I have tried to read this a few times since I requested it but unfortunately I have discovered that this book just isn't for me. The protagonist seems to change personalities as needed to make a scene work whether it makes sense or not and the plot feels very slap-dash, jumping from one scene to the next with little care. Unfortunately marking this one as a DNF at around 25%.

This book sounds so amazing and I was excited to read it. The whole currency concept is interesting. But that’s about it. I struggled through it from page one. Sadly, this was just not a book for me. There’s a huge info dump from the start. It distracted from everything else. I felt the characterization was lacking and the insta love made me cringe a bit. I wasn’t attached to any of the characters and the pacing was a bit to slow for me.  

I think someone much younger may like this book but I simply could not enjoy it.

The concept was interesting, a world where memories are a currency that can be transferred or stolen from a person. It makes some good plot twists. I loved the character banter between Reid and Etta. Though I did enjoy The Memory Thief it was a bit slow for me.

The concept and bones of this world and story are amazing; sadly they haven’t been given the space to transpire, breathe and sink in for the reader. I feel like there is a trilogy or at least 1000 page epic story here; and it’s been ruined by being chopped down or rushed into ~300 pages, one POV, and for a broad audience; instead of the darker feel I hoped for from the blurb. 

Convenience
Unfortunately Lauren Mansy has made a critical error. One of my number one pet peeves in writing is convenience or too much luck. Our leading gal sure seems to know everyone in the realm and they are always super nice to her and helpful. Is there not one person (besides our clear bad guys) that lives in this land that isn't all for her? 
What's worse is that I would expect in a world where memories are sold to the highest bidder (and lost to the original person forever) that you'd forget lots of people over the years because you sold all their memories or the memory of what their name is, where they are from, etc. 

Timeline
If anyone has a timeline of the events during The Memory Thief I'd love to see it. To me as the reader I thought only a couple days passed by. Yet there are multiple comments made by our first person leading lady about how she felt someone had "changed so much" since she last saw them or something had evolved or grown which really confused me. I'd love to really know how much time actually passes from the beginning through each event to the end.

Rushed
There is so much that could have been explored here inside this unique construct of a world. But within ~300 pages and so much plot it's just not possible to do the story or characters justice. I wish this was a trilogy, with a broader arc, more opportunity to explore the memory situations created, and a lot more time for our characters to live, learn, and grow. 

Overall
I just wanted a lot more from a book with such a great idea/concept (and beautiful cover). I know The Memory Thief is Mansy's debut novel and so I would consider reading another of her future books. I really hope that she takes the time (and her publisher allows her) to really explore her ideas and characters further. Mansy is young and so I have great hopes for her abilities to grow and become a solid addition to the YA fantasy (or adult fantasy) genre. 

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

3.5 Stars. 

In Craewick memories are currency. Those who are gifted can take the memories of other through nothing but a touch, those without gifts will use their memories to get further in life. Madame who rules the city has created created a city divided making it hard for anyone to get further ahead, particularly those who are ungifted. Etta wants nothing more to live unnoticed, but when she gets a notice that her mom is going to be put up for auction, a practice where 'criminals' memories are auctioned off the highest bidder before they are killed. She decides she will do anything to save her mom. Even if that means going back to the Shadows, something she swore she would never do. Now she must memorize the map of the 'maze' a prison that is suppose to be impenetrable created by the cruel leader from the neighbouring city. She will do anything to prove her loyalty to the Shadows and save her mom. 

Lauren Mansy's world was large. I will admit to being a little confused at times. While Etta was very well developed and those closely linked to her were also fairly close to her were well developed I felt that the story could have benefitted from a few less characters or a little more development for those that they were mentioning. I was often confused by the names they were saying because I wasn't quite sure who they were. This got better as the story went on as things became a little clearer. The world was well developed though and I loved how it all came together. I think these problems could have been solved by a little bit of a longer book.  The idea as memories as currency is one I have seen before but not done this way and I liked it quite a bit. I enjoyed the different ways the gifts could work. It was interesting to see the physical attributes coming out in some, and how others had variants. I would even be interested in reading a sequel where you learned more about different gifts. Etta was my favourite character by far and this was likely because she was so well developed, if other characters had that much development they likely could have been up there as well. 

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys young adult fantasy.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the eArc all opinions and reviews are my own.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.  

The Memory Thief is an amazing book, truly.      The summary caught my attention right away.     The coverart is beautiful & eye-catching.       The characters are well-developed, easy to like... and so very interesting.       The author has a fantastic writing style and a gift with words.    I felt like I was living IN that world with them!

You won't regret reading this book, I promise.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. A full review will be posted on Amazon and Goodreads

The synopsis sounded promising, but I, unfortunately, ended up DNFing this about 40% through the book. I just wasn't enjoying this book, and I just decided that I couldn't put myself through this anymore, and I needed to move on.

This wasn't the worst book in the world, it had pretty great writing. My problem with the book is how much informations the author is pushing onto the reader at the beginning of the book, and it all happens very quickly. The flashbacks that happen were a little confusing, and I didn't end up finding any of the characters to be very memorable, especially because they were giving so many names early on, and they were hard for me to distinguish. 

Going into this book I had high hopes based on the premise, but sadly I was let down. There were so many other things that I didn't like that I could talk about such as the insta-love or the lengthy dialogue,but it's not worth it to me. Since in the end, I didn't finish this book I won't be doing a review post on my blog since I can't talk about over half of the book.

This book moved quickly, but frankly, I felt like that was to its detriment. Then by the second half of the book it felt like everything dragged on.

