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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
Probably closer to 3.25 or 3.5 because the ending was such a slog to get through, but the premise is so fascinating and unique that I decided to round out. Fascinating really is the best way to describe this book for the most part--I just wish the last 150 pages hadn't been such a drag for me. Would still recommend if the premise intrigues you!
Interesting concept, good writing, but lagged in the middle.
Read for a Sci-fi book club selection. I found it to be more fantasy than sci-fi. A woman who you forget. (As touched upon in the end- this is kinda a obvious acknowledgement of the servers and helpers we have in the background of our lives) she develops her own society rules and mind techniques to stay sane.
The plot of Perfection seemed shallow. It was not a issue for most of society (just the elite) and brainwashing (maybe that’s the sci-fi?) only became a weapon once it was in the hands of those who want to destroy it. But how Hope life and the app Perfection connect is never clear in all the muddy prose. I did not get the lesson here, and good sci-fi has a lesson for me.
This book was about 100-200 pages too long. If it was that long to make a point- I never picked it up.
Ms. North’s other books seem well received- I may try them, but this one gets a meh from me.
The plot of Perfection seemed shallow. It was not a issue for most of society (just the elite) and brainwashing (maybe that’s the sci-fi?) only became a weapon once it was in the hands of those who want to destroy it. But how Hope life and the app Perfection connect is never clear in all the muddy prose. I did not get the lesson here, and good sci-fi has a lesson for me.
This book was about 100-200 pages too long. If it was that long to make a point- I never picked it up.
Ms. North’s other books seem well received- I may try them, but this one gets a meh from me.
This is the first book I've read by Claire North and I must say that I'm hooked. This book was superb from beginning to end. I enjoyed the interplay between the characters within the pages. I am looking forward to reading other books by this author.
Call it three and a half stars. Claire North has a talent for writing about people who have unusual gifts or traits - being reborn hundreds of times, being able to transfer consciousness between bodies, and in this case being forgotten by everyone she meets as soon as she leaves them. I once tried to write a short story about a man who had a similar problem, actually, but couldn't figure out how to make it viable. North does the job, although I would have liked a little more background, a little more time spent on her childhood and the development of the issue.
Making her an international jewel thief adds a nice dimension of intrigue, and her interactions with people - interactions that affect her but never them, not in any lasting manner - are bittersweet and moving; seeing her meet people, friends or enemies, for the first time over and over again is both frustrating and heartbreaking. The Perfection angle was interesting and appropriately horrifying - present technology taken to its extreme logical conclusion - although a few times I felt like the harping on the "perfect smile, perfect body, perfect clothes" thing was a little overdone. The introduction of Byron then takes the story off the thriller track and off into philosophical meanderings, to which the subject matter lends itself very well, although the plot might be a bit slower than some readers would expect from the synopsis.
Overall this is a diverting read that poses some challenging questions about how memory impacts relationships and how alone a person is if they can't be connected to the people in their lives an ongoing, meaningful manner.
A Kindle copy was previded by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Making her an international jewel thief adds a nice dimension of intrigue, and her interactions with people - interactions that affect her but never them, not in any lasting manner - are bittersweet and moving; seeing her meet people, friends or enemies, for the first time over and over again is both frustrating and heartbreaking. The Perfection angle was interesting and appropriately horrifying - present technology taken to its extreme logical conclusion - although a few times I felt like the harping on the "perfect smile, perfect body, perfect clothes" thing was a little overdone. The introduction of Byron then takes the story off the thriller track and off into philosophical meanderings, to which the subject matter lends itself very well, although the plot might be a bit slower than some readers would expect from the synopsis.
Overall this is a diverting read that poses some challenging questions about how memory impacts relationships and how alone a person is if they can't be connected to the people in their lives an ongoing, meaningful manner.
A Kindle copy was previded by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The writing was excellent! The premise was brilliant. I think it just needed editing down a little bit.
At its best, [a: Claire North|7210024|Claire North|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1440105009p2/7210024.jpg]’s writing hits you like a snowball to the face. It can be raw and powerful, offering precise, and sometimes brutally clear, insights into individual experience. At its worst, it’s more like an avalanche; still beautiful, still mesmerising, but somehow heavy-handed, excessive, tiresome. [b: The Sudden Appearance of Hope|25746699|The Sudden Appearance of Hope|Claire North|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1454363620s/25746699.jpg|45587878] was not, in my appearance, North at her best. I finished feeling lukewarm, and while there were moments of pure song, that I read over and over again, as a whole I found it disappointing.
