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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
Ja man par Klēru Nortu būtu jāpasaka tikai viena lieta, tad tā būtu - viņa raksta lieliski nostrādātu prozu, kurā iekrist un aizmirsties. Bet viņa neļaus jums aizmirst Cerību Ardenu - sievieti, kuru visi aizmirst. Kā arī liks padomāt par mūsdienu sabiedrību un tās nemitīgo tiekšanos pēc ideāliem. Vienlaikus izklaidējot, aizkustinot un liekot skriet cauri lappusēm.
3.5/5
This book had such a unique concept - a woman named Hope who everyone forgets once she is out of sight. She is a victim to "out of sight, out of mind." Now, before you go thinking this would be kinda cool, Hope informs you it's not. She can't have a steady job, decent medical care, a home, friends, family, or a partner.
Hope explains the many ways in which she survives, primarily by stealing. The first half of the book focuses on her plan to bring down Perfection, a dangerous app that encourages people to be "perfect" through surgeries and other harmful influences.
The second half was somewhat dull and predictable, I didn't enjoy it as much. I felt that I was one step ahead of Hope and knew what would happen before it did. Her final moments with a certain character had me rolling my eyes because I felt like I could see it coming from a mile away.
Overall, while I did enjoy the premise, I felt that the book lost its momentum half way through. It became predictable Hope was more difficult to relate to. I also found the book bizarrely repetitive - and not because she met the same people multiple times, but because of her obsession with counting. I felt that it was talked about too much and became tedious material I skimmed.
This book had such a unique concept - a woman named Hope who everyone forgets once she is out of sight. She is a victim to "out of sight, out of mind." Now, before you go thinking this would be kinda cool, Hope informs you it's not. She can't have a steady job, decent medical care, a home, friends, family, or a partner.
Hope explains the many ways in which she survives, primarily by stealing. The first half of the book focuses on her plan to bring down Perfection, a dangerous app that encourages people to be "perfect" through surgeries and other harmful influences.
The second half was somewhat dull and predictable, I didn't enjoy it as much. I felt that I was one step ahead of Hope and knew what would happen before it did. Her final moments with a certain character had me rolling my eyes because I felt like I could see it coming from a mile away.
Overall, while I did enjoy the premise, I felt that the book lost its momentum half way through. It became predictable Hope was more difficult to relate to. I also found the book bizarrely repetitive - and not because she met the same people multiple times, but because of her obsession with counting. I felt that it was talked about too much and became tedious material I skimmed.
Like the other Claire North books, this was one I gulped down almost in a single sitting. How is her prose so immersive?!?
North is very good at sci-fi concepts. This is obvious. What is more overlooked is how brilliant she is at creating a setting. This book takes you EVERYWHERE. I love it. Also very interesting the whole perfection plot. The blurb did not mention it. I really enjoyed reading this, so I wonder why I’m not rating it higher. Maybe I just didn’t get the point. Take me on a journey but also take me to a destination please. Also there is an annoying habit of characters to do moralising monologues. I’m gonna read more north though.
Also the rules about what could be remembered seemed completely arbitrary. And it was less gay than it could have been.
Also the rules about what could be remembered seemed completely arbitrary. And it was less gay than it could have been.
I almost gave up on this one several times, and probably should have. This book was long and drawn out. Such a great premise but it fell flat. Any almost exciting moment was dulled down by the main characters random "facts".
I’m always blown away by Claire North’s writing. She has a very distinct style all her own and I love it so much. Where does she come up with her ideas for books? Because they’re spectacular.
The Sudden Appearance of Hope is kind of like reversed short term memory loss. Instead of a person that quickly forgets everything, what if there was a person that was quickly forgotten by everyone else? Would she be a pretty awesome thief? You bet.
Claire North is also simply brilliant. She has this vast well of knowledge about *everything* and she manages to weave it seamlessly into her stories. It’s one of my favorite things about her novels.
The Sudden Appearance of Hope is kind of like reversed short term memory loss. Instead of a person that quickly forgets everything, what if there was a person that was quickly forgotten by everyone else? Would she be a pretty awesome thief? You bet.
Claire North is also simply brilliant. She has this vast well of knowledge about *everything* and she manages to weave it seamlessly into her stories. It’s one of my favorite things about her novels.
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
hmmm.... well... ok.... so that was a book that I just read. I guess it's my fault for having such high hopes after [b:The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August|20706317|The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August|Claire North|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1407712314s/20706317.jpg|25807847], which is one of my favorite books. There are 2 intriguing ideas here - the forgettable woman, and the Perfection app. They didn't have to be put in the same story, but the author made them work together... sort of. I'm not entirely sure that I would've read a story about the Perfection app, so that part was a bit of a distraction to me.
Distraction: shifting attention away from what you're reading.
Also - the reasoning behind the constant listing of synonyms and world facts was lost on me. (Please - as I'm down to the final 15 minutes of a book - please please please tell me how much O.J. Simpson's legal expenses were. And if you could compare them to the average annual salary of a select group of countries, that would be even better. And since I'm already asking - how about throwing in a comparison of expenditures on Ebola research???)
So all in all - I'm going to give this one a big MEH. A couple of interesting ideas fleshed out almost beyond where they needed to be, and a non-zero amount of triviality.
Distraction: shifting attention away from what you're reading.
Also - the reasoning behind the constant listing of synonyms and world facts was lost on me. (Please - as I'm down to the final 15 minutes of a book - please please please tell me how much O.J. Simpson's legal expenses were. And if you could compare them to the average annual salary of a select group of countries, that would be even better. And since I'm already asking - how about throwing in a comparison of expenditures on Ebola research???)
So all in all - I'm going to give this one a big MEH. A couple of interesting ideas fleshed out almost beyond where they needed to be, and a non-zero amount of triviality.