I wanted to love this book. The premise is incredible, like something out of a Black Mirror episode which is what made me want to read it in the first place. The writing was pretty decent but the book seemed to drag on anyway. There were several times I wanted to give up. There really is no one thing I can point out and say "heres where it went wrong" it just lacked the oomph to really grab my attention. Its a shame really, I feel there is so much untapped potential within the story. After all is said and done I'd rate this about a 3 or 3.5 star. Not terrible, but not for me either.

Thank you to netgalley and Meredith Westgate for providing an advance e-copy for my honest review.

Thank you to both #NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me an advance copy of Meredith Westgate’s futuristic novel, The Shimmering State, in exchange for an honest review.

#TheShimmeringState is a slow burn of a read with an intriguing premise and gorgeous prose. Although the pacing was a bit too sluggish for my taste, the author did a good job of making the reader feel as if they were in a dreamlike state (a shimmer if you will) throughout the relevant passages.

I really wanted to love this novel because the concept and many of the conversations are pertinent to modern day issues and offer potential solutions to medical conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, but I struggled to connect to the characters. Also, once I took a break from reading for the day, it was hard to dive back into it again.

Ultimately, I think the book is thought-provoking and the author has a bright future in terms of her technical writing style, but the story failed to deliver what I envisioned from the book blurb.

Book Review for The Shimmering State
Full review for this title will be posted at: @cattleboobooks on Instagram!

I thought the description was interesting but I sort of struggled to stay interested in this book. If I put it down, it was difficult to get back into and I had to reread some parts to reconnect. I almost felt like there was just too much going on. A bit of a love story a bit of sci-fi maybe? It’s just not my typical genre. Reguardless thabkyou for my copy.

I wasn't sure if I would like this when I started reading it but I was pleasantly surprised. The concept was interesting and covered addiction in a very different way. There were a lot of places where I paused to think about what I just read. I liked Sophie and Lucien as characters and cared about what happened to them. I really liked the ending. 4.5 stars because I would have liked more resolution in the Dr. Sloane/Remy subplot.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Many thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

I really liked the idea of this book but I didn’t connect to any of the characters. The writing was excellent, but the pace of the story felt off and dragged a bit in places. The subject matter was tough, making it a difficult read. Overall, I think many will enjoy this but it was not for me.

It is hard for me to review this book because the topics were heavy. For some reason I was expecting a bit more science fiction, but the story felt a bit too realistic which was difficult.

The book was well written and it was an interesting story, It's just that I didn't find it an enjoyable read. It was unsettling which I suppose made it effective.

It just wasn't my preference.

Seems I’m the first person to actually write a review about this book and it’s actually kind of a tough one to review. The immediate appeal was there, experimental memory thing straight out of a Black Mirror episode, the sunny California straight out of my dreams. But then, the actual reading of the story dragged for some reason. It’s difficult to put a finger on it, the writing itself was very good, but something about the pacing was off. But then in the end somehow it managed to get to a place where you leave off the book with a sort of joy or, at least, effervescence and that’s a great emotion to walk away on.
So why the emotional yoyoing? Did I come to care about the two lovelorn addicts who can’t manage to remember and can’t seem to forget each other? Yeah, probably. It’s that kind of a love story. Not a romance, that brings to mind romance as a genre, which is all sorts of no no. But a story of a genuine connection formed in a disconnected city addled by a disconnected mentality in a near future world of driverless cars and memory stimulants that get misused and prove irresistibly addictive or addictively irresistible.
The idea was to help people with memory problems, etc. but like so many good ideas it got subverted. People always on a lookout for new thrills find one in Mem, becoming other people and by extension less of themselves.
The two protagonists of the novel, to be fair, don’t come to it looking for thrills, life kind of throws it at them. They end up in a same facility operated by a woman with her own difficult connection to Mem and we slowly learn about their stories and their connection through various flashbacks. The entire plot is very interconnected, people going in and out of each other’s lives, mentally and physically. And I suppose spiritually too, since they in a way absorb the spirit of others through memories.
It’s very LA, glitzy, frantically alive and yet somehow disconnected, free of sidewalks and soul. The title can, cleverly, be applied to either California or the way a person is on Mem, both states shimmer. The lure too much to resist, yet too ephemeral to rely on.
It’s a lovely novel, really, almost elegiac in tone, with an undeniable albeit very leisurely beauty to it. And it’s a lovely meditation of the very nature of memory, in the way it shapes people and their connections, in the meaning placed on it and the things worth holding on to. It draws a variety of parallels, thing connected of memory, like grief and guilt and love and regret and sadness. And in the end, maybe, to accept and release, in gratitude. Much like the main characters, in their own ways.
So I liked the message and appreciated the style, and while it didn’t quite sing for me at all times (too slow? Too LA?), it was memorable enough…which is appropriate. Thanks Netgalley.

A stunning novel full of complex themes that will truly provoke all readers. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was excited to reach its conclusion. I highly recommend it.