ERASE ME

An English teen experiencing post-traumatic dissociative amnesia struggles to escape from his persistent emotional numbness.

Melinda, who’s clever, sarcastic Elias’ therapist, reassures him that he’s not a psychopath, but Eli persists in feeling it may be so. After leaving one of their sessions, he decides to deliberately commit a “ruthless act,” testing whether he can feel guilty, and settles on stealing a phone from a random girl at a bus stop. He sets in motion a complex series of twists and turns that leave him questioning all he knows about himself. Eli’s funny, self-deprecating narrative voice balances the grim details of his past, which are parsed out in quick increments, rapidly building the novel’s tension. These details include his diagnosis of ADHD, medication that caused a hypomanic episode, and an event that left him with scars on his head and chest—as well as a sweetly real but forgotten romance. Eli’s experience as the odd man out in his high-achieving family—his father is a well-known member of Parliament, his mother is a crown prosecutor, and his brother (who’s “Perfect Son Material”) attends Cambridge—serves the story’s overarching unsettled feeling well. Eli is gay, and his family is supportive, but it’s clear, despite their assurances that they just want him to be happy, that they’re uncomfortable with the messiness of his mental health. Most main characters are cued white.

A smart, unpredictable, and emotionally rich roller-coaster ride.