THE MEMORY KEY
by Liana Liu
Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen (March 3, 2015)
Language: English
Goodreads | Amazon
Lora Mint is determined not to forget.To The Memory Key,
Though her mother's been dead for five years, Lora struggles to remember every detail about her—most important, the specific events that occurred the night she sped off in her car, never to return.
But in a world ravaged by Vergets disease, a viral form of Alzheimer's, that isn't easy. Usually Lora is aided by her memory key, a standard-issue chip embedded in her brain that preserves memories just the way a human brain would. Then a minor accident damages Lora's key, and her memories go haywire. Suddenly Lora remembers a moment from the night of her mother's disappearance that indicates her death was no accident. Can she trust these formerly forgotten memories? Or is her ability to remember every painful part of her past driving her slowly mad—burying the truth forever?
Lora's story of longing for her lost mother—and for the truth behind her broken memories—takes readers on a twisty ride. The authentic, emotional narrative sparks fascinating questions about memory and privacy in a world that increasingly relies on electronic recall.
This is going to be a rather
awkward letter to you, simply because I just didn't enjoy you. I
actually put you to the side after reading halfway through your pages
and started a different book. That's not something I do on a regular
basis. I'm strictly a one book at a time reader...well, most of the
time. But since I have this objection to DNF-ing books, I made myself
read every single one of your words, sentences, and chapters, even
though I felt as if I was dying from boredom. I feel a little bad for
the harshness, but it's the truth, despite how much I wish it wasn't.
You
start off with the story of Lora Mint, who lives some unspecified time
in the future in some unspecified town. She has some issues trying to
recall memories of her mother, who passed away nearly 5 years ago. It's
not easy when the future is plagued by a disease called Vergets, which
is pretty much a viral form of Alzheimer's. It's even more difficult for
Lora, because her memory key, the chip that's embedded in her brain to
help preserve memories, is damaged, causing her to suddenly remember
things that she had forgotten before. (Sounds confusing, right? Pretty
much the rest of the book is too, so no worries.) Specifically memories
of her mother and what happened on the night her life was tragically
ended. Can Lora trust these new memories?
I'm
going to go ahead and say that I did. not. like. the. main. character.
at. all. Punctuation intended. Lora was unlikeable, mean, annoying,
selfish, and on and on. I barely cared what happened to her, because of
her actions 24/7. She didn't have any redeemable qualities whatsoever.
She was extremely rude and hateful to her family and friends and
boyfriend(s?). I don't understand why anyone wanted to be around her. I
didn't even want to be around her, and she doesn't even exist in real
life! I was constantly SMH at her actions, her words, her demeanor, her
everything. I'm still SMH as I type this. I can't even right now. A lot
of the other characters aren't around that much because everyone finally
comes to their senses and starts staying away from Lora, so I didn't
have time to really form an emotional attachment to them. The
romance(s?) were cliche at best, and at worst, a total love triangle
cluster. I didn't care about either of the boys, and I sure as heck
didn't see how they were even interested in her, but whatevs. It's
fictional so it doesn't have to make sense? Wrong. I need a lot of
explaining because this does not compute.
Your
voice was stunted, The Memory Key. I felt as if I was reading something
a robot wrote. It didn't sound natural, more (like I said) robotic. I
wish there had been more world-building. There were mentions of a
Citizen's Army every 75 pages or so, but I still don't understand what
the point in even mentioning them was? I picked you up because I find
the concept of a viral Alzheimer's fascinating, but unfortunately not
when it comes in your form. Besides the few (or a bunch) issues, I
mentioned above, one of the absolute most important ones is that I found
you EXTREMELY (emphasis on the extremely) confusing. Lora is jolted
back into memories right in the middle of talking to someone, or doing
something else, and there's no indication of it happening. Maybe it
would've been better if it was a change in formatting, but sometimes I
would be in the middle of a flashback and not even know it until a few
pages later where it states that she had a flashback. That's a major
problem for readers.
People may wonder why I
forced myself to continue with you, even though I loathed you, and after
writing this letter to you, I'm questioning myself as well. I think it
mostly has to do with the fact that I felt like you had the potential to
suddenly turn great, and I kept turning pages in hopes that it would
happen, but it never did. The need to know what ultimately happened in
the end is what drove me to finish you, when I finally figured out you
weren't getting any better.
I think this may
be one of the harshest review letters I've ever penned, and it weighs
heavily on my heart. Sure, some might love you, but in my case, I
didn't. (I think that's pretty obvious by now, but whatevs) I leave you
with one star, The Memory Key.
Disappointed and still SMH,
Leave your thoughts
Post a Comment
Leave us a comment. Commenting people are our favorites! And we like to give things to favorites :)