On the surface level, The Book of M is about a pandemic loss of memory. Across the world, people begin losing their shadows. With their shadows, they lose memories. And as they forget their past, they forget who they are. It’s full of the darkness of what can happen when we lose our humanity, our memories, our personal histories. But it’s also hopeful.
It defies categorisation. Yes, it’s post-apocalyptic, and bears a passing resemblance to the brilliant Station Eleven, but it’s unlike any post-apocalyptic novel I’ve read. It contains its own particular brand of imagination. There are elements of magical realism, and of fantasy.
The Book of M is unpredictable, full of satisfying little surprises that make you stop in your tracks. This is one of those books I had to keep reading, cramming reading into stolen slivers of time on tea breaks, bus rides, and the late hours of the night. I’m sure I’ll re-read it, and wish I could experience reading it again for the first time.

This book has left me wounded. My heart has been torn out, stomped on then rinsed and repeated. I have run the full gamut of emotions - I felt sad for people's loss, angry at their plight, mournful of what the world has become. You get the point...

Shepherd masterfully develops her characters, giving them fully fleshed out back stories and true purpose in life. Secondary characters are given the same treatment - chance encounters soon become obvious as having true purpose. My favourite however was Max. So skillfully written her descent into becoming a shadowless is well paced and logical while still pulling at the heart strings.

Although the narrative takes place predominantly in the United States, the landscape becomes unrecognisable, greatly benefitting a story which is carried impecably by its characters.

By the end, I was angry at the world. I thought I knew what was going on but in literally the last 20 or so pages, everything got turned on its head and my heart was shattered into 1000 pieces and scattered to the wind.

I would highly recommend this story to anyone and everyone. I have already frantically messaged all my bookish peeps and raved about it. My advice? Get on it now otherwise you will regret procrastinating later.

I received a review copy of The Book of M from Netgalley and Harper Collins Publishing in exchange for an honest review. All opinions contained within are that of the reviewer and have in no way been affected by the publisher or its affiliates

A good and gripping read. I found some fault with the magical realism of the book - I understand its necessity but didn't particularly enjoy its execution.

Because of this, I have decided not to review the book online, as I don't agree with posting negative reviews (too much hard work goes into publishing a book for that!).

Thank you for giving me the opportunity of reading it.

This is a beautiful book whose concept will stay with me a long time - one by one, peoples' shadows disappear and over the course of a few days or weeks, they lose all their memories.

It defies genre to be honest, but it contains a blend of sci-fi and fantasy, where magic and science meet.
The chapters alternate through the perspectives of four different characters. Each one heart wrenching in its own right as they try to survive and make sense of everything going on around them. Each character spends a lot of time considering the nature of memories and how to make sure they remember the important things. They're all well written and complex characters, their relationships with one another change over time and it's a compelling read.

There's a beautiful and poetic feel to this book, and should be experienced by everyone. It's certainly not without action, because there's the inevitable conflict that rises when something as terrifying and confusing memory loss can strike at any time and only affects some of the population.

There's a wonderful blend of characters from different nationalities in this book, all of whom fit in seamlessly - which adds to the scope of the novel knowing that the entire world has been afflicted with the Forgetting.

This is a book that needs to be bought in hardback so you can remember the story every time you see it on your shelf.

It’s hard to bring something new to the post-apocalyptic fiction genre, whether books or films - Station Eleven, World War Z, 28 Days Later - but this book manages. For a start the characters are hugely diverse without it being commented on which is refreshing, the writing is detailed but pacey, and the idea that shadows hold memories is unique. I couldn’t get enough of this book, and was glad it was so long just so it wasn’t over too quickly!

For the first 40% of this book I was under its' spell! I was even getting ready to give it 5 stars! It was that engrossing, original and thought provoking! But then I found it started getting a little messy and my mind started to wander as I struggled to grasp what was going on! It did redeem itself again by the end as I found the conclusion quite satisfying and enjoyable - I just wish it could have all given me that feeling!

