Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: March 3rd, 2015
Source: Edelweiss
Date Read: DNF
368 pages
Rating: --
In a five-minutes-into-the-future world, a bereaved daughter must choose between losing memories of her mother to the haze of time and the reality-distorting, visceral pain of complete, perfect recall.
Lora Mint is determined not to forget.
Though her mother’s been dead for five years, Lora struggles to remember every detail about her—most importantly, the specific events that occurred the night she sped off in her car, never to return.
But in a world ravaged by Vergets disease, a viral form of Alzheimer’s, that isn’t easy. Usually Lora is aided by her memory key, a standard-issue chip embedded in her brain that preserves memories just the way a human brain would. Then a minor accident damages Lora’s key, and her memories go haywire. Suddenly Lora remembers a moment from the night of her mother’s disappearance that indicates her death was no accident. Can she trust these formerly forgotten memories? Or is her ability to remember every painful part of her past driving her slowly mad—burying the truth forever?
Lora’s longing for her lost mother and journey to patch up her broken memories is filled with authentic and poignant emotion. Her race to uncover the truth is a twisty ride. In the end, Liana Liu’s story will spark topical conversations about memory and privacy in a world that is reliant on increasingly invasive forms of technology
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DNFed at 30%
I wasn't going to review this at first, but then I thought, eh why not, I have another book to review so I might as well lump both of them together. This is also my third DNF since the start of my Goodreads account.
I requested this book because it had to do with memory. And Alzheimer's, but a viral disease. And I thought I would really like it, but no. I think the first warning sign was the typical community/futuristic setting. I'm sick and tired of that setting because there's never any world-building. And you have to assume everything.
Second, the writing style is tell not show, and imitates diary form. It's basically "This is what I did today and this is what I found out". Boring.
Lastly, the mystery itself isn't intriguing. Main character Lora wants to find out what REALLY happened to her mother, especially since her memory key keeps bringing up memories of her. (Also what kind of name is Lora Mint hahaha). And I just wasn't invested in the story, the characters, and what's-his-name romantic interest, so a DNF it was.
At The Water's Edge by Sara Gruen
Release Date: March 31st, 2015
Source: Netgalley
Date Read: DNF
368 pages
Rating: --
In this new novel from the author of Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen again demonstrates her talent for creating spellbinding period pieces. At the Water’s Edge is a gripping and poignant love story about a privileged young woman’s personal awakening as she experiences the devastations of World War II in a Scottish Highlands village.
Madeline Hyde, a young socialite from Philadelphia, reluctantly follows her husband and their best friend to the tiny village of Drumnadrochit in search of a mythical monster—at the same time that a very real monster, Hitler, wages war against the Allied Forces. What Maddie discovers—about the larger world and about herself—through the unlikely friendships she develops with the villagers, opens her eyes not only to the dark forces that exist around her but to the beauty and surprising possibilities.
There must be a coincidence because this is also 368 pages hahaha.
DNFed at 25%.
The only reason I picked this up is because 1) It's Sara Gruen and I read her other book Water for Elephants, and I liked it. So I thought, hey this could be good! And 2) It takes place during WWII and you know how much of a sucker I am about those books.
And not only that, this is about the Loch Ness Monster. That is just cool on its own, and when I found that out in the book, I was more excited.
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| It could also be A SWIMMING ELEPHANT |
Unfortunately, I was bored. BORED.
Everything proceeded at a very slow pace, and I wasn't interested in the topic of parties, social events, and especially the little village they stayed in Scotland. I wanted more exciting events like finding Nessie, or at least trying to. I mean maybe it happened in the last 3/4's of the book, but I have a feeling that it doesn't because we're in the POV of Madeline. And she doesn't do anything.
To be honest, I might pick this up again later in the year. It's just that right now I don't want to deal with it. I care about nothing.
