Reviews

MEM by Bethany C. Morrow

bluemoons's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

dreamofbookspines's review against another edition

slow-paced

2.5

It was such a good concept but it ultimately left me feeling like I was missing something. It just didn't work, which given the comparisons to Never Let Me Go (which I also didn't like), I probably shouldn't be surprised.

DNF review: too confusing and nothing seemed to hang together well. I wanted to like it. Brilliant concept, not-for-me execution. Might give another chance in the future?

sarahbliss's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-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

perachdavida's review against another edition

5.0

This book was a real surprise. I only had a vague sense that it was speculative fiction about memory clones, but it’s a deep and beautiful musing on the nature of what makes a person, not so unlike Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go. At under 200 pages, it’s a fairly quick read, but I took my time with it as both the writing and the ideas are worthy of reflection.

teanahk's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

A really interesting idea, but it fell flat in the second half of the book. 

nathanrester's review against another edition

4.0

Equal parts Blade Runner and Westworld, Mem works best as a fun and thoughtful remix of familiar themes, using a world populated with sentient memories to explore deeper questions of nature vs. nurture and the nuances of personhood. Morror really kills it, blending modern anxieties with the social and technological boom of the early twentieth century. The exposition is a bit of an onslaught, but once everything clicks, Mem becomes something special. If you're into science fiction or just want something heady to chew on, this will be right up your alley.

wreathian's review against another edition

2.0

This book really fell flat for me. Everything just kind of...dragged on by. And it's a short novella, so....

It felt like all the interesting stuff was happening between people conversing in a private room, and I wasn't privy to their conversation - I could only be reported to by someone with an ear to the door. I found the characters flat and uninteresting. And honestly, the love story sub-plot irritated me with how forced it felt. Based on the summary and the praise I've seen for it, I was expecting a lot more.

obliviousstill's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

lgiegerich's review against another edition

2.0

Too sketchy by far- characters were all incomplete cyphers (even the one who was supposed to be more than that), & extremely light on the science of how all this happens (which I wanted to know about).

romiress's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This book never landed with me. Very little happened across the short page count, I never felt interested in the characters, never cared about the mystery. It gestures at things that never pay off, including core concepts and themes. The marketing is also very bad - if I'm expected to read this as a race-involved slavery metaphor, it's an absolutely awful one.