Book Review

Siri, Who Am I? by Sam Tschida

When I started Siri, Who Am I? I did not like it. I was grumpy, because I expected some realism and good detecting, neither of which are in this book. Then I settled into the story I was actually reading, which is as enjoyable and sparkly as one of the slushies that the protagonist enjoys. This is a goofy but also sharp romantic-comedy with a lot of references to pop culture, nerd culture, and the importance of being yourself.

The story is narrated in first person, present tense by a young woman who wakes up in a hospital with no idea of who she is or how she got there. She has a head injury from blunt force trauma and remembers everything she previously knew about the world except any information about herself, her life, or the attack that landed her in the hospital. For instance, she doesn’t know her own name, but she can name all the Kardashians, and she doesn’t know her phone number but she knows how to operate a phone.

Using her phone, she determines that her name is Mia, and based on what she was wearing when brought in (a yellow Prada cocktail dress, a tiara, and a cape) she assumes she’s rich, but her rhinestone-studded clutch is devoid of ID, cash, or credit cards. Mia’s phone is surprisingly unhelpful until she checks her instagram and begins to trace her life as @Mia4Realz. Along the way she gets help from Max, a neuroscientist (coincidence!) who she meets because he is house sitting for J.D., the person Instagram suggests is Mia’s boyfriend. J.D. is currently in Switzerland and seemingly unaware of her injury. As she tries to piece her life together, she gradually shifts from a selfish, materialistic view of the world to one that is more nuanced, honest, and feminist.

As I said, I was pretty grumpy about this book before I settled into the proper mood. I’m no neuroscientist, but I’m pretty darn sure that this is not an accurate depiction of amnesia or recovery from a head injury severe enough to cause a “light coma” for two days. A plot point is that Mia doesn’t file a police report about the attack, but I think the hospital would have called them in when a young woman was brought in unconscious with the back of her head bashed open. The hospital would not have discharged a person with no money, no home, no name, and no memory without at least a visit from a social worker or case management provider, although I don’t know what options they would present. Also, Mia is a terrible detective and I yelled at her a lot.

However, the longer the book progressed, the more I fell under its spell. This is not a thriller or a mystery; it’s a sweetly goofy comedy about someone who finds out that her previous life was not at all what she imagined based on her Instagram account. It’s very funny and heartwarming thanks to a charismatic heroine with emotional depth and great character development from a (comedically) fairly terrible person into a more honest and aware one, as well as the wonderful supporting character in her love interest, Max.

Mia’s character development from artificiality to authenticity is so well done that I fell in love with her. She’s a fan of Keeping Up With the Kardashians because she loves the way the family backs each other up in times of crisis, and she longs for that kind of support in her own life. Her loneliness, and her swing from delight in assuming that she’s a woman who owns a yacht and volunteers with the homeless to her fear that she had a much more morally shady and unhappy past, is compelling given the real fear and loneliness that underlines her story.

This is a rom-com as opposed to a romance novel, so the focus is on Mia and we only get her point of view. However, Max is a delight – funny, gorgeous, smart, caring, and possessed of good survival instincts and common sense. He and Mia are very different people and seeing them accept and balance each other out with humor and grace is hilarious and beautiful. Here is a scene in which Max realizes that Mia is upset and not feeling well, explains that this is a normal part of amnesia recovery, and takes her to a store for food and headache meds:

He steers me toward the front of the store and we sit in the in-store Starbucks. I drink a whole bottle of water and swallow some meds while Max waits patiently. I’m reeling from the vision, not to mention the headache. Thank God Max is here. Knowing that I’m not going through this alone is everything to me right now. I reach out for his hand and he gives mine a supportive squeeze in return. Tears of gratitude start to well in my eyes. I can’t believe I have this man to help me through this.

For his part, I think he might just be waiting out my recovery, which is confirmed when he says, “That double bacon sandwich looks good.”

I can’t help but laugh at the whole Men are From Mars, Women are from Venus aspect of this moment. Either way, I appreciate the support. A moment later I let go of his hand because I’m totally buying this Martian a double bacon sandwich.

I grew to love this book, although so many parts are so wildly implausible that I can’t bring myself to push it into the A grade range. Don’t miss the beautiful Bachelor shout out and the sharp insights on the many lies we tell others and ourselves, consciously and unconsciously, as we try to survive in a difficult world. It’s going on my keeper shelf as a fun comfort read.

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Siri, Who Am I? by Sam Tschida

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  1. Varian Ross says:

    This sounds like fun, but I’ll skip this because my own memory problems make amnesia themed books triggering for me.

    Is it ever solved *who* Mia is and how she ended up there?

  2. Darlynne says:

    I’m so glad you enjoyed this, Carrie S. It’s in my wish list because I was completely charmed by just the idea and to hear it holds up makes me happy. Thank you.

  3. CarrieS says:

    @VarianRoss – by the end all is revealed.

  4. chacha1 says:

    If anyone likes the amnesia hook but wants a more substantive mystery/thriller treatment, I have ‘Fast Forward’ by Judy Mercer on my keeper shelf. It’s not a romance (though there is a Person Who Cares). Just a kind of cool rediscovery/reinvention story wrapped up in a mystery.

  5. Escapeologist says:

    The amnesia plot reminds me of the 2008 book Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella (shopaholic series author). I forget (ha) how the amnesia was explained in that one but it didn’t bother me at the time. Romcom / women’s fiction, main focus is the protagonist’s struggle to fake it till she makes it in her job and personal life, and then find her *real* self. There is romance, but also some big TW/CWs that I’m not sure how to spoiler tag right now. Definitely not 100% fluffy, it does touch on pretty angsty stuff as do all Kinsella books in my experience. I enjoyed it at the time but my current anxiety levels wouldn’t handle it well.

  6. Courtney M says:

    Ooh I can comment (somewhat ineptly) on the amnesia thing! The way the amnesia is presented is at least vaguely realistic – biographical information (our specific memories) is stored in a separate place than information about the world. So people with retrograde amnesia often forget personal memories but also remember details about the world. Not sure if that would extend to, say, the names of the Kardashians, but the amnesia part alone isn’t as outlandish as you might think at first glance.

    Obviously can’t comment on how it was written, plus my knowledge comes from a neuroscience major as an undergrad that I went on not to use. It’s been years since I read up on any of this, so take this with a grain of salt, but it also stuck with me because it was just such a weird thing for our brains to do.

  7. Vicki says:

    Even more unrealistic than case management and social work sending her home without services and short-term housing is that the billing department did not figure out who she was. I mean, who would they bill? They would have been all over her social media, etc.

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