As If I Could Forget Those Years - Comments

Wow.
I'm really glad that you decided to write this along with The Glass Passenger. It was heartbreaking to find out that Annie had gone through something so similar to Alex's current situation. You almost had me in tears by the time I finished reading the whole chapter.

I think you are one amazing writer! Honestly, I cried reading this much like I did with the Glass Passenger. The similarity between the two scares me, but Annie's story had a lot of depth in one little story. And the fact that Charles wanted to marry her and run away with her made me gasp, then she was dead that same night. Gosh, I cried. This was so amazing, honestly.
And and, I listened to the song by Jack's Mannequin while reading. It was quite ironic for me to read the Author's Note and be like "oh hey, I was listening to that."

This comment is really late, too. Sorry about that.

I love that you took Annie's past and made/ are making a story about it. As someone above me said, she's one of the characters in TGP that's vital, but other than the fact that she's dead and there to help Alex, we don't really know too much about her.

Somehow, her past just fits her. I say that like it's a surprise, even though it shouldn't be. But based on how I know she acts in TGP, it just makes more sense now.

I like how Markus knows that, even though he and Annie are engaged, that she's not in love with him. And it seems like he doesn't try to fight it, like he knows there's nothing he can do to change her mind, which is nice. And Charles allows her to have more freedom than anyone else does, as far as dreams go. That's where I get sorta weird feelings...I know Annie loves Charles, but I get the feeling that part of that love for him is because of how Annie can act around him.

I think that Alex is a way for Annie to keep living, if that makes any sense. And not living, as in floating around as a ghost or spirit or whatever she is now, I mean actually living. I think she sees part of herself in him, and sees Alex as the part of her that wanted to follow her dreams and be reckless and in love.

And I love how this is being written, too. It has that Desperate Housewives-esque feel to it, as well.

This feedback is a bit late now, sorry about that.

It was refreshing to read a background about Annie, it really gives an insight into the story and helps me to understand her better. She's a person who's shrouded by mystery and reading this really helped me to empathise with her.

I love the optimism that this part started with. There were many things that Annie Marchetta was proud of. It shows that she's not afraid to think good things of herself and it also shows that she's not modest. She just tells things how they are and I think that this is also something that carries on with her character in The Glass Passenger, because there are moments in that story where she just tells things straight. And that's one of the things that I really like about her character - she's not a bullshitter.

And this says a lot about Annie. Nobody could ever say that Annie was ordinary. Again, this is something that is echoed in The Glass Passenger. She's one of those people that you just can't help but be in awe of. She's a person that's just been blessed with good luck in life, which is ironic because of what happened later. It's almost like karma; she's had so much good luck that it needs to be evened out with a bout of bad luck - if that makes sense.

I liked that this was touched on. Yet there were two things in her life that Annie did not foresee. Her falling in love and her death. Her gift of foresight couldn't help her with the two most important things in her life. It shows that life is unpredictable, you can try to plan it out best you can and you can predict things, but the biggest things and moments in your life cannot be controlled. And I'm also interested to know whether this foresight stayed with her after she died, and whether she knows if Alex is going to survive or not.

I loved the sheer irony of this statement. After her grandmother died Annie shared this thought with her mother and three weeks later Annie Marchetta was run over by a car. Annie doesn't think that she'll be dying any time soon, but I guess that she got her wish - she didn't want to die in an "undignified" way like her grandmother did, growing old and dying naturally, she got hit by a car instead. So I guess she didn't die like her grandmother, although getting hit by a car is probably a lot more undignified than dying of old age.

Throughout her life, Annie just wants to be somebody. She wants everybody to know her name, and once she dies she just drifts into insignificance. It is sad in a way that once you are a dead body lying in a morgue you suddenly are a nobody. Nobody know who Annie is, and I guess this carries on in The Glass Passenger, because no doubt one of the first questions that people ask her is who she is. She just...exists.

I thought this was really clever. There had been many great moments in Annabel Rowan Marchetta’s life. For example the day she won a beauty pageant or the day when she was presented with her very first pair of high heels. I think that Annabel and Annie are two different people - they're not the same in any way. Annabel was who she was when she lived, self-obsessed and thinking that she's untouchable. Annie was who she became after she died. She realised that there's more to life than winning beauty pageants and being presented with high heels, but unfortunately she realised it too late. And I think that it was good that Annie was chosen for the job that she does in TGP, because it helped her to realise the things that she did wrong and it helped her to find out that she wasn't as perfect as she made herself out to be.

