The premise of this one sounded good, but the delivery was lacking. I was highly disappointed in the bad language that was included, as that set a poor example for the target audience of teenagers. My disappointment was doubled when I realized this was a Thomas Nelson book. That company used to be well known for clean Christian fiction stories that a reader could trust, that a reader could hand to their teenagers without worrying about the content they’d be reading. This book did not follow that trend. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first recent book that has broken my trust in the company.

I hope they re-raise their moral standards soon.

I stopped reading this book at 21 percent.

Content: expletives (English and Spanish), profanity (English and Spanish), underage drinking, alcohol

This was a fun book to read. It is a different genre than I normally read but really enjoyed it and would recommend.

This was an amazing sequel to an equally amazing book, The Memory Index. Julian R. Vaca has come up with such a unique premise and continued it wonderfully in this book. You can really envision the events of the book as you read. This is a page-turner that I did not want to put down. I really enjoyed the character development of the 4 teenagers as well.

picks up right where the first story left off

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the review copy.

The Recall Paradox is the sequel to The Memory Index, and picks up exactly where the first volume leaves off - almost to the point where the two should be published as part one and part two of a single volume; an unexplained incident from the beginning of The Memory Index is key to the conclusion of The Recall Paradox.

This is a multi-genre novel, being a mystery set in an alternate past. Memory loss is a significant issue facing society's aging population today, and the basic concept underlying this novel is that it should be possible, in the near future, to record an individual's memories and play them back for that individual as a treatment for dementia. But in this novel, there's an added issue: developed to deal with dementia and other forms of memory loss, artificial recall is introduced to the world just in time to stave off a world wide pandemic of memory loss, a disease called Memory Killer. But something is going wrong with the devices, and the company that produced them is trying to pilot an improved version, using high school students as guinea pigs. As Fletcher and Freya and their friends dive deeper into the issues surrounding the skills they been taught to access the memories of others, they discover what the cause of the problem might be - and it's not what they expected.

This is an interesting concept for a novel, and unique - but as a mystery, it was a little weak, and the revelation came well after it was apparent what the solution to the mystery was. The novel is set in the 1980s, and regularly references music popular at the time, which is not particularly relevant to the storyline. There seems to be no purpose for this time setting, except possibly to eliminate issues with the technology that is central to the novel. Overall, it's a reasonably decent book, and worth reading for the concept, but it got mired down now and again in little details that could easily have been accounted for in other ways.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What an amazing follow-up book! The second in a 2 book series, you'll want to read the first book first. The story picks up right where the first book ended. While it seems that all the tasks have been accomplished, there are new twists coming that you just can't guess. Through it all the team leans on each other to stay grounded, focus on the truth, and keep each other alive. But all their best efforts may not be enough. The action is cranked up as everyone races to find the one piece of the puzzle that will either reveal the truth or bury it forever. Julian Ray Vaca takes a wonderful story to new levels in this follow-up. One where the characters bury themselves deeper into the readers life, cheering and wincing for each dangerous choice they make. The suspense increases with the tough decisions on who to believe and what the one missing piece will lead them to. I was so invested that I couldn't put this book down! I was gasping at the unseen danger coming, cheering at the successes in each step to the truth. You will not regret starting this book until it ends before you are ready to let the story go. It stays with you for days after you flip the last page! I am looking forward to the next great story from Julian Ray Vaca, it's sure to be entertaining and intense! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Although it wasn't that long ago, I did struggle to recall some of what happened in the previous book and that did make it a little hard to get into this one.

Having said that, after reading a couple summaries, it seems the book picks up right where it left off. But it falls back into the the same traps the first one did. The pace drops off pretty quick and it becomes more about the characters than the world building. The plot should be interesting but I have to say I found myself skim reading pretty early on. It just felt a bit "meh". Part of this was due to the tone. The characters were self absorbed teenagers and I just couldn't gel with this

I'm sure others will enjoy it, but for me it failed to grab me and I quickly lost interest. Too much of the story was about the characters hanging out and the exploration of the memory frontier etc was, at times, too young and under developed. Not for me this one.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
I loved this book as much as, if not more than, the first installment. Teens banding together against an evil shadow-y government is one of my favorite tropes in YA literature, and this duology has quickly become one of my favorites. I love the main foursome and how they relate to each other SO MUCH. I would gladly ready any continuation of this story, although I did feel that this sequel wraps everything up that was established in the first novel pretty well.

The Recall Paradox picks up right where the first book left off as well as introducing some more important characters. I do think you need to read the first book first as you will be missing some detailed explanation about what is happening. They talk briefly about the how to’s of memory knifing but not as much detail as the first. I loved the concept of using someone’s memories and the process of what people go through to remember and store the memories. I feel like everything was easy to follow and I wasn’t confused on how anything worked. Learning about the “powers” and ways to control them was interesting but when Freya was going through her memories it got a little slow at times, so I liked how the dual POV balanced the pace. It more action and suspense with some good-timed twists. The bond the friend group made was nice for character development and I loved the situations when they were all together.

Thank you @thomasnelson @JulianRayVaca and @tlcbooktours for the gifted copy.

