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3.01 AVERAGE
3.01 AVERAGE
*2.5 stars*
this reminded me a lot of the dystopian novels going around during the time of Hunger Games and Divergent! It was entertaining, but characters and world-building were really lacking.
this reminded me a lot of the dystopian novels going around during the time of Hunger Games and Divergent! It was entertaining, but characters and world-building were really lacking.
This was so good! I loved all of the characters so much, and the plot was great, and it was all so amazing.
The Characters. Etta was an amazing main character. She had such a fun, interesting family, where there were always more secrets to uncover. She was so sad, and felt so bad for all of the terrible things she had done, but she was so sweet, and so perfect. Rye was a perfect little character, she was so sweet, and so feisty, and so funny, and I just loved her. Characters like Rye are literally my favorites. Reid was a sweet, good match for Etta. Though things got rough at times, Reid still saw the good in her, and they were just so amazing. Most other people were pretty meh. I wish we had gotten to see more of Penn, and Greer. Oh, and I absolutely hated Madame.
The Plot. I don't know why, and I can try my best to explain it, but this kind of reminded me of The Court of Miracles. Maybe it was because The Shadows kind of reminded me of one of the guilds in TCOM, or maybe it was just that Etta reminded me of Nina. I loved the plot of this. Everything about the memories, and there being Gifted and Ungifted and so many things in between was quite fascinating. I loved the world of the Shadows, and am so glad we got to see some of them!
The Characters. Etta was an amazing main character. She had such a fun, interesting family, where there were always more secrets to uncover. She was so sad, and felt so bad for all of the terrible things she had done, but she was so sweet, and so perfect. Rye was a perfect little character, she was so sweet, and so feisty, and so funny, and I just loved her. Characters like Rye are literally my favorites. Reid was a sweet, good match for Etta. Though things got rough at times, Reid still saw the good in her, and they were just so amazing. Most other people were pretty meh. I wish we had gotten to see more of Penn, and Greer. Oh, and I absolutely hated Madame.
The Plot. I don't know why, and I can try my best to explain it, but this kind of reminded me of The Court of Miracles. Maybe it was because The Shadows kind of reminded me of one of the guilds in TCOM, or maybe it was just that Etta reminded me of Nina. I loved the plot of this. Everything about the memories, and there being Gifted and Ungifted and so many things in between was quite fascinating. I loved the world of the Shadows, and am so glad we got to see some of them!
This book had so much potential!! The idea was unique, enticing and well planned, but it’s execution was sloppy. Everything was built up - the Maze, Porter, the final battle - and then it just fell apart without any suspense. The romance was similarly weak and I was getting irritated by the protagonist, who seemed to constantly feel sorry for herself.
By no means perfect, but an original and fascinating read.
I've been following Lauren's book for months now and snagged it the day it came out.
Before I get into the book though I want to be a little spoilerish because I have to talk about what made me cry.
In the book, Etta's mom is unconcious and when Etta looks at her mom's thoughts, she cant remember anything but this garden.
When Lauren was younger, her mother had to had heart surgery, and on the way into surgery her mom had several strokes. They told Lauren she may not remember her.
The fact that Lauren took something that happened to her, and created this world, and made it beautiful, is absolutely amazing to me.
She took this terrible moment she faced (Her mother did get better and remember her) and put her raw emotions into a book.
That I think, is the peak of writing for an author, being able to take emotions, fears, dreams, that anyone can relate to or experience, and put them into a book, and make it a wonderful story, is just spectacular.
Now onto the book, I absolutely adored the world. The way the powers worked and the way the system was set up was on point. I find Craewick to be fascinating, and would love to know more lore on it.
There were so many twists and turns and loops, and I enjoyed them all. Because honestly, if you lived in a society where memories could be so easily twisted, you would be so unsure and confused about so many things, that there would be a suprise pretty often.
I also love the focus on redemption, the characters in this novel learn and grow and make amazing changes.
I see a lot of reviews complaining about the shortness and ending to soon or too perfect, but this is a stand alone (Im pretty sure) so it makes sense for the pacing and happy ending, the story has been told. I think we are just so used to Trilogies we dont know what to do with stand alones.
The ending left you with such a bright hope for the future, and you know the changes are going to make life for everyone so much better. Its a very fulfilling ending.
Before I get into the book though I want to be a little spoilerish because I have to talk about what made me cry.
In the book, Etta's mom is unconcious and when Etta looks at her mom's thoughts, she cant remember anything but this garden.
When Lauren was younger, her mother had to had heart surgery, and on the way into surgery her mom had several strokes. They told Lauren she may not remember her.
The fact that Lauren took something that happened to her, and created this world, and made it beautiful, is absolutely amazing to me.
She took this terrible moment she faced (Her mother did get better and remember her) and put her raw emotions into a book.
That I think, is the peak of writing for an author, being able to take emotions, fears, dreams, that anyone can relate to or experience, and put them into a book, and make it a wonderful story, is just spectacular.
