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libellumartinae's review
3.0
Hello there, lovelies!
This ARC will come out in May, but I was lucky enough to read it in advance thank to the author, for which I am very thankful.
This is a rather interesting book, because of the themes it talks about, coming on to with a strong contrast that honestly made me reflect about my entire view through the entire book, in a way that challenges the reader to search for more and to review constantly her thoughts.
Such as what happens to Falon, who goes through a (for me too quick) change of heart, rather interesting to see since it completely helps the reader to understand and sympathize with the character.
Although my favorite POV to read about was Sarilla's since I felt like she is a rather complex and unique character, hating her own nature and unable to hear further about everything else, but still with a soft nature for her family and an high sense of duty which makes even the simplest of actions an order, an obligation
In a constant contrast between hate and knowledge the book develops itself in a cruel way where monsters are much more human than you might think which is something rather interesting to see written and portrayed so well by both the characters.
The book still has two main flaws: the worlbuilding and the pace of the narration.
The former is rather lacking creating confusion about what memoris truly are and what the blackvine is, to the point where you are unable to completely understand such concepts till the end, although the writer has told me that this is due to Falon's condition (which I am not spoiling you), so thread carefully about this topic!
I also think that in some points the pace of the narration was too fast, making some event unclear, enough to disrupt the rhythm of the narration and create even further confusion.
I do have to say that this is simply my opinion.
English is not my first language as you might know, so the confusion I felt through the book might have also been coming from that, and my own taste.
This book is very interesting for the topics and themes it talk about in a rather interesting and new way, that will make you hang on till the last page, always changing your opinion.
This ARC will come out in May, but I was lucky enough to read it in advance thank to the author, for which I am very thankful.
This is a rather interesting book, because of the themes it talks about, coming on to with a strong contrast that honestly made me reflect about my entire view through the entire book, in a way that challenges the reader to search for more and to review constantly her thoughts.
Such as what happens to Falon, who goes through a (for me too quick) change of heart, rather interesting to see since it completely helps the reader to understand and sympathize with the character.
Although my favorite POV to read about was Sarilla's since I felt like she is a rather complex and unique character, hating her own nature and unable to hear further about everything else, but still with a soft nature for her family and an high sense of duty which makes even the simplest of actions an order, an obligation
In a constant contrast between hate and knowledge the book develops itself in a cruel way where monsters are much more human than you might think which is something rather interesting to see written and portrayed so well by both the characters.
The book still has two main flaws: the worlbuilding and the pace of the narration.
The former is rather lacking creating confusion about what memoris truly are and what the blackvine is, to the point where you are unable to completely understand such concepts till the end, although the writer has told me that this is due to Falon's condition (which I am not spoiling you), so thread carefully about this topic!
I also think that in some points the pace of the narration was too fast, making some event unclear, enough to disrupt the rhythm of the narration and create even further confusion.
I do have to say that this is simply my opinion.
English is not my first language as you might know, so the confusion I felt through the book might have also been coming from that, and my own taste.
This book is very interesting for the topics and themes it talk about in a rather interesting and new way, that will make you hang on till the last page, always changing your opinion.
thebookwormsfeast's review against another edition
5.0
Firstly, how gorgeous is that cover?
That was the trouble with stolen memories, you could never trust them once they were yours.
Oh this book! The synopsis on Goodreads compares to Joe Abercrombie, and I totally get it. Sarilla has Glokta's dedication and ruthlessness - I'd even say Ninefingers self-destruction. I'd definitely throw this book under grimdark, and I am here for it.
Sarilla is a memoria - identified by their white hair and black hands, memoria can see and steal peoples memories through touch. Falon is missing six months of his memories and is hoping that he can get these back by using Sarilla.
This book isn't the longest, so I really am not going to say too much about it - as it would be so easy to spoil. But I thoroughly enjoyed it, even when I wasn't - which makes no sense I know, but this really is a book about flawed characters making flawed decisions. I cannot wait to read the conclusion in the next book - already that small teaser at the back has me completely tantalised.
