Never Never by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher: A Spoilery Discussion

Never Never
by Colleen Hoover and Tarry Fisher
Published by Hoover Ink
on January 7, 2015

Source: bought

Synopsis from Goodreads: Best friends since they could walk. In love since the age of fourteen.
Complete strangers since this morning. He'll do anything to remember. She'll do anything to forget. 

My take: One of the great things about reading a book that has already been out for six weeks is that other people have read it and I don't have to worry as much about spoilers.

So ... you have been warned. The following review/discussion will have spoilers. But since this story is a great big WTF so far and none of us have much idea what's going on anyway, you can actually read this and nothing will really be spoiled.

Never Never is a novella, a 159 page teaser. It's an amnesia book and also a sort of backwards love story. So far.

As the story opens, two teenagers are struggling to remember who they are and what's going on. They discover they're -- sort of -- a couple, a boy and a girl who've known each other for years and are in a relationship. Of sorts.

Amnesia. I've devoted posts and posts to why amnesia books don't always work for me. A character who's a blank slate with no sense of self can be difficult to connect to. Plus, amnesia has become a pretty common plot device in YA.

This book is a little different because it's about a couple with amnesia. Neither Charlie nor Silas can remember much. Together, they're trying to piece things together. They don't really like what they are finding out about themselves, and are wondering if they can fall in love again.

The most interesting thing to me about this book is how divided the reviews were on my Goodreads feed. People either loved the book or were left sort of cold. And I can see both sides. While I didn't really like or connect with these characters, I was intrigued by their plight.

Let's go over some of the clues. If I left something significant out, please let me know in comments and I'll add it in:

Both Charlie and Silas have amnesia
They are in a relationship but each has cheated on the other
Charlie and Silas each have a tattoo that represents the other
Silas' bed has blood in it, with a bloody handprint that matches Charlie's hand
Charlie finds her clothes in the washer
Charlie and Silas' fathers were in business together and were accused of conspiracy and fraud
Charlie's dad ended up in prison
Silas' dad says Charlie stole files from his office
Charlie's mom is bitter and hates Silas and his family
Something or someone is making them repeatedly forget what they know.

Questions?

Why were they so in love and then cheated on each other?Whose blood was in Silas' bed?
Who/what is making Charlie and Silas forget and why?
How did Charlie's father end up in prison and Silas' father go free?

Theories? Tell me in comments what you think.