The concept of the story is stunningly simple and terrifying! People start to lose their shadows, and with it their memories go too as in this world it is your shadows that hold all your memories! Imagine not knowing how to open a door, remember loved ones.... and it starts spreading across the globe. There seems no rhyme or reason as to who or when it strikes so everybody is living in fear that it will happen to them and their nearest and dearest. In the book you follow a number of characters who have all been touched in some way by this horrifying development and I loved the early threads of how people were trying to survive. Max and Ory were two of the main characters who we followed as they scavenged to survive, living off one small meal a day and trying to work out a plan of action as to where to move on to next as each city began to become no go areas. Max had just lost her shadow so it was touching to see them deal with that and struggling to think past each day as to when her memories would completely go.

We also follow the story of Naz, a budding archer hoping for Olympic glory, and she becomes obsessed with TV coverage of Hemu, the first person to lose his shadow, and his story has the world transfixed. Naz is reunited with her sister as they try and find safe passage across the country and their quest isn't made any easier by never knowing who to trust as they travel as the world becomes very selfish and wary of everyone else. Neither the shadowed or shadowless could be trusted!

Overall I did enjoy this book, despite its' overcomplicated chapters and storylines. I would have just preferred it concentrating on the impact on humanity and the battle for survival without the added weirdness and confusing subplots!

Wow. I have to process this book first before writing a comprehensive review. This book was so good and I might need to reread it soon.

Inmitten einer verheerenden Epidemie, dem Großen Vergessen, leben Ory und Max seit zwei Jahren in einem abgeschiedenen Hotel. Sie verstecken sich dort und schaffen gerade so das Überleben. Es beginnt damit, dass die Menschen ihre Schatten und dann nach und nach ihre Erinnerungen verlieren. Aber es geht nicht darum, dass man nur seinen Einkaufszettel oder die Schlüssel nicht mehr finden kann, sondern schnell werden daraus existenzielle Probleme. Die Menschen verlassen das Haus und finden den Rückweg nicht mehr, sie vergessen das Essen oder Trinken, erkennen sich nicht mehr, verlieren die Sprache, vergessen das Atmen.

Je mehr Menschen betroffen sind, desto zerstörerischer wird das „Großen Vergessen“. Ory und Max sind schon fast alleine, leben in einem verlassenen Umfeld, müssen für Nahrung verlassene Geschäfte und leerstehende Häuser plündern. Doch dann verliert auch Max ihren Schatten. Verzweifelt versuchen sie dem fortschreitenden Prozess ein Schnippchen zu schlagen, doch Ory muss dringend ausziehen, um neue Lebensmittel zu besorgen.

Überraschenderweise trifft er auf eine Gruppe von Menschen in Arlington. Sie berichten, dass es viele Gerüchte gibt, dass es in New Orleans Hoffnung geben soll. Alle pilgern nun dorthin. Wogegen in Washington DC etwas Schlimmes vor sich gehen soll, das sich ausbreitet. Aber Ory bleibt skeptisch und will lieber bleiben. Auf dem Heimweg wird er niedergeschlagen und völlig ausgeraubt. Mit einer schweren Kopfwunde schafft er es kaum in den Unterschlupf. Dort muss er geschockt erkennen, dass Max verschwunden ist. Ory macht sich verzweifelt auf die Suche nach ihr. Er ist sich sicher, dass sie nach DC, zu ihrem früheren Appartement aufgebrochen ist.

Dann wechselt die Perspektive von Ory zu Naz aus Boston. Sie berichtet von den Anfängen. Zunächst hielt man das erste Verschwinden eines Schattens für ein Wunder, aber nach vier Tagen fiel dann das Vergessen auf. Das erste Opfer wurde orientierungslos und aufgeregt gefunden. Er erkannte schon seine Brüder nicht mehr. Das Vergessen weitete sich dann schnell ohne jedes Muster aus. Unabhängig von Alter, Geschlecht, oder Abstammung. Die Wissenschaftler übernahmen das Thema mit Erklärungsversuchen, Tests und Experimenten. Dann griff es auch auf andere Länder und Kontinente über. Man sperrte Betroffene zunächst in Quarantäne. Aber das half auch nicht. Nur vier Wochen nach dem ersten Fall erreicht es auch Amerika. Ory und Max wurden damit am Ende einer Hochzeitsfeier konfrontiert.

