Forget Tomorrow Read-A-Long discussion
Chapters 1-14 Discussion
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Callie and Logan seem unsure of each other's feelings. I think Logan has always had a crush on Callie just as she has always had a crush on him. Super cute! I think Logan and Callie will escape FuMA and struggle to survive on their own, but I guess we will see!
Mod
I think Logan and Callie will escape F..."
They definitely seem unsure! Heck, I'm unsure of their feelings! I feel like they're crushing on each other, but Logan has so much mystery surrounding him at this point...I think we'll have to wait and see if his true thoughts and feelings are revealed. And yes! I think they'll escape, too, but I'm wondering what Logan's plan is. Where is he taking her? I mean, he has to have a plan after going through the trouble of breaking Callie out, right? So many questions at this point!
Thanks so much for getting the discussion started, Bridget! One of the things that I really wasn't expecting upon first picking up Forget Tomorrow was the precognition abilities that Jessa has. She doesn't seem able to predict things very far into the future...at least not yet as a small child, but from the description, it was an interesting surprise.
The other thing that I really loved was Callie and Jessa's relationship. I love books in which the relationship between two sisters is prominent, mainly because I have a little sister. The age difference between my sister and I isn't as much as that of Callie and Jessa, so their relationship is different, but it's lovely to see sisters who get along and genuinely care about one another in YA literature.
As for the questions you posed....
1. I don't think it's clear whether Callie can definitively change her future at this point in the book, but I think the point is that she would do ANYTHING...even get locked up in jail...if she thought it would lead to a different outcome. To me, that is the very essence of fighting her future. It's supposed to be a struggle, and she's trying, even with the possibility that she might fail.
2. It's hard not to be wary of him...at least not a little. It's not usual for someone to suddenly stop talking to you for years and then begin again for no obvious reason. However, is it wrong if I say that the nostalgia of Callie and Logan's friendship from years ago makes me mostly seem interested to know more? I mean, I don't know that he's a great guy, but I hope he is.
3. Logically, it seemed to make sense to me. I mean, if stays on the run, there might be some small chance that she could end up in the place where she saw her future memory happen. But if she's locked up, she's safe...right? Or so I thought....
4. No idea...
5. Hmm...maybe things aren't going to be as easy as Callie thought. Maybe being locked up is actually something that makes her more likely to act out her future memory?
6. Love this question and the quotation! I think the main difference is the intention. Not forgetting is something passive, but remembering is something active. It's something that you consciously do every single day.
10. I'm pretty sure that they'll escape FuMA, but to what end, where they'll end up, or how they'll even get there? Lots of unanswered questions at this point.
The ability of Callie to change her future memory composition was a delightful surprise to me. I find it very interesting and I am curious to see how it affects her actions later.
I'm reading the book again and I don't feel like I should answer the questions. I am noticing things I hadn't noticed the first time and am really enjoying the details and the writing. I love how Pintip can paint a perfect picture with her words. I'm excited to read the novella, Before Tomorrow, with Logan to find out what he was doing before Forget Tomorrow started.
I didn't realize there was a novella. I will have to check into that!
1. I think that it is possible to fight it to a certain degree...but at the same time I am wondering if for example the man who saved his wife from drowning only to have her wife fall down the stairs...how much of that is just FuMA telling you this an how much is factual....IRL I think it's a possibility that you can change things...for example you always go to the bank at lunch on Mondays but today you decide to go home instead an you find out later that your bank was robbed an there are no survivors....in a way you changed your fate by going home instead of to the bank...
I agree with what you are saying and I believe that FuMA is afraid that people will find out the truth and realize that the future can be changed. This may cause an extreme societal uproar!
Mod
Lynndell, yes! Callie's ability to manipulate her memory was a surprise for me, too. It's a very cool ability, and it will be interesting to see if she has need to use it in the future. Also, the novella from Logan's POV is coming out at the end of October, and I am so super stoked!
Brenda, Pintip's writing is beautiful! There is an instance of beautifully crafted repetition that I'm looking forward to discussing during the next section's discussion!