Thank you to Rachel for sending me a copy a free, this review is completely my own view.
That was the trouble with stolen memories, you could never trust them once they were yours.
Oh this book! The synopsis on Goodreads compares to Joe Abercrombie, and I totally get it. Sarilla has Glokta's dedication and ruthlessness - I'd even say Ninefingers self-destruction. I'd definitely throw this book under grimdark, and I am here for it.
Sarilla is a memoria - identified by their white hair and black hands, memoria can see and steal peoples memories through touch. Falon is missing six months of his memories and is hoping that he can get these back by using Sarilla.
This book isn't the longest, so I really am not going to say too much about it - as it would be so easy to spoil. But I thoroughly enjoyed it, even when I wasn't - which makes no sense I know, but this really is a book about flawed characters making flawed decisions. I cannot wait to read the conclusion in the next book - already that small teaser at the back has me completely tantalised.
Thank you to Rachel for sending me a copy a free, this review is completely my own view.
tobesmagobes's review
5.0
The author recommended this on Reddit and I am so happy she did. All the good tropes, very queer, very angsty, loved the audiobook, 4.5 stars
elenajohansen's review against another edition
1.0
The entire book is plagued by inconsistency at all levels.
The most obvious being technical presentation, as it's riddled with errors. There are several instances of words being incorrectly used in place of their homonyms: "taught" when it should be "taut," "vile" when it's obviously meant to be "vial," and so forth. In addition, a word specific to the story--Sarilla's unwanted nickname--switches between "beastie" and "beasty" frequently, sometimes even on the same page. Stack those errors on top of repeated incorrect hyphenation (both present when it shouldn't be in things like "dirt-track" and missing when it should be present, like "Sarilla shaped hole") and a general tendency toward word repetition and excessive stage direction, it's reasonable to guess this was edited poorly or not at all.
The story is also inconsistent in characterization. Is Sarilla the scared fugitive who must avoid going into town where she might be recognized, or the brave sister who needs to save her brother? Is she the meek wimp who can't stop her brother from acting stupidly and getting himself caught, or the sass-talking pain in the backside who's constantly needling her captors even when it endangers her? The level of danger itself is inconsistent; she'll be terrified of someone noticing her on one page, then she'll act recklessly in the open when anyone could see her, because the plot needs her to, so it's fine.
Thematically, there's some inconsistency built on top of the apparent running gag of this novel: "everybody lies." Those two words are used to hide from the reader everything from character backstory and motivations to fundamental ways in which the world operates. World-building was introduced long after it was needed. I didn't know what the "graves" in the forest were that everyone was so terrified about, and when they turned out to be abandoned tunnels one could fall into, no one bothered to explain how they'd come to be called "graves." I knew the name of Sarilla's uncle/antagonist from the beginning, but not that he was King until nearly halfway through the book--that seemed like something that shouldn't have been a mystery. I didn't know there was another country peopled by memoria until even later--when Sarilla finally gets a "quest," just in time for the narrative to switch from her POV to Falon's.
The story suffered from a pronounced lack of direction, resulting from most of the important characters spending most of their time without any real agency.
I was floundering through Sarilla's half of the book trying to figure out what her goal was. At first, it seemed simple--stay safe long enough to get to the rest of her family. Okay. But why? The story never told me what was going to happen when they were reunited. (No, wait, it did, another character explained it in the final chapters that aren't even from her POV.) She abandons her brother because he's going to get them caught. She changes her mind and searches for him. He's caught by the army. She follows so she can get him back, but she gets captured by her former lover and his companions in the process. They kidnap her...why? It's not clear for a while. When it turns out it's so Falon can regain his stolen memories, they all turn around and go back for her brother, who has them. Except then he's dead, and so is the rest of her family. At 40%. I was literally staring at the text and thinking, "So the book's over then? Sarilla can't reunite with her family, which I thought was her arc, and Falon can't get his memories back, because the brother is dead."
