Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover- a Review

After the way ‘it starts with us’ by Colleen Hoover went, I wasn’t sure I was going to read any books by the same author again but I guess the saying ‘never judge an author by the book’ is true.

So I picked up this book after seeing it on so many tbr lists on booktok. I was frankly expecting another love story borne out of trauma and while I wasn’t disappointed, Colleen hoover tried to express that some things are never as they seem in this book.

My people have a saying ‘you shouldn’t be angry at someone you haven’t seen’ it means that you aren’t always aware of what your ‘friend’ is experiencing so you shouldn’t fight them for not checking up on you.

This saying proves itself true in ‘reminders of him’. Kenna loses her boyfriend in a car crash, and moments later, she’s charged with his murder, and then she finds herself pregnant but because of her current incarceration, their daughter is taken away and given to her lover’s parents. She never even got to hold her, the only thing they let her do was to name her.

Five years later, Kenna is out on parole and comes back to town for a chance to connect with her baby. Deep in her heart, she hopes for a chance that the Landrys will forgive her and let her meet her baby but before she gets to that; she not only falls in love with the dead boyfriend’s best friend(whom she never got to meet in the past) but the Landrys have filed a restraining order against her.

Once Ledger finds out who she really is, he tries to relate her to the image he has in his head; the drunk girl who got his best friend killed and had the guts to show no remorse in court. When she doesn’t fit into the box of being a cold-blooded murderer, he moves closer to find out what her endgame is and finds himself in love too.

I think the emotions both characters developed is the only thing that helps every other character see Kenna through fresh eyes. I also think Scotty’s parents had a difficult time coming to terms that their son was probably high on drugs and substances and that it was the reason he asked a less drunk Kenna to drive that night.

Don’t beat me up yet, this was seen in the scene where Scotty asked Kenna to hold his cigarette before going in and Kenna gets caught by his mother who condescendingly tells her that they don’t have ashtrays because they don’t smoke and she said it with judgment in her eyes. Remember that Scotty comes out and alludes to his mother not wanting to believe him capable of any behavior she doesn’t think is upright.

The point is that they were so lost in their own grief that they couldn’t spare Kenna a thought. The only people who thought Kenna deserved a chance in the book were strangers and Ledger who was already falling in love before he found out she was Kenna.

I however love the fact that they didn’t paint the same picture of Kenna to Diem, God bless their kind heart. I think Diem’s character is so adorable, the little girl is so oblivious to the history surrounding her birth and thinks her mother is away because she doesn’t have a big enough car.

I love the fact that even when all is forgiven, Kenna doesn’t seek full custody, she recognizes that there were people in her daughter’s life when she wasn’t and she recognizes what taking Diem away from them would mean for all parties involved. I also love the subtle mentions of the book’s title throughout the novel.

Finally, if you love seeing traumatized characters heal, this is the book for you. If you love seeing forgiveness through love and hate, then reminders of him is the book for you.

Warning: It might tear you up a bit, and you might not agree with the beginning or ending but the life lessons come in handy.

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