Blog Tour: Remembrance by Meg Cabot

Rating: 4 stars

Pub Date: February 2

Publisher: William Morrow

Genre: new adult paranormal romance

Format/Source: drc/publisher & arc/borrowed from a friend

Status: book 7 of the Mediator series (the rest are all YA)

Disclaimer: I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review as part of the blog tour, which was organized & hosted by Me My Shelf and I Tours. The full tour schedule can be found HERE. Please go give my fellow tour hosts some love!

Summary:

In Remembrance, the seventh installment of the Mediator series, all Susannah Simon wants is to make a good impression at her first job since graduating from college (and becoming engaged to Dr. Jesse de Silva).

But when she stumbles across an ancient murder, old ghosts—and ex-boyfriends—aren’t all that come back to haunt her.

Remembrance will be the first ever adult installment of the Mediator, published by William Morrow, the adult division of HarperCollins, the company that brought you the YA books in the series.

Review:

Reading Remembrance was an extremely surreal experience for me. It's pretty trippy finally having this book when I didn't expect it, discovered its existence a few years ago when scouring Meg's website for book news, and then having to wait for it for such a long time. You might consider this to be extreme, but getting another installment of The Mediator is very similar to getting another installment of Harry Potter. You see, this series shaped me as a reader just as much as HP did. The first time I ever picked up a Mediator book, it was actually Haunted, the fifth book in the series, but I didn't know that because of the book's packaging at that time. I loved brash, ghostbusting Suze, sensitive and caring Jesse, even arrogant hottie Paul. But it felt like I was missing somehing because duh, I found out I'd just read book five. Because of that experience, I became obsessive about reading things in order, including all the small stuff. Also, Suze and Jesse's story is way too epic not to deserve more books. I knew that as a teen, and I still believe that as an adult. So, Remembrance. It's hard to talk about this book without spoiling  entire series, but let's give this a go.

The thing that I love most about Meg Cabot books is her characters' voice, and Suze has always been a particular favorite of mine. When I'm asked about my favorite badass and fun protagonists, it's always always Rose Hathaway and Suze Simon. Suze is confident and assured of herself in so many ways, and that's a refreshing change from a myriad of insecure protagonists, even the ones I like. Suze knows herself, and she knows her strengths and weaknesses. That's not to say she's always right because sometimes she overestimates her abilities and underestimates both NCDPs and living peoples, but that's what makes things interesting. She's also relatable and real; for instance, Suze's distress over losing an ebay auction over a kickass pair of boots is something I empathize with. Plus, it's just so Suze! I also think her voice matured realistically from the teenage Suze, and it's not just because of the addition of (more) swear words. While Suze does think about boots and Jesse's attractiveness, her attention is also on Adult Things like grad school, work, trying to say goodbye to your childhood home, and a number of things that teenage Suze wasn't always aware of. I'm not saying teens are shallow (they can be), but I think Remembrance did a good job reminding readers Suze has grown up, and there's more going on than just ghosts, high school, and cute boys. I appreciated the balance in the narration.

And then there's Jesse. I may have just spent a long paragraph discussing Suze's maturity, but by golly, I'm gonna say one of my biggest complaints about Remembrance was there were not enough inner monologues describing Jesse's abs under his flowy shirt, and I missed that, dangit. Granted the flowy shirt is gone because Reasons (go read the original series to understand this), but still. It's the principle of the thing! I love Jesse. I love how solid he is, and how he's always there for Suze. She needs that. I'm with Suze that some of Jesse's views are old-fashioned and useless, but hey. Even perfect guys with perfect abs need faults. I only wish Jesse had been present a little more (not just his abs). He and Suze have amazing chemistry and Gilmore Girls-worthy quippy conversations, and I always want more. 

In fact, the only fault I had with Remembrance is...I want more. I wanted more to this particular ghostly encounter, more of CeeCee and Adam and Father Dom and Doc, more redemption for Paul (I have always had a weird soft spot for Paul). 

This series has brought me so much joy and humor and fun that it truly is hard to say goodbye. The thing is...I can't help but feel that although Remembrance is meant to be an ending, there's an awful lot that feels like a beginning. I mean, literally, the end of the book contains a beginning to...something majorly spoilery, but also, Suze is starting out with a new career, and there's reference to more mediators. 

I understand there are always other characters whose stories need to be told, but honestly, if Remembrance turned out to be the first installment to an adult Mediator series, I would do a little dance and jump for joy. And really, that's got to be my favorite part about reading a Meg Cabot novel. Her characters feel so extraordinarily real that I feel like their stories are endless. Even after the final page, they live on, going on adventures. Even if Suze never gets another book, I still feel like she's out in California right now, kicking butt and taking names. Official or just in my head, Suze's adventures will continue, and Meg, thanks for letting me tag along.

(But, uh, seriously, if you're considering doing more adult Suze books and wondering if your readers will love them, the answer is yes so totally do it)

Book Buy Links:

   

Tour Schedule:

February 1: Beauty & the Bookshelf

February 2: Born Bookish

February 3: Reader Girls

February 4: Paper Cuts

February 5: Pandora's Books

February 6: Big Girls *Heart* Books

February 7: Defiantly Deviant

February 8: The Best Books Ever

February 9: Book Briefs
February 10: Paper Skies

February 11: Mary Had a Little Book Blog

February 12: The Queen of Teen Fiction

About the Author:

Meg Cabot is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of books for both adults and tweens/teens. There have been over 25 million copies of Meg’s nearly 80 published books sold in 38 countries. Her last name rhymes with habit, as in “her books can be habit forming.” She currently lives in Key West, Florida with her husband and various cats.

Author Links:

   

Giveaway: 
1 winner will receive a copy of Shadowland, the first book in the Mediator series
US only | Must be 13+ to enter

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