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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So I feel obliged to write my thoughts on this one.
I loved The First Fifteen lives of Harry August, so I was expecting great things from this one.
It fell so flat for me, the stream of conscious thought drove me mad,I am I am I am I am.
I wanted there to be a reason why she was forgettable, I wanted to know how Parker became memorable and the whole Perfection thing was so lame ... it could of been so much more. What was the point of any of it, where was the character growth?
It was just sad and...forgettable.
I'm over it.
I loved The First Fifteen lives of Harry August, so I was expecting great things from this one.
It fell so flat for me, the stream of conscious thought drove me mad,
I wanted there to be a reason why she was forgettable, I wanted to know how Parker became memorable and the whole Perfection thing was so lame
It was just sad and...forgettable.
I'm over it.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Loveable characters:
No
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Claire North always picks the most interesting character to write about. Her style of writing flows so well - it’s hypnotic and enthralling, and once you start reading, it’s hard to put it down.
Imagine having the inability to store short-term memory (think Memento). You can carry on a conversation with someone new (or have you met?) but a minute or two after you turn away, all memory of the person is gone. Not just that you can't remember what she looked like, but you don't remember her existence, that you even had a dinner companion or overnight tryst. In this novel, everyone has this inability, but only with one person. That person is Hope, who acquired this "power" in high school. Her parents slowly forgot her, restaurants forget her orders, and cops tracking her thievery let her slip through their fingertips.
It's a fascinating premise, though not explored to its full potential. The author made some odd decisions about how the power works, and when it doesn't. There are scenes that don't make sense because they seem to violate the rules. But overall, the idea is worth reading about.
Then there is the other plot, the corporation that might destroy the world due to greed. Cause we never see that in books, right. That part's okay but also a bit short-changed. It might work as a serial, where the petty crime stuff is part of each episode and the big looming villain slowly works its way through the storyline. In fact, it might work nicely in an almost cartoonish format, like Agents of Shield.
Add to that some editing issues (several multiple page conversations that go nowhere) and sections that I had to make myself continue to read, and you get the 3 star rating. Overall though it's enough to make me glad I finished it and it might have potential in another format.
It's a fascinating premise, though not explored to its full potential. The author made some odd decisions about how the power works, and when it doesn't. There are scenes that don't make sense because they seem to violate the rules. But overall, the idea is worth reading about.
Then there is the other plot, the corporation that might destroy the world due to greed. Cause we never see that in books, right. That part's okay but also a bit short-changed. It might work as a serial, where the petty crime stuff is part of each episode and the big looming villain slowly works its way through the storyline. In fact, it might work nicely in an almost cartoonish format, like Agents of Shield.
Add to that some editing issues (several multiple page conversations that go nowhere) and sections that I had to make myself continue to read, and you get the 3 star rating. Overall though it's enough to make me glad I finished it and it might have potential in another format.
I feel like I've been reading this forever and so much happened and I can never remember it all. Parts of this were brilliant, breathtaking, heartbreaking. Other times, the pacing was a bit weird - and the characters weren't greatly developed apart from Hope, so the story and the ideas were more proportionately important. When the pace slackened I really felt it. It was good overall - some fantastic and horrendous ideas. But part of me is left a bit flat. I think it's the part that values character development very highly.
A relatively simple idea, but played out to perfection.
What is a person? How do you define yourself? By how others perceive you? What if they can't have a perception of you in any lasting way? Even scarier, what if your person was defined by the perceptions of other people and only by the perceptions of what other people think of as perfect?
No-one remembers Hope Arden which makes her day-to-day life hellish and lonely and she's forced to rely on theft to make her way in the world. Any human connection she makes is necessarily one-sided as the other party forgets her and everything she does in minutes. She makes one of these connections to a young woman who uses a new app called Perfection that combines Facebook-level privacy-intrusion with life coaching and direct marketing and who soon commits suicide. Undiagnosed depression and a constant presence telling you that you're not good enough is not a good combination. Guilt at realizing the girl's mental state and anger at Perfection lead Hope into a personal investigation that sends her far down the rabbit hole.
This is brilliant. There's a critique of how a person interacts with society in here and how much you should let society define you, either incidentally or deliberately. There's also a morality play going on about the end justifying the means. The growth of Hope's character throughout is well done, but all the characters are wonderfully portrayed. Tragic Reina and Filipa and the characters of Gaugin, Byron and Luca are all extremely (ironically) memorable.
What is a person? How do you define yourself? By how others perceive you? What if they can't have a perception of you in any lasting way? Even scarier, what if your person was defined by the perceptions of other people and only by the perceptions of what other people think of as perfect?
