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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
I found this more or less as excellent as Harry August. In particular, I thought it was a great idea to set the main character, a woman who is literally incapable of being remembered, up against a corporation whose business model involves invasively tracking everything, making for an interesting exploration of the consequences of visibility/invisibility, of being independent vs. being connected to everyone else, and of the tension between trying to better oneself and trying to remain true to who you are. The only drawback was it felt a little longer than it really needed to be.
3/5 stars. The world forgets Hope as soon as she is out of sight, which is useful for a jewel thief. There's a lot to like here - North's writing is great, Hope is an intriguing character, and the consequences of her unique trait are well thought out and consistent. The book explores ideas of loneliness in the midst of society and the limits of how much individual morals can or ever should be separate from those of society.
But in the end I just didn't care what happened in the plot. Being forgotten means it's hard to build relationships, so Hope can't drive character development in others.
But in the end I just didn't care what happened in the plot. Being forgotten means it's hard to build relationships, so Hope can't drive character development in others.
A masterpiece, completely original and brilliantly and evocatively written. I've never read loneliness written so beautifully.
I always like Claire North's books and the ideas that she explores within them, but compared to her other books, this one didn't have me hooked so it took me a while to get through it.
4.5 stars
I really enjoyed this book! It took some directions I wasn’t expecting, but I thought it was very interesting and I was captivated the whole time.
There were some difficult/gory scenes which for me was a turn off — I didn’t think they needed quite that much detail — but other than that, I would love to see this be made into a movie.
I still don’t fully understand WHY Hope is so unforgettable. BUT, I did love the ending, and I thought the underlying social commentary was intriguing.
I would definitely recommend, unless you are triggered by abandonment, mentions/descriptions of suicide, claustrophobic scenes or depicting medical experimentation, and extreme violence. (That’s a lot of triggers…read with caution.)
I really enjoyed this book! It took some directions I wasn’t expecting, but I thought it was very interesting and I was captivated the whole time.
There were some difficult/gory scenes which for me was a turn off — I didn’t think they needed quite that much detail — but other than that, I would love to see this be made into a movie.
I still don’t fully understand WHY Hope is so unforgettable. BUT, I did love the ending, and I thought the underlying social commentary was intriguing.
I would definitely recommend, unless you are triggered by abandonment, mentions/descriptions of suicide, claustrophobic scenes or depicting medical experimentation, and extreme violence. (That’s a lot of triggers…read with caution.)
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Has a bit of a techno-thriller feel, like William Gibson's Pattern Recognition, only with the added element of everyone immediately forgetting about Hope when they don't see her.
Hope Arden, forgotten (literally) by everyone, is forced to become a thief to survive. But she gets more than she bargains for when she steals a famous diamond and finds herself right in the middle of corporate terrorism surrounding an app that supposedly helps people become "perfect." The storyline looks into how Hope deals with being forgotten and how those around her find ways to help themselves know that they have truly met her before, even if they can't remember. In the parallel storyline, the app and the controversy surrounding it are delved in to until everything comes to a head. Both storylines are commentaries on society yet there isn't a sanctimonious feel to the writing. The book is long, very long. But unlike many stories, this one needs to be long to full contain everything it is telling you and it doesn't feel long. Ironically enough, it is a book you could get lost in.
A preview copy of this book was received from NetGalley and Redhook books in exchange for an objective review.
A preview copy of this book was received from NetGalley and Redhook books in exchange for an objective review.
It wasn't going how I thought it would based on the description I read. It wasn't holding my attention and felt like it was going into too much detail about the wrong things.