Book Review: Remember Me Tomorrow by Farah Heron

Aleeza Kassam is not having a great first year at university. When she came to study in Toronto with her best friend Mia, she thought that they’d be leaving their small town together for adventures in the big city. Instead, Mia keeps ditching her for boys or cooler friends. When one straw too many leads her to realize that Mia has been a bad friend to her for a really long time, Aleeza decides to move out of their shared dorm room mid-semester.

Given how scarce campus housing can be, she’s grateful to find a new living situation so quickly…until she realizes that this is due to her new room’s previous tenant having recently gone missing. Bad boy Jay Hoque had a reputation around campus that only grew after his mysterious disappearance some months ago. Security cameras captured him entering his residence hall but never leaving. His family put out pleas to the public asking for information, but it was like Jay had vanished into thin air.

In a disturbing twist, whenever Aleeza is in her new room, she keeps receiving messages via the university’s roommate app from someone claiming to be Jay, who isn’t happy that she’s moved in. Believing the texts to be a cruel prank, Aleeza goes to the guy in charge of student housing to get help. But a new complication arises:

When the chat opens, it’s empty. No messages at all. Definitely not one from Jay Hoque. I frown. “I swear, the message was here.”

 

“You’re a first-year student, right?” the housing guy asks.

 

I nod. 

 

“Moving away from home can be a challenging transition, and–”

 

“What does that have to do with the message on ResConnect?”

 

“You’ve had some recent interpersonal struggles too. Plus, talk of the missing student has affected many on campus.”

 

I raise a brow, incredulous. “You think I’m making this up?”

Practically friendless and secretly beginning to worry about her own mental health, Aleeza decides to investigate the strange texts herself. She soon realizes that something truly out of the ordinary is going on. Through some weird quirk of technology and quantum physics, she’s somehow managing to connect with the missing college student…only he’s living five months in the past. Which means that the Jay she’s talking to – a surprisingly sweet, interesting guy far removed from his reputation as a slacker and a player – is very likely going to fall off the face of the planet in a matter of weeks, a fate that he’s understandably none too thrilled about when he learns of it.

Once Aleeza and Jay get on the same page, the race is on to figure out what happened to him and, if possible, how to head it off. Trouble is, neither of them have any clue how or even why he disappeared:

Aleeza: Okay, but without knowing what happened to you and why, how can we prevent it? Like if it’s an accident or a random thing, then not being here that day might save you, but if this is targeted, then stopping the person from doing whatever on that day only means they’ll try another day.

 

Jay: With all those infinite universes…it’s possible that what happens to me in your timeline won’t happen to me in mine.

 

Aleeza: True. But I don’t know. I feel like we can’t not take it seriously.

 

Jay: I agree. This is my life.

 

Aleeza: I feel like this is the reason why we can talk to each other now. We’re supposed to figure out what happened or what will happen to you. I want to be an investigative journalist. I’m good at mysteries. And I have something that no one else trying to solve this case has.

 

Jay: Me.

As the new roommates try to unravel the mystery of Jay’s disappearance, they find themselves starting to grow not only closer but also into more mature versions of themselves. Aleeza begins to come out of her shell and make new friends in her own timeline, while Jay reevaluates the life choices that have made him so scared of commitment. Will all their growth be for naught, however, if they can’t figure out how to save Jay from disappearing?

There is a surprisingly solid real-world mystery at the core of this speculative romance novel that easily melds together the best of all three genres. Farah Heron is unafraid of showcasing her influences either, with references to other media that revolve around temporal paradoxes, notably the Keanu Reeves-Sandra Bullock movie The Lake House. In keeping with a book that has Keanu as one of its touchstones, the representation of Asian Canadians throughout Remember Me Tomorrow is superb, showcasing a realistic diversity as it butts up against old money privilege and power in our main characters’ quest to uncover the truth and prevent the very worst from happening.