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morgob's review against another edition
4.0
This novel made me cry. I wonder how many reviews I've started out that way. It's a heartbreaking story about a woman who was created to be a Memory (a sort of way for people to erase painful memories and transfer them to another being that has no personality or thoughts of their own and who is a copy of the person who created them) but ends up being so much more human than anyone expected. The story is about her humanity and trying to convince others that she is human. In a way, it reminded me of Cloud Atlas and the Sonmi story. It's all about treating those who are not human like objects or possessions, whether they be clones or physical manifestations of memory.
It made me cry because it was told in first person point of view, so the reader understands right away that her feelings and thoughts are real feelings and thoughts, and she is her own person, but no one else can see that. It's one of those things where you know something but no one else believes you, that sort of heartbreaking frustration, and in this case her life depends on people believing her. She is also such a vibrant character; she knows who she is and she has so many thoughts and feelings that are extraordinary. I just loved reading it in her voice.
Also, though it was pretty cheesy, I liked the romance aspect of it. I saw it coming, yet the ending still made me sad, Okay, I'm done ranting about that. It just made me really sad. I enjoyed the book and I couldn't put it down, it just made my heart hurt at certain parts.
It made me cry because it was told in first person point of view, so the reader understands right away that her feelings and thoughts are real feelings and thoughts, and she is her own person, but no one else can see that. It's one of those things where you know something but no one else believes you, that sort of heartbreaking frustration, and in this case her life depends on people believing her. She is also such a vibrant character; she knows who she is and she has so many thoughts and feelings that are extraordinary. I just loved reading it in her voice.
Also, though it was pretty cheesy, I liked the romance aspect of it. I saw it coming, yet the ending still made me sad,
Spoiler
especially once she realizes that she probably can't have normal relationships because she is quite possibly immortal. And she probably won't be able to be with him forever, and THEN he goes and has a memory made of himself! Oh my gosh it made me so angry and sad because now he won't be the same ever again. And he might be like her, but we have no idea of that at all because all we get of him are like two sentences, so we're just left to assume everything is going to be okay but WHAT IF IT ISN'T?moth_dance's review against another edition
4.0
I was so excited to enter this world! And it didn't disappoint. I think I really fell in love with this book at No. 9, though. That's to say, give it the time and space it needs to tell the story. It is a novella, but it's kinda like a slow-burn thriller. Can't wait to see what Bethany C. Morrow creates next.
tymarie's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
excellent meditation on autonomy, identity, trauma, and memory in a science fiction framework. melancholic, so i would suggest knowing this beforehand. poetic but could have been more descriptive
queen_perfection's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
megadeathvsbooks's review against another edition
3.0
Intriguing idea and I wish I knew more. But ultimately I didn't feel like it had enough depth around the story and characters. It felt either unfinished or tentative.
tricapra's review against another edition
5.0
This made me ugly sob and reach out to my friends. This novella digs deep into what it is to be a person shaped by trauma, born of it, in fact. I was both shocked and delighted by how philosophical this was while creating an interesting alternative history, that I immediately wanted more of. Keep an eye on Bethany Morrow.
Dolores is a Mem, a memory extracted and literally made flesh. She is unlike other Mems, in that she does not wither and die within a few days, after suffering a purgatory-like existence. Dolores is more. But what does that mean? You'll definitely want to find out.
Dolores is a Mem, a memory extracted and literally made flesh. She is unlike other Mems, in that she does not wither and die within a few days, after suffering a purgatory-like existence. Dolores is more. But what does that mean? You'll definitely want to find out.
bribeary's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
fiddler_jones's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
tatterededges's review against another edition
3.0
The writing was good and the premise was fascinating but unfortunately, it just didn’t deliver. There are some pretty big concepts in this book that never really get explored adequately. Themes of people as property, absence of rights for some sections of the community, social rules where mem’s aren’t even acknowledged. Were the mem’s really just a metaphor for slavery and racism?
Taking it on face value, the book raised far more questions than it ever answered. Who is Delores and why does she need to keep having memories extracted? And why does she need to keep extracting memories when her brain is fractured and she is, for intents and purposes, suffering dementia? If creating Elsie destroyed her, why would her family ever have supported her creating more?
I’m confused why they just let Elsie go off and live her life, this “not person” creation who never ages and is technically owned by some rich people who prefer not to think about her. Did they pay her rent? Did she work? If she worked, how did she explain her lack of aging? If she could learn and create memories of her own and feel emotions, why wasn’t she more pissed off at the notion of being reprinted? It was essentially her being pointlessly executed after all. Yet she was so apathetic about everything, which is kind of ironic given she was supposed to be an epiphany.
The ending was just odd. I’m sceptical that he would have gone and had all his memories of Elsie extracted knowing all that he did about the side effects of memory extraction, the science behind it and the uniqueness of Elsie. Which brings me to another gaping hole in the book: The Science. There was no explanation of the science behind it. Why extracting a memory require a human lookalike casing? Did the mem materialise out of nothing or did they have to grow the mem?
This book was short. I read it in the course of a few hours. I wonder if maybe this would have been better as a full novel rather than a novella. At any rate, while I was engaged in the book and enjoyed reading it, the book which had so much potential just didn’t deliver.
Taking it on face value, the book raised far more questions than it ever answered. Who is Delores and why does she need to keep having memories extracted? And why does she need to keep extracting memories when her brain is fractured and she is, for intents and purposes, suffering dementia? If creating Elsie destroyed her, why would her family ever have supported her creating more?
I’m confused why they just let Elsie go off and live her life, this “not person” creation who never ages and is technically owned by some rich people who prefer not to think about her. Did they pay her rent? Did she work? If she worked, how did she explain her lack of aging? If she could learn and create memories of her own and feel emotions, why wasn’t she more pissed off at the notion of being reprinted? It was essentially her being pointlessly executed after all. Yet she was so apathetic about everything, which is kind of ironic given she was supposed to be an epiphany.
The ending was just odd. I’m sceptical that he would have gone and had all his memories of Elsie extracted knowing all that he did about the side effects of memory extraction, the science behind it and the uniqueness of Elsie. Which brings me to another gaping hole in the book: The Science. There was no explanation of the science behind it. Why extracting a memory require a human lookalike casing? Did the mem materialise out of nothing or did they have to grow the mem?
This book was short. I read it in the course of a few hours. I wonder if maybe this would have been better as a full novel rather than a novella. At any rate, while I was engaged in the book and enjoyed reading it, the book which had so much potential just didn’t deliver.