I should not be having a standoff with a book about whether or not the story is over at 40%.
And it's not, because hey! everybody lies! Sarilla actually as Falon's memories, so he still has a goal. But she doesn't! Because I have no idea what she wants now! At the halfway mark, Falon takes her before the King and he says "So how about you help me destroy all the memoria in this other country that hasn't been talked about at all before?"
She accepts. I'm not clear on why at the time, though eventually it's explained that her deep self-hatred makes her want to destroy the monsters she came from. But also it's the King's idea to eventually double-cross them. Sarilla never seems to make her own decisions.
But the narrative switches POV to Falon, and for a while it looks like things are getting better, plot-wise. There's a clear goal: Sarilla's going to destroy stuff and Falon's sticking around to get her memories back from her.
Only then Falon loses his agency by getting taken over by blackvine, which turns out to be a physical form of infectious memory/psychic connection to the race of memoria under threat. Once it's a part of him, it's serious emotional whiplash between hating Sarilla and loving her--the memoria want her because she might have their ancient repository of racial memory. Or not. But probably. But she says she doesn't.
Any interest I still had, I lost here, though I made myself finish the book as it's for a book club. The constant "everybody lies" story-washing gives the narrative permission to make every character so unreliable there's no ground to stand on for a reader to accurately interpret the text. The ending reveals so many layers of betrayal that no one is who we thought they were--except I barely thought these characters were anyone specific already, because for most of Sarilla's half, she's fighting against being overwhelmed by floating memories that constantly distract her from reality. For Falon's half, he spends a great deal of it possessed by a foreign collective consciousness. No one can go five pages without a radical shift in self-perception or opinions expressed or behaviors modified.
At the bitter end, Falon believes that Sarilla wasn't born a monster because of her power (despite saying so at various points at least half a dozen times) but that the King "made" her that way. Then, when he gets his memories back and finds out his part in shaping her actions, he believes that he made her a monster. In both cases, again, the agency for the only female character in the book, the titular character, is usurped by the influence of male characters who take credit/blame for making her who she is. Ultimately, that's a pretty misogynist conclusion that I don't care for.
The entire novel is an inconsistent, sucking quicksand pit of a story. I cannot recommend it to anyone and won't be reading the next book.
The most obvious being technical presentation, as it's riddled with errors. There are several instances of words being incorrectly used in place of their homonyms: "taught" when it should be "taut," "vile" when it's obviously meant to be "vial," and so forth. In addition, a word specific to the story--Sarilla's unwanted nickname--switches between "beastie" and "beasty" frequently, sometimes even on the same page. Stack those errors on top of repeated incorrect hyphenation (both present when it shouldn't be in things like "dirt-track" and missing when it should be present, like "Sarilla shaped hole") and a general tendency toward word repetition and excessive stage direction, it's reasonable to guess this was edited poorly or not at all.
The story is also inconsistent in characterization. Is Sarilla the scared fugitive who must avoid going into town where she might be recognized, or the brave sister who needs to save her brother? Is she the meek wimp who can't stop her brother from acting stupidly and getting himself caught, or the sass-talking pain in the backside who's constantly needling her captors even when it endangers her? The level of danger itself is inconsistent; she'll be terrified of someone noticing her on one page, then she'll act recklessly in the open when anyone could see her, because the plot needs her to, so it's fine.
Thematically, there's some inconsistency built on top of the apparent running gag of this novel: "everybody lies." Those two words are used to hide from the reader everything from character backstory and motivations to fundamental ways in which the world operates. World-building was introduced long after it was needed. I didn't know what the "graves" in the forest were that everyone was so terrified about, and when they turned out to be abandoned tunnels one could fall into, no one bothered to explain how they'd come to be called "graves." I knew the name of Sarilla's uncle/antagonist from the beginning, but not that he was King until nearly halfway through the book--that seemed like something that shouldn't have been a mystery. I didn't know there was another country peopled by memoria until even later--when Sarilla finally gets a "quest," just in time for the narrative to switch from her POV to Falon's.
