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ratgrrrl 's review for:
The Memory Ward
by Jon Bassoff
I received an ARC through NetGalley for an honest review.
CN. A lot of things referenced, including SA, Child Abuse, Child Murder.
I am really not sure how I feel after finishing this.
The various audiobook narrators were all great and I was gripped by the story until the very end when things continued to twist...
Without spoiling too much I can see this is a bit of a nightmare Truman Show situation, which begins to unravel very early on.
The core premise is great and conveyed very effectively, but where it ultimately goes I just didn't enjoy.
It's incredibly hard to discuss without spoilers, but it is very clear from the title, blurb, and intial pages that mental health plays a bit part in this book. I am someone with complex post traumatic stress disorder, autism, and ADHD. I have been living with and suffering the negative effects on mental health my entire life, so this is a topic I am invested in and absolutely have skin in the game as it were. I also read Catriona Ward's The Last House on Needless Street recently, which has some broadly similar themes and horrific things referenced. Ward's exquisite and heartbreaking book and the incredible author's note speak to a serious understanding and respect for mental health and it's portrayal and handling in fiction.
I mention these things because, knowing nothing about Bassoff and certainly not casting any aspersions, it reads to me like they do not have the same experience and understanding of mental health. This is not to say that mental health is especially poorly handled in this book and I absolutely don't believe there is any malice or disrespect intended by Bassoff, but there is an element of the very end that made me feel a little like mental health was used as a bit of a gimmick for a final twist in the ending, which took the jam out of my doughnut somewhat.
This was immensely readable/ listenable, pretty much did the whole thing today, and I definitely enjoyed it.
I think if it wasn't for my feelings about the very end I would have given this a mediumly high 4/5, but I think 3/5 is where I ended up.
CN. A lot of things referenced, including SA, Child Abuse, Child Murder.
I am really not sure how I feel after finishing this.
The various audiobook narrators were all great and I was gripped by the story until the very end when things continued to twist...
Without spoiling too much I can see this is a bit of a nightmare Truman Show situation, which begins to unravel very early on.
The core premise is great and conveyed very effectively, but where it ultimately goes I just didn't enjoy.
It's incredibly hard to discuss without spoilers, but it is very clear from the title, blurb, and intial pages that mental health plays a bit part in this book. I am someone with complex post traumatic stress disorder, autism, and ADHD. I have been living with and suffering the negative effects on mental health my entire life, so this is a topic I am invested in and absolutely have skin in the game as it were. I also read Catriona Ward's The Last House on Needless Street recently, which has some broadly similar themes and horrific things referenced. Ward's exquisite and heartbreaking book and the incredible author's note speak to a serious understanding and respect for mental health and it's portrayal and handling in fiction.
I mention these things because, knowing nothing about Bassoff and certainly not casting any aspersions, it reads to me like they do not have the same experience and understanding of mental health. This is not to say that mental health is especially poorly handled in this book and I absolutely don't believe there is any malice or disrespect intended by Bassoff, but there is an element of the very end that made me feel a little like mental health was used as a bit of a gimmick for a final twist in the ending, which took the jam out of my doughnut somewhat.
This was immensely readable/ listenable, pretty much did the whole thing today, and I definitely enjoyed it.
I think if it wasn't for my feelings about the very end I would have given this a mediumly high 4/5, but I think 3/5 is where I ended up.