Reviewed by Joséphine on
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 18 May, 2020: Finished reading
- 18 May, 2020: Reviewed
The Memory Thief
by Lauren Mansy
This thrilling YA fantasy debut follows seventeen-year-old Etta Lark as she navigates the underworld of Craewick to pull off the heist of a lifetime. A YALSA (The Young Adult Library Services Association) Teens' Top Ten Book for 2020, Mansy crafts a grim reality where memories are worth their weight in gold.
In the city of Craewick, memories reign.
The power-obsessed ruler of the city, Madame, has cultivated a society in which memories are currency, citizens are divided by ability, and Gifted individuals can take memories from others through touch as they please.
Seventeen-year-old Etta Lark is desperate to live outside of the corrupt culture, but she grapples with the guilt of an accident that has left her mother bedridden in the city's asylum. When Madame threatens to put her mother up for auction, a Craewick practice in which a "criminal's" memories are sold to the highest bidder before being killed, Etta will do whatever it takes to save her. Even if it means rejoining the Shadows, the rebel group she swore off in the wake of the accident years earlier.
To rescue her mother, Etta must prove her allegiance to the Shadows by stealing a memorized map of the Maze, a formidable prison created by the bloodthirsty ruler of a neighboring Realm. 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?
Perfect for fans of high-stakemagical heists such as:
- Leigh Bardugo (Six of Crows)
- Victoria Aveyard (Red Queen)
- Roshani Chokshi (The Gilded Wolves)
"Mansy's debut will delight fantasy readers who revel in fully developed settings and unusual powers."- Booklist
"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