The Same Backward as Forward

Finished May 25

The Same Backward as Forward by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

I picked this up in a bookstore because it is one of those novels that tells the story from two points of view, flipping the book to read the second viewpoint. It sounded intriguing and I only later realized it is the sixth book in a series. However, it appears that the actions here are before most of the other books in the series, and so it is sort of a prequel. Because I picked it off a display, I also didn't realize that it was a young adult novel, and given that the two main characters are in their late twenties / early thirties, I think that classification may be from the series and not this specific title. 

Hannah Rooney is a young woman whose mother runs a local criminal empire. Hannah moved out of her home as soon as she could and is studying to be a nurse. She interacts with her family as little as possible, with the exception of her younger sister Kaylie, a wild child, who she tries to protect and keep an eye on. Along the coast where they live is a private island, Hawthorne Island, owned by a wealthy family. As Hannah's story begins, she has stopped in at a local bar to see Kaylie and notices three obviously well-off young men who seem also wild as well as arrogant. That night there is a fire on the island with no apparent survivors, and Hannah is distraught when she finds out Kaylie was out there. 

When local recluse fisherman Jackson comes to Hannah for help, she is surprised to find that there was a survivor, one of the young men she'd seen the night before. He is in bad shape, with burns and injuries. It soon becomes apparent that he also has no memory of what happened or who he is. As Hannah works to save him, partly as a punishment for the death of her sister, she and Jackson must also work in secret, hiding him from both her family and his own. 

They dub him Harry.

Harry's story is the one I read second, and it continues in time past Hannah's. It is also a story of trauma, and one can see what the two have in common. There are many secrets in both families as well as ruthless individuals. Harry loves puzzles of all kinds, wordgames, codes, and games. As he and Hannah engage in these with each other, they come to know each other better than anyone else does, and this gives them both strength and vulnerability. 

The puzzles and games were interesting and seem to a theme of the series overall. This book went in a direction I didn't expect it to,