It’s an incredibly interesting concept for a book, and sits quite happily in line with her previous works, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August and Touch, and, as in those works, she takes her time exploring it, considering it from every angle: how it could benefit a person, how it could harm them, how the act of being forgotten is a kind of little death, that repeats over and over again. If the book focused only on that, I would have loved it.
It’s the other plotline that bothered me. When a woman she considers her friend (as far as anyone who is entirely forgettable can have friends) dies, Hope comes into conflict with the new app Perfection, which promises to revamp the user’s life by offering them rewards for being, well, perfect. I’ve seen other reviewers call this a meditation on contemporary life, on our addiction to our phones, and in this sense it ties well into Hope’s condition, into a world where being recognised online has become an act of saying, ‘Here I am. This is me. I am alive’, and where being ignored in such circumstances can leave one feeling as if they are disappearing, fading away.
That said, I had a quick look and it seems like most reviewers disagreed with me. But then, I didn’t massively love The Sense of an Ending either, and that won the Man Booker prize. Maybe I’m just not cut out for literary fiction.
Read this book if you like: espionage, literary fiction, a great concept, and a tight first person narrative. Don’t read if you want: a light read, variety, a book that lives up to the other, brilliant novels she has written.
There is a girl you do not remember[b: The Sudden Appearance of Hope|25746699|The Sudden Appearance of Hope|Claire North|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1454363620s/25746699.jpg|45587878] is the story of Hope Arden, who has the peculiar condition of being entirely forgettable. In comes on her gradually, in stages, but by the time she’s sixteen, she has been forgotten by everyone she knew, including her parents. She can meet people, get to know them, listen to their entire life story, but as soon as she’s left their eyesight, they can no longer remember her. Which makes her both miserable, and an excellent thief.
It’s an incredibly interesting concept for a book, and sits quite happily in line with her previous works, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August and Touch, and, as in those works, she takes her time exploring it, considering it from every angle: how it could benefit a person, how it could harm them, how the act of being forgotten is a kind of little death, that repeats over and over again. If the book focused only on that, I would have loved it.
It’s the other plotline that bothered me. When a woman she considers her friend (as far as anyone who is entirely forgettable can have friends) dies, Hope comes into conflict with the new app Perfection, which promises to revamp the user’s life by offering them rewards for being, well, perfect. I’ve seen other reviewers call this a meditation on contemporary life, on our addiction to our phones, and in this sense it ties well into Hope’s condition, into a world where being recognised online has become an act of saying, ‘Here I am. This is me. I am alive’, and where being ignored in such circumstances can leave one feeling as if they are disappearing, fading away.
Alone, you can lose yourself, or you may find yourself, and most of the time you do both.And it is interesting. But it’s also dogmatic. The same themes repeat over and over again. Hope’s frustration with being forgotten (understandable, yes; interesting after the seventh time? No), her distaste for this kind of world, the “evil” of the people who created this app, the terrifying world they’ve created. There isn’t a break. It just keeps going and going and, after a while, I found that the power of it started to pale. I get it. You’re upset. Maybe I just wasn’t reading it in the right frame of mind, but it never grabbed me in the same way her previous work did. It felt, and I hate to say it, as if North had become a little too enamoured of her literary power, of her words, and was wielding them like a hatchet instead of a brush.
That said, I had a quick look and it seems like most reviewers disagreed with me. But then, I didn’t massively love The Sense of an Ending either, and that won the Man Booker prize. Maybe I’m just not cut out for literary fiction.
I exist in this physical world as sure as stone, but in the world of men—in that world that is collective memory, in the dream-world where people find meaning, feeling, importance—I am a ghost. Only in the present tense am I real.To try and end this review on a more positive note, the writing is still beautiful. Even when she’s not at her best, North can craft some damn good prose. Hope’s character, too, is complex and well-articulated and her struggle to be remembered is pressing, tortured and intricately rendered (most of the time).
Read this book if you like: espionage, literary fiction, a great concept, and a tight first person narrative. Don’t read if you want: a light read, variety, a book that lives up to the other, brilliant novels she has written.
You have to understand that this book is far out of my comfort zone. When I first requested a copy from the publishers I only knew two things - 1) Regan from PeruseProject on Youtube adored this book and 2) the synopsis was too good to pass up. Memory loss is a tricky thing to accomplish in literature, and I was simply blown out of the water with this one.