I agree with you Shawna and Lynndell. I think it is possible to fight fate and change one's future. FuMA is definitely fearful of losing control, which is exactly what I think would happen if people found out they were lying. I mean look at what they did to poor Beks! It was awful.
QUESTION:
Now, I'm dying to know!! Does anyone have any thoughts on the bear in MK's backpack? Thoughts on how it's the same bear in Callie's memory?
It's time to kick off our read-a-long of Forget Tomorrow!
First, I'm going to give you a mini play-by-play of the thoughts and feelings I experienced as I read chapters 1 through 14, and then I will pose some questions for all of you to discuss.
Please keep in mind, there will be spoilers for the chapters we are currently discussing, but if you've read ahead, please do not share any details for those who are reading the book for the first time and those that are sticking to the schedule we’ve put forth. I know it will be hard to reign in your excitement (*wink wink*), but please try! Thank you!
CHAPTER 1 - CHAPTER 14:
As we begin Forget Tomorrow, we are immediately immersed into Callie’s world. We’re experiencing everything through her eyes and her mind, which means that our first experience is of great joy. The joy Callie feels as she soaks in the sun and as she watches her younger sister, Jessa, exercise her abilities through a game, is a joy felt with every written word. It’s clear that their bond as sisters is strong, unbreakable even, and I feel this bond will play a major role in this story.
As quickly as we feel Callie’s joy, we also experience her nervousness. She’s one day away from turning seventeen, and in this world, one’s seventeenth birthday is the most significant day in one’s life—as it’s the day your fate is sealed by a memory your future self sends to you. These future memories are supposed to eliminate doubt and put you on a path where you’ll never feel lost again, but I get the sense that we’re supposed to question this idea—especially when Logan, Callie’s classmate, enters the picture and tells Callie “It wasn’t like we were taught, Callie.” At this point, it’s all very ominous, and I’m eager to learn what the mysterious Logan has learned.
Callie hopes her memory will show her as a manual chef (a.k.a. the type of chef that exists in our reality), but what she sees is far from what she hopes and expects. I don’t know about you, but I totally got the chills when Callie and Jessa were talking at the end of chapter one.
“Promise me you won’t leave. Promise me you’ll stay forever.”
“I promise.” It’s a lie, but a small one, so white it’s practically translucent. I can’t be concerned. This is it. The moment I’ve been waiting for all my life.
Tomorrow, everything changes. (pg. 18)
Cue the Jaws music! I’m scared for Callie, and it turns out, my fear is warranted. Callie’s future memory shows her murdering her little sister, Jessa. *GASP*No, no, no. The unbreakable bond between these sisters can’t possibly take this turn. Not now not ever. So what the heck happens in the future? That’s what Callie and I, as a reader, want to know.
But Callie doesn’t have time to ask questions. She must run before the authorities catch her and lock her away. As she’s running, the mysterious Logan pops up, and I’m left wondering, what’s with this guy? I feel he’s holding back, but I’m not quite sure what secret he’s keeping. Can Callie really trust the boy she’s barely spoken to in five years? I have no idea, but I want to find out. Which is why I was super frustrated by Callie’s decision to turn herself in. Girl, why?! Let this old crush help you. I mean, I guess there is no doubt that she is brave and strong. Brave for turning herself in. Brave for sticking it to Scar Face. Strong for keeping her memory from doctor through pure will (and also some memory manipulation). Dr. Bellows is simply a disgusting human being, IMO. And Dresden, the leader? She’s doesn’t even fit anywhere on my internal “awful human being meter.”
When Sully alerts Callie as to FuMA’s true goal, I’m pretty sure my mouth dropped open and stayed that way for a good, hot minute. The goal is not to prevent bad future memories but to fulfill them? WHAT. A bunch of psychos is what they are. Thank goodness Logan Russell comes to the rescue!! I’m less wary and really starting to like him at this point. He’s definitely a swoon-worthy dude.
