The Book of M

by Peng Shepherd

Set in a dangerous near future world, The Book of M tells the captivating story of ordinary people caught in an extraordinary catastrophe, risking everything to save the ones they love.

In the middle of a market in India, a man’s shadow disappears. This mysterious 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.

Two years later, Ory and Max have escaped the Forgetting by hiding in an abandoned hotel deep in the woods. Their new life feels almost normal, until one day Max’s shadow disappears.

Knowing that her condition makes her dangerous, Max runs away. But Ory refuses to give up the time they have left together. Desperate to find Max before her memories disappear, he sets out into a perilous, unrecognizable world.

• ISBN13: 9780008225643
• Publish Date: 13 June 2019 (first published 5 June 2018)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: HarperVoyager
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 496
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.co.uk

Reviews

[mrs_mander_reads]

This book is super weird - in a good way. I love how Shepherd examines the importance of memory and how it's stored. So, so good.

[empressbrooke]

Despite the intriguing premise and promising start, by the halfway point I was just BORED. If I had realized this was a post apocalyptic survival horror situation I would have been more likely to stay away. There are four different POV characters and nothing really happens in any of their storylines. There are some really random and goofy battle scenes. There is a lot of scrounging for supplies and a lot of traveling. The POV character Naz has even less of a character arc than the other three, to the point where I am not sure what the purpose of her inclusion was. I think the end is supposed to tug on heartstrings and then horrify in its twist, but I felt nothing at all except being relieved it was over. The whole last quarter is just a mush of weirdness that is an entirely different tone than the rest of the book. Cannot recommend this one.

[Beth C.]

Dystopian, but not horror - unless you count the idea of slowly losing your memories, and knowing that you are, until the day that you forget to eat. Or to breathe. Or to stay with others and wander off never to be seen again. Because your memories are tied to your shadow, and once that's gone, soon enough what makes you who you are will be as well. It happens suddenly, then spreads, though it's not contagious. Here we cycle back and forth between 3 different perspectives as these people work to figure out what is happening and what their place is in this new world. And (no spoilers) - watch out for that ending. It'll get ya.