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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
This is one of those books that I cannot decide if I like or not. It was jumpy and had a lot of extra content that was very boring to plod through. But all around it was solid enough to keep me coming back.
As far as I can tell Claire North has a pattern in all her novels: she chooses a perfectly average human being, and adds an element of magical realism, and lets everything else play out naturally.
In this novel, the perfectly average human is Hope, and the magical realism element is that fact that no one can remember Hope. Once you look away from her, she fades from memory, and your brain fills in the gap where Hope should be.
North, as usual, spends the majority of the first half of the book establishing Hope's character and life by unchronologically recounting random events from her life (after all, what is the progression of time to someone that does not exist in the world as we are familiar with), and it is not until the second half of the book that we get a more familiar narrative structure, and Hope is given an explicit goal.
The last Claire North book I read, Touch, I criticised for being too similar to The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, The Sudden Appearance of Hope however, is very different while still retaining North's pattern. North is very good at taking a magical element and realistically examining how that would manifest in the real world and how that would effect a real person. Hope, for example, because of her condition cannot hold down a stable job, anyone who hired her, upon meeting her would soon forget her existence. Naturally, and organically she becomes a thief in order to obtain an income and survive. North further explores smaller more detailed aspects of Hope's life, such as the fact that she finds it extremely difficult to get service in a restaurant and medical attention. These details are littered around the novel and I adore how thoroughly they interact with real life as we know it. Not only that, but North establishes the limits of what Hope can do and pushes them, you have to see Hope to forget her, you can monitor the gaps and inconsistencies in your life to deduce her presence, and Hope can be remembered through her online interactions with others.
It's also fun to watch Hope utilise her abilities and using them to aid her, for example she can restart and redo first a conversation by merely walking away, letting someone forget her, and approaching them again.
The novel also examines this extreme lifestyle's effect on someone's mental state. Being unable to form relationships with other people and being unable to be grounded by the world around her has clearly had an effect on Hope. She is desperate for affection, for attention and to be recognised, as this is something every person needs, but Hope can never obtain. This would obviously be detrimental to a person, and North knows this, as Hope is shown to scream, cry, act out and even considers ending her life. She has anxious and obsessive tendencies, and repetition is huge part of this book.
Many statements are repeated right after another and throughout this novel. After all, Hope's life really is only one big cycle of repetition, it is endless first beginnings and introductions, alone she is unable to really grow as a person and enter new stages of her life. She often reduces herself to one feature, "Empty words. I am my smile. I am my lips." As she only exists in the world to other people as what she is right now, as who she pretends to be at any given moment. She is desperate to ground herself, and is often reciting obscure and specific facts throughout out the novel as, "Knowledge is power. Knowledge is freedom. Knowledge is all I have. There is nothing in this worrld which can master me, save myself." There are many philosophical ideas about identity and existence expressed in this book in both subtle and unsubtle ways. Later in the book these ideas are expressed more explicitly.
The way that you exist in society is brought into question, and Hope can be seen attacking people that do not submerge themselves into a community and do not contribute to the world they live in. However, this novel very much condemns Das Man and the pressures of society.
This novel very overtly explores the nature of marketing and societal pressures, particularly those on women. While this novel deals wth many different topics and does not pretend to give solid answers to everything it raises, there is a very clear line drawn and condemnation of extreme views of any sort.
I really adored the topics brought up in this novel, and particularly how it wasn't Eurocentric but the one fault that I had with it, is that I couldn't really like Hope. Whether this was because of Hope herself, or because of the narrator of the audiobook I listened to, I am unsure. I found that this dislike brought down my rating of a novel that had some really really interesting ideas.
I could probably go on and on and on about those ideas forever, but I have to wrap this up sometime, so I'll finish up by saying I really adored this novel, and the manner in which it progressed from Touch, and I am looking forward to the next novel she writes.
In this novel, the perfectly average human is Hope, and the magical realism element is that fact that no one can remember Hope. Once you look away from her, she fades from memory, and your brain fills in the gap where Hope should be.
North, as usual, spends the majority of the first half of the book establishing Hope's character and life by unchronologically recounting random events from her life (after all, what is the progression of time to someone that does not exist in the world as we are familiar with), and it is not until the second half of the book that we get a more familiar narrative structure, and Hope is given an explicit goal.
