Format: E-Book, 448 pages
Release Date: October 10, 2017
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Source: Edelweiss
Genre: Young Adult / Science Fiction
Sharon Cameron returns to the rich world of The Forgetting with a companion novel as thrilling and intricately crafted as the first.
Samara is one of the Knowing, and the Knowing do not forget. Hidden deep in the comfort and splendor of her underground city, a refuge from the menace of a coming Earth, Samara learns what she should have never known and creates a memory so terrible she cannot live with it. So she flees, to Canaan, the lost city of her ancestors, to Forget.Beckett has flown through the stars to find a dream: Canaan, the most infamous social experiment of Earth's antiquity. Beckett finds Samara in the ruins of the lost city, and uncovers so much more than he ever bargained for -- a challenge to all he's ever believed in or sworn to. When planets collide and memories clash, can Samara and Beckett save two worlds, and remember love in a place that has forgotten it?
At once thought-provoking and utterly thrilling, this extraordinary companion novel to Sharon Cameron's #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling THE FORGETTING explores the truth and loss that lie within memory, and the bonds that hold us together
The Knowing, by author Sharon Cameron, is the companion novel to the original The Forgetting. The story actually takes place a hundred years after the original story. It features Samara Archiva and Beckett Rodriguez which means the story alternates between characters. Samara doesn't forget anything, nor does she have to write anything down to remember it like Nadia was told to do. And she isn't the only one. Safe underground in the city of New Canaan, she lives in a privileged world free from the Forgetting.
Yet she wonders if she really is free, with the memories that plague her and secrets that surround her. Samara is determined to unearth the answers, even if she must escape to the old, cursed city of Canaan to find them. Meanwhile, there is a spaceship on the way to Canaan from Earth searching for those who came before them and searching for answers. Beck is traveling with his parents, researchers tasked with finding the abandoned settlement effort. When Beck is stranded without communication, he will find more in Canaan than he was ever trained for.
What will happen when worlds and memories, beliefs -- and truths -- collide? For Samara, this is what's called her 12th year. This year she faces Judgment by the Council. Council weights accumulated sins and deems a person worthy or unworthy. The unworthy are condemned. After seeing a friend of hers fall to her death, and another poisoned, Sam flees for the place called the cursed city. This is where Sam runs into Beck and a girl named Jillian who are among those from Earth searching for the lost ship called Centauri II, and it's crew.
This is not a rarity. Each time a ship arrives on planet, it has a tendency of disappearing. On this planet, Earth is the enemy and so is there technology. If you've read The Forgetting, then you understand why the Knowing fears it so much. Where the Knowing remember everything they've learned, The Forgetting lose themselves and their memories. If you are looking for a repeat of Nadia and Gray, it's not happening. In fact, since this story takes place 100 years after the end of their story, the only ones to still be alive would have to be the descendents of Nadia and Gray.
As for the romance angle, Beck and Sam have what's definitely called an uneasy alliance. Beck wants to know what happened to those who came before him, while Sam is searching for answers in how to stop Knowing everything that she's ever done. Each character is fine on their own. Together they bring an interesting dynamic that really looks into the idea of memories and how they make us who we are. Beck's problems are because of his own people, and a commander who has her own agenda.
One could say the same thing for Sam. Sam's own people, including a secretive group, pretty much run everything. They've been keeping an eye on Sam, and know that she's done things that could get her condemned. They are against keeping any forms of records, and have done away with keeping archives. The Knowing are encouraged to cache their memories, which is an interesting idea in itself. Instead of reliving bad memories over and over again, you can just store them away.
Would I recommend this book? Yes, although I had a minor issue with getting going. The opening sequences of this book are really slow and you really have to pay attention to certain Easter eggs the author lays at your feet to understand what is happening and why. Do you have to read the Forgetting first? Nah. This book can definitely be read as a standalone. However, I definitely recommend that you do read The Forgetting to learn about the dreaded occurrence that happens to people.
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