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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Immensely thought-provoking and compulsively readable, it explores the idea of whether memories, good and bad, make you who you are. I think it wrapped up a little too cleanly since I was expecting a much darker twist (a la the tag line referencing Never Let Me Go) but it was still a nice enough conclusion.
(Actual: 4.75⭐️) They say every time you recall a memory, your brain alters it ever so slightly— after awhile, it’s hard to say whether the version playing in your head is truly the exact same as what really occurred. If you could erase your worst memories…. would you do it? And suppose you did, whether knowingly your unknowingly…. Would you want to get them back? That’s the question
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-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
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If you could erase a traumatic memory, would you? If you knew you once chose to have a memory erased but no recollection of it, would you choose to restore it? These are the questions facing several characters in Tell Me An Ending. Nepenthe is a company that allows you to erase a traumatic memory. But there are two methods you can choose--one process you can get rid of all the traumatic detail, but know that you've once had a memory, the other process allows you to erase the entire memory AND the process of erasing it. But when the technology for restoring memories is developed, a group of people get a letter in the mail. They have had a memory erased, would they like it back? But these people have no idea what that memory is. They probably had a good reason for getting rid of it, right? But could you resist the not knowing? I liked that we got to explore this question through several different characters' scenarios to show just how complex these questions actually are. In addition, there is a subplot involving two doctors at the clinic and the possible exposure of something corrupt going on.
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Tell Me An Ending by Jo Harkin released at the beginning of March and I finally got around to starting it last week. I think it’s safe to say that once you start, you won’t want to stop until you have the answers to all the questions set forth in the first part of the novel.
This is speculative fiction- in a world where a huge company can remove memories for a fee- lawsuits and sketchy programs have caused some issues and now “restorations” of memories are an option. We follow 4 MCs in their different situations— some have had memories deleted, others are spectators, but all are profoundly impacted by this phenomenon.
I found myself unable to stop reading once I got about halfway through and we start to figure out some of the deleted memories and the connections between people. This novel is SMART and fascinating- there’s moral, ethical, philosophical themes but it isn’t too literary or heavy. There’s just so much to think about and FEEL as you’re reading and learning about the characters and their choices. It’s heartbreaking but also shows the importance of each moment, and the grit and resilience it takes to get through them all.
This is speculative fiction- in a world where a huge company can remove memories for a fee- lawsuits and sketchy programs have caused some issues and now “restorations” of memories are an option. We follow 4 MCs in their different situations— some have had memories deleted, others are spectators, but all are profoundly impacted by this phenomenon.
I found myself unable to stop reading once I got about halfway through and we start to figure out some of the deleted memories and the connections between people. This novel is SMART and fascinating- there’s moral, ethical, philosophical themes but it isn’t too literary or heavy. There’s just so much to think about and FEEL as you’re reading and learning about the characters and their choices. It’s heartbreaking but also shows the importance of each moment, and the grit and resilience it takes to get through them all.
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It took me a little while to get into this book, but after about 75 pages I was fully hooked and could barely put it down. However, I was definitely being driven purely by a desire to find out the answers to the mysteries and what was going to happen in the end, rather than any strong emotional connection to the characters themselves. I found them all interesting in one way or another, but wasn’t deeply attached to any of them, and I agree with other reviewers that the book might have been more emotionally effective if it had narrowed its scope to focus on fewer characters. However, I’m not sure which I would cut since I did really enjoy just about all of the separate plotlines (with the possible exception of Finn and Mirande, whose story dragged a bit for me), and I was really satisfied with the way everything wrapped up and interconnected. I think this book asks a lot of interesting and difficult questions, and the characters seemed to exist primarily as tools to further explore these different scenarios - it was a lot like watching Black Mirror. I found it interesting and thought-provoking enough that, for me, it wasn’t really a problem that the novel chose to focus on the implications of its worldbuilding more so than making the reader form a deep attachment to its characters.