The story suffered from a pronounced lack of direction, resulting from most of the important characters spending most of their time without any real agency.
I was floundering through Sarilla's half of the book trying to figure out what her goal was. At first, it seemed simple--stay safe long enough to get to the rest of her family. Okay. But why? The story never told me what was going to happen when they were reunited. (No, wait, it did, another character explained it in the final chapters that aren't even from her POV.) She abandons her brother because he's going to get them caught. She changes her mind and searches for him. He's caught by the army. She follows so she can get him back, but she gets captured by her former lover and his companions in the process. They kidnap her...why? It's not clear for a while. When it turns out it's so Falon can regain his stolen memories, they all turn around and go back for her brother, who has them. Except then he's dead, and so is the rest of her family. At 40%. I was literally staring at the text and thinking, "So the book's over then? Sarilla can't reunite with her family, which I thought was her arc, and Falon can't get his memories back, because the brother is dead."
I should not be having a standoff with a book about whether or not the story is over at 40%.
And it's not, because hey! everybody lies! Sarilla actually as Falon's memories, so he still has a goal. But she doesn't! Because I have no idea what she wants now! At the halfway mark, Falon takes her before the King and he says "So how about you help me destroy all the memoria in this other country that hasn't been talked about at all before?"
She accepts. I'm not clear on why at the time, though eventually it's explained that her deep self-hatred makes her want to destroy the monsters she came from. But also it's the King's idea to eventually double-cross them. Sarilla never seems to make her own decisions.
But the narrative switches POV to Falon, and for a while it looks like things are getting better, plot-wise. There's a clear goal: Sarilla's going to destroy stuff and Falon's sticking around to get her memories back from her.
Only then Falon loses his agency by getting taken over by blackvine, which turns out to be a physical form of infectious memory/psychic connection to the race of memoria under threat. Once it's a part of him, it's serious emotional whiplash between hating Sarilla and loving her--the memoria want her because she might have their ancient repository of racial memory. Or not. But probably. But she says she doesn't.
Any interest I still had, I lost here, though I made myself finish the book as it's for a book club. The constant "everybody lies" story-washing gives the narrative permission to make every character so unreliable there's no ground to stand on for a reader to accurately interpret the text. The ending reveals so many layers of betrayal that no one is who we thought they were--except I barely thought these characters were anyone specific already, because for most of Sarilla's half, she's fighting against being overwhelmed by floating memories that constantly distract her from reality. For Falon's half, he spends a great deal of it possessed by a foreign collective consciousness. No one can go five pages without a radical shift in self-perception or opinions expressed or behaviors modified.
At the bitter end, Falon believes that Sarilla wasn't born a monster because of her power (despite saying so at various points at least half a dozen times) but that the King "made" her that way. Then, when he gets his memories back and finds out his part in shaping her actions, he believes that he made her a monster. In both cases, again, the agency for the only female character in the book, the titular character, is usurped by the influence of male characters who take credit/blame for making her who she is. Ultimately, that's a pretty misogynist conclusion that I don't care for.
The entire novel is an inconsistent, sucking quicksand pit of a story. I cannot recommend it to anyone and won't be reading the next book.
kitvaria_sarene's review against another edition
5.0
4,5 stars
This was our second favourite SPFBO finalist at the Hive - find our full review here: https://fantasy-hive.co.uk/2021/04/last-memoria-by-rachel-emma-shaw-spfbo-6-finalist-review/
For me, the books biggest strength is definitely it's characters. While a few scenes could have used a bit more depth, overall I enjoyed spending my time with them, and finding out what happened to them, as we quickly learn there is some shared past. I cared for them and was eager to find out how they would fare!
