The Memory Thief: The Past Is a Maze. She Is the Key.

by Lauren Mansy

Lora Brown (Narrator)

In the realms of The Memory Thief, memories are currency that can be traded for goods, services, skills, and experiences. A group of people-the Gifted-can steal and redistribute memories. Etta is secretly one of them, but she hasn't used her Gifted abilities since she left the rebel Shadows following her mother's accident two years ago. But when her mother is again in danger, Etta has no choice but to return to the underground group in order to complete her greatest heist and save her mother's life. Etta faces startling attacks, unexpected romance, and above all, her own past as she uncovers a conspiracy that challenges everything she knew about herself and the world around her.

In a place where nothing is what it seems, can Etta ever become more than a memory thief?

"Readers, like Etta and her fellow citizens, will be challenged to contemplate the nature of truth ... A welcome addition to the YA fantasy canon, The Memory Thief is a suspenseful page-turner, delightfully chock full of unexpected twists and turns." - Shelf Awareness

The Memory Thief:

Is perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Victoria AveyardBrings readers on an unforgettable journey during which Etta must learn-often the hard way-just what it will take to save her city and her motherIs a clean, coming of age YA fantasy, with unexpected romance by up-and-coming author Lauren Mansy

• ISBN10: 1974979369
• ISBN13: 9781974979363
• Publish Date: 1 October 2019
• Publish Status: Unknown
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Dreamscape Media
• Format: Audiobook (MP3)
• Duration: 6 hours and 31 minutes
• Language: English

Reviews

[Joséphine]

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

[sa090]

I haven't written my thoughts in a while so I feel somewhat rusty, in short the memory thief doesn't really offer anything new to the YA world.

I will be lying if I said that the book didn't have anything interesting in it, it did, the world and how memories are in it for instance could have been an amazing thing to read about if we spent more time focusing on that. However, the book being a standalone was the main reason of its downfall, because there is a lot to get done without a huge page count for it to get done.

We have to understand the world, Etta's past, her mother's situation, the memories and how it works in this world, what do the shadows have to do with any of this and maybe learn a few things more to care about the characters to name a few. For a book that was below 400 pages, that's a tall order and it shows. Etta for example is the type of YA protagonist who needs a long time for me to care about, or better yet, needs a long time to prove her worth to me. She doesn't in this book because every time she does something of worth, other things she does have to come and ruin it. The romance was typically thirsty of YA and I gagged a few times, it was not needed and the book would have proceeded without issues if it was strictly platonic. But it's YA so God forbid that's a thing.

It's not just the romance, Etta is a hotheaded emotional idiot. She doesn't stay quiet to assess the next course of action without first exploding and doing something that might make the needed course of action impossible to achieve. Even when things FINALLY started coming together for the finale, she continues being a dumbass because the person who can solve everything for her behaved cautiously toward her love interest and acted upon it. Given the position of the person we're asking for help, they are 10000% correct in what they did, but would she at the very least shut up and listen to the whole story and not act on a whim? No, because the love interest she knew for a max of 3 days, could be dead while she listens. If the above wasn't evident, Etta was easily the weakest and most annoying part of this book.

That being said, I did enjoy somethings in the book. Etta was unfortunately the protagonist so it was harder than I hoped, but the writing was very easy to go through and the world or rather the system in it was just so interesting with the small snippets I got to see of it. I wanted to see a lot more in that regard, but page constraints were a thing.

Again, I don't think that this book brings anything new, not even the whole memory thing seems all that unique despite still being interesting. However, I do honestly believe that if Ms. Lauren Mansy focused on lesser things in the book, this would have at the very least, been more than just an okay read.

[tweetybugshouse]

Mansy has weaved a tale of gritty, dark world where memories can be stolen, bought and give away. A world with desperate people trying to survive under a power hungry ruler named simply Madame. She holds the lives of the citizen under her thrall and forces them to use their powers to control others. Your memories are your currency that you can only hope will keep you alive one more day as you are forced to sell them. She keeps our main character in check due to a cruel twist of fate that but her mother in coma so she wasting away in an asylum.

Etta is determined to live outside of this cruel world that has sprung up around her. She used to belong to a group called the shadows who are determined to change things. Off on a dangerous quest into another realm with another ruler who she been told her whole life is just as cruel as the one she trying to take down. Here where the excitement, plot twists, and a bit of romance and heart ache really explode. I throughly enjoyed this book and really wish it was a series to often we get one book and that it and it all about taking back the city i like to see more beyond just the rescue. Though this author does give us just a bit of what happens in the after math including the end result with the cruel ruler Madam.

Pick this one up or pre order it due out October 1, 2019.