allimoose37's reviews
651 reviews

The Memory Keepers by Natasha Ngan

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

 First book of 2025 - backlist EU title only, The Memory Keepers by Natasha Ngan. Memories themselves have become black market eligible items. London is split forcibly between North (money) and South (poor).

This is a dystopian tale of when a poor boy from the South is a skid thief and breaks into one of London’s most powerful to steal and runs into his daughter in the process. She’s feeling the pressures of being so kept in her gilded cage and yearning to break free and actually *see* the world.

Natasha Ngan, pre- Girls of Paper and Fire, is coming into her own in this book. I read her debut last year, and I feel like you can see her voice coalescing on the page. The stakes feel real here. The pain is rooted in real, heavy, dark pain (SA trigger warnings!!!!) The friendship that grows between Seven & Alba is unlikely but grounded in reality. This book is a decade old and I feel like it would fit in today’s dystopian seamlessly.

My one BEEF with this book is the cover design. Alba is described on page as both chubby and ginger and the woman on the cover is neither of those things. Seven is described as half Asian. He is, sure, only in profile, but??

Read for my January #theDiverseBaseline book, author Natasha Ngan is Malaysian-Chinese-British so this book went straight into the “Biracial or mulit-racial author” prompt, though it could also fit in fantasy/scifi, dystopian, or the sub 200 reviews (49 on Storygraph at time of writing), for example. The Girls trilogy is excellent, btw.
 

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers

emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

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

Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Us Against You by Fredrik Backman

challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

What We Devour by Linsey Miller

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

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

Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology by Shane Hawk, Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

House of Frank by Kay Synclaire

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Pumpkin Spice and Poltergeist by Ali K. Mulford, K. Elle Morrison

funny lighthearted fast-paced

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