This was so fun!! I really enjoyed reading this and I would definitely read more from this author again! This book would benefit from another round of edits but I don't think it affected my enjoyment a lot.

This was an okay fantasy novel, the premise was cool but the big plot twists were very… meh. I stuck through it to the end, so there’s something to be said about that but it just kind of fell short for me.

Zoey is a demonologist who doesn't age. She has spent most of time trying to find out why while working at the Research Institute of Demonic Entities and Rarities. There is a serial killer on the loose and the killer is killing witches. Powerful witches. The clue to the identity of the killer is leading towards her brother. She is willing to do what it takes to get rid of this killer. Her brother is saying that is innocent of this, but the clues indicate otherwise. A fast-paced fantasy story with a touch of Sci-Fi. Incredible storytelling, imaginative characters and excellent world building.

Disclaimer: Thank you Netgalley and Katy Foraker for this review copy and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book, as this book has already been published, I will not share my review on Netgalley at this time.

"Memories, Lies, and Other Binds" is a thrilling urban fantasy with a unique blend of supernatural elements and dark academia vibes. The protagonist, Zoey Prescott, is a compelling character with her immortality and demonologist expertise. The book delivers a captivating mix of suspense, mystery, and sibling dynamics, keeping readers engaged throughout.

Supernatural creatures, check. Mystery, check. Two of the favorite genres put together in a way that works, double check. I loved this book! It twisted when it should and turned when it needed. I was hooked on the book quickly and stayed hooked until the end. One of my fave reads so far!

This story is enjoyable and has a good mystery. It also has creatures that aren't real and some funny parts too. The main person in the story seems a little unsure and inexperienced at the beginning, but later on, she becomes stronger and wiser. Zoey is easy to believe, but she's not very captivating. The story was moving too quickly in the middle of the book, which made it feel a bit uneven compared to the beginning. The world is very pretty when we imagine it. The book Memories, Lies, and Other Binds talks about how having supernatural powers affects someone's ability to live in the real world. The bad guys are not very interesting.

I really enjoyed the world building in this book! There was a lull in the middle of the novel, but the beginning and end were very engaging. I am looking forward to seeing what comes next for Zoey! Hoping there is a sequel!

Reading the description of the story had me excited, but once I got going in the story I struggled to find the connection to my expectations and the story. I liked the premise, but the plot, characters, and pacing did not work for me and seemed out of alignment. I also found the writing to be a lot more telling versus showing, which had me putting the book down a lot or skimming paragraphs. I found I just didn't care for any of the characters or what would happen to them.

This book intrigued me from the start. It was a fantastic take on the supernatural world and took me by surprise several times. I did not expect the story to go where it did and I loved the twists!
The characters were varied and meshed together well. By the last half of the book I couldn’t put it down. I would love another book of Zoey’s adventures in her new role!
Definitely recommend this for anyone who loves a good supernatural mystery.

Memories, Lies, and Other Binds is a quirky and engaging speculative fantasy by Katy Foraker. Released 4th Oct 2022, it's 328 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

This is a moderately clever and nearly romance-free UF fantasy/paranormal story set in academia with a 200(+/-) year old protagonist learning to take charge of her own life and solve the mystery of her accidental apparent immortality. She's got a severely dysfunction relationship with her vampire brother Theo, and the book fundamentally revolves around the mysterious murders of witches and other supernaturals, with brother Theo the prime suspect.

The plot is relatively linear, and I wasn't always closely engaged with the characters who were often venial, weak, or unambiguously nasty. MC Zoey's often a bit of a doormat, especially considering that she's lived for more than 2 centuries at this point. The denouement and resolution are self contained in this volume and it works well as a standalone, however, the ending hints very broadly at more stories in the RIDER universe in future. There are some content warnings including child abuse, and physical/psychological violence and non-consent (mind invasion and pain).

Three and a half stars. It's a good read and will appeal to fans of Seanan McGuire, Carrie Vaughn, and T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon).

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

A great premise with an execution that was pretty good. The plot was somewhat predictable but Zoey is a great character and that saves the book from just okay. It's a decent urban fantasy with some solid moments.

The premise was much more fun than the actual body of the book. I guess I had high expectations and the book just couldn't cut it. It was still nice, nevertheless. But could be better

This was a great debut! Although I didn’t really get the “dark academia vibes” it promised, I quite liked this book! I had a few issues with the pacing, as it felt a little off in the middle of the book. Things moved way too quickly, which threw me off a bit.
I loved the characters! They are incredibly written, there’s so much attention to detail and I love how well developed they are.
I LOVED the ending!

Overall, a really good one. Very excited to see more from this author in the future.

This was an easy read as someone who loves a good urban fantasy. The story itself was unique and well put together. I really enjoyed the main character’s development as she came across as very meek in the beginning. The only complaint I have is that it was just a bit predictable.

I am always searching for stories with fantastical beasts and fresh new magic systems and this one definitely delivered on both! In what I would describe as Adeline meets Supernatural this novel definitely grabs your attention from the first page. Zoey is a demonoligist with the most prestigious research institute and I’m here for it. There are so many golden nuggets of demon lore and magical creatures. The way they are tracked and and kept tabs on is brilliant. I loved Zoey’s back story and the circumstances surrounding her immortality. I found her inner dialog to be pleasant and just the right amount of conflicted. The supporting cast was fun and I really loved Charolette and her personality. I did feel like the conflict between Zoey and her brother was resolved a little too easily but Over all I loved this book so much I really hope that there is more to Zoeys story!