Das Buch springt direkt ins Geschehen, fesselt gleich von Beginn. Die Erzählung wechselt zwischen diesen verschiedenen Sichten und immer wieder Aufnahmestücken von Max, die sie auf einen mitgenommenen Rekorder spricht, den ihr Ory gegen das Vergessen gegeben hat. Ory und Max sind spontan sympathisch. Man spürt sofort die große Liebe, die zwischen den beiden existiert. Gleich zu Anfang hatte ich aber schon Schwierigkeiten zu verstehen, wie das Ganze auf magische Weise auch die Realität verändert.

Mit ihren Sprüngen und Perspektivenwechseln ist es keine geradlinige Erzählung, aber die Autorin baut sie so geschickt auf, dass die Geschichte schnell dahin fließt, mitreißt. Man will unbedingt wissen, wie es weitergeht und wie das alles passieren konnte. Man klebt an den Seiten, inhaliert die Worte.

In der Mitte entwickelt die Geschichte jedoch Längen. Immer mehr Kämpfe, immer mehr Vergessen, immer mehr scheinbar magische Entwicklungen. Eine dystopische, trübe, verzweifelte Welt. Das Ende kann dann schließlich überraschen. Mich hat das Buch nachdenklich zurückgelassen. Irgendwie eine Mischung aus Zombie Apokalypse und dem Buch „Der Anschlag“ von Stephen King. Definitiv außergewöhnlich.

4 von 5 Punkten.

I really enjoyed this book.

The overall plot is original, clever and just complex enough.

The characters are wonderful and beautifully written.

The pacing is mostly spot on, but i found it got a bit gooey in the middle.

Some of the reveals I thought were too obviously foreshadowed (like the identity of the Red King) but the ending was perfect (I didn't even come close to guessing that)

This will be high on my recommend list for a long time to come and I'm looking forward to reading future work by the author.

ARC via netgalley.

2.5 Stars

This is a tough one for me because I really wanted to love this book but I didn't. Most of it I didn't even much like let alone love.

I almost put this book down several times and really struggled to just keep pushing through. That's not a sign of a book that I am enjoying.

The premise of the story is great. A world epidemic of people losing their shadows and then their memories, a story of survivors and the slow decline of victims. Epic cross-country travels to come together under a leader. Think The Stand by Stephen King. But then there's the random illogical magic.
Okay so I can completely get behind the idea of trading memories for magic - magic always comes with a price after all. The major problem I had with this book is that there was no logic or rules to this. People misremembering things changed that thing for the whole world. But only sometimes. Sometimes they can control this, sometimes not. I have no idea what would happen if two people misremembered the same thing? What it would become? Because that's a highly likely scenario that is never explored or explained.
For me magic and supernatural elements need at least some form of explanation, even a pseudoscientific one. They need rules and reasons. This just felt like any old idea that came into the authors head got thrown into the book. The elements of shadows + memories + magic could have been integrated SO much better.

As for the characters, they were okay. I didn't really connect much with many of them, even though it is a pretty long book I struggled to care that much. I enjoyed the PoV chapters of The One Who Gathers, Naz's earlier ones and Max's later ones. I cared very little for Ory.

This is a book that could have been quite a bit shorter without losing much. It also had a lot of promise that wasn't entirely realised.

There is a bit of a heart wrenching twist at the end which I did think was brilliant though.

There are a lot of high ratings and reviews for this book so I don't doubt that many people will absolutely love it. Sadly for me, something just didn't quite click enough for me to enjoy it.

Thank you very much to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review

In The Book of M, One afternoon at an outdoor market in India, a man’s shadow disappears—an occurrence science cannot explain. He is only the first. The phenomenon spreads like a plague, and while those afflicted gain a strange new power, it comes at a horrible price: the loss of all their memories.

Ory and his wife Max have escaped the Forgetting so far by hiding in an abandoned hotel deep in the woods. Their new life feels almost normal, until one day Max’s shadow disappears too.

Knowing that the more she forgets, the more dangerous she will become to Ory, Max runs away. But Ory refuses to give up the time they have left together. Desperate to find Max before her memory disappears completely, he follows her trail across a perilous, unrecognizable world, braving the threat of roaming bandits, the call to a new war being waged on the ruins of the capital, and the rise of a sinister cult that worships the shadowless.

