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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
Very disappointing! The book are very slow in the beginning, then in the middle it was so good and fast paced I could not put it down. Then it just ended. There was no real ending, nothing gets resolved...so annoying!
I like the writing of Claire North and thoroughly enjoyed the clever writing and story lines in "The first 15 lives of Harry August" and "Touch". In this, her third book Hope at the age of 15 suddenly becomes unmemorable. Every time she meets someone - even her own parents- it is like the first time. A bit like the whole world has got short term memory loss. This allows Hope an invisibility and opportunity which she grabs with both hands.
The author seems to have stepped away from her winning formula. This book is a hotpot of bulleted lists, dictionary definitions and things that read like Wikipaedia. Chapters vary in length from a paragraph to a few pages and the style as a whole really does not lend itself to an interesting read.. The storyline is thin and unremarkable like Hope this one is utterly forgettable.
The author seems to have stepped away from her winning formula. This book is a hotpot of bulleted lists, dictionary definitions and things that read like Wikipaedia. Chapters vary in length from a paragraph to a few pages and the style as a whole really does not lend itself to an interesting read.. The storyline is thin and unremarkable like Hope this one is utterly forgettable.
Hope is a young woman who has a small problem: everyone forgets her. It first started in her late teens when her schoolmates and teachers really didn’t recognize her. Soon her mother didn’t put a plate for her at dinner and, just a while later, doesn’t recognize her at all. So she must leave home at sixteen and she soon finds that there is just one career available for her: crime. She steals valuable jewels and artifacts and sells them at darknet. It is almost impossible to get caught if everyone completely forgets you in less than thirty seconds. And if she gets caught, she just has to go to the toilet or be somewhere hidden for thirty seconds, and her pursuers have forgotten everything. Her life is sometimes hard: it is hard to get service at a restaurant, get treated at a hospital, to have job or date if you are instantly forgotten. But theft, one night stands, and not tipping, are easy.
A young woman she likes kills herself. They have met several times – it has always been the first time for the other girl, but Hope had really liked her. One reason for the suicide was Perfection, a new mobile app which aims to make you perfect – really perfect. It gives points when you aim for “perfection” and gives you offers for health clubs, dieting foods, and eventually cosmetic surgery and even brain manipulation techniques. Hope’s friend committed suicide as she felt that she was too “imperfect” and wasn’t able to gain points as fast as she hoped.
From the darknets, she finds someone who is working against the company that created the Perfection app. But if you are forgotten in seconds, it may be hard to co-operate with someone – especially if and when that someone’s methods may eventually be worse than the “disease” they are curing.
An excellent and memorable story that is written with fine and inventive language. The events aren’t strictly linear, but the book isn’t confusing in any way. The writing style may be slightly fragmented at places, but that suited the plot and even the persona of Hope. However, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by the same author was even better than this book.
A young woman she likes kills herself. They have met several times – it has always been the first time for the other girl, but Hope had really liked her. One reason for the suicide was Perfection, a new mobile app which aims to make you perfect – really perfect. It gives points when you aim for “perfection” and gives you offers for health clubs, dieting foods, and eventually cosmetic surgery and even brain manipulation techniques. Hope’s friend committed suicide as she felt that she was too “imperfect” and wasn’t able to gain points as fast as she hoped.
From the darknets, she finds someone who is working against the company that created the Perfection app. But if you are forgotten in seconds, it may be hard to co-operate with someone – especially if and when that someone’s methods may eventually be worse than the “disease” they are curing.
An excellent and memorable story that is written with fine and inventive language. The events aren’t strictly linear, but the book isn’t confusing in any way. The writing style may be slightly fragmented at places, but that suited the plot and even the persona of Hope. However, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by the same author was even better than this book.
I think, finishing this book broke something in me, and I am now not the one I was when I first started this book – I left something in these pages, and I’m still not completely sure if his is good or bad, but I am broken.
The writing style in which this book is written makes the book emotional draining. Normally, I am not the biggest fan of stream of consciousness – actually I really can’t stand it. Though in the case of this books it made me feel the things that Hope felt and my heart ache and I am just really, really sad about everything, and how much can I say the same thing with different words?
I just reread the first chapter and with the context of the whole book and the last chapter it’s just so good. The book is well thought out and everything is connected, and I have so many feelings, I am sorry, I know I am repeating myself.
There a side characters – Luca, Filipa and even Gauguin – that I’ve cried over.
I really don’t know what to say, but it was incredible.
The writing style in which this book is written makes the book emotional draining. Normally, I am not the biggest fan of stream of consciousness – actually I really can’t stand it. Though in the case of this books it made me feel the things that Hope felt and my heart ache and I am just really, really sad about everything, and how much can I say the same thing with different words?
I just reread the first chapter and with the context of the whole book and the last chapter it’s just so good. The book is well thought out and everything is connected, and I have so many feelings, I am sorry, I know I am repeating myself.
There a side characters – Luca, Filipa and even Gauguin – that I’ve cried over.
I really don’t know what to say, but it was incredible.
Read as an audiobook. Narrator was fabulous and the book was pretty good too. A not-so-distant futuristic novel with a character who has a fascinating disorder. Couldn't wait to listen every day, kind of sad to finish.
It's exciting and engaging and interesting and very well thought out and basically everything I've come to expect from Claire North. It's nice to see her write a female character, and Hope is likeable enough, even if I got tired of the dictionary definitions, and even though she never kissed any of the women that she was very clearly in love with. I guess I'll live.
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Bumping it up to five stars on the re-read, either because I appreciate it more the second time around, or because I've read so many mediocre books it looks that much better. Either way, it's so sharp and imaginative and clever and well-paced. It stays just shy of pretension, though you can see the line to devolution that the next books by the author take. It's just so enjoyable to read, every inch of it.
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Bumping it up to five stars on the re-read, either because I appreciate it more the second time around, or because I've read so many mediocre books it looks that much better. Either way, it's so sharp and imaginative and clever and well-paced. It stays just shy of pretension, though you can see the line to devolution that the next books by the author take. It's just so enjoyable to read, every inch of it.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
2.5 stars.
Couldn't get the hype. The premise is so good. But it dragged on for too long and I wasn't pleased with the ending at all
Couldn't get the hype. The premise is so good. But it dragged on for too long and I wasn't pleased with the ending at all