You know that saying 'out of sight, out of mind'? Hope Arden is the personified form of this saying. You can talk to her, have a real connection with her and even fall in love with her. But once she's out of your sight, you'll forget all about her. And you think you're living a hellish life? Think about how Hope feels. To be forgotten by your own parents, lovers, friends and siblings. What kind of life is that? However, being forgotten is not all bad. It enables Hope to be a jewel thief, and a good one at that.
We are introduced to a global software known as Perfection. It's described as a cellphone app kind of system that gets access to the user's personal contacts, emails, calendars and basically a whole person's life. The idea behind Perfection is to shape and mold a person into the perfect version of themselves, thereby changing their lifestyle, friends, habits and attitude to make a person 'perfect'. Now it gets interesting. Hope Arden resents everything about Perfection and the so-called 106 club, an exclusive group of people who have achieved a high number of points through Perfection. And one of the perks about being forgotten is that you'll seemingly blend in against the rich and snobby elite who are always remembered. Hope is the perfect candidate to infiltrate the system and shut down Perfection, forever. That's exactly what she does.
Sound a little confusing? Just know that the book is way more than what it says on the synopsis. It's more than just a chronicle on Hope's life. It's about a world that has lost its image and a girl who is trying to retrieve it because unlike so many others, she doesn't believe in the world perfect.
I took a chance with this one, and I'm so glad I made that leap from YA. Literary fiction is just one of those things you have to test out for yourself. You know, dip your toes in the water. It's not to say that this book wasn't slow... The first few chapters were not as fast-paced and thrilling as the middle and ending, but I couldn't ignore the fact that we got a lot of background information and history of Hope Arden, who by the way is the single-handedly most interesting protagonist I've ever encountered.
This was such an impactful book that made me realize our point of view on the word perfect is quite linear. We usually associate that word with perfect teeth, a perfect smile, a slim and fit body, and long and gorgeous hair. And for a girl like Hope, who doesn't have to care about being perfect because she's never remembered, to say that she hates Perfection is like a pebble being thrown in the water. It's a game changer. No one may remember the girl who isn't perfect, but they will remember who destroyed Perfection.
Some of my favorite parts of the book had to be the moments when Hope met with the same person many times and each time, they never remembered her. In Hope's desperate struggle to be remembered, she meets someone with the same 'condition'. He, too, is not remembered. I think North took a huge risk in creating this character with a similar condition because, just imagine, two people who aren't remembered?? Then how do they remember that they don't remember each other? I have to say that Claire North handled this concept very well. It was straight-forward and easy enough to understand. I could tell that my brain was working a lot harder to analyze what was going on, and I appreciated the challenge!
One of my main concerns going into this book was that it would be way too confusing for me to understand. As I've tried to read hard-hitting fiction such as Gone Girl, The Girl On the Train and All the Light We Cannot See, I find that I have trouble understanding the storyline and characters as easily as I have with YA. And I think the only thing I can say to that is I just wanted to know what would happen to Hope in the end. It's not like skipping to the end will help because the book flashes back and forth in time, so don't even try to be sneaky (heheh, I caught you!).
You know that saying 'out of sight, out of mind'? Hope Arden is the personified form of this saying. You can talk to her, have a real connection with her and even fall in love with her. But once she's out of your sight, you'll forget all about her. And you think you're living a hellish life? Think about how Hope feels. To be forgotten by your own parents, lovers, friends and siblings. What kind of life is that? However, being forgotten is not all bad. It enables Hope to be a jewel thief, and a good one at that.
We are introduced to a global software known as Perfection. It's described as a cellphone app kind of system that gets access to the user's personal contacts, emails, calendars and basically a whole person's life. The idea behind Perfection is to shape and mold a person into the perfect version of themselves, thereby changing their lifestyle, friends, habits and attitude to make a person 'perfect'. Now it gets interesting. Hope Arden resents everything about Perfection and the so-called 106 club, an exclusive group of people who have achieved a high number of points through Perfection. And one of the perks about being forgotten is that you'll seemingly blend in against the rich and snobby elite who are always remembered. Hope is the perfect candidate to infiltrate the system and shut down Perfection, forever. That's exactly what she does.
Sound a little confusing? Just know that the book is way more than what it says on the synopsis. It's more than just a chronicle on Hope's life. It's about a world that has lost its image and a girl who is trying to retrieve it because unlike so many others, she doesn't believe in the world perfect.
I took a chance with this one, and I'm so glad I made that leap from YA. Literary fiction is just one of those things you have to test out for yourself. You know, dip your toes in the water. It's not to say that this book wasn't slow... The first few chapters were not as fast-paced and thrilling as the middle and ending, but I couldn't ignore the fact that we got a lot of background information and history of Hope Arden, who by the way is the single-handedly most interesting protagonist I've ever encountered.