As they journey, each searches for answers: for Ory, about love, about survival, about hope; and for Max, about a new force growing in the south that may hold the cure. (Via Goodreads)

I RECEIVED AN EARC OF THE BOOK OF M FROM NETGALLEY, COURTESY OF WILLIAM MORROW, IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
The Book of M Threw me for so many loops that I'm pretty sure I need to read it again. This near future post-apocalyptic novel was absolutely stunning, and here's all the reasons why.

I was hooked from the first page. Shepherd uses a couple of different mediums inThe Book of M which really made the book pop. The inclusion of the tape recorder was really unusual, but it really worked for Max's perspective as she continued to forget things throughout the book.

The plot twist in this really messed me up. I listened to it and got to the big twist at the end RIGHT as I got to hang out with some friends. It was traumatizing in a way.

The keeping of memories tied in with shadows was honestly awesome. I loved the way that Shepherd tied these two concepts together for The Book of M. It made it the perfect realistic science fantasy novel for me. It also has an awesomely diverse cast from top to bottom.

The only thing that bothered me was the ending and the way that romance was treated. I won't go into more detail because of spoilers, but it bugged me. Feel free to DM me on twitter or email me with discussion points cause I would love to talk about it!

If I haven't convinced you to read this yet, then I'm disappointed in myself. I adored this book. I hope you'll read it and come talk to me. You can pick up a copy on Amazon or Indiebound. It's also available on Hoopla, if you have access through your library!



DISCLAIMER: ALL LINKS TO INDIEBOUND AND AMAZON ARE AFFILIATE LINKS. IF YOU BUY THROUGH THOSE LINKS, I WILL MAKE A SMALL AMOUNT OF MONEY OFF OF THE SALE.

Thank you to Netgalley, Peng Shepherd & Harper Collins for my ARC of The Book of M.
This is a really hard book for me to review because there were parts I really liked and parts I found quite disappointing. So I'll do my best!

The Book of M sees a post apocalyptic world where people's shadows have disappeared, a bit Peter Pan you may think, but trust me, it's a lot darker than that.
Along with their shadows, the shadowless also lose their memories but I'm not just talking about memories they've made in their life but also memories of what things should look like or how they operate. Cue deers with wings instead of antlers, cutlery changing colours, jewellery disappearing and houses jumping around, stairs disappearing and guns creating thunderstorms. In terms of ideas and creativity I cannot applaud this author enough.

The story focuses on 3 PoVs, to begin with it is the POV of Ory Zhang who has been hiding out in a cabin with his wife until her shadow disappears and everything starts to change. Later on we also get the POV of Nhaz a young woman who was training for the olympics, also the POV of Max wife of Ory and then of the mysterious amnesiac.

Overall the story had a great concept, it was interesting, engaging and mysterious which kept me reading. It's not like anything else I've ever read and that's always a good thing! But I found the ending quite flat and anti climatic which was the only thing that really disappointed me and made me dislike it. I'm not sure if it has been left like that for a sequel in which case perhaps it will work, who knows. I guess we'll have to wait and see!

Gripping, intriguing, fantastic! Three words to describe this book. This book was seriously amazing! I loved how it was very intriguing from the very beginning and draws you into the unknown and unfathomable, into a world where nothing is at it seems and the in-seemingly possible is possible. It was beautifully written and I loved Shepherd's style of writing. The pages turned themselves and I found myself not wanting to put it down as I wanted to know what would happen next. Full of mystery and surprises, you can't help but feel a whole bunch of emotions for all the characters in the book. And can I mention that cover! Oh my gosh the cover to this book is simply amazing!! I love it.

This book takes place in a futuristic world and mostly follows the two main characters, married couple Ory and his wife Max. One day on the news it is reported that a man in India has lost his shadow. No one knows why or how it happened, or what it means, but it is a strange phenomenon that mystifies everyone. Slowly the news spreads around the world, leaving most people scared and confused. Until the phenomenon spreads and countries begin shutting down their borders, leaving inhabitants quarantined. No one is allowed to enter or leave the country. The people who have lost their shadows have strange things happen to them that cannot be explained. They seems to gain powers, but it comes at an unthinkable cost. Their memories start to fade. Some people touched by this plague and lose their shadow lose their memories quite quickly, while others seem to lose their memories more slowly, and are desperate to hold onto their memories. If you realized one day that your shadow had suddenly disappeared, what would you do? What would you be willing to give up to remember and hold onto your precious memories?

