A review by lesserjoke
The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North

5.0

Another wildly inventive thriller from author Claire North, this one about a woman who fades from people's memory as soon as she's out of their sight. That concept leans a bit close to North's earlier novel Touch, since the characters who forget their encounters with Hope end up losing time similarly to those who are possessed by the body thief Kepler in Touch. Still, Hope's powers allow for different exploits than Kepler's, and North considers at great length the isolation that a person like Hope would feel when unable to form any lasting human bonds. That feeling of total exile runs sharply throughout The Sudden Appearance of Hope, so it's only fitting that the central conflict revolves around a data-mining lifestyle app promising happiness and perfection through conformity. Come for the jewel thief narrator and her unique superpower; stay for the smart questions about community and individuality that a talented writer uses that character to explore.