Has your quarantine been filled with nothing but you lying around being unproductive? The joke is on you, because during quarantine junior Caroline Wei was able to edit and revise her project of a year and a half. “The Amnesia Experiment” is a dystopian/sci-fi novel taking place after WWIII when two hundred people who lose their memory must live through five challenging and dangerous Trials. One girl, Alle, is fighting to survive while trying to escape an enemy that was erased from her memory.

When writing “The Amnesia Experiment”, Wei felt her writing style was influenced by Tahereh Mafi, who has a unique way of writing that breaks grammar rules and allows the author to go in depth about the characters themselves.

“She is defiant of what a novel should be…. She uses descriptions that are unexpected.” Wei said,”She breaks apart words and I tried to replicate that in my novel.”

For Caroline Wei, an important part of revising and editing was peer review. She was grateful for all the feedback and advice, but a key part was remembering in the end that it is her book, and she knows as the author what she’s trying to say.

“It’s important to know that it’s your story, and you are trying to communicate a message that’s your own,” Wei said.

“The Maze Runner” trilogy was a huge inspiration for Wei. She was especially interested in the concept of memory loss and how humans would react to such a traumatic experience. Kira Cass, author of “The Selection”, was also a huge influence while writing.

“The book is a blend of the dystopian [side of The Maze Runner] and the fantasy [side of The Selection],” Wei said, “Kira Cass does a great job of describing and making you feel really immersed in that type of situation,” Wei said

In “The Amnesia Experiment”, Wei wants you to finish the novel with a message she has tried to portray throughout the story.

“No matter how far gone you are you are still worthy of forgiveness… Love is always something that perseveres,” Wei said.

“The Amnesia Experiment” is available on Amazon for $11.70 and on Kindle for $4.99. It’s also available at Barnes and Noble.