The world as they know it is no more. Chaos erupts and people are scared and more and more lose their shadows and their memories. No one knows how to help. No one knows how to stop others from losing their memories or their shadows and people are frightened. Buildings are destroyed, homes are wiped out, electricity is wiped out and food is becoming scarce. People are robbing and killing others for food and shelter. The whole world is chaotic.

Ory and Max both have their shadows. Then one day Max loses her shadow. They both know that once her memories start to fade away she will become more and more dangerous; But so far she has all of her memories. How long will she have until her memories begin to fade? One day while Ory is out gathering supplies, Max runs away to try to save Ory from herself and sparing him from having to watch her deteriorate like this. When Ory returns home he is devastated to learn that Max has run away. How could she do this to him. They promised one another to not abandon the other.

You will experience many emotions reading this book. I know I certainly did. I had hopes that Ory would be able to find Max one day and they would both be ok. The story continues from both Ory and Max's points of view. Max as she has run away and her journey to where she is running, and Ory on his path to try to find Max, the love of his life. 

Will Max manage to get where she is going with her memories intact? Will Ory be able to find Max before she forget him and it is too late?

This book was incredible! Thank you so much to NetGalley and Harper Collins for providing me with an eARC copy of this book.

Thank you for Netgalley and the publisher for providing me a copy. Here is my honest review.

The Book of M is situated in a post-apocalyptic world where people have started losing their shadows and with their shadows - all of their memories. The epidemic started when a person loses his shadow during a world-wide televised live show. The individuals without a shadow lose their memories quickly; within a few days they start to forget the names of their acquaintances, in a week many forget where they are and who they are called and soon after the shadowless will forget to eat, how to exit buildings, and that people cannot fly. While their memories abandon them, the shawdowless often become scared, frantic and violent. When people start losing their shadows all over the world, every place on Earth descends into chaos.

Ory and Max are hiding in an abandoned hotel but lack of food forces them to embark into the close-by town for scavenger hunts. They are doing alright until one day Max loses her shadow, and then disappears while Ory is out looking for something to eat.

We also follow Naz, who is a young archer from Iran preparing for the Olympics in the US when the shadowlessness shakes the world. She hides out in an abandoned building, but once she realises her sister is out looking for her, she has to go out to make sure she is safe.

The premise of the Book of M is absolutely fascinating. I was excited to start reading and I was expecting a fast-paced and heart-wrenching story. That is not quite what I got from the Book of M.

The story is mainly character-focused and told in a range of introspective dialogues. Overall the plot drags very slowly onwards. I'm fine with slow character-driven novels, but only as long as I enjoy reading about the said characters. The Book of M focuses mostly on Ory, who I passionately disliked. I cringed at his and Max's relationship which was idolised in the book. Ory tends to dominate over Max and seems pretty dismissive of her thoughts. When Ory and Max are separated, the reader is supposed to root for them to get back together. Instead, I found myself hoping that Max makes it far away from him.

The Book of M also offers very little information on the characters motivations for doing the things they do. Many were doing things that - at least to myself - did not make the faintest little bit of sense. For example, in a war-zone those with a shadow have decided to collect thousands of books for no rational reason other than out of sympathy for their passionate leader who is in search of a specific book due to emotional reasons. Like how did the leader convince all these people to look for books when you're barely staying alive? I kind of understand that as a bookaholic, but rationally thinking kind of not.

Sci-fi to me as a genre means that stuff is usually explained in more detail than in fantasy. Despite the Book of M being sci-fi, pretty much nothing was explained. I was keen on continuing to read because I needed to know what was behind the shadowlessness and why it was related to memories. I also wondered why there was such little consistency over what the individuals forgot. Unfortunately I was left disappointed. After finishing the book I am none the wiser. The Book of M includes book-hoarding, roadtrips and elephants, and most of the time I wanted to scream WHY while reading it. There were multiple hints throughout the story but I guess I would have to read the entire thing again to make any sense of it. Why the elephants though? If any of you have read the Book of M and you know, please tell me too. It might be that I'm simply not observant enough to enjoy this book.

