This book had a lot of promise and the description had me very intrigued. It started out great but a third of the way in it started slowing down and feeling a bit choppy. I wanted to love this book but I had a hard time staying interested. I think it’s definitely worth the read it just wasn’t for me.

I really enjoyed this book. I flew through it in one day! It’s face paced, the premise is fantastically intriguing, and the characters are exciting. We only know them for a short time but I felt like they were well developed. ⁣⁣
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I was pulled to this book because of the premise. A world where memories are currency? What a fabulous idea! An epic journey to save her mother? Count me in! ⁣⁣
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Though I liked that it was fast-paced, I also felt it was a bit detrimental at times. The whole story takes place in about a week and several of the points in the timeline felt a bit murky and confusing. I also felt like, due to the short timeline, emotions seemed a bit rushed as well. I won’t go into detail because it would be a major spoiler, but one very big moment was kind of ruined for me because Etta was just like “okay, I accept this as truth” even though her whole life she believed something different. ⁣⁣
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All in all, I would definitely recommend this read. It’s quick, it’s fun, and it’s light.

This book was received as an ARC from Blink in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I did not know what to expect when I started reading this book, but I must say I was surprised and blown away in the best way possible. The story with Etta and her mother being in the insane asylum was a plot twist that was unexpected with these types of fantasy novels. This book reminded me a lot of the Red Queen series and the morbid twisted take on a fantasy adventure. I know a lot of our young adult readers will be very fascinated with this book because it was different from beginning to end and with all the twists and turns loaded throughout this book, they will not want to stop reading.

We will consider adding this title to our YFantasy collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

A very powerful page-turner that I couldn't put down. I fell for the characters and could relate to them. I highly recommend this to everyone and this book definitely deserves some hype.

There's a great concept and a lot of potential here, but I found the execution choppy and drawn-out in all the wrong places and too abrupt in others. I struggled with it honest from the beginning, this one just wasn't for me...

The Memory Thief had a ridiculously strong start. I was immediately pulled in by the world and the roles magic plays. We have a female MC who is hiding as an Ungifted, a tyrannical ruler who wants to gain more power, and a secret society of rebels who plan to overthrow this ruler. I mean, I'm such a sucker for these kinds of books. And the way memories and gifts intertwine in the magic the Gifted hold? Sign me tf up.

So why did I give this 3 stars?

Even though it had a strong start that had me invested from the first few pages, I found myself not liking the book more and more as I kept reading. The beginning is basically everything I wanted it to be. It had great character introductions, interesting rule-making, a magic system that was unique, and a very cohesive plot that had a clear end-goal. The middle is definitely what made this book suffer. We added in a ton of more characters who play significant roles in the story, yet we either know too much or too little about them. Sometimes characters descriptions would be repeated over and over where you're like "OK WE GET IT", and other times you question why a character does a certain thing. There's never really a balance. We also added in a romance that i never truly bought, and by the end I was left extremely unsatisfied with its overall development.

I didn't get invested again until the climax of the book. I was all-in once again when I reached the 75% mark. Then....things took a turn for the worse again. At around 90% it just...collapses on itself and makes a very abrupt ending we never see. We have to have it explained to us. It also has this sort of recap feel to it when you watch a TV sitcom episode, where everyone gathers around and takes turns to talk. It just didn't sit with me and just left me overall annoyed. We didn't get to see any of these great things, and the explanations just felt very rushed.

Overall, this book has a strong start, a weak middle, and a very so-so end. I'd probably proceed with caution and highly recommend picking this up at your local library.

ARC provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Book: The Memory Thief
Author: Lauren Mansy
Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars


I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher, Blink, for providing me with an ARC.

So, both the book and the author are very new to me. I thought the summary sounded very cool and that’s what lead me to give this title a try. I was amazed at how just complex the world and the characters were. The book itself is a mixture of science fiction and fantasy-though I would call it more of a fantasy than anything. The book its isn’t very long, but I loved just how much Lauren managed to weave into it.

The concept of the book itself is very interesting. The characters live in this world where people are either Gifted or Ungifted. The Gifted have powers that allow them to take memories and the Ungifted don’t. This leads to one of my favourite things in fantasy and science fiction: the divide between classes and the power struggle that follows. I love seeing characters stand up against injustice and how they truly do want to change the world they live in. I love seeing this play out and The Memory Thief did not let me down. Plus, it always helps when the main character isn’t doing it to better themselves, but for the sake of someone they care about.

The first half of the book has such a punch that I flew right through it. Like others have pointed out, I did feel that the second half kind of lost this punch. I don’t know what it was, but it just didn’t seem as strong to me. It was almost as if the editors made Lauren cut some stuff out that really shouldn’t have been. There were a lot of twists and turns as well as flashbacks. I know a lot of people don’t like the flashbacks, but I enjoyed them. I always like it whenever we get something that adds an overall touch and charm to the story. However, I would have liked more of an explanation as to what the significance of them were.

