Book Review
Before I Forget by Tory Henwood Hoen
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: December 2, 2025
Format: Hardcover - 288 pages
Audiobook - 9 Hours 11 Minutes
Kindle - 279 pages / 1.7 MB
Nook - 320 pages / 923 KB
ISBN (Hardcover): 978-1250276797
ASIN (Audiobook): B0DV7PTN9B
ASIN (Kindle): B0DPTQ4511
BNID (Nook): 978-1250276803
Genre: Literary Fiction / Coming Of Age
Buy The Book:
Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review, in addition to purchasing a hardcover copy of the book from my monthly subscription to Book Of The Month.
Book Description:
A funny, heartfelt, late coming-of-age story that examines the role of memory in holding us back—and in moving us forward
Call it inertia. Call it a quarter-life crisis. Whatever you call it, Cricket Campbell is stuck. Despite working at a zeitgeist-y wellness company, the twenty-six-year-old feels anything but well. Still adrift after a tragedy that upended her world a decade ago, she has entered early adulthood under the weight of a new burden: her father’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
When Cricket’s older sister Nina announces it is time to move Arthur from his beloved Adirondack lake house into a memory-care facility, Cricket has a better idea. In returning home to become her father’s caretaker, she hopes to repair their strained relationship and shake herself out of her perma-funk. But even deeply familiar places can hold surprises.
As Cricket settles back into the family house at Catwood Pond―a place she once loved but hasn’t visited since she was a teenager―she discovers that her father possesses a rare gift: as he loses his grasp of the past, he is increasingly able to predict the future. Before long, Arthur cements his reputation as an unlikely oracle, but for Cricket, believing in her father’s prophecies might also mean facing the most painful parts of her history. As she begins to remember who she once was, she uncovers a vital truth: the path forward often starts by going back.
My Book Review:
In Before I Forget, author Tory Henwood Hoen weaves an emotional and tender coming of age story that follows the journey of a daughter who returns home to take care of her father, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
Cricket Campbell has not been back at her childhood Adirondack lake home since a tragedy occurred ten years ago. Cricket had wandered aimlessly around the country since dropping out of college six years ago taking different jobs in different states before returning to New York City two years ago and started working at Actualize, a wellness company, but she still feels stuck in life.
Cricket's older sister Nina has been the primary caretaker for their father Arthur since he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease four years ago. Nina has a PhD in computational biology with a focus on female health. She has been offered a research position in Stockholm, Sweden, and feels that it is her time to focus on herself. Nina tells Cricket that they will transfer dad to a private memory care facility, but Cricket decides that it is time to return home to the Adirondacks and take over as his primary caretaker with the hope to reconcile the past and reconnect with him.
The reader follows along as Cricket embarks on a journey of reconciliation and self-discovery, while reconnecting and living in the moment with her dad, even though he doesn't remember her.
Set in the family lakeside home at Catwood Pond in the Adirondacks of upstate New York, the story is told in the first-person narrative by Cricket as she learns to become her dad's caretaker, while bonding with him as their daily life evolves with a few local residents whose friendship provides a support system for them. Along the way, Cricket discovers that dad has a surprising sixth sense in the way of making predictions that come true, who knew that he would become an oracle as his dementia progresses!
Before I Forget is an emotional and tender story that will pull at your heartstrings. You can't help but get caught up in Cricket and Arthur's life. I loved how their relationship was so loving and thoughtful. I found myself smiling as Cricket described the easiness of their daily routine all centered around her dad's progression of dementia. I cheered on Cricket as she confronted the tragedy of the past, and how self-discovery leads her to being able to look forward to her future. I was fascinated with Arthur's sixth sense, I loved that the author didn't weave a story that revolved around the sadness of his diagnosis, but celebrated his surprising vision phenomenon, like Carl's (a neighbor and friend of Cricket and Arthur) take on Arthur being an oracle, "just because we don't have an explanation for something, doesn't mean it's not real."
Before I Forget is a tenderhearted story that will stay with the reader for a long time. This was simply a wonderful first story to read in 2026.
RATING: 5 STARS
About The Author
Tory Henwood Hoen is a writer based in Vermont, where she is a solo mom to her toddler daughter. Her second novel, Before I Forget, was published on December 2, 2025.