The plot was both a strength and a weakness of this book. There is some back and forth and back again that just felt so very, very ineffective of the characters, as it could have been so easily avoided when they had just spoken two sentences with each other. And being on the road together all day for days on end, I would expect they would have done so. That part just didn’t feel very smooth or realistic to me. The plot often goes the exact opposite way of what I expected, and while I love being surprised by books, some of these twists just felt a bit rushed. With a few scenes I’d have loved a bit more padding around the edges. On the other hand I have read so many fantasy books, that any book that surprises me not once, not twice, but again and again is a definite plus, so I’d say these balance each other out for me.
I also loved the world building! We have memory stealing magic, and we have a world that seems both familiar and also foreign at the same time. There's ruins and a mysterious threat called "blackvine" in the woods, and I enjoyed puzzling together a bigger picture throughout the story!
Despite a few flaws, I enjoyed this one from start to finish. There’s tremendous talent at display, and like Theo I will not just pick up the sequel, I will definitely keep a close eye on the author from here on out!
This was our second favourite SPFBO finalist at the Hive - find our full review here: https://fantasy-hive.co.uk/2021/04/last-memoria-by-rachel-emma-shaw-spfbo-6-finalist-review/
For me, the books biggest strength is definitely it's characters. While a few scenes could have used a bit more depth, overall I enjoyed spending my time with them, and finding out what happened to them, as we quickly learn there is some shared past. I cared for them and was eager to find out how they would fare!
The plot was both a strength and a weakness of this book. There is some back and forth and back again that just felt so very, very ineffective of the characters, as it could have been so easily avoided when they had just spoken two sentences with each other. And being on the road together all day for days on end, I would expect they would have done so. That part just didn’t feel very smooth or realistic to me. The plot often goes the exact opposite way of what I expected, and while I love being surprised by books, some of these twists just felt a bit rushed. With a few scenes I’d have loved a bit more padding around the edges. On the other hand I have read so many fantasy books, that any book that surprises me not once, not twice, but again and again is a definite plus, so I’d say these balance each other out for me.
I also loved the world building! We have memory stealing magic, and we have a world that seems both familiar and also foreign at the same time. There's ruins and a mysterious threat called "blackvine" in the woods, and I enjoyed puzzling together a bigger picture throughout the story!
Despite a few flaws, I enjoyed this one from start to finish. There’s tremendous talent at display, and like Theo I will not just pick up the sequel, I will definitely keep a close eye on the author from here on out!
tabatha_shipley's review against another edition
5.0
What I Did Like:
-Dual POV storyline. I’ve seen that done a lot. I haven’t often seen it done like this and I LOVED the way it shaped this story.
-The messages and themes in this one are HUGE. Really the entire book could be driven by the question if you had a chance to cut one thing from your memory, would you? Big messages, big lessons.
-Characters. They’re both so much deeper than they seem on the surface and I loved diving into their backgrounds. This book has MORALITY QUESTIONS, which is one of my favorite things to see in YA books. Can you be a good person if you have done bad things?
Who Should Read This One:
-Fantasy readers. The world created here by memory reading is wonderful. It’s a great dive into a fantasy world that has been well conceptualized.
-Science Fiction fans who like books that go just outside the realm of plausible into something that forces them to THINK.
-Readers who like BIG emotions packed into their characters.
My Rating: 5 Stars. This will appeal to a wide range of readers. Highly recommended!
For Full Review (including what I didn’t like): https://youtu.be/e27XHLzNjdg
-Dual POV storyline. I’ve seen that done a lot. I haven’t often seen it done like this and I LOVED the way it shaped this story.
-The messages and themes in this one are HUGE. Really the entire book could be driven by the question if you had a chance to cut one thing from your memory, would you? Big messages, big lessons.
-Characters. They’re both so much deeper than they seem on the surface and I loved diving into their backgrounds. This book has MORALITY QUESTIONS, which is one of my favorite things to see in YA books. Can you be a good person if you have done bad things?
Who Should Read This One:
-Fantasy readers. The world created here by memory reading is wonderful. It’s a great dive into a fantasy world that has been well conceptualized.
-Science Fiction fans who like books that go just outside the realm of plausible into something that forces them to THINK.
