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4.29 AVERAGE
4.29 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
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
Initial Thoughts
I’m utterly and hopelessly obsessed with The Illuminae Files so when I saw that Memento was finally going to be available, I knew I had to read it immediately.
Some Things I Liked
New characters and an old favorite. AIDAN is such an interesting concept and I was so fascinated to learn more about how he studied humans and learned the concepts he references in the rest of the series. Also, I just loved the new characters for this novella.
Bringing other characters full circle. No spoilers but I really enjoyed the cameos of characters and places that are featured in the rest of the series.
Darker themes. Let’s be honest, there are some heavy and dark concepts in the rest of the series. The Trolley Problem is one of many moral dilemmas faced by the characters. AIDAN’s attempt to rationalize and help humanity are so fascinating.
Series Value
I would love to see more novels and novellas set in this universe. The writing style and concept behind this series is so interesting and unique. I’ve already read the rest of the series but I can easily see reading this first and then the other three novels.
Final Thoughts
For a rather short novella, this one packed quite a punch. I laughed, I cried, and I felt all the feelings that the rest of the series made me feel. I’m so glad I finally had the chance to read it.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Recommendations for Further Reading
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff – unlikely, but if you haven’t already read the rest of the series, drop whatever you’re doing, and go read it!
Scythe by Neal Shusterman – if you enjoyed the moral dilemmas as well as the sci-fi elements of this series, try the Arc of a Scythe series.
I’m utterly and hopelessly obsessed with The Illuminae Files so when I saw that Memento was finally going to be available, I knew I had to read it immediately.
Some Things I Liked
New characters and an old favorite. AIDAN is such an interesting concept and I was so fascinated to learn more about how he studied humans and learned the concepts he references in the rest of the series. Also, I just loved the new characters for this novella.
Bringing other characters full circle. No spoilers but I really enjoyed the cameos of characters and places that are featured in the rest of the series.
Darker themes. Let’s be honest, there are some heavy and dark concepts in the rest of the series. The Trolley Problem is one of many moral dilemmas faced by the characters. AIDAN’s attempt to rationalize and help humanity are so fascinating.
Series Value
I would love to see more novels and novellas set in this universe. The writing style and concept behind this series is so interesting and unique. I’ve already read the rest of the series but I can easily see reading this first and then the other three novels.
Final Thoughts
For a rather short novella, this one packed quite a punch. I laughed, I cried, and I felt all the feelings that the rest of the series made me feel. I’m so glad I finally had the chance to read it.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Recommendations for Further Reading
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff – unlikely, but if you haven’t already read the rest of the series, drop whatever you’re doing, and go read it!
Scythe by Neal Shusterman – if you enjoyed the moral dilemmas as well as the sci-fi elements of this series, try the Arc of a Scythe series.
So I was hella excited to finally be able to read this little short story/novella in the Illuminae universe because for a while it was like exclusive and you could only win it or something which was dumb, but I read it from OverDrive finally yeet.
And it was good, and I enjoyed it, howevaaaa....literally while I was in the middle of this, a lot of ~~sus stuff~~ about Jay Kristoff came to light (not gonna dive into it, but same vein as Emily Duncan...and especially about his 4 fuckin arcs of his new book like what), and I've heard more sus stuff in the past, and idk if I feel comfy rating this rn! And I might not read more of his stuff! So for now, I think I'm going to put my enjoyment of this aside and just leave this bad boy unrated.
If you want more, much better explained info, Imma link the video I watched (by Jess Owens, very well made!) about all the crazy stuff happening in the author/publishing world right now!
https://youtu.be/w4YMHwG0Kp0
And it was good, and I enjoyed it, howevaaaa....literally while I was in the middle of this, a lot of ~~sus stuff~~ about Jay Kristoff came to light (not gonna dive into it, but same vein as Emily Duncan...and especially about his 4 fuckin arcs of his new book like what), and I've heard more sus stuff in the past, and idk if I feel comfy rating this rn! And I might not read more of his stuff! So for now, I think I'm going to put my enjoyment of this aside and just leave this bad boy unrated.
If you want more, much better explained info, Imma link the video I watched (by Jess Owens, very well made!) about all the crazy stuff happening in the author/publishing world right now!
https://youtu.be/w4YMHwG0Kp0
~ 3/5 stars ~
This novella provides some background information on A.I.D.A.N and it explains why A.I.D.A.N did what it did throughout the main books. I recommend reading it after reading the main series because there are brief character appearances that wouldn't be significant if you haven't read the main series first.
This novella was really fast-paced compared to the rest of the books and I know I complained a lot about the pacing and how hard it was for me to get into the books in my Illuminae, Gemina, and Obsidio reviews, but I actually didn't enjoy the fast pacing entirely. Each novel/this novella follows different characters so I would've liked to get to know Olivia better, but overall this novella was pretty solid. It gave insight into the events before the BeiTech assault on Kerenza IV and it helped me understand a misunderstood character.
This novella provides some background information on A.I.D.A.N and it explains why A.I.D.A.N did what it did throughout the main books. I recommend reading it after reading the main series because there are brief character appearances that wouldn't be significant if you haven't read the main series first.
This novella was really fast-paced compared to the rest of the books and I know I complained a lot about the pacing and how hard it was for me to get into the books in my Illuminae, Gemina, and Obsidio reviews, but I actually didn't enjoy the fast pacing entirely. Each novel/this novella follows different characters so I would've liked to get to know Olivia better, but overall this novella was pretty solid. It gave insight into the events before the BeiTech assault on Kerenza IV and it helped me understand a misunderstood character.
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
AIDEN continues to be the scariest AI, keep your buff robots with guns I’ll be hiding from the AI with a sense of humour, morality and a god complex.
Memento is a novella set in The Illuminae Files universe. It doesn't feature any of the human characters from The Illuminae Files, but AIDAN is there. If you haven't read the series, AIDAN is a robot with a tendency to commit mass murder. The novella is about AIDAN's creators and first victims.
Is it weird that I enjoyed the novella more than a few of the books in the series? Maybe I just love novella-length books. They cut out all the fluff. This one is short and snappy. Like the rest of the series, it has twists, and unique formatting, and morally gray characters. If you enjoyed the rest of the series, it's definitely worth reading.
Is it weird that I enjoyed the novella more than a few of the books in the series? Maybe I just love novella-length books. They cut out all the fluff. This one is short and snappy. Like the rest of the series, it has twists, and unique formatting, and morally gray characters. If you enjoyed the rest of the series, it's definitely worth reading.
I saw so many people said they cried reading this???
Uhh... maybe I was wrong because I expected to cry somehow. I did cry reading Obsidio after all. Also, Illuminae is one of my favorite series of all time. But I genuinely forgot what happened in the trilogy so... I don’t know what I’m supposed to be feeling??? Why did people cry???
Uhh... maybe I was wrong because I expected to cry somehow. I did cry reading Obsidio after all. Also, Illuminae is one of my favorite series of all time. But I genuinely forgot what happened in the trilogy so... I don’t know what I’m supposed to be feeling??? Why did people cry???
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes