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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
Another fantastic book from Claire North - this is an author that fascinates me, such unusual ideas written with such an understanding of humanity.
If you enjoy being challenged whilst being entertained then this is the book for you. Richly described characters and beautifully written scenery.
I really enjoyed this book and am going to admit defeat in doing an adequate precis.
If you enjoy being challenged whilst being entertained then this is the book for you. Richly described characters and beautifully written scenery.
I really enjoyed this book and am going to admit defeat in doing an adequate precis.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
For me, Claire North writes the most incredible, detailed, unique and fascinating books and this one is no exception. Simply mind blowing and I loved it.
Hope is slowly forgotten by her parents, her teachers, her friends ... she lives in the now, only the now, this now, then this now. She makes her living as a thief and is unable to have any kind of relationship because every time you meet her, it’s the first time, but she interacts with people anyway, it’s the human thing to do. Hope meets a lovely girl called Reina who could have been her friend, only she wasn’t, never mind all the conversations they’d had, because now Hope was a stranger. When Reina takes her own life Hope discovers that she had subscribed to Perfection, a program to guide the elite to becoming perfect, giving direction and rewarding certain behaviours. Hope blames Perfection for Reina’s death and begins her jihad, her walk across the desert to claim justice and become remembered....
Hope is slowly forgotten by her parents, her teachers, her friends ... she lives in the now, only the now, this now, then this now. She makes her living as a thief and is unable to have any kind of relationship because every time you meet her, it’s the first time, but she interacts with people anyway, it’s the human thing to do. Hope meets a lovely girl called Reina who could have been her friend, only she wasn’t, never mind all the conversations they’d had, because now Hope was a stranger. When Reina takes her own life Hope discovers that she had subscribed to Perfection, a program to guide the elite to becoming perfect, giving direction and rewarding certain behaviours. Hope blames Perfection for Reina’s death and begins her jihad, her walk across the desert to claim justice and become remembered....
RATING: 3 stars
Hmm, no. There were parts I loved about this book but it was way too scattered for my taste. It doesn't know what it wants to be: fantasy, sci-fi, mystery or self-discovery journey. Some books manage to blend these seamlessly, but not this one, in my humble opinion.
Hope would be just a forgetful a character without her condition as she was with it. Her emotions always rang somewhat false to me, maybe it was the random strings of profanity and... randomness.
I don't know, I thought this had potential but it ended up not filling it.
Hmm, no. There were parts I loved about this book but it was way too scattered for my taste. It doesn't know what it wants to be: fantasy, sci-fi, mystery or self-discovery journey. Some books manage to blend these seamlessly, but not this one, in my humble opinion.
Hope would be just a forgetful a character without her condition as she was with it. Her emotions always rang somewhat false to me, maybe it was the random strings of profanity and... randomness.
I don't know, I thought this had potential but it ended up not filling it.
4 out of 5
There is something mesmerizing in Claire North writings.when I started this book I couldn’t put it down if i want to be honest this wasn’t as perfect as Harry Aguast but was a very solid book nonetheless.there are some similarities between Hope and Harry Aguast:both of them have some condition that set them apart from other people and they are searching for meaning in life(harry borns again after each death and everybody forgets Hope) and both of them struggle with mortality.Hope’s condition was heartbreaking and the way she clinged to the simplest human contact had me teary eyed some times.and that perfection app was appalling but i liked Flippa and I don’t think she deserved what she got at the end,I thought Lucard was an ass at the end but that maybe be me,
The ending wasn’t what I suspected or wanted and it feel kind of open ended to me but at the same time i feel thet Hope has finds her way and is redeemed so I’m happy for her
There is something mesmerizing in Claire North writings.when I started this book I couldn’t put it down if i want to be honest this wasn’t as perfect as Harry Aguast but was a very solid book nonetheless.there are some similarities between Hope and Harry Aguast:both of them have some condition that set them apart from other people and they are searching for meaning in life(harry borns again after each death and everybody forgets Hope) and both of them struggle with mortality.Hope’s condition was heartbreaking and the way she clinged to the simplest human contact had me teary eyed some times.and that perfection app was appalling but i liked Flippa and I don’t think she deserved what she got at the end,I thought Lucard was an ass at the end but that maybe be me,
The ending wasn’t what I suspected or wanted and it feel kind of open ended to me but at the same time i feel thet Hope has finds her way and is redeemed so I’m happy for her
2017 World Fantasy Award winner
Wow.
Well.
I don't know what to do with myself now that this book is done.
