**Disclaimer, I recieved and e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

Title The Memory Thief

Author Lauren Mansey

Description from Amazon

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 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 prove her allegiance to the Shadows and rescue her mother, Etta must steal a memorized map of the Maze, a formidable prison created by the bloodthirsty ruler of a neighboring Realm. So she sets out on a journey in which she faces startling attacks, unexpected romance, and, above all, her own past in order to set things right in her world.
Initial Thoughts

Full disclosure, fictional asylums terrify me. I’ve never read a book where something bad doens’t happen in the asylum. I was extremely hesitant to apply for this book on NetGalley because of that. However, I conquered my fear beacuase of the absolutely captivating description of the world building in this book. That dust jacket sold me.

Favorite Character(s)

Porter and Felix – they had the best banter. I’d read their stories any day. I don’t want to give away any spoilers but, I was spoiled by these two characters.

One Thing I Wasn’t Sure About

The neatness. Everything was very neat and tidy from the writing perspective. Normally, I love when things tie up, but it almost felt too easy. I’d hope that future stories would elaborate on this and maybe untie some of the tied up ends in order to create a little more drama.

Series Value

I’m not sure if this is a stand alone novel or the beginning of a series. I was very satisfied with the ending, but it left enough loose ends and unanswered questions that I could easily see this developing into more. The political atmosphere is somewhat uncertain by the end, so there are many opportunities for the characters we know to travel, or to introduce us to new characters in other areas. Similarly, the concept of buying and selling memories could lead to all kinds of plots in future installments. I think this story has tons of series potential.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I liked this story a lot. I see a lot of future value in a series set in this world and I think the characters were well written. The plot twists were mostly unexpected and I really appreciate that. All in all, I would definitely recommend this book.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Recommendations for Further Reading

Smoke and Key by Kelsey Sutton – both of these stories gave me similar vibes. Smoke and Key is the story of a girl trying to recover her memories, as they are the key to saving her. Like Etta in The Memory Thief, Key needs to harness the power of memories and use gifts that only she possesses.
To Best the Boys by Mary Weber – this is another great story of a strong female main character conquering a maze.
Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte – this is another amazing story of a semi-futuristic/dystopian world where memories are traded/collected. Both have amazing strong female leads.

I was given this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had mixed feelings about this book. I'll start with a few things that could have been done better. First, there was a lot of information dumping all throughout this book, and a lot of it seemed to come out of nowhere and comes way too easily for the characters. For me, I just lost sense of the story when this happened, and it made it a little harder to keep track of the main plot. I understand those details were necessary, but perhaps the information could have been weaved into the main plot a little better. I also felt that there were parts of the story that moved really quickly and left me behind without much development leading up to them. One minute, characters are at place A doing task A, and all of a sudden they're at place C doing task C, and I wasn't sure how it got there. I thought that the plot needed to be deepened at these places a bit more, as to not leave the reader behind. I guess I wanted more of the journey in certain places.

Now for what I did enjoy: I enjoyed reading this book overall! I thought the concept of this book was really cool, unique and original, unlike anything I've ever read. Using memories as currency in a dystopian world is a captivating idea. It is very well written. I loved the complexities in the MC Etta and the way her character develops throughout her character arc. I also loved the juxtaposition between Etta and the book's main antagonist, Madame. I also like how Madame had enough in her character to be sympathetic but still completely evil. Not all villains need a redemption arc or need to be likeable. The stakes are clear and high and kept me reading. The world building is really well done so that you feel like you've been transported into this brutal world. I also loved the plot twists littered all throughout this book. Just when I thought I knew what was going on-BOOM! Something happens that completely changes everything I thought I knew. They kept me really engaged and interested, and I couldn't get enough. So overall, I liked this book, and I think others will like it too!

The premise of this book is very interesting. There are those called the Gifted that can take your memories from you and claim them for their own. There is a lot that can happen there and there was a lot that did happen. I went back and forth as I was reading this between liking the bones of the story to having problems with the actual writing. Somewhere in the middle it felt like it was coming together and I was enjoying the development but it sort of fell apart at the end and felt rushed and was all quickly tied up in a neat package. I can’t say I would necessarily recommend it, but I also didn’t mind reading it.

I really wanted to enjoy this book. The book opened wonderfully, but quickly lost its way and I found myself skimming through much of it. The concept - a world where memories can be stolen, traded, or bought at auction - is interesting, but it is not executed well. The pacing was the biggest disappointment for me. It had a slow build and then was way too fast for any real character or plot development.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review of this title.

Thank you to NetGalley and Blink for the chance to review this title.

I wanted to love this book, but unfortunately, it fell flat.

THE MEMORY THIEF takes us into a world where memories can be bought or stolen. This concept was unique and was what first drew me into requesting the book. Although the idea was entertaining and somewhat reminiscent of Everless, I held onto the hope that it would set itself apart. The opening was intriguing and exciting and showed us the world where Etta lives. When her own ailing mother's memories are put up for auction, she embarks on a journey to save her.

That alone was enough to hook me. But it's not long after that the book begins to fall apart.

The book kept my attention for the first half and then slowly, it began to collapse. Motives and twists and even romances began to emerge and not with as much fun as I would have expected. It all seemed forced and almost thrown together. It may have been because the book was too short for how much material Lauren had to work with. It may have needed a bit more fleshing out before completion. I also could not connect with the character's as I would have liked to. Their voices were not so unique as to give them separate personalities. They all sort of blended together for me.