No-one remembers Hope Arden which makes her day-to-day life hellish and lonely and she's forced to rely on theft to make her way in the world. Any human connection she makes is necessarily one-sided as the other party forgets her and everything she does in minutes. She makes one of these connections to a young woman who uses a new app called Perfection that combines Facebook-level privacy-intrusion with life coaching and direct marketing and who soon commits suicide. Undiagnosed depression and a constant presence telling you that you're not good enough is not a good combination. Guilt at realizing the girl's mental state and anger at Perfection lead Hope into a personal investigation that sends her far down the rabbit hole.
This is brilliant. There's a critique of how a person interacts with society in here and how much you should let society define you, either incidentally or deliberately. There's also a morality play going on about the end justifying the means. The growth of Hope's character throughout is well done, but all the characters are wonderfully portrayed. Tragic Reina and Filipa and the characters of Gaugin, Byron and Luca are all extremely (ironically) memorable.
4*
Esta novela tiene un ritmo un poco más accidentado que los otros trabajos de Claire North, pero seguramente la idea que hay detrás no llegue a abandonarme nunca; no parece que pueda volver a ver el mundo como antes.
En el blog: http://noolvideselparaguas.blogspot.com.es/2017/04/the-sudden-appearance-of-hope-de-claire.html
Esta novela tiene un ritmo un poco más accidentado que los otros trabajos de Claire North, pero seguramente la idea que hay detrás no llegue a abandonarme nunca; no parece que pueda volver a ver el mundo como antes.
En el blog: http://noolvideselparaguas.blogspot.com.es/2017/04/the-sudden-appearance-of-hope-de-claire.html
I received a copy of The Sudden Appearance of Hope from Hachette New Zealand to review.
I was very curious about Hope when I read the synopsis and was interested to see if the book said what it was that made her so forgettable. But the story was about so much more than people forgetting her.
There were some parts that bored me, like all the facts Hope went on about but I get why she was so obsessed with facts. Even when they had nothing to do with what was going on around her. It’s like she remembers all the random things to compensate for the fact that she’s so forgettable. That’s what I thought anyway.. I could be completely wrong.
I really felt for Hope. It would be very difficult and lonely to live a life like hers. Hope can’t hold a job because her boss would never remember her. So how does she eat? Where can she live? Hope can’t have relationships with people either. I mean, when your own parents forget you it makes it hard to have friendships and boyfriends. I didn’t feel like Hope resented her life but she did want the chance to change it.
I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t an explanation for why Hope was so forgettable. Well, to most people. I thought it was weird that Hope didn’t want answers just a solution. I would think that finding the reason why people forgot her would maybe lead to finding a way to make her memorable again.
Even though I didn’t like some of the things Hope did, I did like her. She was smart, intuitive and brave. Well, she can be brave when no one remembers her. She was also strong, not letting the fact that she can’t do a lot of things ‘normal’ people do, like have friends and a job, get her down. She just kind of accepted it and found a way to make the most of her lot in life. I don’t think I’d be like that at all.
I enjoyed The Sudden Appearance of Hope. It’s nothing like the books I normally read, which was a definite plus. I’d heard it had a slow start but I was hook from the first few pages.
I was very curious about Hope when I read the synopsis and was interested to see if the book said what it was that made her so forgettable. But the story was about so much more than people forgetting her.
There were some parts that bored me, like all the facts Hope went on about but I get why she was so obsessed with facts. Even when they had nothing to do with what was going on around her. It’s like she remembers all the random things to compensate for the fact that she’s so forgettable. That’s what I thought anyway.. I could be completely wrong.
I really felt for Hope. It would be very difficult and lonely to live a life like hers. Hope can’t hold a job because her boss would never remember her. So how does she eat? Where can she live? Hope can’t have relationships with people either. I mean, when your own parents forget you it makes it hard to have friendships and boyfriends. I didn’t feel like Hope resented her life but she did want the chance to change it.
I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t an explanation for why Hope was so forgettable. Well, to most people. I thought it was weird that Hope didn’t want answers just a solution. I would think that finding the reason why people forgot her would maybe lead to finding a way to make her memorable again.
Even though I didn’t like some of the things Hope did, I did like her. She was smart, intuitive and brave. Well, she can be brave when no one remembers her. She was also strong, not letting the fact that she can’t do a lot of things ‘normal’ people do, like have friends and a job, get her down. She just kind of accepted it and found a way to make the most of her lot in life. I don’t think I’d be like that at all.
I enjoyed The Sudden Appearance of Hope. It’s nothing like the books I normally read, which was a definite plus. I’d heard it had a slow start but I was hook from the first few pages.
3rd book by Claire North and just as marvelous as her first two books. Same setting (main character has a special 'gift') but again wonderfully and perfectly executed. This book combines adventure, science, technology, philosophy, travel and even poetry.
3,5 stars
I kinda wish I didn't start reading this when I did, because I very well knew I wasn't in the right mood for Claire North, as her books requires me to be in a certain mood to really appreciate them.
I kinda wish I didn't start reading this when I did, because I very well knew I wasn't in the right mood for Claire North, as her books requires me to be in a certain mood to really appreciate them.