A review by rieriereads
The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa

emotional informative mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝙿𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚎, by Yoko Ogawa and translated by Stephen Synder, is a hauntingly beautiful novel. Reading this was a journey of both memory and loss.

What I really loved about The Memory Police, aside from the plot, was the poetic writing and pacing. The writing was lyrical, and it was twice as beautiful because of the themes Ogawa added. And although some may see it as slow, to me, it was perfectly paced and balanced. You get to feel the gradual unveiling of the events with twice as much impact. I also loved that it was also a novel within a novel. It raises many thoughts, one of which is the importance of loss and memories.
 
Overall, I highly recommend letting yourselves dive into the haunting world that Yoko Ogawa has created. This is a literary gem that I know will get better and better as time goes on.

•••

My Rating System

5 🌟 - Life changing, a new favorite read
4 ⭐ - I loved it
3 ⭐ - I liked it 
2 ⭐ - It was okay
1 ⭐ - I hated it but decided to  not dnf