Adeline
4.25 stars
Speculative literary mystery following Noor a psychologist at Nepenthe, a clinic specialising in removing memories that is in a middle of a scandal as they are offering to bring back the deleted memories, also showing the lives of several characters who are connected to this procedure.
This was such a good read ! The writing was pretty good and I really liked the themes developed in this, tackling on identity, memories, grief, PTSD, relationships, choice, morality, mental health.
This was marked as dystopian and sci-fi, but those parts felt anecdotal for me. It felt more like a character study, not delving too much into the medical/scientific world building but showing the character’s life and the impact of the procedure on their relationships and mental health.
The five points of view were more or less compelling to read, I definitely preferred some stories over others, because some felt a bit too long or didn’t impact me emotionally. Some mysteries weren’t totally wrapped up or characters didn’t get answers which I personally don’t mind that much because it felt realistic and suited the thematic narrative.
I loved how the author connected the points of view little by little. The way she also revealed what happened to the character felt organic and well written.
I had a bit of a problem with pacing as I said, and the main plot felt quite simple (maybe a bit too much?). Also some of the big reveals felt lacking and didn’t wow me, and some of the characters I wasn’t a fan of their storylines.
This was my first reading of Jo Harkin and I’m looking forward to read her recent book The Pretender from my physical tbr.
4.25 stars
Speculative literary mystery following Noor a psychologist at Nepenthe, a clinic specialising in removing memories that is in a middle of a scandal as they are offering to bring back the deleted memories, also showing the lives of several characters who are connected to this procedure.
This was such a good read ! The writing was pretty good and I really liked the themes developed in this, tackling on identity, memories, grief, PTSD, relationships, choice, morality, mental health.
This was marked as dystopian and sci-fi, but those parts felt anecdotal for me. It felt more like a character study, not delving too much into the medical/scientific world building but showing the character’s life and the impact of the procedure on their relationships and mental health.
The five points of view were more or less compelling to read, I definitely preferred some stories over others, because some felt a bit too long or didn’t impact me emotionally. Some mysteries weren’t totally wrapped up or characters didn’t get answers which I personally don’t mind that much because it felt realistic and suited the thematic narrative.
I loved how the author connected the points of view little by little. The way she also revealed what happened to the character felt organic and well written.
I had a bit of a problem with pacing as I said, and the main plot felt quite simple (maybe a bit too much?). Also some of the big reveals felt lacking and didn’t wow me, and some of the characters I wasn’t a fan of their storylines.
This was my first reading of Jo Harkin and I’m looking forward to read her recent book The Pretender from my physical tbr.