Title: Before I Forget
Author: Tory Henwood Hoen
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: December 2, 2025
Format: Kindle ARC
Category/Genre: Contemporary Fiction
A sharp, moving look at memory, identity, and the people who remind us who we are when everything else starts to fade.
Dementia is a gnarly beast. My father was diagnosed with it about a year before his passing, and he became a completely different person. I picked up Before I Forget by Tory Henwood Hoen knowing it would be a deeply emotional read, and yes, probably a tearful one. I tend to seek out stories that hit me hard, and this one had all the makings of a book that would do exactly that.
It had all the makings, and it delivered, though not until near the very end. I was pleasantly surprised to find a perspective on Alzheimer’s I hadn’t seen before, one rooted in hope. When Cricket returns home to help care for her father, she ends up staying far longer than planned and discovers that his forgetfulness comes with an uncanny gift: he seems to predict the future. What follows is a quiet, moving exploration of family, purpose, and how letting go of the past can be the only way to move forward.
Cricket is our main character and narrator, and she feels like someone you might actually know. She even reminded me a little of myself. Over the time she spends caring for her father, she grows into her confidence and purpose, and it’s genuinely empowering to witness. It’s easy to root for both her and her dad. The supporting cast is likable and adds texture to the story, though none of them have quite the same emotional depth as Cricket. Her father, in particular, stands out as one of the most compelling and quietly moving figures in the book.
The story moves at a steady pace, never too fast or too slow. Henwood Hoen fills it with the rhythms of everyday life and the complicated emotions that come with becoming a parent’s caretaker. Through quiet moments of reflection, Cricket begins to see herself more clearly and to heal old wounds from her adolescence. These wounds are revealed through occasional dual-timeline chapters, and while the structure makes good sense, it did take me a moment to re-orient to the present after those sections ended. There are moments of genuine laughter, and yes, as hinted above, moments of tears. Henwood Hoen captures many of the same experiences I went through with my own parents, and that sense of recognition made the story deeply moving. She really hits the target with that. There is a clear sense of seasonality woven through the story. The trauma of Cricket’s past took place in winter, and now, as her father enters the winter of his own life, those emotional cycles begin to mirror one another. It becomes a poignant reminder that life, much like memory, moves in seasons and each one eventually fades into the next.
Before I Forget is a moving story about family, love, loss, and the gradual reinvention that comes from rediscovering oneself. It should resonate deeply with readers who enjoy stories that are both heartwarming and a little bittersweet. As a work of women’s fiction, it captures the emotional complexity and quiet strength that define the genre, making it a rewarding read for anyone drawn to character-driven storytelling.
Nerd Rating: 🤓🤓🤓🤓 — A heartfelt and hopeful take on memory, loss, and the quiet strength it takes to start again.
Let’s discuss: What’s a book that helped you see a difficult subject, like grief or illness, in a more hopeful light?
Find out more about Before I Forget on St. Martin’s Press.
I read a digital copy made available by St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley, and this review reflects my honest opinion.