Of all the great books I've read this year, this solidly lands in the top three contestants for favorite.
Brad - he's one of my go-to reviewers when I want to know about science fiction - talks about a freedom vs. enslavement narrative happening here and that's absolutely on topic but, for me, this was more about inside vs. outside and how that relates to personhood.
Are you a person, do you even exist, bro, if your words and actions have no consequence in society? Can you be part of society if you're not recognized by other people? Are you a super member of society if you do all the right things and behave in the most acceptable way possible? Is there a sliding scale on humanity from having no humanity if you're unknown as a person up to having all the humanity if you follow a narrow set of prescribed social rules?
And looking at the freedom vs. enslavement - are you free if you don't have to follow rules, if you exist outside of all communal structure? Or are you kept in solitude because you can never have a connection to your fellow humans? If you can't have a job or form a relationship or have a home, are you free or is that just a different kind of imprisonment? Shunning a person is a form of punishment, it strips away their belonging. Is that freedom?
There are a few storylines running through this book and it starts when they all collide.
First, Hope Arden is unrememberable. She knows she exists but nobody else knows. Scratch that, some people do but those people have some sort of intellectual anomaly going on which allows them to remember Hope. She's so well-named.
Hope exists in the now, never in the past nor the future. People interact with her face-to-face in the moment but as soon as they stop looking and talking to her, they forget all about her, forget the conversation they had, forget there was time spent with this person, forget the person altogether. They remember doing what they did but they remember doing it alone, Hope is literally out of sight, out of mind. There's no explanation for this, no one knows why this is happening but some do figure out that it is happening, that there's a person who is seen by cameras, whose voice can be recorded, who exists in the digital world despite no one remembering her in real time. They start to look for her. But how do you find someone you can't remember?
At the same time, a lifestyle app called Perfection is making the rounds and it's incredible. People download it to their phones and it helps them achieve goals toward being a healthier, happier, all-around-better person. You get points every time you follow one of Perfection's suggestions and achieve success. Eventually, you're enticed to link it to all your rewards cards, to your bank account (it can help you save money and spend more wisely), and everything else in your life. As you gain points, you win prizes like a day at an exclusive spa or a shopping trip to a boutique for clothing that will look amazing on you. The more you use it, the better you become as a person and those who have acquired a million points get to join an elite club of perfect people. And that all sounds pretty great only it's not. It's insidious; the parameters of perfection are so narrowly defined by a market-driven algorithm that there's no room left for any type of individuality or thought. It's brainwashing at its finest and it doesn't even have to be forced on people, they want to use this app because it's fun and there are rewards and it does make you a better person and you'll be happy. Except for the people who don't have the mental capacity to conform so easily as well as those who can't afford to make it past 100,000 points.
Enter the bridge between Hope and Perfection: Gaugin, Byron14, and an Interpol agent who is in charge of finding Hope and feels he's always about to get her but is never successful. These three people allow Hope to manifest feelings of trust, friendship, and love, all sustained by Hope, herself, but fed by the people who knows she exists even if they can't find her.
The story is by turns heartbreaking and thought-provoking. There's suspense, there's spy-vs-spy stuff, there's diabolical scheming, there's the interplay of socioeconomics and politics, there's world travel, there are moments of devastation and moments of (eh heh heh heh) hope. There's also a ton of repetition.
The book is repetitive but that's Hope's life. She repeats moments over and over because she can't build a history with anyone, everyone always meets her for the first time and they have the same conversations and it never ends. But repetition is the key to this novel as a technique used by Hope to keep herself sane and also used by Perfection to Treat people. Numbers repeat, moments repeat, phrases repeat, beats repeat (Heeey, Macarena!) the story constantly repeats. It's an effective, if incredibly annoying, device.
For me, all the elements combined perfectly, no matter how small. One of the most irritating songs in the world is used brilliantly. Poetry is a weapon. Perfection being driven by marketing to achieve human conformity was so believable it made me want to get rid of a ton of my apps. The symbolism and inspiration of a woman crossing the desert. The desolation of Hope and her perseverance despite not existing outside of herself and the digital world gave me so much food for thought. Add to that, the reader for this audiobook is extraordinary and this one's going to stay with me for a long time.
I'll remember you, Hope.
Wow.
Well.
I don't know what to do with myself now that this book is done.
Of all the great books I've read this year, this solidly lands in the top three contestants for favorite.
