My name is Hope Arden, and you won’t know who I am. We’ve met before – a thousand times. But I am the girl the world forgets. It started when I was sixteen years old. A slow declining, an isolation, one piece at a time. A father forgetting to drive me to school. A mother setting the table for three, not four. A teacher who forgets to chase my missing homework. A friend who looks straight through me and sees a stranger. No matter what I do, the words I say, the people I hurt, the cri
mes I commit – you will never remember who I am. That makes my life tricky. But it also makes me dangerous . . .
And that’s the premise – yes, I know. Absolutely fantastic idea. I thought that I was in for another adventure along the lines of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. The character is telling us the story from the inside out in first person viewpoint, which is always a plus for me and, as ever, North extends the situation so that I had a visceral experience of what it is to be completely forgotten. After a moment. The heartbreak of having your own family no longer recognising you, losing all your friends and unable to progress within school or hold down a job because you don’t have the paperwork is well explored.
There is also an excellent plot around the amazing new app called Perfection, which helps users to maximise their happiness and abilities to succeed in today’s modern world – however, there’s a catch… I was on my way to giving this book a solid 10 out of 10 about three-quarters of the way in. And then somehow I was having difficulty in keeping focused on the writing. Now, it might well be me – but I really don’t think so. I like North’s writing, and I’m used to her pacing, which is definitely on the leisurely side, but somehow I became slightly disconnected with the story and couldn’t quite fully re-bond with it again.
That said, I don’t want you to go away with the idea that this isn’t a good read. After all, I have given it an eight. And if I had the choice to go back and pick this one up again – I would do it in a heartbeat. Recommended for fans of intelligent, nuanced near future adventures peopled with three-dimensional characters.
8/10
Great review. This sounds like such an interesting book!
It is – Claire North has such a rich imagination…
Claire North is so hit or miss for me, it makes me hesitant to read her books. Glad to hear you enjoyed this one
Yes, Himself feels the same way – which is a shame because he loves all the books she wrote as Kate Griffin:)
I’ve only read one Claire North book and I did not enjoy it. (It was actually a DNF) So I probably won’t try this one, although I do hear Touch is really good.
She isn’t for everyone – Himself cannot get on with Claire North books, although he thoroughly enjoyed her Kate Griffin output.
I have this book on my TBR but I’ve put off reading it as I’m unsure if her writing is for me. Your review has convinced me that I should give this one a go. 🙂
Best of luck with it, Hayley and I look forward to hearing how you get on with this one:)
Difficult to keep focus writing are always a no for me , as I tend to easily be distracted anyways . But the concept sounds so appealing . I am so torn on whether or not I should put it on my ‘to be read’ list
I know… it’s always a tricky call, isn’t it?
The premise is a very fascinating one, but your comment about being unable to keep focused on the story is somewhat worrisome: too often I’ve encountered books that started as promising, only to lose themselves (and me….) along the way.
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Yes… I know what you mean! But I was a bit taken aback when it happened with this particular author.
Fantastic review. I was surprised you had trouble slipping into or focusing on this one.
Thank you Kimberly – it could have been me… But it was just over halfway through, when suddenly the magic wasn’t there, anymore. It wasn’t a struggle to continue, I just felt more distanced from the story.
I’ve read this one and felt similarly. The first half of the story was fascinating – and what a great concept if sad – but then I felt the pace changed and the style and so the last third of the book was not as gripping.
Lynn 😀
Yes – there was definitely a gearchange halfway through, wasn’t there? Though it didn’t bother me as much as some folks.
I love that premise! Reminds me of Gaiman’s Neverwhere 🙂
Yes – and I wanted to love it more than I ended up doing…
I know the feeling–that was me and Holly Black’s Tithe. I was ready to dig it, buuuut that didn’t happen.
Yes. I still can’t quite work out why this one didn’t completely work for me…
I think it’s just one of those things. I got some feedback on my post about Tithe from readers who knew that “teen parents the parent” kind of people and therefore totally related to the heroine of Tithe. Characters can’t click with everyone. 🙂
Nope. And they shouldn’t, either. Otherwise – where’s your diversity?
Exactly!
It does sound really interesting. I’m already wondering why people don’t remember her, and what this new happiness app might be 🙂
It is a really interesting read – she tends to write books with fascinating premises:))
Reading your review I had a thought: what if you being unable to focus on the story and keep connected to it was the effect of the fact that nobody can remember the main character for long? Such perspective would make you, the reader, a part of the story and its world.
I know, I know. It’s just my writer brain going wild. 😉
Lol… that could be a scary premise when you get to some of the more extreme and violent storylines:))