I have said a lot of negative things above, but afterall - I was never about to DNF the Book of M. That's because the premise really is fascinating! And I did enjoy some of the characters, especially Ursula. I am not a huge fan of the dystopian and apocalyptic genre even though I do love sci-fi. That taken into account, I'm sure you would enjoy this much more than I did if you loved Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel or if you are a fan of the post-apocalyptic genre in general. I would recommend reading this book with a watchful eye, if I had known that the Book of M will include a multitude of unsolved mysteries I might have read it more carefully.

Posted on Zerofiltersaurus.wordpress.com on 29th June-

The plot (in a spoiler free nutshell): People start losing their shadows all around the world, and quickly their memories and all inclinations of how to be human, in an event known as The Forgetting. Ory is living in an abandoned hotel with his wife Max, who has just lost her shadow, and begins using a tape recorder to try and hold on to her memories. Ory returns one day to find Max has gone, and he sets out to find her. A bunch of other people feature prominently in the story, but to be honest I’m not sure why. Part adventure, part love story, part sci fi fantasy, complete rollercoaster.

The author: Peng Shepherd, who I’m going to guess doesn’t plot her novels.

You should read it if...you are intrigued about a book that can’t decide whether it wants to be an elegant, original apocalyptic novel or a YA-ish story about people bashing each other for no apparent good reason except that it’s something to do.

You shouldn’t read it if...you don’t like it when a story takes a baffling turn. Over and over again.

The things I liked about it...it has words. That twist at the end, that is more satisfying than squeezing a week old spot with a giant whitehead. The concept is fresh and exciting, with Max’s chapters being outstanding (shame it has so much padding between her chapters)

The things I didn’t like...it seriously drags at times. The ridiculous middle bit where they are suddenly playing soldiers, calling each other ‘General’ and waging war with ‘The Red King’, when I wondered if the characters were actually 7 years old all along.

Worst sentence in novel: ‘He wanted to turn around and just hold her...’ Ffs, people like to hold each other a lot less in real life than in books. Why? Because it sounds bloody irritating.

Rating 3.25/5

Final thoughts: An interesting premise for a dystopian novel that is as haunting as a pick n' mix counter

The Book Of M was published on 28th June 2018 by HarperVoyager. Thank you to Peng Shepherd, HarperVoyager and NetGalley for the ARC.

The Book of M

Peng Shepherd

4/5

Near future chiller - thriller with plenty of twists and turns

In the near future, at a market in India, a man’s shadow disappears. He’s not alone with this phenomenon, as others around the world lose their shadows as well. Science has no answers. Strange powers come with the affliction, with a terrible price. Ory and Max have managed to survive in a rundown old hotel, away from the others, hiding their days away.
Then Max loses her shadow.
Knowing she is dangerous, she leaves Ory. But her husband is unwilling to give up on her, and chases after her, hoping to catch her before her memory of him fades away forever.

Well, this cheery little number kept me occupied for some time and happily, too. It is a big book and feels like a big book but in a good way. It has an epic like feel to it along the lines of The Stand,The Road and Station 11

Although the story spans multiple countries and time lines the world the
author has built does seem small. This doesn’t detract from the impressive world building which is rich and unsettling although, at times, a little confusing. We have a dystopian end of days scenario, with elements of magical realism and a thriller thrown in. They all combine well to make this a real page turner.

The story works well told from a four character perspective which helps to keep the pace zipping along, mostly. The first third of the book sets the scene for what is to follow nicely but the pace of the book in the middle third slowed and became a little heavy. It was a little bit repetitive and matters didn’t need re-emphasis or exploration. The final third when the story hits the road and nears resolution whizzes along, finishing strongly. Without any spoilers, an ending that made me gasp.

The cast of characters in this novel
Is massively diverse and handled with care. It concentrates on the four main characters where we see each one affected by the shadowless curse in different ways.
Ory just wants to keep his wife Max safe; Max is the one who loses her shadow and begins developing strange magic powers; Naz finds herself leading a war to save what she thinks is the key to a possible cure; and last is someone called “the amnesiac”, who also has no memories, but for a very different reason than the rest of the shadowless, and who might understand them better than anyone.

