, without dealing with them, never works out in our favor. Even if we happen to become inflicted with amnesia.