Reviews - Tell Me an Ending

934 reviews for:

Tell Me an Ending

Jo Harkin

3.7 AVERAGE

tonstantweader's review against another edition

3.0

slow-paced

Strong character development: Yes

Tell Me An Ending is a sci-fi thriller that explores the value and ethics of a new technology, one that allows certain memories to be removed. For example, someone is involved in a tragic incident that haunts them, perhaps gives them PTSD, or survivor guilt. They can remove the parts of the incident that haunt them, knowing that such a thing happened to them, but not having the visceral memories. Others can have it completely removed, including the knowledge that something happened or even that they had a memory removed. This story follows people who are seeking or have had the procedure as a lawsuit forces the company to allow people to get those memories back, if they want them.

One of the people is Noor, who works for the company and who begins to suspect she is being set up to take the fall for higher-ups who have been dishonest. Another is a former police officer who wants a memory excised but is prohibited because cops, even those who left the service, are required to retain their memory in case they are required to testify. Another person is Mei, a recent college drop-out who is struggling with traces, scenes appearing that she has no memory of and suspects are memories that have been wiped. Another man is on the run because he doesn’t remember what he did, but thinks he must have done something awful. Another tells of a man whose wife gets a letter telling her she can get her memory restored, though she didn’t know she had erased a memory. He wonders if she erased an affair.

Tell Me An Ending is well-written. The different scenarios that could arise from this technology and the lawsuit work as ideas. The stories have an internal logic that makes sense. There was a lot of internal dialogue giving us insight into the characters and their motivations, but I think I would have preferred fewer stories, fewer people to follow. It’s not that I got confusing, but I didn’t get to fall in love with anyone. I didn’t spend enough time with them. I felt sorry for them but didn’t feel engaged. Some of that may also be the over-reliance on reading their thoughts. I don’t have to wonder what they feel, I am told what they feel. It’s a fine line because some inner monologue is necessary, but when it is overdone, then readers become less engaged. I think the concept of the novel is fresh and creative, but was not fully realized.

I received an e-galley of Tell Me An Ending from the publisher through NetGalley

Tell Me An Ending at Scribner | Simon & Schuster

https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2022/04/02/tell-me-an-ending-by-jo-harkin/

bookwormbecks's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

ssaurer's review against another edition

4.0

mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

pocketequality's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 25%

I was enjoying this well enough, but then I put it down for a couple days and now I simply have no desire or motivation to pick it up again

hmatteson's review against another edition

2.0

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

natreadthat's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense 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: Complicated

If you could erase a bad memory, would you?

Nepenthe, a tech company, has unlocked the science of erasing memories and has opened it to the public. Patients have two options: they can knowingly erase a memory or they can erase a memory as well as the knowledge of doing so.

After running into legal trouble, Nepenthe is forced to alert former patients that they’ve unknowingly had a memory removed and give them the option to restore it. We follow Finn, Mei, William, and Oscar as they receive the grappling news as well as Noor, a psychologist that works there.

Tell Me An Ending does a good job of questioning life, love, morality, mental health, and trauma. The rippling effects of the situation are powerful throughout and begs you to figure out what happens next.

Content Warnings

leahjanespeare's review against another edition

4.5

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

4.5!

This has all the elements of my favorite kind of book, of course I'm gonna like it:

speculative
multiple narratives that dance around in proximity and eventually tie together
unreliable facts regarding memory
morally gray situations and characters

While the idea per se isn't revolutionary, I was impressed with this debut and will definitely be keeping an eye out for future books by the author. It's well written and creative, managing to keep my attention and interest regarding an (arguably) tired-out trope in speculative or scifi fiction (memory).