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3.01 AVERAGE
3.01 AVERAGE
I tried to read this book but couldn’t get into it. I didn’t care for how it was written and the characters, well, didn’t have a lot of character. It felt like it was trying to be a dystopian similar to the Hunger Games; the lower class rebelling against the more powerful authoritives. It was a really interesting concept though with the memories, and the book had a lot of potential.
This wasn’t the book I was expecting, but in the best way. It’s a true YA book. There is action, a plot, and a great story. I wish I would have read this back in middle or high school. The world is well thought out and there were unexpected reveals at every turn. Highly recommended for audiences who love YA.
The Memory Thief has a great premise and I was excited to read it as it gave off some serious Everless vibes and I loved that book.. Starting off it was good, a little predictable at times (and a tad Hunger Games-ie) but the story followed really well and I was wrapped up in everything that was happening and how Etta was going to rescue her mother and keep her off the auction block. But it started to go a bit stale in the middle. There was a lot going on but it tended to drag a bit until the main characters finally reached their destination and the whole story gets turned on it's head. Honestly I thought I had the twist figured out when it came to Porter but Lauren Mansey did a fantastic job turning what you thought was the truth around and instead you're reeling from the fact that you totally thought you had the whole book figured out. That right there is enough to kick the excitement up a notch.
From that point on the book was fast paced and seemed to rush through getting to the Maze and back in time to fight Madame for her mothers safety with the obvious sacrifice thrown in there. Honestly it could have been stretched out into a second book and the final 25% wouldn't have felt so rushed. But nothing felt as rushed as the love story. I cared more about Greer and Etta's mother than I did her and Ryder. It was such a highschool-esk "I LOVE YOU AFTER TEN SECONDS" kind of relationship and I honestly didn't care about their chemistry until they started to head for the maze after leaving Porter. It felt forced to add a love story element but it would have worked so much better as a slow burn instead of how quickly it was thrown in there.
From that point on the book was fast paced and seemed to rush through getting to the Maze and back in time to fight Madame for her mothers safety with the obvious sacrifice thrown in there. Honestly it could have been stretched out into a second book and the final 25% wouldn't have felt so rushed. But nothing felt as rushed as the love story. I cared more about Greer and Etta's mother than I did her and Ryder. It was such a highschool-esk "I LOVE YOU AFTER TEN SECONDS" kind of relationship and I honestly didn't care about their chemistry until they started to head for the maze after leaving Porter. It felt forced to add a love story element but it would have worked so much better as a slow burn instead of how quickly it was thrown in there.
okay book, audio book does not separate flashbacks so constantly confused. the plot is convoluted Chosen One girl to the extreme (familial + super powers + love interests)
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Honestly, disappointing. When I hear memory I go "OOOOOOHHH BRAIN this is going to be good", but, alas, I'm an idiot. Here's the rundown:
Magic System - lazy, underdeveloped: everyone who was "gifted" (meaning they could give and take memories) could just access all the different types of memories with no limitations (except that when the gifted take memories it gives the people who have had the memory taken a headache... but it's mentioned maybe once and doesn't affect the main players of this book in any way whatsoever). If the author had put just a little bit more effort in she could have made the world more interesting by making it so "this type of person can only give/take procedural memories" and this "person can only give/take explicit memory". But nope. Everyone can just do everything. It doesn't even make them a little bit tired.
Characters - well I'll just give you their description and you tell me what you think:
Female lead - strong (but kind), fearless, has a special talent that no one else has, weapon of choice = bow and
arrow, sharp tongue, has a little-sister type figure that she would do anything to protect, absent parents, tragic backstory, is naturally adept in combat with (literally) no effort
Male Lead - love interest (duh), smoking hot, tragic backstory, brooding, has a soft-spot for MC, that's it
Villain - is only evil for the sake of being evil (no motivation except POWERRRRRR), is impossible to defeat... except for when MC does they are defeated within five seconds
Other Characters - who?
Writing style: that try-hard in class (you know what I'm talking about): it just seemed like Lauren Mansy was trying way to hard to come up with quotable lines and fit in with the big-wigs of YA (THG, Divergent, Shadowhunters, etc.).
Who would enjoy this: maybe 12-13 year olds who want an easy introduction to YA where it's all romance and action written in a voice that they'd want to identify with (hey I remember wanting to become Katniss so no shade children we've all been there). There is no real theme here except the bad guys always lose (which isn't true in the real world AHEM).
2 I didn't hate it but I most certainly wasn't anywhere near liking it.
Magic System - lazy, underdeveloped: everyone who was "gifted" (meaning they could give and take memories) could just access all the different types of memories with no limitations (except that when the gifted take memories it gives the people who have had the memory taken a headache... but it's mentioned maybe once and doesn't affect the main players of this book in any way whatsoever). If the author had put just a little bit more effort in she could have made the world more interesting by making it so "this type of person can only give/take procedural memories" and this "person can only give/take explicit memory". But nope. Everyone can just do everything. It doesn't even make them a little bit tired.
Characters - well I'll just give you their description and you tell me what you think:
Female lead - strong (but kind), fearless, has a special talent that no one else has, weapon of choice = bow and
arrow, sharp tongue, has a little-sister type figure that she would do anything to protect, absent parents, tragic backstory, is naturally adept in combat with (literally) no effort
Male Lead - love interest (duh), smoking hot, tragic backstory, brooding, has a soft-spot for MC, that's it
Villain - is only evil for the sake of being evil (no motivation except POWERRRRRR), is impossible to defeat... except for when MC does they are defeated within five seconds
Other Characters - who?
Writing style: that try-hard in class (you know what I'm talking about): it just seemed like Lauren Mansy was trying way to hard to come up with quotable lines and fit in with the big-wigs of YA (THG, Divergent, Shadowhunters, etc.).
Who would enjoy this: maybe 12-13 year olds who want an easy introduction to YA where it's all romance and action written in a voice that they'd want to identify with (hey I remember wanting to become Katniss so no shade children we've all been there). There is no real theme here except the bad guys always lose (which isn't true in the real world AHEM).
2 I didn't hate it but I most certainly wasn't anywhere near liking it.
Spoiler
2 stars. Disappointed.-------------
So many meaningless cliched sayings trying to be the "point" of the story.
No in-depth relationships. I wish we'd gone more in depth with the betrayals and characters... The story was super basic.
She didn't really have any trials at all, and the most interesting parts happened before the story took place and at the beginning.
Everything happens quite conveniently for her, and everyone is/chooses "good" except for the Bad Guy.
The end of the story was poorly written. The ending is unsure because the character just passes out and the results are explained, for the fastest possible written ending. In fact, I'd say most of the story is rushed with how little depth anything is given.
I enjoyed the plot twist of Porter. Also, at least she ran out of arrows.
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I disliked the audio book. It likely transformed her grandfather into even more of a sayer of cliches (and nothing else). It also was super weird with the mother's dialogue, unless that was just the writing as well.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I get worrying about your mother, but the protagonist spends so much time thinking about her dead friends, it's amazing she has a mind of her own.
Whatever potential this book had got lost less than a quarter of the way through.
Whatever potential this book had got lost less than a quarter of the way through.
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes