Reminders of Him has been called Colleen Hoover’s most “sob-worthy” book, so make sure your book club has tissues on hand – you’ll need them! This heartbreaking but beautiful and hopeful story focuses on the young mother, Kenna, and her journey of redemption while she fights to be part of her daughter Diem’s life. Reminders of Him tackles the themes of love, loss, forgiveness, and hope, while Kenna not only works for the forgiveness of the people around her but also for the courage to forgive herself.
Be prepared for a tremendous conversation using our Reminders of Him book club discussion guide. This guide includes Reminders of Him book club questions, a book synopsis, and selected reviews to stimulate your discussion.
Keep reading to the end of this guide for 3 books like Reminders of Him for your next book club pick.
Reminders of Him Synopsis
Reminders of Him, Colleen Hoover
After serving five years in prison for a tragic mistake, Kenna Rowan returns to the town where it all went wrong, hoping to reunite with her four-year-old daughter. But the bridges Kenna burned are proving impossible to rebuild. Everyone in her daughter’s life is determined to shut Kenna out, no matter how hard she works to prove herself.
The only person who hasn’t closed the door on her completely is Ledger Ward, a local bar owner and one of the few remaining links to Kenna’s daughter. But if anyone were to discover how Ledger is slowly becoming an important part of Kenna’s life, both would risk losing the trust of everyone important to them.
The two form a connection despite the pressure surrounding them, but as their romance grows, so does the risk. Kenna must find a way to absolve the mistakes of her past in order to build a future out of hope and healing.
10 Reminders of Him Book Club Questions
These questions have been tailored to this book’s specific reading experience, but if you want more ideas, we also have an article with 101 generic book club questions.
1. “It proves that time, distance, and devastation allow people enough opportunity to craft villains out of people they don’t even know.” We learned early on that Kenna was involved in Scotty’s death. Did you initially judge her before you even knew her?
2. Do you believe Scotty’s parents, Grace and Patrick, were justified in their initial decision not to let Kenna be in Diem’s life? Do you think they made this decision because it was best for Diem, or because they could not forgive Kenna for Scotty’s death?
3. Kenna chose to name her daughter Diem to remind her to seize the day. How do you see this idea reflected in Kenna’s story?
4. “A good person that had one bad night. It happens to the best of us. The worst of us. All of us. Some of us are just luckier than others, and our bad moments have fewer casualties.” Do you think Kenna is a good person?
5. Ledger faces an internal struggle throughout the novel because he does not know which side he is loyal to. If you were Ledger, would you have continued your relationship with Kenna once you learned who she was?
6. How did your opinion of Kenna change throughout the novel?
7. Kenna describes the inhuman treatment she experienced while giving birth in prison and how hard it was for her to start over due to her record. What does Kenna’s experience say about our prison system?
8. Did you find the plot believable? If you were Ledger or the Landrys, would you be able to forgive Kenna?
9. Kenna asks, “but what if we were just looking for someone to blame because we were all hurting so much?” Even though Scotty’s death was an accident and Kenna clearly loved him, she was still responsible for his death. Does Scotty’s death being an accident absolve Kenna of the blame?
10. Do you think Scotty would be happy with the way Reminders of Him ended?
Selected Reviews for Reminders of Him
“Well, once again, Colleen Hoover had me crying ugly tears at 2 am because that’s just the kind of author she is. I felt different reading this one. Instead of the usual butterflies and heart flutters her books normally give me, this feels very raw and heavy. It’s definitely a life story more than it is a love story… So, even though this didn’t make me feel as light-hearted as I usually do with her books, I did feel something. Admiration. Grief. Hope. Discouragement. Anger. But also happiness. It ends on a good note.”
“No one is more sad than me that I didn’t love this book. […] Since this is a Colleen Hoover book, I was expecting something shocking or some sort of twist somewhere throughout the book, but nothing like that happened. Everything to me was predictable, and I saw every plot point coming. And the ending was so convenient and just wrapped up so quickly… I felt for these characters, but there was just nothing special about this book.”
“Someone asked me the other day if Reminders of Him was a romance. With most of Colleen’s books, they’re typecast into romance, but to me, it was just a novel. Not just a novel, but romance wasn’t the center of it. It’s a story of tragedy and growth and forgiveness. Yes, there is a relationship and a HEA, but for me, the HEA is with the entire case of characters. An ensemble. As with all of Hoover’s books, I recommend going in blind. It’s filled with grief, has plenty of humor, and will leave your heart warmed.”
3 Books like Reminders of Him
If your club is mad for CoHo, then be sure to check out our list of the best Colleen Hoover books. It includes all of her books, ranked and rated, with a synopsis for each. We’ve also got book club guides for It Ends With Us, It Starts With Us, November 9, and Verity. We’ve also got guides for Emily Hendry’s Book Lovers and People We Meet on Vacation.
Things We Never Got Over (Knockemout #1), Lucy Score
A runaway bride, an evil twin, and a bearded bad boy, what more could a book need?
Things We Never Got Over follows Naomi after she runs away from her wedding to Knockemout to find her twin sister, Tina. Tina doesn’t rescue Naomi; but instead, Naomi gets stuck with her 11-year-old niece while her (evil) twin sister disappears. It’s not long until Naomi crashes into Knox’s drama-free life and works to rebuild her own.
Things We Never Got Over is the first in the Knockemout series and is sure to tug on your heartstrings like Reminders of Him.
The People We Keep, Allison Larkin
Just like Kenna in Reminders of Him, April has to fend for herself in a motorless motorhome after being abandoned by both of her parents. After performing at an open mic night, she realizes that she can have a better life and set out to find it in a new town. The People We Keep is the journey of a young woman struggling and ultimately making a home for herself in a new world.
Things We Never Said, Nick Alexander
All the love she ever gave. Every secret she never told.
Catherine died and left Sean all alone, with nothing but a box of envelopes, each containing a snapshot and a cassette tape. In telling their love story, Catherine shares every thought and secret she kept from her husband, and some revelations will shake Sean to his core.
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