I truly wanted this book to succeed, but with all the other fantasies like it nowadays, it may be doomed to fall into the cracks. I loved the idea, but the execution was all wrong for me.

The premise to The Memory Thief is incredible and there are many aspects of the world building that use the ideas in fantastic, inventive ways. It's a world truly worth exploring. However, the structure is falling apart at the seams, the characters awkward and the reveals sloppy. I'd turn this one right back to Mansy's editor and demand some help - it's a shame to see a good idea fall to pieces in the second half when it had so much potential.

I enjoyed the beginning of Etta's journey and slowly piecing together what happened to her. However, the middle to end of the book felt disjointed to me and some of the relationships/pacing developed to quickly and did not flow well.

It's rare to feel that a book is going to amazing right from the start. I usually have hopes but my negative mind knows how easily a novel can disappoint just a few chapters. But The Memory Thief was one I just knew was going to be perfect without a doubt right off the bat.

Mansy has weaved a tale of a gritty, dark world filled with desperate people and even more desperate plans. Our mc is probably one of the most flawed leads I've encountered in awhile, but she still won my heart with the love and fire she carried in her heart for her mother. Honestly, that part was probably the most refreshing. So many stories are about the girl who gets the crown and the guy ... parental love was so enjoyable to see.

Of course I won't spoil the ending, but it so quotable and huggable ... and long. Yeah, I am so weary of stories that drag you right up till the last second and end with "oh and they lived *insert mood* the end." Mansy took her time to bring her people and her message full circle.

Look forward to more from this author.

I was given an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this book was really fascinating to me. In the fantasy setting, memories are currency, citizens are divided by ability, and Gifted individuals can take memories from others through touch as they please.

However, I think that the execution of the concept was lackluster. The pacing went too fast but at the same time, the action was severely underwhelming.

The characters lacked depth and I wished that the book was more character driven rather than plot driven. I don't think we had enough time to get to know our character amidst all the events happening.

To be honest, this wasn't great and I found myself skimming through it a lot, which is unfortunate because I think that the premise was really promising.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the premise of the book and enjoyed the flashback memory scenes. I they were incorporated well. The romance was pushed, though. Less than a few hours together, the main character has fallen in love with her companion. I think the story would benefit from the removal of the romance. There can still be a strong bond between the two and their friendship can grow, but the romance element was unneeded.

Really cool premise in a fantasy world. I love the concept of swappable memories and humans with special abilities pertaining to the mind. The author does an excellent job of interweaving the people involved and brings the story to closure in a satisfying way.

This book started strong and then quickly collapsed under the weight of itself.

“The Memory Thief” draws us into a world where memories can be bought or stolen giving their new owners different skills and abilities without any care to the lifeless husks it leaves behind when Etta finds herself starting at her mother’s notice for auction and has to return to the Shadows and make a deal with her old crew and current enemies in order to ensure her family’s survival.

This book started off great instantly drawing me in with the memory auction and the desperate hunger the characters had to take happiness from those on the blocks and it set up a great threat once the trigger for Etta’s journey is revealed but after that the story starts to fall apart.

The biggest issue was pacing. It becomes very clear where the plot needs to take us and for the first third of the book it does fine with things progressing at a rate that makes sense however, once we reach our destination, everything speeds up so quickly it no longer felt natural. Everything from alliances, romances and the way the world was structured no longer made sense organically and our main players lost all depth as they had to act out scenes that were structurally on point, albeit predictable, but hollow leaving them sounding unnatural and like they needed some sort of cheesy music behind them which completely shattered the “book end” dynamic it set up.

Finally, I have to add that I learned more about how the kingdoms, which I didn’t realize it had, and the different titles granted to the characters at the very end of the book in the glossary type section that I did throughout the story so to anyone going into this for the first time this is the only book where I suggest skipping to the end just to get a quick rundown on how it works.

This wasn’t great and it will most likely end up blurring into other books in the genre which is sad because I feel like something really cool could have happened with this idea if it was allowed more time to breathe but I can’t rate it on what it could have been only what it is which is something I won’t remember.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When the book started, I immediately thought...okay, another dystopian end-of-world type of book. And while, yes this is a good way to classify it, it was also different than others that I have read. I loved the way the Gifted’s Gifts worked and how their gifts could vary from person to person, even within the skill they had.

I would have loved to have more descriptions of the action scenes. There would be fantastic build up and then all of a sudden, it was over. I was very underwhelmed by the climaxes of the book, I would have loved more action and more descriptions of the action scenes rather than a couple paragraphs.

The book left me with a lot of questions on what actually happened because of this. I’m hoping the author will write more books that clarify some of these events more.

The book was an engaging and quick read and overall, I enjoyed it.

This was very high fantasy for me personally. I’m sure that’s just a personal preference and has nothing to do with the actual book itself. The names were too Mars for me and that makes it difficult to read.

I have been reading only series for the paat year so I was thrilled to read a great standalone novel. The Memory Thief hits all the right marks with excellent world building, strong main characters, adventure, and intrigue. If this was a series I would definitely be ready for the tale to continue!