Now onto the book, I absolutely adored the world. The way the powers worked and the way the system was set up was on point. I find Craewick to be fascinating, and would love to know more lore on it.
There were so many twists and turns and loops, and I enjoyed them all. Because honestly, if you lived in a society where memories could be so easily twisted, you would be so unsure and confused about so many things, that there would be a suprise pretty often.
I also love the focus on redemption, the characters in this novel learn and grow and make amazing changes.
I see a lot of reviews complaining about the shortness and ending to soon or too perfect, but this is a stand alone (Im pretty sure) so it makes sense for the pacing and happy ending, the story has been told. I think we are just so used to Trilogies we dont know what to do with stand alones.
The ending left you with such a bright hope for the future, and you know the changes are going to make life for everyone so much better. Its a very fulfilling ending.
Originally reviewed on Cyn's Workshop
While impressive, the beginning has a very rough structure. The author plops the reader into the world without any world-building, and it is not always easy to follow. The Memory Thief is a fantasy novel where the characters have many gifts; however, following these gifts is hard. The author is not clear on the world works or on how the gifts work. It just comes across as very confusing for the reader who is trying to figure out who Etta is and what her place is in the world. It just is not clear construction-wise.
As the plot develops, the story explores the differences between the Gifted magic and their societal position versus the Ungifted. So, the author does go into detail with developing the world, but it takes a while. The focus of the opening chapters is establishing the villain and the tension between the villain and Etta.
Nevertheless, in the beginning, Etta is not a very compelling character. There is much internal struggle for her character as she struggles to reconcile her past mistakes. As a story focused on memory and the power of it, how they make us feel and influence our personalities and decisions. So she does become a compelling character, eventually, but the opening chapters do not make her appealing. Thankfully her dynamics with Reid offer up a lot of tension and character development, making her a more compelling character in the long run.
Ultimately The Memory Thief is an okay novel. It is something unique, highlighting the power of memory and how important memories are, but the first quarter of the story, both the structure of the storytelling and the characterization is lacking. (★★★☆☆)
See more reviews at Cyn's Workshop and follow me on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Tumblr | | Goodreads+ | LinkedIn
While impressive, the beginning has a very rough structure. The author plops the reader into the world without any world-building, and it is not always easy to follow. The Memory Thief is a fantasy novel where the characters have many gifts; however, following these gifts is hard. The author is not clear on the world works or on how the gifts work. It just comes across as very confusing for the reader who is trying to figure out who Etta is and what her place is in the world. It just is not clear construction-wise.
As the plot develops, the story explores the differences between the Gifted magic and their societal position versus the Ungifted. So, the author does go into detail with developing the world, but it takes a while. The focus of the opening chapters is establishing the villain and the tension between the villain and Etta.
Nevertheless, in the beginning, Etta is not a very compelling character. There is much internal struggle for her character as she struggles to reconcile her past mistakes. As a story focused on memory and the power of it, how they make us feel and influence our personalities and decisions. So she does become a compelling character, eventually, but the opening chapters do not make her appealing. Thankfully her dynamics with Reid offer up a lot of tension and character development, making her a more compelling character in the long run.
Ultimately The Memory Thief is an okay novel. It is something unique, highlighting the power of memory and how important memories are, but the first quarter of the story, both the structure of the storytelling and the characterization is lacking. (★★★☆☆)
See more reviews at Cyn's Workshop and follow me on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Tumblr | | Goodreads+ | LinkedIn
This e-ARC was provided to me by Blink through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
In The Memory Thief, we follow the story of fierce Julieta Lark (who goes by Etta at the beginning of the story). She lives in a world where some people have the gift to remove, trade and manipulate human memory.
Lauren Mansy created a very captivating world with many unique aspects to it. In particular the social divide of the regions being based on professions. She created a unique aspect of superpowers that are normal in the world of Craewick, but still uncommon enough that there is a social divide the gifted and ungifted.
While Julieta was an interesting character whose main desire was to protect her family she lacked a bit of depth. Oddly enough she was always forgiven for her mistakes and did not have to struggle too hard for it to go her way. There was no real struggle she had to confront. There was also her love interest Reid…who also had no depth. Aside from the annoying instant love their relationship had no depth, it was forced upon the reader and there was no spark to keep it interesting. When he left her to do to an actually very interesting plot twist, I was actually relieved I did not have to deal with their dynamic, but alas…he came back and forgave her for all her mistakes.
The plot also had weird pacing to it, maybe because the whole story happened over four to five days. It was hard to keep track since one moment Julieta is being attacked and then figure out her emotions for a situation and then attacked again. Time was a bit confusing and hard to keep track of through the novel so half the time I was not sure if it was day or night and how far they were in their journey.
The Memory Thief did have a few interesting twists. Quite a few of them caught me off guard and left me a bit flabbergasted. I especially enjoyed the secondary characters like Ryder and Uncle Felix. I wish we could have seen more of those two.
