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Before I Forget by Tory Henwood Hoen
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Pages: 274
Rating: ★★★★★
Buy: Bookshop.org
This post contains spoilers.
Book Blurb
A funny, heartfelt, late coming-of-age story that examines the role of memory in holding us back—and in moving us forward
Call it inertia. Call it a quarter-life crisis. Whatever you call it, Cricket Campbell is stuck. Despite working at a zeitgeist-y wellness company, the twenty-six-year-old feels anything but well. Still adrift after a tragedy that upended her world a decade ago, she has entered early adulthood under the weight of a new burden: her father’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
When Cricket’s older sister Nina announces it is time to move Arthur from his beloved Adirondack lake house into a memory-care facility, Cricket has a better idea. In returning home to become her father’s caretaker, she hopes to repair their strained relationship and shake herself out of her perma-funk. But even deeply familiar places can hold surprises.
As Cricket settles back into the family house at Catwood Pond―a place she once loved, but hasn’t visited since she was a teenager―she discovers that her father possesses a rare gift: as he loses his grasp of the past, he is increasingly able to predict the future. Before long, Arthur cements his reputation as an unlikely oracle, but for Cricket, believing in her father’s prophecies might also mean facing the most painful parts of her history. As she begins to remember who she once was, she uncovers a vital truth: the path forward often starts by going back.
My Thoughts
I went into Before I Forget expecting an emotional story about family, grief, and dementia, and it absolutely delivered. The novel alternates between two timelines: Cricket in 2025 caring for her father as his dementia progresses, and 10 years earlier, Cricket at sixteen, navigating first love and the devastating aftermath of a tragedy that has haunted her for a decade. The dual timeline structure worked well, allowing the past and present to inform one another while slowly revealing how deeply Cricket’s unresolved guilt continues to affect her.
One thing I particularly appreciated was how the book handled the reality of dementia. The portrayal felt authentic and heartbreaking without becoming overly sentimental. Cricket’s father forgetting who people are or immediately forgetting conversations is difficult to read at times because it feels so real. I especially liked Cricket’s approach to caregiving. Rather than fighting every confusion or correcting every inaccurate detail, she adapts. She finds new ways to tell stories, redirects conversations, and accepts that some mistakes simply aren’t worth correcting. Her philosophy of meeting her father where he is emotionally felt compassionate and practical.
In contrast, Cricket’s sister Nina often frustrated me. She seemed determined to maintain rigid schedules and correct every small detail, even when doing so caused unnecessary tension. While I understand that everyone handles caregiving differently, I found myself siding with Cricket throughout much of the novel. If her father wants to spend the day doing a particular activity, why not let him enjoy that moment? There are certainly some routines that matter, but Cricket’s willingness to take things one day at a time felt much more human.
Nina’s skepticism toward her father’s apparent premonitions also became frustrating. Even after events seemed to support his unusual abilities, including correctly predicting Nina’s pregnancy, she remained dismissive and often hostile toward Cricket’s perspective. Whether readers believe in the supernatural elements or not, Nina’s refusal to even consider the possibility made her feel unnecessarily closed-minded.
The magical realism element was one of the book’s biggest surprises for me. I expected the story to focus primarily on dementia and family relationships, but I genuinely did not anticipate Cricket’s father becoming something of an oracle whom strangers actively seek out for guidance. It added an unexpected layer to the story and helped distinguish it from other books dealing with similar themes.
I also appreciated the way the novel references COVID-19. It’s present because it would naturally be part of the characters’ recent history, but it never overwhelms the narrative. The pandemic exists as a fact of life rather than becoming the central focus, which felt realistic given the timeline.
One small detail that stood out to me was the mention of Boxing Day. As an American character, Cricket’s familiarity with the holiday surprised me, especially since her relationship with her mother in London is not particularly close. It’s a minor observation, but one that caught my attention while reading.
Most importantly, this book delivered exactly what I expected emotionally. I knew going in that it would make me cry, and it absolutely did.
Final Thoughts
Before I Forget is a moving exploration of memory, loss, forgiveness, and the complicated ways we care for the people we love. The dementia storyline is handled with empathy and realism, while the magical realism elements add an unexpected layer of wonder to an otherwise grounded story. Although some characters frustrated me (particularly Nina’s rigidity and skepticism), their differing approaches to caregiving created meaningful tension and sparked interesting questions about how we support loved ones facing cognitive decline.
If you enjoy emotional contemporary fiction with family drama, dual timelines, and a touch of magical realism, this is a book worth picking up. Just be prepared to keep tissues nearby.
You can grab ‘Before I Forget’ by Tory Henwood Hoen through Bookshop.org and support both independent bookstores and the blog at this same time.
Check out other Contemporary Fiction Reviews:
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
The Girl With the Louding Voice by Abi Dare
Culpability by Bruce Holsinger
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