“I wouldn’t mind if you came on to me.” (pg. 113)
I mean, hello!! Someone blow some cool air towards me because I’m blushing over how cute these two are. (Don’t get me started on the flashbacks with the leaves. STOP. So cute!) Honestly, though. This giddy feeling quickly leaves as my heart is breaking for Sully. I just want to hug this poor girl. But I get it. FuMa’s technology is preventing them from saving Sully, too. The stupid bullies. They have no choice but to leave her behind and crawl through a wall that ISN’T REALLY THERE. Where is Logan taking Callie? To this so-called Underground place he keeps mentioning? How is it possible for Logan to rescue Callie in the first place? And beyond that, why did he risk himself in order to rescue her?
FAVORITE QUOTES:
“I squeeze my eyes shut. I have to be brave. But I’m not brave. Not really. I’m not anything. I’m just a girl. Only a girl. Nothing but a girl.
No, that’s not true. I’m a girl who will kill my sister in the future.”
(pg. 63)
“If I had someone like you in my life, I would never leave to begin with,” he says, his voice steady and sure.
(pg. 74)
“Even as I watch, a couple of girls approach Sully and count the marks on her arms. They don’t speak to her, and she doesn’t acknowledge them in any way.
I think suddenly of the tree that grows in the middle of our school lobby. Students cover the bark with their initials and drawings—the only place in school where graffiti is tolerated. The only place it’s even possible. Everything else is metal and plastic.
Living things, it seems, are easier to disfigure.”
(pg. 84)
“For the first time, I see her slashing cheekbones, the perfect heart-shaped mouth. The mouth that’s currently trembling, although her eyes are as steady as ever.
I gape. How many times did I look into her expressionless eyes and assume she had no feelings? That entire time, her mouth would have given her away, if only I had seen it.”
(pg. 96)
QUESTIONS:
These questions are only guidelines, feel free to pose your own and discuss other aspects of the chapters.
1. It’s mentioned numerous times that a future memory is more than a predictor, it is a guarantee. It’s a fate you cannot fight (as evidenced by the parable of a man who saved his wife from drowning, only to have her fall down a flight of stairs and die the next day). But what do YOU think of this concept? Is the future memory something one can fight? Something that one can change?
2. Logan is barely present in this first chunk of Forget Tomorrow, and from what Callie says, her and Logan have not spoken to each other in five years. What do you make of the first few interactions between Logan and Callie? Or in other words, what is your first impression of Logan?
3. After Callie initially escapes, she makes the decision to turn herself in because she believes it is the best way for her to ensure Jessa’s protection. Do you agree with Callie’s choice to turn herself in? What was your reaction to her choice?
4. Can you speculate as to why William helped Callie—not only once, but twice? Why Callie? I can’t imagine that Callie is the first “criminal” he’s performed the memory retrieval procedure with.
5. What do you think it means for both Callie and Jessa, that Callie’s memory shows Jessa being held in the science building—the building in which Callie is held in limbo?
6. Observe the following conversation between Callie and her father:
“We’re surrounded by the most advanced technology civilization has to offer. But the best inventions don’t have to be complex.” He spreads his palm over his chest. “They come from right here. The heart.”
“Is that why you wear the pencil? So you don’t forget?”
“No.” My father’s almost-shaped eyes flash. “I wear it so I remember.”
I was too young, then, to understand what the difference might be. And by the time I was old enough to ask, he was long gone.
(pg. 66)
What do you think Callie’s father’s comment means? What do you see as the difference between not forgetting and remembering?
7. This is sort of a follow-up to question six, but based on what we know so far (based on Callie’s beliefs about Jessa’s father and Bellows’ comments to Callie), what do you think happened to Callie’s father?
8. Why is it that Beks points to Callie as the guards are hauling her away? What is it that she sees in Callie, that makes her think Callie is the one who can “make them stop”? What do you see in Callie?
9. MK, William’s girlfriend, and Dresden’s assistant, has a teddy bear in her backpack. The same teddy bear from Callie’s future memory. What do you believe is the significance of this? Is the bear really even there or is it a hallucination?
10. And finally, what do you think is next for Callie and Logan? Will they successfully escape FuMA?