The development of the lead characters is excellent.
The relationship between Ory and Max really drives this novel. Max is by far the most interesting character showcased by her strong, fierce determination and her journey is the most compelling. Their love for each other is beautifully showcased by the lengths they are driven to, to ensure they come together. The mysterious character of ‘the amnesiac’ could have been explored in a little more depth and thought he was al little wasted. Although there are decent ‘baddies’ i would have liked a single ‘big bad to keep the threat level up.

I really enjoyed this book, a massively impressive debut novel full of twists and turns and some really gasp out loud moments that I very rarely get.

The Book of Magnificence

Startlingly original - The Book Of M really is something special. Awe-inspiring in its scope it literally transported me into another world, a world so richly and imaginatively created that it is hard to believe that this is a debut. This world is our world yet altered beyond all comprehension, a world where humanity is divided into those who have shadows and those that don’t - The Shadowed and The Shadowless. It’s a world where your life can be irrevocably changed in an instant as when your shadow disappears it steals your memories along with it.

The prose is stunning - the narratives melding together seamlessly to tell a story that is overflowing with desolation, love, hope and magic. The parallels with Station Eleven and The Passage are wholly deserved - this book is equally as impressive.

The Book Of M will leave you spellbound as you ask yourself - What would you give up to remember?

This is a puzzle of a book for me. A slow burn, with ideas that linger in the brain long after reading. Beautiful pieces of prose, infused with emotional depth. But it almost feels unfinished, perhaps needing a sequel, or prequel.

Yet this is somehow part of its charm.

It tells the story of a world that has descended into chaos after people start losing their shadows, and along with them, their memories and sense of self.

Through the eyes of Ory, Naz, Max, and The One Who Gathers, we’re thrown into this disordered world, trying to make sense of it, trying to find some sort of light in the darkness.

It raises lots of questions about what makes us who we are, what memories are, the importance of memories, and can we lead meaningful lives without the memories of the person we once were.

Shepherd truly knows how to build a world and create characters that leap off the page and into your heart. Max, dealing with the loss of her shadow and what it means to her and Ory. Ory himself, whose determination may yet save everyone. Naz, who has lost everyone she loves, but still has hope. And The One Who Gathers, the mysterious amnesiac, who calls both shadowed and shadowless to create his new world.

The one issue I have with the book is the lack of explanation of the shadowless phenomenon, which leads to what feels like a slightly rushed ending (although I love the book idea) that left me a feeling a teensy bit unsatisfied.

While I don’t like everything to be spelled out, it almost feels like the author had no explanation for the origin of the shadowless, but this might just be me projecting.

Is the origin of the shadowless and the magic they have even important? Can’t they just be? Just do?

I’m left with a niggling feeling that something is missing. Perhaps that is the point. It makes me feel like there’s something I should know, almost like I’ve forgotten.

While I’d like an explanatory sequel/prequel, it’s unnecessary.

It was a great read, thrilling and heartbreaking in turns.

Looking forward to reading more from Peng Shepherd.

(4 stars)

This was a great post-apocalyptic debut book with an fantastic premise and is written very well! I have to admit that it took me a little while to get into it due to its slow pacing and I felt quite detached from the characters and story. This book is heavy in details which can either be a good thing or a bad thing. For me it was a little too heavy. It dragged in quite a few places, especially in the first half when we were learning about the world. The slow pacing is the main issue I had with it. The characters are well written and their development through the book was great. I love the concept of this book. Overall I thought this was a fantastic debut and I would recommend checking it out.

Across the world people start losing their shadows, and with that their memories. 'The Forgetting' causes chaos as governments fall and societies descend into anarchy. The shadowless seem to experience a strange pull which causes them to forget faster but in exchange for some magical power.

This post apocalyptic tale is in a similar vein to some of my favourite books over the last few years - 'Station 11', 'The Girl with all the Gifts' and 'The End of the World Running Club'. That does make me sound like a lover of science fiction which I am not, but I do love a tale which explores new possibilities and challenges me to think in a different way, as well as being set in what could realistically be next week, I suppose a bit like 'The Handmaid's Tale'. There is a human interest with the main characters all coming together for an ending which was not quite as I expected.

A great read!