The Memory Thief by Lauren Mansy - Restarting February 11th 2021

[Anna 'Bookbuyer']

In the city of Craewick, memories reign. The power-obsessed ruler of the city, Madame, has cultivated a society in which memories are currency, citizens are divided by ability, and Gifted individuals can take memories from others through touch as they please.

Seventeen-year-old Etta Lark is desperate to live outside of the corrupt culture, but grapples with the guilt of an accident that has left her mother bedridden in the city’s asylum. When Madame threatens to put her mother up for auction, a Craewick practice in which a “criminal's" memories are sold to the highest bidder before being killed, Etta will do whatever it takes to save her. Even if it means rejoining the Shadows, the rebel group she swore off in the wake of the accident years earlier.

To prove her allegiance to the Shadows and rescue her mother, Etta must steal a memorized map of the Maze, a formidable prison created by the bloodthirsty ruler of a neighboring Realm. So she sets out on a journey in which she faces startling attacks, unexpected romance, and, above all, her own past in order to set things right in her world.

[Melanie]

Started!
2%
(view spoiler)[Oh, I think this will be a crazy read! Stealing memories??? So far it is good. (hide spoiler)]

[Melanie]

13%

(view spoiler)[Awwww! How her mother "said" "I love you" to her! Amazing! (hide spoiler)]

[Melanie]

31%

(view spoiler)[i like how he trusted her enough to let her read his mind to see that he was telling the truth. (hide spoiler)]

[Melanie]

46%

(view spoiler)[whoa!! Greer is her father???? (hide spoiler)]

[Melanie]

Finished!

(view spoiler)[Well that was better than i expected! A little sad that her father ended up dying, but he died heroically. (hide spoiler)]

[Megan]

Melanie wrote: "Started!
2%
[spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[The idea does seem unique. (hide spoiler)]

[Megan]

Melanie wrote: "13%

[spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[So sweet! I'm curious if someone else had a hand in trapping her? (hide spoiler)]

[Megan]

20%
(view spoiler)[I'm thinking that Madame killed her father, because she seems cruel enough. (hide spoiler)]

[Melanie]

Megan wrote: "Melanie wrote: "Started!
2%
[spoilers removed]"

[spoilers removed]"

It was! I'm not a fan of fantasy 100%, but this one was good (i thought)

[Megan]

Melanie wrote: "31%

[spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[I did too. (hide spoiler)]

[Megan]

Melanie wrote: "46%

[spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[I wasn't expecting that! (hide spoiler)]

[Megan]

54%
(view spoiler)[Porter is her grandfather?!? That was surprising! (hide spoiler)]

[Megan]

87%
(view spoiler)[Bray joined! (hide spoiler)]

[Megan]

Melanie wrote: "Finished!

[spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[I hated that her dad died. I really don't understand why he couldn't have used his ability on Madame instead of giving her his gift and dying. It's also not clear to me why his giving his ability to her caused his death...did I miss sonething? I know they said his heart gave out, but why?

I feel like this book would've been better as either a longer book or a series. Several things felt rushed or not given enough detail. (hide spoiler)]

[Melanie]

Megan wrote: "Melanie wrote: "Finished!

[spoilers removed]"

I hated that her dad died. I really don't understand why he couldn't have used his ability on Madame instead of giving her his gift and dying. It's a..."
(view spoiler)[
It did feel a bit rushed to me too. And i also hated that her dad died. (hide spoiler)]

[Jenn]

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Date changed. Restarting February 11th 2021. Happy Reading ☺

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[Trisha (semi-hiatus)]

I'll start this later today!

[Trisha (semi-hiatus)]

20%
(view spoiler)[Currently, I'm just really bored. I read chunks of this, and I still don't get anything in my brain. It really feels like a lot of infodump somehow, and I still don't know what the point of this novel is, i.e, where is the plot???

Even though we got that she has to infiltrate somewhere to do something, I don't know what she has to do, who she's doing it with, how it's going to happen, when it's going to happen, what the point of this is. I'm pretty sure that stuff was mentioned, but I honestly don't remember any of it.

I also feel like the characters are pretty forthcoming somehow? Again, infodump.

The biggest problem I have with this is that I really not being able to focus on this. (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha (semi-hiatus)]

46%
(view spoiler)[I'm really really bored with this, and I'm seriously close to DNFing this right now....Was the fact that she betrayed her father to save her mother supposed to shock me? I'm just indifferent. I didn't see that coming, but nor am I surprised by it. (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha (semi-hiatus)]

67%
(view spoiler)[Ooh, I know what her talent is, she must be able to duplicate every memory she has so it can never be stolen from her ( which is why she gave one to Reid but still had her copy), which makes the title of the book more meaningful or something because she's a thief but no one can steal from her or something. (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha (semi-hiatus)]

88%
(view spoiler)[What is even the point of Greer giving away his own gift instead of Jules'?? Now Madame can just take it herself?? What he sould have done was to attcak her and take her gift when her guard was down. Or maybe all three of them could have attacked Madame at once. Why are they even losing, it's 3 against 1. (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha (semi-hiatus)]

96%
(view spoiler)[I thought I'd written down my suspicion of Madame havng killed her own father because it was obvious, but apparently not. Anyway, I was right. (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha (semi-hiatus)]

100%
(view spoiler)[I decidedly did not enjoy it, and I hope you enjoy it more than me. I was really indifferent towards the entire book, and now that it's over, I can't even remember what most of it was about. (hide spoiler)]