The last Claire North book I read, Touch, I criticised for being too similar to The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, The Sudden Appearance of Hope however, is very different while still retaining North's pattern. North is very good at taking a magical element and realistically examining how that would manifest in the real world and how that would effect a real person. Hope, for example, because of her condition cannot hold down a stable job, anyone who hired her, upon meeting her would soon forget her existence. Naturally, and organically she becomes a thief in order to obtain an income and survive. North further explores smaller more detailed aspects of Hope's life, such as the fact that she finds it extremely difficult to get service in a restaurant and medical attention. These details are littered around the novel and I adore how thoroughly they interact with real life as we know it. Not only that, but North establishes the limits of what Hope can do and pushes them, you have to see Hope to forget her, you can monitor the gaps and inconsistencies in your life to deduce her presence, and Hope can be remembered through her online interactions with others.
It's also fun to watch Hope utilise her abilities and using them to aid her, for example she can restart and redo first a conversation by merely walking away, letting someone forget her, and approaching them again.
The novel also examines this extreme lifestyle's effect on someone's mental state. Being unable to form relationships with other people and being unable to be grounded by the world around her has clearly had an effect on Hope. She is desperate for affection, for attention and to be recognised, as this is something every person needs, but Hope can never obtain. This would obviously be detrimental to a person, and North knows this, as Hope is shown to scream, cry, act out and even considers ending her life. She has anxious and obsessive tendencies, and repetition is huge part of this book.
Many statements are repeated right after another and throughout this novel. After all, Hope's life really is only one big cycle of repetition, it is endless first beginnings and introductions, alone she is unable to really grow as a person and enter new stages of her life. She often reduces herself to one feature, "Empty words. I am my smile. I am my lips." As she only exists in the world to other people as what she is right now, as who she pretends to be at any given moment. She is desperate to ground herself, and is often reciting obscure and specific facts throughout out the novel as, "Knowledge is power. Knowledge is freedom. Knowledge is all I have. There is nothing in this worrld which can master me, save myself." There are many philosophical ideas about identity and existence expressed in this book in both subtle and unsubtle ways. Later in the book these ideas are expressed more explicitly.
The way that you exist in society is brought into question, and Hope can be seen attacking people that do not submerge themselves into a community and do not contribute to the world they live in. However, this novel very much condemns Das Man and the pressures of society.
This novel very overtly explores the nature of marketing and societal pressures, particularly those on women. While this novel deals wth many different topics and does not pretend to give solid answers to everything it raises, there is a very clear line drawn and condemnation of extreme views of any sort.
I really adored the topics brought up in this novel, and particularly how it wasn't Eurocentric but the one fault that I had with it, is that I couldn't really like Hope. Whether this was because of Hope herself, or because of the narrator of the audiobook I listened to, I am unsure. I found that this dislike brought down my rating of a novel that had some really really interesting ideas.
I could probably go on and on and on about those ideas forever, but I have to wrap this up sometime, so I'll finish up by saying I really adored this novel, and the manner in which it progressed from Touch, and I am looking forward to the next novel she writes.
This is the story of Hope. This book is about how she lost herself and everyone at age 16, reinvented herself as a thief, has her life thrown about, and embarks on a journey to find herself. A lot happens in this book, but it always remains about Hope, who is a fascinating, powerful, and well written character.
The only reason I did not give this book 5 stars, is because I felt it drag on in the last third of the story and I could not get lost in the story as in other parts.
The only reason I did not give this book 5 stars, is because I felt it drag on in the last third of the story and I could not get lost in the story as in other parts.
There were a lot of things going on in this book and i liked most of them.
I personally would have liked to see her remembered, but I can understand why that didn’t happen. As it is, I wasn’t satisfied by the ending because there didn’t seem to be any meaningful change. Memory loss plots really make it hard for me
I personally would have liked to see her remembered, but I can understand why that didn’t happen. As it is, I wasn’t satisfied by the ending because there didn’t seem to be any meaningful change. Memory loss plots really make it hard for me
A difficult book to review, I think. The premise is intriguing: Hope is forgotten, by everyone, within minutes of any encounter. This brings both benefits and problems. Alongside this a story plays out of an app which is more than an app - a lifestyle, really - which carries with it complex ethical and philosophical issues. And the two stories intertwine...
I found the writing impressive but also irritating - the lists, the random facts, the counting, the definitions of words (I don't need a paragraph to give me a dictionary definition of the word "penance", for example - let's just move on with the story, please!) It felt, at times, as though the author was regurgitating Wikipedia. I was also disappointed by the lack of resolution - we never find out why Hope disappears from people's memories, or how it happens, or whether she ever overcomes it, nor are we told what happens to several of the main characters or how some of the relationships play out. That said, the imagination and skill required to write such a story are substantial, and I intend to read more by this author.