This was such an impactful book that made me realize our point of view on the word perfect is quite linear. We usually associate that word with perfect teeth, a perfect smile, a slim and fit body, and long and gorgeous hair. And for a girl like Hope, who doesn't have to care about being perfect because she's never remembered, to say that she hates Perfection is like a pebble being thrown in the water. It's a game changer. No one may remember the girl who isn't perfect, but they will remember who destroyed Perfection.
Some of my favorite parts of the book had to be the moments when Hope met with the same person many times and each time, they never remembered her. In Hope's desperate struggle to be remembered, she meets someone with the same 'condition'. He, too, is not remembered. I think North took a huge risk in creating this character with a similar condition because, just imagine, two people who aren't remembered?? Then how do they remember that they don't remember each other? I have to say that Claire North handled this concept very well. It was straight-forward and easy enough to understand. I could tell that my brain was working a lot harder to analyze what was going on, and I appreciated the challenge!
One of my main concerns going into this book was that it would be way too confusing for me to understand. As I've tried to read hard-hitting fiction such as Gone Girl, The Girl On the Train and All the Light We Cannot See, I find that I have trouble understanding the storyline and characters as easily as I have with YA. And I think the only thing I can say to that is I just wanted to know what would happen to Hope in the end. It's not like skipping to the end will help because the book flashes back and forth in time, so don't even try to be sneaky (heheh, I caught you!).
I really am hard pressed to put into words any thoughts or reactions to this book. I mean, at base, I respect the hell out of the author for tackling such HUGE themes with such a totally original and creative method, but I almost think she tried too hard in some ways. The concept is phenomenal - a woman who is forgotten by everyone after she leaves their presence - just utterly fascinating. And the author's imagination in creating this character, her interactions with others, even though objectively it should be impossible to write about a person who leaves no mark, is so impressive. The relationships Hope made with Luca, with Filipa (so sad!) with Byron, with Gauguin and the methods of "remembering" by notes or recordings and the entire concept of "remembering the attempt to remember" was mind boggling. At times I think to the extent that reading about it became a bit of a mental chore, perhaps part of the reason I didn't like the book more. Also, the commentary on our current lives that she makes: impossible standards and the willingness to reach "Perfection" even if we lose ourselves, our individuality, in the process and fundamental beliefs/ideology that people will do anything for (up to and including mass murdering) without remorse because we believe it is right and cannot see another view, another way. Alone each of those is enormous in score, but together...they create a novel of philosophy and exploration and truth that borders on overwhelming. I can see why this story was touted as "poignant" and "little short of a masterpiece" because it's breadth absolutely is. But within that, I felt a bit like Hope, always an outsider. My engagement with the story was objective and never crossed enough into the subjective piece that I personally need to make any given book a favorite. The pacing was good but got tripped up with words I think. So many words. Sentences that trailed off into nothing and picked back up later and lead you in circles and back again. Perhaps that was the point - to make us feel like Hope, or to feel the confusion of those who interacted with her. But for me at least, there was so much filler narration that my interest lagged. I both wanted to read to see what happened because the story was so intriguing, so imaginative, and also wanted to never pick up the book again because my brain felt too bogged down. All in all, there was something magical and something frightening here, but for me, that final piece that would have catapulted this novel into my top favorites was buried somewhere in there too deep to find. A pity. But still a compelling commentary that should, and I think will, prompt readers to re-examine who they are and what they want and how far they are willing to go to get it.
adventurous
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I think Claire North is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Like "The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August", this book is about someone with a special ability - Hope is forgotten by everyone around her as soon as they divert their attention. This makes it hard for her to live a normal life, but it makes her a great thief.
This is not an action-heavy book. Rather, it is an examination of Hope as a character. Who are you when no one remembers you? When any action, good or bad, is forgotten by those around you?
This is a beautifully-written book with an intriguing main character. The plot is a little slow and does get bogged down at times, but through it all we truly get to know Hope and understand what it's like to be in her shoes. Definitely recommend this one.
This is not an action-heavy book. Rather, it is an examination of Hope as a character. Who are you when no one remembers you? When any action, good or bad, is forgotten by those around you?
This is a beautifully-written book with an intriguing main character. The plot is a little slow and does get bogged down at times, but through it all we truly get to know Hope and understand what it's like to be in her shoes. Definitely recommend this one.