Brad - he's one of my go-to reviewers when I want to know about science fiction - talks about a freedom vs. enslavement narrative happening here and that's absolutely on topic but, for me, this was more about inside vs. outside and how that relates to personhood.
Are you a person, do you even exist, bro, if your words and actions have no consequence in society? Can you be part of society if you're not recognized by other people? Are you a super member of society if you do all the right things and behave in the most acceptable way possible? Is there a sliding scale on humanity from having no humanity if you're unknown as a person up to having all the humanity if you follow a narrow set of prescribed social rules?
And looking at the freedom vs. enslavement - are you free if you don't have to follow rules, if you exist outside of all communal structure? Or are you kept in solitude because you can never have a connection to your fellow humans? If you can't have a job or form a relationship or have a home, are you free or is that just a different kind of imprisonment? Shunning a person is a form of punishment, it strips away their belonging. Is that freedom?
There are a few storylines running through this book and it starts when they all collide.
First, Hope Arden is unrememberable. She knows she exists but nobody else knows. Scratch that, some people do but those people have some sort of intellectual anomaly going on which allows them to remember Hope. She's so well-named.
Hope exists in the now, never in the past nor the future. People interact with her face-to-face in the moment but as soon as they stop looking and talking to her, they forget all about her, forget the conversation they had, forget there was time spent with this person, forget the person altogether. They remember doing what they did but they remember doing it alone, Hope is literally out of sight, out of mind. There's no explanation for this, no one knows why this is happening but some do figure out that it is happening, that there's a person who is seen by cameras, whose voice can be recorded, who exists in the digital world despite no one remembering her in real time. They start to look for her. But how do you find someone you can't remember?
At the same time, a lifestyle app called Perfection is making the rounds and it's incredible. People download it to their phones and it helps them achieve goals toward being a healthier, happier, all-around-better person. You get points every time you follow one of Perfection's suggestions and achieve success. Eventually, you're enticed to link it to all your rewards cards, to your bank account (it can help you save money and spend more wisely), and everything else in your life. As you gain points, you win prizes like a day at an exclusive spa or a shopping trip to a boutique for clothing that will look amazing on you. The more you use it, the better you become as a person and those who have acquired a million points get to join an elite club of perfect people. And that all sounds pretty great only it's not. It's insidious; the parameters of perfection are so narrowly defined by a market-driven algorithm that there's no room left for any type of individuality or thought. It's brainwashing at its finest and it doesn't even have to be forced on people, they want to use this app because it's fun and there are rewards and it does make you a better person and you'll be happy. Except for the people who don't have the mental capacity to conform so easily as well as those who can't afford to make it past 100,000 points.
Enter the bridge between Hope and Perfection: Gaugin, Byron14, and an Interpol agent who is in charge of finding Hope and feels he's always about to get her but is never successful. These three people allow Hope to manifest feelings of trust, friendship, and love, all sustained by Hope, herself, but fed by the people who knows she exists even if they can't find her.
The story is by turns heartbreaking and thought-provoking. There's suspense, there's spy-vs-spy stuff, there's diabolical scheming, there's the interplay of socioeconomics and politics, there's world travel, there are moments of devastation and moments of (eh heh heh heh) hope. There's also a ton of repetition.
The book is repetitive but that's Hope's life. She repeats moments over and over because she can't build a history with anyone, everyone always meets her for the first time and they have the same conversations and it never ends. But repetition is the key to this novel as a technique used by Hope to keep herself sane and also used by Perfection to Treat people. Numbers repeat, moments repeat, phrases repeat, beats repeat (Heeey, Macarena!) the story constantly repeats. It's an effective, if incredibly annoying, device.
For me, all the elements combined perfectly, no matter how small. One of the most irritating songs in the world is used brilliantly. Poetry is a weapon. Perfection being driven by marketing to achieve human conformity was so believable it made me want to get rid of a ton of my apps. The symbolism and inspiration of a woman crossing the desert. The desolation of Hope and her perseverance despite not existing outside of herself and the digital world gave me so much food for thought. Add to that, the reader for this audiobook is extraordinary and this one's going to stay with me for a long time.
I'll remember you, Hope.
I woke up early and was able to finish this in time for today's shower thought to be "This book is like the unedited full version of 'Nights in White Satin' by the Moody Blues."
The parallels: it's got some objectively beautiful, moving parts, perhaps leaning a bit towards pathos but hey, it works. And then it goes on and you think "my, this is a bit longer than I recalled." And then it fades out and you think "I wonder if this was all strictly necessary, but it's over n--" but it is not over now, for now the poetry begins! After the entire story is over! And you listen, moving from moved to bemused to a bit igry. And then the gong happens. Or, in this case, the final chapter.