I found the writing impressive but also irritating - the lists, the random facts, the counting, the definitions of words (I don't need a paragraph to give me a dictionary definition of the word "penance", for example - let's just move on with the story, please!) It felt, at times, as though the author was regurgitating Wikipedia. I was also disappointed by the lack of resolution - we never find out why Hope disappears from people's memories, or how it happens, or whether she ever overcomes it, nor are we told what happens to several of the main characters or how some of the relationships play out. That said, the imagination and skill required to write such a story are substantial, and I intend to read more by this author.
Había escuchado muchas veces el nombre de esta autora, sobre todo de manos de Isa, que hablaba maravillas de su trabajo. Un detalle muy bonito que recordaré siempre fue cuando estuve en Barcelona en febrero de 2018 y fui al templo de la fantasía y ciencia ficción—la librería Gigamesh—, y la misma Isa me compró, me firmó y dedicó este libro; casi que me metió por ceja y ceja que leyera a Claire North. Ya no tenía excusa. Un año y poco después lo he hecho y bueno, ha acertado de lleno.
Hope Arden es un fantasma. A los dieciséis años su familia y sus amigos la han olvidado de forma repentina, sin que ella sepa la razón. Con el pasar del tiempo se da cuenta de cómo su vida ha dado un giro inmenso. Todas las personas que conoce o la ven la olvidan, y tardan menos de dos minutos de olvidar su rostro y su nombre. Eso es tan bueno como malo: no puede tener un trabajo, una urgencia médica o relaciones amorosas estables; pero puede robar, estafar, espiar y pasar desapercibida muy fácilmente. Así las cosas, Hope está decidida a sobrevivir y ser disciplinada e inteligente para sobrellevar su condición y no perder la cordura.
Sin tener mucha idea a qué me enfrentaba, esta novela ha sido una grata sorpresa. No dudaba de que me llegaría a gustar, pero ha sido un acierto ir sin expectativas porque que la novela me ha dejado francamente impresionada. Creo que Claire North es una autora con mucho talento y oficio y ha creado un personaje tan bien hecho como Hope, que con su singular narración nos cuenta en primera persona como ha sido su vida desde que el mundo se olvidó de ella.
Hope es un personaje maravillosamente construido y vamos conociendo poco a poco su pasado y como ha llegado a ser una experta estafadora y ladrona. La trama toma otro rumbo cuando un robo millonario sale mal y ella se decide a acabar con Perfección, una aplicación móvil que monitorea el comportamiento y ayuda a las personas para que se conviertan en lo que siempre han querido ser: inteligentes, seguras, bellas, exitosas... marketing viviente de todo lo que es perfecto.
Mezcla de ambas premisas, la novela se convierte en una especie de thriller y a medida que va avanzando vamos descubriendo las capas del terrible aislamiento de Hope y lo que hay detrás de su cruzada en contra de los creadores de Perfección. Los personajes secundarios me han encantado, tenemos un par de personas del pasado y presente de Hope y creo que encuentran la forma más orgánica de estar presentes en la historia y como se ven afectados por la condición de la protagonista. Personalmente me ha encantado Luca y Filippa.
Teniendo una premisa tan interesante, una ambientación lograda y trabajada y una protagonista solida y con buenos secundarios, la novela ha tenido momentos que me ha costado avanzar. Cuando ya llevas más de la mitad sientes que ya no fluye tanto y el final se ha alargado más de lo necesario. Pero creo que son errores menores en comparación con la impresión general. Se nota que North se ha documentado muchísimo y ha creado una muy buena historia que da mucho que pensar y se queda contigo, tan contrario a lo que siempre ansió Hope, ser recordada.
No puedo terminar la reseña sin darle las gracias a Isa por convencerme y regalarme el libro. Ha creado a una nueva seguidora de la autora que ahora comparte su entusiasmo.
Hope Arden es un fantasma. A los dieciséis años su familia y sus amigos la han olvidado de forma repentina, sin que ella sepa la razón. Con el pasar del tiempo se da cuenta de cómo su vida ha dado un giro inmenso. Todas las personas que conoce o la ven la olvidan, y tardan menos de dos minutos de olvidar su rostro y su nombre. Eso es tan bueno como malo: no puede tener un trabajo, una urgencia médica o relaciones amorosas estables; pero puede robar, estafar, espiar y pasar desapercibida muy fácilmente. Así las cosas, Hope está decidida a sobrevivir y ser disciplinada e inteligente para sobrellevar su condición y no perder la cordura.