Overall the novel was enjoyable but not crazy special. It’s a quick easy read if you find yourself bored on a Saturday morning.
In The Memory Thief, we follow the story of fierce Julieta Lark (who goes by Etta at the beginning of the story). She lives in a world where some people have the gift to remove, trade and manipulate human memory.
Lauren Mansy created a very captivating world with many unique aspects to it. In particular the social divide of the regions being based on professions. She created a unique aspect of superpowers that are normal in the world of Craewick, but still uncommon enough that there is a social divide the gifted and ungifted.
While Julieta was an interesting character whose main desire was to protect her family she lacked a bit of depth. Oddly enough she was always forgiven for her mistakes and did not have to struggle too hard for it to go her way. There was no real struggle she had to confront. There was also her love interest Reid…who also had no depth. Aside from the annoying instant love their relationship had no depth, it was forced upon the reader and there was no spark to keep it interesting. When he left her to do to an actually very interesting plot twist, I was actually relieved I did not have to deal with their dynamic, but alas…he came back and forgave her for all her mistakes.
The plot also had weird pacing to it, maybe because the whole story happened over four to five days. It was hard to keep track since one moment Julieta is being attacked and then figure out her emotions for a situation and then attacked again. Time was a bit confusing and hard to keep track of through the novel so half the time I was not sure if it was day or night and how far they were in their journey.
The Memory Thief did have a few interesting twists. Quite a few of them caught me off guard and left me a bit flabbergasted. I especially enjoyed the secondary characters like Ryder and Uncle Felix. I wish we could have seen more of those two.
Overall the novel was enjoyable but not crazy special. It’s a quick easy read if you find yourself bored on a Saturday morning.
Mon premier livre audio !
J'ai passé un bon moment de lecture avec Etta, Reid et les autres ! L'histoire est un peu (carrément) clichée par moments (franchement : pauvre Etta !) mais j'ai tout de même apprécié mon écoute. L'univers est original et relativement bien développé. Par contre : il y a beaucoup trop de personnages ! D'habitude, j'aime ce genre de romans. Mais là, on nous introduit des personnages à tout bout de champ qu'on ne rencontre parfois jamais et qu'on introduit longuement pendant plusieurs pages pour ensuite ne plus jamais en entendre parler... ou 150 pages plus loin ?... je dois avouer que ça m'a quelques fois perdu...
J'ai passé un bon moment de lecture avec Etta, Reid et les autres ! L'histoire est un peu (carrément) clichée par moments (franchement : pauvre Etta !) mais j'ai tout de même apprécié mon écoute. L'univers est original et relativement bien développé. Par contre : il y a beaucoup trop de personnages ! D'habitude, j'aime ce genre de romans. Mais là, on nous introduit des personnages à tout bout de champ qu'on ne rencontre parfois jamais et qu'on introduit longuement pendant plusieurs pages pour ensuite ne plus jamais en entendre parler... ou 150 pages plus loin ?... je dois avouer que ça m'a quelques fois perdu...
The hubris of the author kinda makes me cringe. She added discussion questions, a glossary and a map as if this book was gonna be a major motion picture. In fact, the glossary of terms is listed in the beginning as if she didn't want to take the time to actually write it into the story.
The concept, if explained better, could have been cool, I guess, but unfortunately it was unable to manifest into a story worth reading.
The concept, if explained better, could have been cool, I guess, but unfortunately it was unable to manifest into a story worth reading.
I really enjoyed this book. I flew through it in one day! It’s face paced, the premise is fantastically intriguing, and the characters are exciting. We only know them for a short time but I felt like they were well developed.
I was pulled to this book because of the premise. A world where memories are currency? What a fabulous idea! An epic journey to save her mother? Count me in!
Though I liked that it was fast-paced, I also felt it was a bit detrimental at times. The whole story takes place in about a week and several of the points in the timeline felt a bit murky and confusing. I also felt like, due to the short timeline, emotions seemed a bit rushed as well. I won’t go into detail because it would be a major spoiler, but one very big moment was kind of ruined for me because Etta was just like “okay, I accept this as truth” even though her whole life she believed something different.
All in all, I would definitely recommend this read. It’s quick, it’s fun, and it’s light.
I was pulled to this book because of the premise. A world where memories are currency? What a fabulous idea! An epic journey to save her mother? Count me in!
Though I liked that it was fast-paced, I also felt it was a bit detrimental at times. The whole story takes place in about a week and several of the points in the timeline felt a bit murky and confusing. I also felt like, due to the short timeline, emotions seemed a bit rushed as well. I won’t go into detail because it would be a major spoiler, but one very big moment was kind of ruined for me because Etta was just like “okay, I accept this as truth” even though her whole life she believed something different.
All in all, I would definitely recommend this read. It’s quick, it’s fun, and it’s light.