To me, this was another typical fantasy book; originally I had been intrigued by the book’s premise, but it totally fell flat for me. It reminded me a lot of Sara Holland’s Everless series, and not in a good way.

I don’t really recommend this book to anyone looking for a new fantasy book to pick up; it wasn’t memorable to me in any way except that I just didn’t enjoy it.

This book has such a good base for a story.  I like the banter between the characters and the great adventure that they go though. I wish there was more to the background of the world but over all I liked the book.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this title.

Young adult fantasy is a hit or miss for me and sadly this one was a miss. I wasn’t engaged at all, and had no connection to the characters.

The Memory Thief had me from the very beginning. The characters are so well developed and each character has their own story that pulls you in. The world building in this book is phenomenal and you almost feel like you’ve visited the places the author describes. Memories are basically a currency there and the way the story moves will blow your mind!

This book had a cool concept, but unfortunately it just didn't stand out for me. The world-building wasn't enough for my liking, and the story was taken over by a romance I didn't particularly care about. I think I've just read too many YA fantasies about a girl forced to go on a quest with a boy she "doesn't like" and ends up falling in love with, honestly. Like I said, the overall idea of being able to trade memories was pretty cool, but the execution was lacking. I couldn't stay interested in the story, and there were far too many flashbacks thrown in. I also didn't feel enough tension by the time I was nearing the halfway point, so sadly this one is a DNF for me.

This book had so much potential, but unfortunately with the very 2-dimensional characters and world building based off of info dumping, and bland explanations, I couldn't make myself love it. I was really looking forward to this one, and although I didn't find it inherently bad, it just wasn't what I was looking for, and it ultimately fell flat for me.

I was pulled in to wanting to read this one by the premise which promised a unique fantasy world I'd never read before. Unfortunately it was under realized and it never lived up to the expectations the description set in my mind. The maze and banter were both enjoyable but the pacing, flashbacks, and info dumping didn't make it a fun read for me.

Another book that I really wanted to love but I just couldn’t get into. This book held my attention for the most part, but I couldn’t connect to any of the characters. There was just something about them I couldn't connect to. I thought the world was very interesting, and for the most part so were the characters, but I just felt like I would read it and then forget what was going on. Also, I felt like the book was pretty rushed. I have seen some great reviews, so I honestly think this book was just not for me. I do recommend it because the concept of the book and the setting are really great, but again, it just wasn't for me.

I wasn't a huge fan of memory thief. It wasn't bad, really, but just didn't capture my interest. I don't know if it was the movie The other than are the book, but the characters play flat for me despite the enticing setting. I tried to stick it through but this year I promised myself that if I got to the 50% Mark and still disliked it, I'd DNF it. Despite this I still force myself to read and eventually gave up around the 65% mark.

3.5 stars.

The Memory Thief by Lauren Mansy is a good freshman YA fantasy novel. It is based in a fairly well described society which is ruled by four Sifter leaders, of which Madame is the strongest. She rules viciously in a land where memories are currency to be bought, sold, and stolen.

Etta has made a deal with Madame that was meant to keep her mother safe. But Madame, it seems, is not going to keep her word. Upon notice that her mother is to be "auctioned" in a few days' time, Etta sets out to rejoin the Shadows and rescue her mother from the evil Sifter.

Mansy has some clear writing talent and the premise for this novel was interesting and fairly well constructed. The characters overall fell slightly flatter than I would have liked, but there was a decent development in Etta and maybe a hint beginning in Reid. Though no sequel is currently indicated, the writing for these characters did feel a bit like the typical "setup" novel for a fantasy trilogy.

The world building in this novel is decent and there is the creation of some atmospheric setting. The construction is coherent and mostly simple, while still staying unique and interesting. However, there is some info dumping in the beginning that creates a bit of confusion. The different "occupations" and sectors of the public got a little muddled for me and I had to slowly weed out the details of who was who and what powers were given to what factions.

I enjoy the fact that there is a fantastic setup for an unreliable narrator in this plot. When your memories can be taken, altered, or replaced/erased, how do you know what is real? This fact wasn't used to it's fullest, but it was definitely exploited to a degree...which I appreciated.

The ending was a bit of a whirlwind. The battle felt a little short compared to all the buildup. It wasn't bad, but somehow felt underwhelming. There also exists an epilogue, which does close up a few important matters, but still felt different from the writing in the rest of the book.

Overall, this was a good read and I liked the world that it was set in. It would make good sense for there to be a sequel to this book, but as a standalone it still lines up pretty okay. A stronger ending would have really helped it out, but I was still mostly content with what took place in the pages.

I have been putting this book off for some time as I have watched the reviews roll in as consistent 2s and 3s. Well, I finished it and I agree with most of them. There writing is immature with too much telling instead of showing and really clunky info drops at the start. The conversations fill stilted and full of platitudes. The insta-love is a bit much and most of the book is conversations about things that happened. Finally, the ending was too easy and felt contrived. I also think everyone was way too forgiving of some rather large issues with the MC.

This book was an okay read, nothing spectacular but okay for a one time read through. The Memory Thief is a fantasy story told in first person focusing on the idea that memories can be used as currency, they can be transferred and even stolen from person to person. This was something that drew me in however the overall story itself fell a little flat. The world building is brief and not as in depth as I would’ve liked and the romance seemed very rushed. One minute they dislike each other and the next they’re falling in love. I think more could’ve been done with the memories and more of the story should’ve focused on this aspect. Overall I would personally give it a 2 and a half star rating