I’m not normally into fantasies about witches, vampires, demons etc (except for A Discovery of Witches) but this book captures your attention and interest immediately. Lots of sympathy for Zoey and her losses, redemption for her brother and an all round good and satisfying ending. The story rolled along in an appealing manner without a lot of unnecessary explaining of all the creatures etc. really enjoyed this.

It doesn't matter how many books I've read about a protagonist that loves books and history, anywhere those topics connect makes a fan out of me. Quite obviously this story was love at first description! Thank you to the author Katy Foraker and NetGalley for the advance copy.

This remarkable tale opens in a hypnotherapy session where Zoey (our leading lady) is replaying an old memory from her mental library as she tries to uncover the secret behind her immortality. From this first scene, I knew I was hooked. The writing is solid and paints a picture that the imagination craves. Even as I read about Zoey and her extremely long and sheltered life at RIDER (a very cool not-so-governmental-supernatural-watch group/agency), I knew it was all leading to a remarkable story about her. Despite the fact that this turned out to be a romance-free paranormal fantasy novel, I found that a refreshing contrast to most every other story I've read lately. While I am a lover of romance, this focus allowed for a deeper connection to the main character and the other characters that sometimes get lost in the exciting throws of a budding relationship.

Parts I found less appealing:
Zoey is a 200 year old immortal who sees to have the maturity growth of a teenage high school girl. While that is in no way a slight (I have a teenage daughter) it did result in more than a few eye roll moments. I mean, come on! She has lived in NY for decades and has only ventured out of the RIDER building once!?!?!? I find it very hard to believe ANYONE wouldn't find that exhausting and more like a prison than a fortress of safety. It is human nature to be inquisitive. I would be testing the lengths of my immortality to better understand the limits. After 200 years Zoey seems to know nothing more than what she can get out of her books and from TV. I mean, she's been trying to enact revenge upon her brother who slaughtered her family and her betrothed....and yet she hasn't left her prison – I mean safe haven – for 2 decades. ANYWAY....

With that pesky business out of the way, I liked...
Everything else.
Zoey, while annoyingly naive at first, does seem to take her life by the balls and begins to question/figure out that her life has other layers and repressed memories that need to be uncovered. Not everything is as she once believed and RIDER may not be the organization of good she once believed (shocker). Her brother, the one who killed everyone she cared about and forced her to flee to NY, is once again shedding blood and this time his prey is witches. Only, is he the true culprit or does the mystery go deeper?
I just love the mix of science, magic, and mystery in this story!

Overall, there was a pinch of predictability to the story, but for the most part I just enjoyed just letting the journey and mystery unravel. There were some hard topics I thought the author did a great job of tackling in a respectable way, and while the story was wrapped up nicely, I do hope there are more Zoey Prescott stories yet to come. When/if another is released, I will definitely be reading that one too.

This book was exactly up my alley. A wonderful blend of modern life true crime vibes and the fantasy worlds we all love. this book has all the key pieces to keep a reader hooked and moving forward. For fans of A Discovery of Witches and The Secret Life of Addie LaRue, this story will feel like a continuation of a wonderful combination real life and magic. Plus there’s plenty of twists and turns to keep you from putting the book down. A great debut read!

3.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
This fun debut urban fantasy is packed full of mythical creatures, lovable messy morally gray characters, and thinly veiled Twilight references, with a little twist of dark academia deliciousness. While some of the plot and voice felt a little bit loose to me, I still really had fun with this novel. A great read for a cozy fall afternoon.
The story takes place between RIDER, an academic institution in New York City studying all manner of magical phenomena, and the supernatural scene of Washington, D.C. It follows the journey of Zoey (nee Bess) who is being housed and studied at RIDER because she’s a normal human who mysteriously became immortal in a magical accident 200 years prior. She’s also the sister of a criminal vampire who’s suspected to have been terrorizing the magical community for the past 200 years. But when she is granted an exception to leave the walls of RIDER for the first time in a century and travel to Washington, D.C. she finds everything is not exactly as it seems.
She meets a ragtag cast of characters there, including a witch-in-training named Charlotte who is believed to be at risk of vampire attack, two young werewolves. We are also introduced to her RIDER colleagues Tristan, Mirza, and ex-lover Augustine. They hatch a plan together to bring down Theo, Zoey’s deranged vampire brother.
But when they meet him, they discover everything is not exactly as it seems. The studies RIDER has been subjecting Zoey to are notorious and go deeper than she ever knew. Theo opens her eyes to a world she had never seen before, and there’s no going back once she uncovers it.
The plot was fun, if a bit bonkers. Things take a pretty drastic twist about 60% of the way through that I didn’t see coming, but if you can suspend disbelief and just enjoy the crazy, creature-riddled ride, you’re in for a fun ride.
I had a good time with this book. I felt the world-building did leave a little bit to be desired, because the scope was so big and included so many magic systems/creatures/etc. As such, we didn’t get to really dig deep into the academic world it’s set in, and I would have liked more of that. But I do think that would have made for a darker book, and keeping it light is part of why I liked it. Overall, a super fun read for an airplane ride. Definitely pick this one up for some spooky fun!