The characters were also well written. I personally would have liked to have seem Madame a bit more developed. I always do enjoy me a well-developed and complex villain. The other characters were fine. As you kept on reading, though, you could tell just how complex they actually were. Again, this is where the flashbacks helped. The backstories that came from the flashbacks allowed us to see just truly how complex everything was.

Overall, not a bad book. I’m giving it a four star because, like I said, I did feel like the second half was rather on the weaker side.

The Memory Thief comes out October 1, 2019.

Youtube Book Preview: https://youtu.be/7e1Sbs6AzM0

I love the concept of this book. Using memories to trade, to celebrate, or even to punish, is so intriguing to me. The main character Etta Lark is strong, smart, and self sufficient. She takes no nonsense from anyone, all the while living in a dangerous world under a terrible ruler. That being said, I had a few issues with the pacing. I felt like the “plot twists” were thrust upon the reader, but were not flushed out enough. The characters didn’t have enough time to develop their relationships and get them to where they ended up being. For example, I felt the relationship between Etta and Reid was just going through the motions -- there was the instant attraction, the “coupling”, the fight, etc, with no true evolution. I did love the relationship between Etta and Ryder, and I wish she had been in the book more.

I was given an advanced reader's copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I just reviewed The Memory Thief by Lauren Mansy. #TheMemoryThief #NetGalley
I absolutely loved this book. The characters are so great. I totally had a dream about something so similar to this plot a couple years ago. It was great seeing it as a book.

First, I was "okay, this is a cool concept", and slowly I became very invested. I love a story that keeps me on my toes and The Memory Thief didn't disappoint. I never saw a twist coming.

While the pacing was a bit uneven and the relationship needed more flushing out for me, the storytelling made up for it.

I received this copy of The Memory Thief from Blink through Netgalley.

This book has a fascinating premise and a likable, determined lead.

My main issue is that there are a raft of very fortunate coincidences that seemed to happen because the book needed an ending.

The Memory Thief is a dark and riveting young adult fantasy filled with plenty of twists and turns throughout the pages.

In The Memory Thief, society is driven by the trade and distribution of memories. The reader follows our protagonist, Julietta, as she navigates the upper echelons of kingdom politics on the verge of impending war, while trying to save her mother from an upcoming 'auction' - in which a person's memories are auctioned off to the highest bidder, killing them in the process.

The Memory Thief has no shortage of surprises in store along the way. This is mostly owing to the fact that memories can be taken from ones mind or tampered with by the 'Gifted' (those with the ability to read and steal memories) which leads to many characters having incomplete or missing recollections of important events. Even without adding in the extra element of unreliable narration, the author manages to create a tight knot of connecting threads between many the of the main characters that we meet in the story, with varying levels of success.

While I found The Memory Thief to be a fast-paced, gripping read, I'm not sure that all of the character motivation was truly believable. Some characters did entire turnarounds in their thinking and actions so quickly that you may get whiplash from the sequence of events. Unfortunately, many of these changes aren't sufficiently explained other than a flash of a memory in a short paragraph that entire character arcs and relationships hinge on. In light of these shaky character moments, I don't feel as though I ever got a great grip on several of the main characters because I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and more information to be revealed about them (which never really came). Some of the 'big' relationship reveals seemed forced and after several big reveals the shock factor kind of wore off and became a little much. Also, explanations for the entire magic system and the 'variants' of the basic Gifts could have been more clearly portrayed to the reader for less confusion during some of the biggest climaxes of the story.

Overall, The Memory Thief is a fast paced read and a few well crafted reveals that will be sure to satisfy lovers of young adult fantasy with dark elements.

I just can't get myself to relate to Etta at all. Her choices and personality bother me and I find her to be very immature, I can't get through a whole book from her perspective.

The story starts out with lots of information about the world it takes place in, which I typically would enjoy but I found it very hard to follow. The idea of this world is amazing, but I think it could be executed through a more robust character personality.

The Memory Thief promises a fantastical, unique premise, however, the lack of world-building and the choppy beginning provided a rough start. Despite this, the story follows a dark plot with interesting themes. The characters were flat at times, but these flaws can be fixed. The Memory Thief has great potential and I look forward to seeing it on the shelves.

Well-written YA dark fantasy. Very dark.

Trigger warning: Parental loss, especially for those mourning their mothers.

The Memory Thief’s premise is original and incredible but however hard I tried to get into the story it didn’t work out for me. It seems to be going in too many directions with too many characters and too many concepts to digest in too short a time. I’m sorry to admit I gave up trying after 60%. But I’m even more sorry because I wanted to read what the premise promised…

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review. I loved this book! It kept me fully engaged the whole way through. Cant wait to see what the next one brings

This book had such a different plot and i was excited to get to read it. It was really good and was not slow and boring at all! I really enjoyed it.

I found this book to breathtaking! The author created such a unique and exciting world! I loved following Etta’s journey! I would definitely recommend this book.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

I really liked this book and couldn't put it down! The story flowed well and was never boring.
It kept me guessing and I loved the characters.

5/5 stars!