Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: What Remains 
AUTHOR: Garrett Leigh
NARRATOR: Craig Beck
PUBLISHER: Riptide
RELEASE DATE: January 3, 2017
LENGTH: 7 hours, 4 minutes
BLURB:
Web designer Jodi Peters is a solitary creature. Lunch twice a week with his ex-girlfriend-turned-BFF and the occasional messy venture to a dodgy gay bar is all the company he needs, right?
Then one night he stumbles across newly divorced firefighter Rupert O’Neil. Rupert is lost and lonely, but just about the sweetest bloke Jodi has ever known. Add in the heady current between them, and Jodi can’t help falling hard in love. He offers Rupert a home within the walls of his cosy Tottenham flat – a sanctuary to nurture their own brand of family – and for four blissful years, life is never sweeter.
Until a cruel twist of fate snatches it all away. A moment of distraction leaves Jodi fighting for a life he can’t remember and shatters Rupert’s heart. Jodi doesn’t know him – or want to. With little left of the man he adores, Rupert must cling to what remains of his shaky faith and pray that Jodi can learn to love him again.
REVIEW:
For some reason I’ve always been drawn to memory loss stories. There’s something about them that calls my name. And Jodi and Rupert’s story begged for me to read/listen to it.
We all know that when you pick up a book by Garrett Leigh you will be getting angst. You’ll be put through an emotional rollercoaster right alongside the people you are reading about. You also know that all the pain, the heart break will be worth it in the end. It always makes the HEA so much sweeter. This still holds true with What Remains
The first part of this book is divided between two time lines; the past, back when Jodi and Rupert first met and fell in love. We were there for some of the struggles they went through before they were solid as a couple. We know some of their hardships. Which is why the second time line – the present – is so brutal. We find them as a happy and solid couple, it’s a morning just like any else. Only it comes to a brutal end when Jodi is in a car accident and ends up in hospital. No one can say if he’ll make it or not or what permanent damage he’ll have. We sit vigil with Rupert watching every sign of life, hoping, praying Jodi will wake up. Only when he finally does, he’s lost all of his memories of the past 5 years. He’s lost all memories of Rupert, of being bisexual.
I can only imagine how horrible it must be to lose time, lose memories, and lose a part of you are. This book dealt with it all in a very credible way. You felt how lost Jodi was, you were angry at the world with him, of the unfairness of it all. Many times the people surrounding the injured party are forgotten, overlooked. But in cases of traumatic injuries they suffer right alongside the victim. They lose too. So I wished at times that Rupert was allowed to feel anger and frustration with Jodi – because let’s face it, Jodi was horrible to Rupert a lot of the time. I do understand that what they were going through was highly unusual, stressful and emotional; Rupert was never really allowed to feel, to recuperate from taking care of Jodi and taking everything thrown at him. I know that he loved him, but sometimes emotions need an outlet and we were never really there for his.
What Remains was simply beautiful and heart breaking. It was real; you could feel the emotions pouring from every word. I’ve read this book once before and this time I listened to the audio version and it too was great. It took some getting used to the accent, but after a few minutes I was sucked into this book and the fate of Jodi and Rupert. I love how Leigh creates credible and real characters, they are flawed and life is messy. There are no miracle cures or easy fixes. She makes you work for your happily ever after.
Craig Beck narrated this story beautifully. He treated it with care, added just the right amount of emotion to draw you in. To immerse you in the lives of Rupert and Jodi. The pacing was just right and so were his voices for the different characters. Add in a great accent to fully bring you to UK and this book was pure perfection.
I loved every second of this book and would gladly have listened to several more hours of these two guys. It was beautifully written and I had a hard time putting it down. While sad and heart breaking at times, this book was filled with so much hope, but above all love that it was all worth it in the end.
Highly recommended.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: