Book Review: “I Almost Forgot About You” by Terry McMillan
“I Almost Forgot About You” by Terry McMillan (2016)
Genre: African-American, Fiction
Page Length: 368 pages (hardcover edition)
Synopsis:
In I Almost Forgot About You, Dr. Georgia Young’s wonderful life–great friends, family, and successful career–aren’t enough to keep her from feeling stuck and restless. When she decides to make some major changes in her life, quitting her job as an optometrist, and moving house, she finds herself on a wild journey that may or may not include a second chance at love. Like Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back, I Almost Forgot About You will show legions of readers what can happen when you face your fears, take a chance, and open yourself up to life, love, and the possibility of a new direction. (description from Goodreads)
Review:
I Almost Forgot About You is a story about a woman named, Georgia, who is bored with her current life. She has a nice career, supportive friends and family, and is financially stable, but it seems like something is missing. She feels as if she is just cruising by life without really enjoying it and wants to find out why. As a result, Georgia decides to compile a list of all the men she’s ever loved in order to revisit the good/bad parts of all of her past relationships to figure out why she feels so lost/confused in her current (love) life.
Georgia is a likable character. She seems well put together and she’s relatable to readers in the sense that we’ve all felt lost in life at times and unsure of the next step is. As Georgia goes through her past relationships it allows her to be more open to new relationships. Reconciling with her exes helps to relieve her of her old grudges and finally get things off her chest that have been weighing her down for years.The soul-searching process helps her to grow as she realizes she needs to do more for herself and less for others.
Georgia’s self journey is a long one but ends with promising results (which I won’t divulge in this review). I enjoyed her story as well as her best friends who are comedic, crazy, supportive. Throughout the book they give sound advice that Georgia doesn’t want to admit, but needs to hear, and you can really see the strong bonds of their friendship throughout various obstacles.
I think it took me while to connect with story but once I understood the overall theme of the novel I really began to appreciate it for the messages it gave to its readers. Reading about Georgia’s life reminds us that we have to let bygones be bygones, and to take on life’s obstacles headfirst.
Overall, I felt that this book was funny, heartwarming, and real. The book inspired me to live bigger, and do more things that I enjoy, and to accept new opportunities with open hands. I see why everyone enjoys McMillan’s works and I’m definitely going to look into reading more of her books in the near future!
Final Verdict:
FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from Blogging For Books in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Like you’ve said – funny and heartwarming and real – that’s just what I remember thinking about the earlier books of hers which I read all in a burst at least ten years ago. Now I want to track down this one too: thanks!
You’re welcome! Which one of her earlier novels would you recommend to start with first?
I remember Mama standing out, but I also read Disappearing Acts and Waiting to Exhale in the same month, so it could be that I just found the combination was pretty great. I wish I’d taken more notes at the time!
Thanks for the recommendations!