-Readers who like BIG emotions packed into their characters.
My Rating: 5 Stars. This will appeal to a wide range of readers. Highly recommended!
For Full Review (including what I didn’t like): https://youtu.be/e27XHLzNjdg
pizzabrot's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars. Everything was SO good except for the sloppy editing (if there even was any?). Renford's eyes constantly switch between dark brown and pale blue, and sentences start one way and ending a completely different one grammatically (see what I did there?) . It's fine though, I still absolutely LOVED the writing style, the characters and the whole plot in general. The ending was a bit too muddled for my taste, but still really well done and it means a lot that I suffer unnecessary continuity errors like mentioned above with pleasure if it means having a book like this.
Not really sure this book needed a sequel, but you can bet that I'm going to read it anyway.
Not really sure this book needed a sequel, but you can bet that I'm going to read it anyway.
monika_stefekova's review
I was given an ARC by the author in exchange for an honest review.
I am not going to give any stars to Last Memoria for now, because I have yet to decide where in the star-rating system to place it, and it would not be fair or objective to rate it.
I feel very conflicted about this book. On the one hand, the premise is very intriguing. I was excited to read this novel the moment I read the synopsis. The style is clear, and it reads really quickly. The story is fairly dark, but that has never been an issue with me. I enjoy the darker books with morally grey characters; they feel more real to me and are usually more relatable.
However, there were quite a few things that prevented me from fully enjoying it. For one, the worldbuilding (or lack thereof). I personally do not need detailed maps or extensive descriptions of the landscape, but here I felt like I was lacking vital pieces of information until quite late in the book. Maybe it would not have bothered me so much if the novel was written in the third person. But in a story where all narration is in the first person, I would have appreciated having more knowledge about the people, the history, or the elements related to memory manipulation, for example.
I also struggled with the characters a little bit. It might have been due to the relative lack of information, but I sometimes did not understand the drive of the motivation behind their behaviour and their decisions, and consequently, I could not relate to any of the characters as much as I would have liked to. The revelations at the end of the book helped with this, but I would have preferred to be able to form some kind of a bond to at least one character prior to the final 30 pages. Also, I cannot help thinking that some of the characters´ potential has not been explored to its full extent, and I hope there will be at least a few flashbacks (or memories) in the sequel, to provide context.
There is quite a heartbreaking twist towards the end of the book which left me intrigued enough to want to pick up the next instalment. I am quite curious to see where the story goes, now that I feel I finally know the characters better. I will also definitely be re-reading Last Memoria to pick up on all the details I probably missed.
Overall, this is a fairly original story that makes you want to turn the page despite all its shortcomings, and I look forward to seeing where it takes me next.
I am not going to give any stars to Last Memoria for now, because I have yet to decide where in the star-rating system to place it, and it would not be fair or objective to rate it.
I feel very conflicted about this book. On the one hand, the premise is very intriguing. I was excited to read this novel the moment I read the synopsis. The style is clear, and it reads really quickly. The story is fairly dark, but that has never been an issue with me. I enjoy the darker books with morally grey characters; they feel more real to me and are usually more relatable.
However, there were quite a few things that prevented me from fully enjoying it. For one, the worldbuilding (or lack thereof). I personally do not need detailed maps or extensive descriptions of the landscape, but here I felt like I was lacking vital pieces of information until quite late in the book. Maybe it would not have bothered me so much if the novel was written in the third person. But in a story where all narration is in the first person, I would have appreciated having more knowledge about the people, the history, or the elements related to memory manipulation, for example.
I also struggled with the characters a little bit. It might have been due to the relative lack of information, but I sometimes did not understand the drive of the motivation behind their behaviour and their decisions, and consequently, I could not relate to any of the characters as much as I would have liked to. The revelations at the end of the book helped with this, but I would have preferred to be able to form some kind of a bond to at least one character prior to the final 30 pages. Also, I cannot help thinking that some of the characters´ potential has not been explored to its full extent, and I hope there will be at least a few flashbacks (or memories) in the sequel, to provide context.
