Tabula Rasa (Tabula Rasa Saga)

by Kristen Lippert-Martin

[shannonmiz]

I have procrastinated while trying to write this review for a long time. Not hours, or days, or even weeks. Months. Because we all know this as a basic truth: The hardest books to review are those "I liked it" books. You don't have a lot of negatives, but you aren't exactly drowning in positives either.

Actually, during a pretty significant portion of the book, I even really liked it. Sarah wasn't a character that I felt a particular connection to, but I liked her enough. And really, since she was supposed to be confused and not remember anything, I didn't really think I would feel terribly connected to her when she wasn't even connected with herself. I also enjoyed her interaction with Thomas. I found him to be a fun accomplice, and their interaction was cute.

I also enjoyed the aspect of trying to run, hide, and eventually, discover secrets in the midst of this huge blizzard, while being chased by a plethora of bad actors. Sarah starts to get pieces of her memory back bit by bit, but time and the odds are not on their side as they search for both answers and medicine for Sarah. They run into a varied cast of characters, some who were especially enjoyable and some who presented them with even more problems. In short, for most of the book, I was unable to put it down. It was quite the page turner. Even the actual end of the book was fine.

So what's the problem? The resolution of the plot. It seemed so anticlimactic. There is such a buildup to who Sarah is, why she is in this situation, who is in charge of the memory erasing, and a whole host of other questions throughout the book. When the end nears, the answers are basically just dumped at the reader's feet. And in truth, the answers were nowhere near as intriguing as the book had led me to believe or hope.

Bottom Line: It was a quick and fun book with some entertaining characters and high stakes, and I am glad I had the chance to read it. I just felt that it would have been much more memorable with a stronger resolution.

(ARC provided from Egmont USA via Edelweiss for review)