Reviews

False Memory by Dean Koontz

a_lyric_to_a_song's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Grief, Violence, Suicide, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Slavery, Suicide attempt, and Blood

Moderate: Terminal illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Drug abuse, Excrement, Cursing, Ableism, Child death, Car accident, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Confinement, Death of parent, Torture, and Cancer

Minor: Classism, Sexual content, Addiction, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, and Drug abuse

trixie_reads's review

3.0

The first half was quite suspenseful, but the middle got bogged down with wayyyy too much internal thought on the part of the villain. The end was also rather lame. Overall, I liked the main characters and enjoyed rooting for them, so 3 stars it is.

melissaclair18's review

1.0

I got half way through this book, and just couldn't read anymore. It literally made me have anxiety because it kept droning on, getting worse and worse. Right now I'm trying to drink some lavender and chamomile tea and trying not to regret the past few days I spent trying to get through this thing. I usually love Dean Koontz books, but I feel like he was trying to hard in this book, making it way longer than it had to be. I already know what's going to happen at the end so I don't feel like I'm missing out by not finishing it.

emmmantonelli's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

srogan88's review against another edition

3.0

It's been a long time since I read anything by Koontz but I saw this one on a list somewhere and it looked interesting.

It's about mind control, and as I remember from his books in the past, it's about an almost untouchable mad man. I thought it would be a quick read but I found it rather burdensome in its descriptions and rantings. There were some fascinating aspects, which is why it gets 3*. I felt as if I was reading something very intelligent but it didn't inspire me to pick up more Koontz any time soon.

sonijo's review

5.0

Wow, I loved this book and it definitely had some intense moments. It kept me intrigued and angry in parts...haha, and still one of my favorites to this day.

rjw2011's review

2.0

i actually couldnt finish this one at the time... i need to try again maybe ill like it better

mariakm's review against another edition

4.0

This was really scary!

stephanieluxton's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

The description of this book is so vague that it's difficult to describe without spoiling anything but I'll try. It's about a collection of characters who start experiencing strange thoughts and finding themselves acting in an unusual manner. We don't have much of an idea of what is causing this until about 30% into the book at which point the story becomes quite dark. What follows is a journey in which our protagonists much solve the mystery of what is happening to them without knowing who they can trust and knowing they can't even trust themselves.
This book was a slow burn and had a healthy mixture of dramatic irony and surprises. Towards the end it turns into a real thriller. The characters were colourful. I enjoyed it.

There's a dark tone to this book and some parts are pretty upsetting as you might expect from a psychological horror. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Blood, Child abuse, Bullying, Car accident, Child death, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Misogyny

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Incest, Grief, Gun violence, and Medical content

Minor: Excrement and Adult/minor relationship

All these trigger warnings make it sound worse than it is. This book is about a person who is mind controlling other people via hypnosis to make them believe and do whatever he wants and then have no memory afterwards unless permitted to.<\spoiler> One of the most graphic and upsetting parts is

when the truth is revealed that a character is being raped under hypnosis. When we see this part, the rapist hypnotizes her and forces her to believe that she's 12 years old and that he is her father, making an already traumatic experience even more shameful and traumatic. She outsmarted him by hiding a camera in the room so she can find out what is happening when she has no memory but the villain catches on and hypnotizes her to slit her wrists in the bathtub. It's brutal.to.<\spoiler> There is another upsetting scene in which a little girl commits suicide in a very graphic and "adult" way however we don't see this happen, it's something the characters just hear about afterwards. The dog lives.

ph230's review against another edition

4.0

Pretty good story, very entertaining. Only the end disappointed me a bit, but I recommend it!