Buckle up for an epic journey that reminded me of parts of The Matrix (such as how they time jumped) and The Fast and the Furious (such as how theyhad some amazing car jumps etc.)

Really liked the characters, setting and creative and innovative story. The students try to unravel the riddles of the memory paradox and determine the talents this memory hacking team possesses, and it’s a nice retreat with some thought-provoking circumstances. You won’t want to put this book down.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I requested and received a copy of this book by the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Nora St. Laurent
TBCN Where Book Fun Begins!
The Book Club Network blog https://psalm516.blogspot.com/

I quite enjoyed the first book in this series, The Memory Index. It wasn’t perfect, but it was entertaining and I was excited to read the conclusion, since I do love a duology. That said, this one just didn’t hit the same for me. I felt like the problems I had with the first book were exacerbated in the second, and it just didn’t have the same excitement level as the first. I liked the main characters, though it didn’t feel to me that there was a ton of development from the first book, frankly. Plus, this is probably more of a “me” issue, but since they were all coupled off it just felt… I don’t know, but you know how when in a show, the main characters get together early and then the show kind of jumps the shark? Sort of like that.

Anyway, even though I liked the main characters, I could not keep track of all the secondary ones. I couldn’t recall (heh) their particular roles from the first book in many cases, and there wasn’t much in the way of explanation to help me decipher. Sorry fam, my memory is just not that good. Honestly, my biggest qualm with this one was that I was just bored. I would find myself reading, but not actually retaining anything because my mind had been somewhere else. So then I started… well I won’t lie, I started skimming around the halfway mark, which is something I almost never do. (I feel like it is sort of cheating? But I was already so deep into the series I needed to know how it ended, so.)

And the end was fine. It still felt like plot points were resolved sort of easy along the way, and I just kind of… shrugged and moved along. Other readers seem to have enjoyed it more though, so if you liked the first one, don’t let this deter you!

Bottom Line: It just didn’t hit for me. I felt kind of “meh” and bored, but I still did like the characters, and the concept.

The Recall Paradox by Julian Ray Vaca was an amazing story. The plot was unique and kept me hooked until the last page.

Exciting conclusion to the Memory Index. There was a surprise for Freya right off the bat, and one for Fletcher soon after. The plot twists kept us on edge through the end. There were some memorable descriptive phrases, the mark of a good writer. Well done, Julian❣️

I was so pleasantly surprised that the sequel to THE MEMORY INDEX raised the stakes and pushed the pulse pounding action even further. I love how the teens search for the truth, even as it causes them to act as double agents in a power struggle that is so much bigger than them. And through it all, Vaca delivers on all the classic teen activities we love to see, from going to parties, to meeting parents in a budding romance. I tore through this book like the pages were on fire. It was one of the funnest YA books I've read in a long time. Bravo!

“This one can remember the future.”

I have been super interested in this one ever since The Memory Index ended and I came to know that the second book in the duology is going to be called The Recall Paradox. Having said that, it has still been a month since @netgalley approved an advance copy for me, but I finally managed to put life on hold for a while to finish this crazy adventure. Crazy in the absolute best ways, of course!

“One of the greatest tragedies of humankind is that we weaponize that which was intended for good.”

It is such a great effort to begin a book with something so intriguing as this one and then just keep the momentum for the rest of the story. While it was an absolute treat to meet the gang again, it was wonderful to meet the new characters as well. Deciding whether to trust the newcomers was surely like being stuck between a rock and a hard place, but that is where all the fun lies.

“What’s more terrifying—losing your memories, or confronting difficult ones?”

Somehow, the entire experience just leaves you with tons to think about. If the pandemic we really had to face was that of losing our memories, nobody really knows how good or bad we would fare. Let’s just hold on tighter to our memories, our dreams, and our present, just in case.

As always, thank you, @netgalley!

“Sometimes optimism feels foolish, but optimism always leads to hopefulness, and remaining hopeful is never foolish."

Loved this sequel! This second half did not dissappoint. Thank you to Netgalley for this advanced copy.

I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first (The Memory Index). I was surprised that I didn't see the major twist coming, so there's a point for that. Reading the first book is 100% necessary to read, understand, and enjoy the sequel. The Freya dad reveal seemed like such a letdown, considering that is something I was really looking forward to in a sequel. Dual POV chapters, 1980s setting.

(Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.)

The story was a pretty good ending to the series, but there's a lot of unnecessary (in my opinion) swearing, and it's still a bit confusing. Normally, I enjoy this kind of book, but I'm sorry to say this one is just not my favorite.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance e-copy of this book. All opinions are entirely my own.

After reading the first book Memory Index, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on book two.
I love the character growth and how in depth we get. The battle for truth is real, and the ending has you wanting more.
I highly recommend this series to all teen readers. It will take you on an adventure that you don’t want to miss.

The Recall Paradox by Julian Ray Vaca is such an interesting story.
The story grabbed me from the beginning and I found that I didn't want to put it down.
Our characters and mystery were compelling. So much so I read in two sittings.
I thought Vaca did an extraordinary job writing and creating the characters in this young adult/science fiction read.
I enjoyed The Memory Index and this was a nice follow up.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thomas Nelson,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this eARC!