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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
Almost a 5! Loved the plot and the characters, but found the "insertion of random facts" device a bit distracting. The pacing was better than in her last two books, where some of the big action scenes felt a bit too rushed. Overall I liked it more than Touch but less than Harry August.
I was 87% done with this book (on Kindle) and I just couldn’t finish. It was so long and I really didn’t care anymore. It’s disappointing because I really liked Claire North’s other novels but this one was just too difficult to care about.
Hope has the saddest life ever. She isn't rich, beautiful or outgoing, she isn't anything and that's the problem. Hope isnt the slightest bit memorable to anyone who sees her. In fact if you look away from her for longer than 30 seconds you'll forget she even exists.
But Hope has a plan to fix all that. All she needs is the Perfection app treatments and the help of some shady underworld characters to make it happen.
Toss in a mass murder of the 1%, man who thinks he's obsessed with catching Hope, long term revenge plans and the inner psyche of a damaged girl and you've got one heck of a read.
I really like how North made something as commonplace as an app (the above mentioned Perfection) the true protagonist in the story. Sort of scary too if you think about it long enough.
But Hope has a plan to fix all that. All she needs is the Perfection app treatments and the help of some shady underworld characters to make it happen.
Toss in a mass murder of the 1%, man who thinks he's obsessed with catching Hope, long term revenge plans and the inner psyche of a damaged girl and you've got one heck of a read.
I really like how North made something as commonplace as an app (the above mentioned Perfection) the true protagonist in the story. Sort of scary too if you think about it long enough.
I did not like this nearly as well as the First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. I found the story confusing at times, and dragging oh-so-slowly at others, and the ending just did not do it for me.
I love Claire North. She is an amazing author who has an imagination like no one else. Her books are entirely unique and brilliant.
I kind of want to shelve this with And Again and other Claire North titles and maybe even Library at Mount Char with kind of philosophical sci-fi. This is science fiction that is more interested in the implications behind certain ideas and technology than in the hard sci-fi that has more technical explanation. Hope is forgotten by everyone immediately after she leaves their presence, and North really dives into the implications of that and how that would affect someone's personality and life and relationships; its fascinating, and I found myself thinking about this after I put it down. She also weaves in this thread of talking about this app that promises Perfection, if you just do everything it says and get enough points. This came close to be a little on the nose at points, but I think overall I really enjoyed it and there were a lot of things that caused interesting conversations between my husband and I as we listened to it together and talked about it. The narration also kinda has this dreamy feel to it that is soothing and works perfectly with the book's plot, though the American accents are odd (and Americans don't say we have a drought on, but this is a minor quibble). Really enjoyed, and I think I may be out of the minor reading slump I was in for a while
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I've read and loved several other books by Claire North, but this one just didn't do it for me. The frequent injections of stream of consciousness got old pretty quickly. I didn't really connect to the character, and her circumstances felt contrived. Huge spoiler ahead: Between Hope's personal issues and the larger problem she gets drawn into I got to the end of the book feeling like I had read two (maybe even three) different stories and not gotten a proper ending for any of them. The book raises very interesting points, like all of Claire North's books do, about how we live our lives and what gives them meaning, but I wish it had told a more engaging story along the way. That being said, if this is your first time reading Claire North I highly encourage you to try one of her other books.
Spoiler
We never find out why Hope is the way she is, we never find out how the Perfect treatments made Parker memorable, and Hope never gets fixed, although she does reunite with her little sister.
Hope Arden goes by many names, including Rachel Donovan, which got my attention fast. She’d be unique in our world: she can’t be remembered by anyone except her mentally disabled sister. So her identity becomes a central theme of the book. Is she the sum of her actions or can she justify all her thieving and lying as necessary for her survival?
An app called Perfection is threatening to turn regular people of the world into copies of the rich and famous. The app tells them what to eat, how to look, and even offers treatments with electrodes to the brain to achieve the fully perfect person. Hope finds it disgusting, especially when it takes away people she cares for. Her choice to steal a very expensive necklace from an attendee at a Perfection party leads her on a worldwide hide and seek adventure with private security and Interpol on her tail.
Along the way, she meets another criminal intent on taking down Perfection. But can this other criminal’s actions be worth it?
Aside from the very long periods of introspection, I loved this book. It reminded me of “Fight Club” with its frequent “I am this, I am that” statements and piles of facts about subjects ranging from data collection to the bones in the human hand, not to mention the anti-capitalist messaging and moral quandaries about ends justifying means.
An app called Perfection is threatening to turn regular people of the world into copies of the rich and famous. The app tells them what to eat, how to look, and even offers treatments with electrodes to the brain to achieve the fully perfect person. Hope finds it disgusting, especially when it takes away people she cares for. Her choice to steal a very expensive necklace from an attendee at a Perfection party leads her on a worldwide hide and seek adventure with private security and Interpol on her tail.
Along the way, she meets another criminal intent on taking down Perfection. But can this other criminal’s actions be worth it?
Aside from the very long periods of introspection, I loved this book. It reminded me of “Fight Club” with its frequent “I am this, I am that” statements and piles of facts about subjects ranging from data collection to the bones in the human hand, not to mention the anti-capitalist messaging and moral quandaries about ends justifying means.
Moving examination of identity
I really enjoy North's books, and this didn't disappoint. She examines what the meaning of identity and society are when you only live through the bodies of others, or live the same life repeatedly, or are a person no one can remember, as is the case with this book. Good tension and world-building as well as interesting philosophical questions.
I really enjoy North's books, and this didn't disappoint. She examines what the meaning of identity and society are when you only live through the bodies of others, or live the same life repeatedly, or are a person no one can remember, as is the case with this book. Good tension and world-building as well as interesting philosophical questions.