A review by marydrover
The Memory Trees by Kali Wallace

5.0

Oh, this was so lovely. I read Wallace’s other novel, Shallow Graves, at the beginning of 2017 when I was just beginning my journey back into the world of reading and YA. It was one of the first books I picked up in a book haul, and I absolutely adored it. When I saw that she was writing a new one, I was all over that. And this was, hands down, a truly beautiful second novel. Wallace’s language was just–wow. It was so gorgeous. I felt like I was reading a Stiefvater novel. I was so drawn in by the way she handled words that sometimes I forgot what the story was and just felt myself floating, absolutely content and reading at an absolute snail’s pace so I could linger in the words a little longer.

That is about 75% of the reason this got 5 stars. The other 25% is the story. I kept thinking there was going to be witchcraft in here somewhere, and while there wasn’t directly, I feel like there was a little something going on in the background. The Memory Trees follows the story of Sorrow Lovegood (WHAT A NAME) as she journeys back to her childhood home in Vermont following an eight-year absence after her older sister died. Sorrow is missing pieces of her memory surrounding her sister’s death, and is hopeful that returning to VT will help her remember. What unfolds is much more than I think Sorrow, and definitely me, ever expected.