There is quite a heartbreaking twist towards the end of the book which left me intrigued enough to want to pick up the next instalment. I am quite curious to see where the story goes, now that I feel I finally know the characters better. I will also definitely be re-reading Last Memoria to pick up on all the details I probably missed.
Overall, this is a fairly original story that makes you want to turn the page despite all its shortcomings, and I look forward to seeing where it takes me next.
mickeymickey's review against another edition
3.0
3.5/5
What happens to a person when you take away their memories? This book explores that question in a very dark way, a lot darker than I had been expecting. It really delves deep into how losing a part of yourself can drive you mad and yet getting the memories back might make you even madder.
The book wasn’t without some faults, especially the beginning setup of the world felt a little vague and clunky. And there were a fair amount of leeway with realism as they traverse huge parts of the land without seemingly eating for weeks, letting incredibly injured wounds go untreated, as well as the king being so personally involved (I imagine it was a very small kingdom?). But the second half made up for it and especially the ending.
The first half of the book is from Sorilla’s point of view and there you can see the twisted self hatred she carries due to being misused and abused ever since she was a child. The second half is from the point of view of Falon, a man who is desperate to gain back pieces of himself that were taken away. It was a bit of a jarring switch at first especially since it went from third person to first but eventually I got used to it again.
I think overall the book made a big impression on me despite its faults. It’s very different from what I normally read and I am glad to have read it. I will continue through to the second book to see how it all concludes.
What happens to a person when you take away their memories? This book explores that question in a very dark way, a lot darker than I had been expecting. It really delves deep into how losing a part of yourself can drive you mad and yet getting the memories back might make you even madder.
The book wasn’t without some faults, especially the beginning setup of the world felt a little vague and clunky. And there were a fair amount of leeway with realism as they traverse huge parts of the land without seemingly eating for weeks, letting incredibly injured wounds go untreated, as well as the king being so personally involved (I imagine it was a very small kingdom?). But the second half made up for it and especially the ending.
The first half of the book is from Sorilla’s point of view and there you can see the twisted self hatred she carries due to being misused and abused ever since she was a child. The second half is from the point of view of Falon, a man who is desperate to gain back pieces of himself that were taken away. It was a bit of a jarring switch at first especially since it went from third person to first but eventually I got used to it again.
I think overall the book made a big impression on me despite its faults. It’s very different from what I normally read and I am glad to have read it. I will continue through to the second book to see how it all concludes.
books_over_everything's review
4.0
**Disclaimer: I was given a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review from the author**
Title Last Memoria
Author Rachel Emma Shaw
Description from Amazon
Sarilla has learnt one thing from stealing memories. Everybody lies.
There’s nothing Sarilla hates more than stealing memories, but the king forces her to so he can keep his subjects in line. She wants to escape to where nobody knows what she is or what she can do, but her plans go awry when she runs into someone she would much rather forget.
Falon has a six-month void in his memories that he’s desperate to restore. He doesn’t know why they were taken or what they contained, nor why the man he loves is acting so cagily about what happened during that time. He hopes to use Sarilla to get back what was stolen from him and isn’t interested in why she’s so desperate to escape. She will help him get back what he’s lost, whether she wants to or not.
Release Date May 10, 2020
Initial Thoughts
Thank you to the author, Rachel Emma Shaw, for providing me a copy of Last Memoria. This book was not on my radar yet but I’m honestly surprised I missed it. It sounded like it was right up my alley. I was really excited when I was contacted about this review opportunity.
Some Things I Liked
World building. The setting and magic in this world are very unique and I really loved that. I thought the explanations for the memory magic were well explained and I liked that it all felt well rounded.
Morally grey characters. I absolutely loved that both Sarilla and Falon had mysterious motivations and neither was wholly good. Havric was but he’s my fave and I’m obsessed with his mother. She seems like a treasure. But, more about that later. I loved that the main characters made several morally questionable choices.
