Remember Me Tomorrow

I'm reviewing Remember Me Tomorrow because I want to counteract several one-star ratings from readers who claimed it is “racist” against white people. If I were giving my objective opinion, I would rate it 3 stars, but I'm upping it to 4 because some people are idiots.

Time loop plots are my catnip, even if their mechanism isn't explained well (as is the case with this book, frankly). Toronto college student Aleeza Kassum moves into a dorm room whose previous occupant, Jay Hoque, vanished without a trace several months ago. She realizes that she can communicate with Jay through their dorm messaging app, but she is reaching him five months earlier, when he was safe and sound. (The Lake House film starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock is referenced frequently for its similar plot.) Aleeza theorizes that if she can figure out what happened to Jay, she can warn him away from the actions that led to his disappearance. As Aleeza puts her Nancy Drew skills to work, she also finds herself falling for Jay, giving her even more motivation to save him.

The mystery/thriller plot is executed well. Aleeza and her dormmate Grace piece together clues from in-person interviews, social media, and online searches, evading various red herrings and racing against the clock. The climax is action-packed with a few surprises. Unfortunately, I never fully felt the connection between Aleeza and Jay. It's not that I don't believe that people can fall in love by writing to each other (I've done it myself), but their conversations don't generate sufficient chemistry. They still feel like virtual strangers when they finally meet in person..

So to address the white elephant in the room, is this book racist? First of all, racism is structural and power-driven, so it's impossible in the US to be racist towards white people. Are most of the Bad Guys white? Yes, although the allegiance of one key white secondary character is ambiguous. Are Aleeza, Grace, and Jay non-white? Yes; Aleeza is Indian, Grace is East Asian and Jay is biracial Bangladeshi. That doesn't mean author Farah Heron hates white people, although I suspect that she has experienced Aleeza's feelings of other-ness. She's entitled to tell a story that lifts up an Asian girl as the heroine, to compensate for many others that would reduce Aleeza to a sidekick role, or omit her entirely.

I don't think I am ready to add Heron to my auto-read list, but I support her right to not be review-bombed by trolls.