The Sudden Appearance of Hope

by Claire North

***WINNER OF THE WORLD FANTASY AWARD 2017***

***CLAIRE NORTH IS SHORTLISTED FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES / PFD YOUNG WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD***

My name is Hope Arden. I am the girl the world forgets.

It started when I was sixteen years old.

A father forgetting to drive me to school. A mother setting the table for three, not four. A friend who looks at me and sees a stranger.

No matter what I do, the words I say, the crimes I commit - you will never remember who I am.

That makes my life tricky. It also makes me dangerous . . .

The Sudden Appearance of Hope is the tale of a girl no one remembers, yet her story will stay with you for ever.

Praise for Claire North:

'North's talent shines out' Sunday Times

'Little short of a masterpiece' Independent

'Poignant and intensely gripping' Guardian

'Well-paced, brilliant and balanced' New York Times

'Extraordinary . . . wildly impressive' Lucy Hughes-Hallett, BBC Radio 4

'Utterly readable, utterly believable and compelling . . . one of the fiction highlights of the decade' Judy Finnigan, Richard and Judy Book Club

• ISBN10: 0316335991
• ISBN13: 9780316335997
• Publish Date: 17 May 2016
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Redhook
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 480
• Language: English

Reviews

[empressbrooke]

I was mentally giving this 4 stars up to the 50% mark. It felt like a Black Mirror episode with a really unusual protagonist. Hope has an unexplained condition that makes people forget her as soon as she's out of their sight. Her family, friends, teachers, etc. suddenly can't remember who she is. The author does an impressive amount of work figuring out what implications this would have for someone's life and weaving it into the story. The plot revolves around her efforts to sabotage an app called Perfection, which people use to become, well, perfect. I was having a total blast with it for the first half.

Somewhere between 50% and 66% the plot took a turn that left not as eager to keep reading. Then the final third left me wondering if the editor went on vacation before finishing and they sent the book to the printer anyways. It's unfocused and I'm not entirely sure what the author's end goal was. To make matters worse, a pet peeve of mine popped up - characters who all sound the same. In the final portion of the book, four separate characters talk in manic, sentence fragmenty monologues even though it sounded nothing like how they spoke earlier.

I felt really disappointed in the end, and uncertain if I wanted to read anything else by Claire North even though I've had her other books on my "to read" list for a long time.

[Bianca]

You fear it, no? The dangers of being alone. Of having no one to help you find your path. No friend to say ‘you went a bit too far’, no lover to say ‘you could be tender with your words’, no? No boss to say ‘work harder’ and no shrink to say ‘work less’, no… no society, to tell you how to choose, or what to wear, no… no judgement, to help guide your own? You fear it?

— About perceptions and how we should not let society fully define us, having freedom to be ourselves and to have our own choices. I liked the ideas presented, but the book was really boring/wasn't as thrilling as the author's previous works, and it was unnecessarily long.

[jesstheaudiobookworm]

5 ★ Audiobook⎮ If I wanted to, I could detract an entire star just for the fact that I now have "Hey Macarena!" stuck on a loop in my head...

But I won't, because this story deserves every single one of those five stars. It was utterly fascinating. Seriously, I could not put it down. Even when I could manage to put it down, it was still on my mind. The whole concept was very unsettling, but in the most brilliant way. It occurred to me several times during the 16 hours of listening to this that the most appropriate word to describe this story is revealing. The world that Claire North creates is not so different from our own, which is exactly what makes this story so riveting and revealing. A story about a girl who is forgotten by everyone she encounters would have honestly been enough for me. That premise itself is what hooked me into reading this in the first place. But the story isn't all about Hope and the "condition" that makes her unmemorable. She just facilitates the story; it unfolds through and around her.

The thing that makes the story so revealing (and frightening) is how well Claire North blends fact and fiction. For instance, the fictional app called "Perfection" collects data and usage information from your phone to help you better manage your life and collect rewards in the process. Sounds harmless, right? It also allows companies to market their products through the app and uses a points system, or what psychologists would call conditioning techniques (rewards/punishments), to instill certain behaviors in the user. The psychology of it all is just astounding... and sort of familiar. North obviously took liberties with certain aspects of "Perfection" but it isn't hard at all to see where her inspiration came from. In fact, she mentions several very real companies (Google, Facebook, Yahoo, etc.) that have similar practices. This book will definitely have you reading the fine print of user agreements and double-checking your app permissions!

Narration review: Gillian Burke did an absolutely amazing job narrating this audiobook. I was super impressed with her narration. This audiobook required a very talented and astute narrator and Burke fit the bill perfectly. I was floored by her ability to voice so many different accents (the main character travels a lot) and give each of the characters their own distinct sound. Although, I am surprised to see that this was her only audiobook on Audible. Perhaps she has recorded others elsewhere. I find it hard to believe that this could have been her debut recording, because it was absolute perfection. ♣︎

[Linda]

This review was originally posted on (un)Conventional Bookviews
The Sudden Appearance of Hope is a fascinating novel, intricate, complex, and beautifully written. Are we still real if nobody else knows us?



The Sudden Appearance of Hope is dubbed as a fantasy, but I think it's much closer to contemporary, with some light paranormal elements in some ways. Hope Arden is the girl / woman you'll never know you met! From when she was 16 years old, people would forget her almost as soon as they looked somewhere else, and it was almost as if she didn't exist at all. Both the story and the prose are very particular, and the peculiarity is one of the things that won me over and made me feel like there was more to the story than a woman who could disappear almost in plain view if she wished to do so.

Most of The Sudden Appearance of Hope happens 'now' but there are flash-backs to Hope's past, both from when people remembered her, and from when they had already started to forget her. And how in the world would anyone be able to continue moving forward if nobody remembered us? No friends, family, teachers, lovers, bosses, or enemies. As soon as Hope was out of sight, she was so completely out of mind that people didn't even remember having been with anyone - nor that they had spoken to anyone.

While Hope did try to us her own moral compass, there were instances where she had to cheat, lie and steal in order to survive. The only way anyone was able to remember anything about her was via written messages - either on the darknet or by e-mail. And while this made Hope feel very lonely and sometimes sad, it also made her feel strong and close to invincible. Her newest mission in life became to do her best to stop an app called perfection - not only an app for fun and games, but one where those who used it - almost religiously - could advance in their life, both when it came to their career, their personal life, their health, love, wealth, beauty... All could become perfection, but nobody understood at what cost.

Through her investigations, Hope met some very interesting people, some who were dangerous to her, others who were seemingly on her side. And once more, she found herself confronted with the fact that once she met people, they would forget her. However, at the same time, she needed to meet some people in person so she could decide whether she could trust them or not, and if she could trust them - how much.  There is mystery, travel, intrigue, sex, scandal, death and longing, and The Sudden Appearance of Hope fascinated me from start to finish. Written in first person, past tense, Hope is the narrator of her own story, and this definitely makes sense, as all other characters forgot about her when she was not with them.



"Who are you?"
"I'm Hope's friend," I answered. "I was just staying the night."
Silence
My mum, frozen in the kitchen door, broken egg shell oozing clear juice between her fingers.
"Who's Hope?"
"Goodbye," I said, and let myself out into the morning.

Now.
Now.
This time.
Now.
Now I'll step out.
Now.
This car.
This truck.
Now.
And I didn't move.

A pilgrim, of sorts.
Alone, you can lose yourself, or you may find yourself, and most of the time you do both.