But it's still, like, a quality piece just entirely too long and precious.
CONTENT WARNINGS (a list of topics):
Things that I loved:
-The premise. This is the second book by North I've read and she really invests in her "what ifs" to the point that everything makes so much sense, and is at once entirely practical and staggering to think about.
-The character. Who would you be if you weren't ever remembered? I think the author did a fantastic job meeting and creating this woman.
-The social ills. It's been done before but it's always somewhat vindicating to see advertising as mind control.
-The humanity. Everyone is just such a careful person, with their own motives and hurts and loves. Hope is a monster who works with monsters and yet all of them wear their human skins so easily.
Things that did not work for me:
-The philosophy. We kept having "Humanities 101" type interludes that I felt were not meshed well into the story and became sort of self-serving.
-The plot. The particulars did not feel nearly as fleshed out to me as the ideas, which meant it was drawn out, random, and many times things would happen and I'd have to make quantum leaps to figure out what the character had just realized. Also, some of the things that happened I still don't understand. Why did Evard react like that in the cafe? That was so out of character. And same with Matisse!
-The length. It should have been about 100 pages shorter but...
-The final chapter. ...we needed the gong finish. Ending on 106 apparently trumped the need for a tightly woven story, which makes me wonder, is this a symbol, a flourish? Or is the author seeking perfection? Either way, this diminished the success of the earlier ideas for me.
I think Claire North is an immensely intelligent, imaginative, empathic author and I'm glad to spend time with her art. I just wanted to spend a bit less time. And seriously, where are all the developmental editors hiding? Do publishers have them in the basement??
The parallels: it's got some objectively beautiful, moving parts, perhaps leaning a bit towards pathos but hey, it works. And then it goes on and you think "my, this is a bit longer than I recalled." And then it fades out and you think "I wonder if this was all strictly necessary, but it's over n--" but it is not over now, for now the poetry begins! After the entire story is over! And you listen, moving from moved to bemused to a bit igry. And then the gong happens. Or, in this case, the final chapter.
But it's still, like, a quality piece just entirely too long and precious.
CONTENT WARNINGS (a list of topics):
Spoiler
medical experimentation, serial killers, extreme violence, house fire, loss of loved ones, some cultural chauvinism, suicide, body shameThings that I loved:
-The premise. This is the second book by North I've read and she really invests in her "what ifs" to the point that everything makes so much sense, and is at once entirely practical and staggering to think about.
-The character. Who would you be if you weren't ever remembered? I think the author did a fantastic job meeting and creating this woman.
-The social ills. It's been done before but it's always somewhat vindicating to see advertising as mind control.
-The humanity. Everyone is just such a careful person, with their own motives and hurts and loves. Hope is a monster who works with monsters and yet all of them wear their human skins so easily.
Things that did not work for me:
-The philosophy. We kept having "Humanities 101" type interludes that I felt were not meshed well into the story and became sort of self-serving.
-The plot. The particulars did not feel nearly as fleshed out to me as the ideas, which meant it was drawn out, random, and many times things would happen and I'd have to make quantum leaps to figure out what the character had just realized. Also, some of the things that happened I still don't understand. Why did Evard react like that in the cafe? That was so out of character. And same with Matisse!
-The length. It should have been about 100 pages shorter but...
-The final chapter. ...we needed the gong finish. Ending on 106 apparently trumped the need for a tightly woven story, which makes me wonder, is this a symbol, a flourish? Or is the author seeking perfection? Either way, this diminished the success of the earlier ideas for me.
I think Claire North is an immensely intelligent, imaginative, empathic author and I'm glad to spend time with her art. I just wanted to spend a bit less time. And seriously, where are all the developmental editors hiding? Do publishers have them in the basement??
A really brilliant concept that caused me to think a lot about what it means to be KNOWN. Great writing and connecting plot lines.
Do you have Perfection?
I loved this book. I enjoyed the interesting facts laced through the book, and the characters within.
I loved this book. I enjoyed the interesting facts laced through the book, and the characters within.
I am glad that I read this book. I also wish it had been two books. I picked it up because I like the author. The first half of the book focused a lot on building the "rules" of Hope's condition which was interesting, creative, and made great use of modern technology. The second half became something more similar to a traditional mystery story. Both halves were good, but the transition surprised me. I'll still continue to read other things this author writes!