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foulone 's review for:
Tell Me an Ending
by Jo Harkin
This was a really interesting concept, that was generally executed very well. It was engaging, and hooked me from the first few pages. The idea behind everything is that the UK has advanced in a way which means people can 'delete' memories. They can't delete massive chunks of their life, but they can delete short periods of time (such as a single incident and the few days afterword). This happens by talking about the memory whilst lasers essentially zap the part of your brain which is lit up. This was a similar concept to that in 'The Binding' by Bridget Collins - which honestly I thought was executed more effectively - but set in the modern age in medical clinics as opposed to in a fictional Victorian era.
My main criticism of this book is that it falls into the stereotype of 'new technology corrupts those in charge as they use it to make money'. There was some variation on this trope but not enough to make the plot twists particularly surprising. I also felt that the ending dragged on too long, especially as it was from Noor's POV rather than the, more interesting, characters who had their memories tampered with. More focus on the reasoning behind choosing to have a memory reinstated (as a legal case dictates before the book begins) or not would've been appreciated also. Finally, the time jumps could often be a bit confusing as sometimes the transitional statements weren't as clear as they could have been (but this also may be in part because I was reading a copy which is formatted differently to how the book will actually be laid out).
Overall an interesting book that was easy to fly through and examined a cool concept. However, a bit under baked perhaps.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a free advanced e-copy in return for a honest review!
My main criticism of this book is that it falls into the stereotype of 'new technology corrupts those in charge as they use it to make money'. There was some variation on this trope but not enough to make the plot twists particularly surprising. I also felt that the ending dragged on too long, especially as it was from Noor's POV rather than the, more interesting, characters who had their memories tampered with. More focus on the reasoning behind choosing to have a memory reinstated (as a legal case dictates before the book begins) or not would've been appreciated also. Finally, the time jumps could often be a bit confusing as sometimes the transitional statements weren't as clear as they could have been (but this also may be in part because I was reading a copy which is formatted differently to how the book will actually be laid out).
Overall an interesting book that was easy to fly through and examined a cool concept. However, a bit under baked perhaps.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a free advanced e-copy in return for a honest review!