Sin tener mucha idea a qué me enfrentaba, esta novela ha sido una grata sorpresa. No dudaba de que me llegaría a gustar, pero ha sido un acierto ir sin expectativas porque que la novela me ha dejado francamente impresionada. Creo que Claire North es una autora con mucho talento y oficio y ha creado un personaje tan bien hecho como Hope, que con su singular narración nos cuenta en primera persona como ha sido su vida desde que el mundo se olvidó de ella.
Hope es un personaje maravillosamente construido y vamos conociendo poco a poco su pasado y como ha llegado a ser una experta estafadora y ladrona. La trama toma otro rumbo cuando un robo millonario sale mal y ella se decide a acabar con Perfección, una aplicación móvil que monitorea el comportamiento y ayuda a las personas para que se conviertan en lo que siempre han querido ser: inteligentes, seguras, bellas, exitosas... marketing viviente de todo lo que es perfecto.
Mezcla de ambas premisas, la novela se convierte en una especie de thriller y a medida que va avanzando vamos descubriendo las capas del terrible aislamiento de Hope y lo que hay detrás de su cruzada en contra de los creadores de Perfección. Los personajes secundarios me han encantado, tenemos un par de personas del pasado y presente de Hope y creo que encuentran la forma más orgánica de estar presentes en la historia y como se ven afectados por la condición de la protagonista. Personalmente me ha encantado Luca y Filippa.
Teniendo una premisa tan interesante, una ambientación lograda y trabajada y una protagonista solida y con buenos secundarios, la novela ha tenido momentos que me ha costado avanzar. Cuando ya llevas más de la mitad sientes que ya no fluye tanto y el final se ha alargado más de lo necesario. Pero creo que son errores menores en comparación con la impresión general. Se nota que North se ha documentado muchísimo y ha creado una muy buena historia que da mucho que pensar y se queda contigo, tan contrario a lo que siempre ansió Hope, ser recordada.
No puedo terminar la reseña sin darle las gracias a Isa por convencerme y regalarme el libro. Ha creado a una nueva seguidora de la autora que ahora comparte su entusiasmo.
Holy moly! I fell in love with this book the first time I heard/ read about it. Simply the fact that it's about this woman named Hope who'll you simply forget as soon as you're done talking to hear had me hooked.
I loved the fact that there was this whole thing with Perfection going on and how the story oh Hope intertwined with it. I loved to read about Hopes "condition" and how she tried/ learned to live with it. This is honestly a book I would recommend to a bunch of different people. Though I do admit that sometimes Hopes thought process seems to be very long especially if you as a reader just want to know what happened next, but nevertheless I still really enjoyed this book!!!
I loved the fact that there was this whole thing with Perfection going on and how the story oh Hope intertwined with it. I loved to read about Hopes "condition" and how she tried/ learned to live with it. This is honestly a book I would recommend to a bunch of different people. Though I do admit that sometimes Hopes thought process seems to be very long especially if you as a reader just want to know what happened next, but nevertheless I still really enjoyed this book!!!
Hope Arden is utterly forgettable, and that opens up a whole lot of problems, as well as possibilities. When she is faced with a program that promises to make people perfect, she is one of the few who can do something about it. Aaand maybe be remembered..?
The good: It's unique. Also, I am a fan of Claire North's other series (about a certain resurrected magician), so I'm well acquainted with her style and vivid characters she writes.
The bad: Also, I expect there to be no plot whatsoever. It's just a series of things that happen. It's all very disjointed at times, and - I admit - there were moments where I lost the thread and had to reread a bit.
The ugly: You have to swallow the idea that NLP actually has a huge impact on the brain - which is utter poppycock. If the scientific inaccuracy irritates you, this is not a book for you.
Also, t's too long. I see this as 2 books in 1 -The second one was reeeealy boring at times. And repetitive as hell.
The good: It's unique. Also, I am a fan of Claire North's other series (about a certain resurrected magician), so I'm well acquainted with her style and vivid characters she writes.
The bad: Also, I expect there to be no plot whatsoever. It's just a series of things that happen. It's all very disjointed at times, and - I admit - there were moments where I lost the thread and had to reread a bit.
The ugly: You have to swallow the idea that NLP actually has a huge impact on the brain - which is utter poppycock. If the scientific inaccuracy irritates you, this is not a book for you.
Also, t's too long. I see this as 2 books in 1 -