Dark themes. This book is definitely dark and I liked that. Sarilla is almost an anti-hero in that regard and I don’t read enough books like that.
One Thing I Wasn’t Crazy About
While I liked that the book was split into two parts, I didn’t like that the first part was third person narration and the second was first person. I prefer consistency in that aspect. I think my gripe is that I would have liked the first part of the story to have been written from Sarilla’s POV in first person narration.
Series Value
I really loved the world building in this series. I can’t wait to read the next book and I think there is tons of potential for side stories and spin offs. For example, I’d love to hear from Havric’s POV or read about what he got up to when he separated from the group.
I will definitely be continuing with this series.
Final Thoughts
I enjoyed this book. The concepts are unique. The characters are dark and definitely on the morally grey spectrum and I really loved that.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Recommendations for Further Reading
The Memory Thief by Lauren Mansey – if you enjoyed the memory stealing aspects of Last Memoria, check out this standalone by Lauren Mansey.
Incendiary by Zoraida Córdova – again, if you enjoyed the memory stealing elements as well as the characterization of the main character as a “monster”, try this new series by Zoraida Córdova.
Scars of Cereba by Rachel Emma Shaw – fear not friends, if you enjoyed this book, there is going to be a sequel! I will definitely be reading it.
Title Last Memoria
Author Rachel Emma Shaw
Description from Amazon
Sarilla has learnt one thing from stealing memories. Everybody lies.
There’s nothing Sarilla hates more than stealing memories, but the king forces her to so he can keep his subjects in line. She wants to escape to where nobody knows what she is or what she can do, but her plans go awry when she runs into someone she would much rather forget.
Falon has a six-month void in his memories that he’s desperate to restore. He doesn’t know why they were taken or what they contained, nor why the man he loves is acting so cagily about what happened during that time. He hopes to use Sarilla to get back what was stolen from him and isn’t interested in why she’s so desperate to escape. She will help him get back what he’s lost, whether she wants to or not.
Release Date May 10, 2020
Initial Thoughts
Thank you to the author, Rachel Emma Shaw, for providing me a copy of Last Memoria. This book was not on my radar yet but I’m honestly surprised I missed it. It sounded like it was right up my alley. I was really excited when I was contacted about this review opportunity.
Some Things I Liked
World building. The setting and magic in this world are very unique and I really loved that. I thought the explanations for the memory magic were well explained and I liked that it all felt well rounded.
Morally grey characters. I absolutely loved that both Sarilla and Falon had mysterious motivations and neither was wholly good. Havric was but he’s my fave and I’m obsessed with his mother. She seems like a treasure. But, more about that later. I loved that the main characters made several morally questionable choices.
Dark themes. This book is definitely dark and I liked that. Sarilla is almost an anti-hero in that regard and I don’t read enough books like that.
One Thing I Wasn’t Crazy About
While I liked that the book was split into two parts, I didn’t like that the first part was third person narration and the second was first person. I prefer consistency in that aspect. I think my gripe is that I would have liked the first part of the story to have been written from Sarilla’s POV in first person narration.
Series Value
I really loved the world building in this series. I can’t wait to read the next book and I think there is tons of potential for side stories and spin offs. For example, I’d love to hear from Havric’s POV or read about what he got up to when he separated from the group.
I will definitely be continuing with this series.
Final Thoughts
I enjoyed this book. The concepts are unique. The characters are dark and definitely on the morally grey spectrum and I really loved that.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Recommendations for Further Reading
The Memory Thief by Lauren Mansey – if you enjoyed the memory stealing aspects of Last Memoria, check out this standalone by Lauren Mansey.
Incendiary by Zoraida Córdova – again, if you enjoyed the memory stealing elements as well as the characterization of the main character as a “monster”, try this new series by Zoraida Córdova.
Scars of Cereba by Rachel Emma Shaw – fear not friends, if you enjoyed this book, there is going to be a sequel! I will definitely be reading it.