I thought that the way you described Annie's love for Charles. The world only existed so long as Charles did too and when he was not around the colours seemed duller and the music she heard on the radio were sad songs about loss. It's like Annie is only really alive once she's with Charles and the line that I quoted made me feel really sad because I know what happens to her; I know that she dies and I can't imagine what she must have gone through once she'd got to grips with the fact that she'd never be able to be with Charles again. It's so saddening to read.

A wedding is supposed to be one of the happiest days of your life, but I get the feeling that Annie knew it was going to be one of the worst days of her life. The wedding to Markus was set for the second Friday of the New Year, and it was then with a panic that Annie realised it was already the first day of December. She's counting it down as if she's going to lose all her freedom once she's married to Markus because she'll never be able to be with Charles again. She knows that she'll have to be faithful to Markus and she knows that it will hurt both her and Charles if she did that.

The description here was very harsh but very effective. But he still saw her. He saw her lying on the icy road. It was nearly impossible to tell the difference between the red blood and her red dress. The scene just felt so real and it was quite scary and also a little upsetting to read. You can really feel Charles's hurt and upset beneath all the vivid description. It's a haunting description, I love how you described it. Very realistic, it worked well what with the fact she wore a red dress.

The ending gave me hope for the future. She still had her dreams, and they couldn’t tie her down to this place. She would do her job and maybe some form of absolution would come in the shape of Alex Gaskarth. There was always that faith. It gave me hope that perhaps one day, Annie will find Charles and she'll get her happily ever after, as a reward for helping everybody out and completing her "punishment", so to say. It makes me very intrigued for the ending of The Glass Passenger, too!

Very well-written, I enjoyed reading this. :arms:

I loved this little piece of Annie's history. I'm happy you wrote this, because she's one of those really mysterious characters that I have no clue about, and this has answered a few things.

I liked that Annie already possessed that like sixth sense in her human life. It seemed to show how special and unique she was. And I liked how she used it for her own benefit, it made her ever so slightly selfish, but it's the natural human thing to do, I mean, she did do some good with it, but she also got something in return. And with that knowledge, of course she was going to use it often to get what she wanted. I liked how you made her blind to love and death though, it seems like her good fortune was cut off from those two things.

Annie had never considered death as a factor of her existence. She really reminds me of Alex. Neither of them thought they'd die at such young ages, but luck doesn't seem to be on their side where the course of their lives are concerned, although we still aren't 100% sure of what's going to happen to Alex. I love the parallels between the accidents as well, how Annie was run over by a car on the way to see Charles, and Alex went the same way whilst he was going to see Rachel. It seems unfair that they were both taken as they were on the way to see the one's they love.

This is my favourite description in the entire story, They may know your blood type but they have no idea what made your blood boil or who made the blood rush to your cheeks in the form of a blush. Beautifulll.

I loved the element of Markus and Charles, and how it made a clear difference between Annie and Alex. It shows that they've grown up in different times, and that Annie's life was mapped out for her by her parents, but her death was beyond their control, and anyone else's. But I liked Annie's rebel streak, and how she was willing to go against them and do what she wanted and what made her happy, and Charles was the man for that job.

I think although her death was incredibly tragic, it came at the right time. She was going to have to go through with a marriage that she really didn't want to be part of, she was about to make herself miserable to please her parents, and so to have her life taken seems like a good way out of it all. Even though obviously, she was depressed because she could no longer be with Charles.

She never made it inside the party to find out that Charles was going to ask her to marry him and run away with him. I find that the saddest line. It seems like her future was about to go in a whole different direction, so in that sense her death is so untimely and unfortunate. It did help her escape a lifetime of Markus and being married to him and being unhappy, but it also prevented her from having the chance to live a truly happy life with the man she clearly adored.

Charles seems to deteriorate when Annie dies. It's like she was the light in his life and without her it's just dull and bleak. Which again, reminds me of Alex. In The Glass Passenger, all the characters don't know what to do without him, and it's the same here. I love the way you've written this, and the parallels are evident, but it's not in your face 'oh look here doesn't Annie remind you of someone, hint hint, nudge nudge'.

The last part makes me think Alex is going to play a big role in helping Annie move along and go off onto a new, better place. He's her opportunity to get out of the current state she's in, and I have a feeling thats why she presses him to tell her about the charms, so she can get there as quickly as possible.

This was beautifully written, as are all of your things. I really enjoyed reading this.

I love this, a lot.
You're an amazing writer, Nina! :D