Forget Me Not (Mnevermind: Book 2)

Title:  Forget Me Not  (Mnevermind: Book 2)

Author:  Jordan Castillo Price

Publisher:  JCP Books

Length:  158 pages

Rating:  A List

Up All Night Satisfaction

Blurb:  No two people are exactly alike, but Elijah Crowe is very, very different.

Elijah is on the autism spectrum, so the tasks of day-to-day life most people breeze through are a challenge for him. His career suffered because he never got the hang of schmoozing, and now he wastes his talents teaching classes at the mall. His social circle is limited to his ex, his therapist, and a structured inclusion group at the Rec Center. The one bright spot in his life is the memory science of Mnemography.

Although he loves nothing better than devouring the latest research and tinkering with all the specialized equipment, he never clicked with any other experts in the field until he met Daniel Schroeder. Daniel runs a memory palace—he even writes his own mnems—and that shared interest alone would make him fascinating. But Daniel and Elijah met under unusual circumstances, where the statement, “I like you, and I think you like me,” held some surprising nuances.

Now Elijah suspects he’s gay, but the few prominent people in his life are less than supportive. Some are downright hostile. Elijah might not be neurotypical, but he’s plenty smart. Surely there’s some way to get people to accept him for who he is. If only he could figure out how.

Review:  This series just keeps getting better and better. This is the second book in the Mnevermind trilogy and I am so grateful that we get to see Elijah’s perspective.

Elijah is on the autism spectrum. Having his perspective, seeing into his mind and motivations helps to make the romance between the men so much more. More real, more tender, more beautiful, more important. Elijah doesn’t behave in typical ways so having this insight into his behavior changed the whole series for me. I’m completely in love with this complicated, sweet, wonderful man.

It was great seeing Daniel from Elijah’s perspective. Elijah is completely head over heels infatuated and willing to change so much of his life to be with Daniel. It was sweet and a little achy watching the way the two men went back and forth between all of the reasons that it wasn’t going to work between them and the intense attraction and genuine affection they felt for each other.

Both men come with a lot of baggage and issues. Elijah has never been with a man before, he’s never even considered it. Daniel has so much going on with his father and family business.

Elijah needs a certain amount of attention, patience and understanding. He’s never going to be a “typical” boyfriend and he doesn’t understand subtlety or the nuances that facilitate easy social interaction. Which is why he prefers to interact in mnem where he’s able to use the parts of his brain that he’s unable to access in the real world. But there can be no doubt that while he has issues with expressing and relating in traditionally accepted ways, he is totally invested in this relationship and wants to make things work with Daniel.

Daniel liked Elijah just the way he was. He accepted him and while there were some misunderstandings and times where Daniel rushed to judgement or overreacted to things, the easy acceptance and connection between them was precious to both of them. I liked that Daniel tried to understand more about Elijah and what Daniel would need to do to be with him. He didn’t gloss over the potential complications in them being together.

The world of mnemography and their mutual love and study of it brings the men together and creates a common language between them. Daniel struggles with the crippling doubt over what he feels is his responsibility in what happened to his father with his big attempt to wordsmith. Elijah is a creative genius when it comes to the tech and equipment.

I can’t wait to read the last book. I want to see how things will end with our men. They both deserve to have their happy ending. They are going to make each other so very happy.

Reviewed by Nina