I quite enjoyed this unique fantasy with some interesting commentary on museums and the way they interact with different cultures.

While it's marketed as science fantasy, there's not actually that much science happening, though the process behind memory retrieval could be considered scientific. I think this aspect of the world building could have been explored more, and at times I was a little confused about how it all worked. That said, I found the concept of storing memories in blood chalice mushrooms after examining them a really good concept.

The story is about Key and Vale, a memory hunter/guardian duo. When Key uncovers a memory that seems inconsistent with everything she learnt about their history, she delves deeper while her mentor tries as much as she can to stop her.

I like the characters, and both have a POV in the book. Key is the child of rich, important parents and she is the strongest memory hunter alive, and can go farther back in time than anyone else. She believes this is due to her family lineage, and due to being blessed by the saints, and can be pretty arrogant about her capabilities. I liked how she was clearly written as a flawed character with some flawed views of the world. Vale, on the other hand, is a woman from a poor family of a cultural minority group (I am not super clear on what cultural groups live in this world, but the concept of memory preservation touches on this), and she became a guardian largely to send money back to her family. She's tough, and initially largely believes in the memory hunting too, but she's more concerned with supporting her family.

There's a main sapphic romance, but it's very slow burn, and Vale actually has a boyfriend for much of the book. I found Jing interesting as a character, but it's so painfully clear these two are not meant to be. Their interactions are so awkward, and Jing has much better chemistry with his best friend and guardian Cal (Jing is a memory hunter too). Vale kind of feels like a third wheel when hanging out with Jing because Cal's also there, but she does have better chemistry with Key. I think this was actually well done, and you can see why Vale stays in this relationship even though everyone can see it isn't really working. This does slow down the development of Vale and Key's romance, but Vale's relationship is not the only reason. Key's privileged position also complicates their relationship, because she just doesn't understand certain things, and has a very colonial leaning view on the world that she needs to unlearn. I think the slow burn works well here, they clearly care for each other and already know each other at the start, but there's still much standing in their way. I'd say the romance is really a subplot overall.

There's a big reveal about halfway in about how memory hunting really works, but I must say I found it underwhelming. It didn't seem as big of a deal as some characters made it out to be, and I don't think this is supposed to be the main criticism of the practice either.
What I found much more interesting was the colonialism allegory within the museum practices. Many memories are archived somewhere inaccessible to the public, and both Key and her mentor believe only the museums can properly preserve memories. This includes memories that relate to the history of cultural minority groups, and some of the conflict is about this, and I think this is very good allegory for how western museums believe only they are capable of properly caring for artefacts they stole when they colonized certain countries. I think this was among the best aspects of the book.

The book is decently paced, and really picks up towards the end, though the middle was a little slower. Overall, I really enjoyed it, though I would have liked if some aspects of the world building had been fleshed out a bit more.

Would recommend to fans of fantasy books with strong commentary on the colonialism such as Blood over Bright Haven and the Dawnhounds

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of The Memory Hunters.

***Review Summary***
The Memory Hunters is a sapphic romance novel set in a future, queer-normative, climate-apocalypse version of Appalachia where a lot of technology has been lost but the elite have gained the power to relive and retain the memories of the dead.

My biggest issue with The Memory Hunters is that it felt like three different books were cut up and sewn back together badly. There was the academia-adjacent romance where a character has to choose between her boyfriend and the girl she's secretly in love with. There was the science-fantasy dystopia with chilling and powerful points to make. And there was the martial-arts-mafia plot line featuring unbelievably good fighters (one runs so fast that she blurs), kidnappings, secret lairs and more.

It's a shame because the book had so many brilliant concepts. There were sections (mainly the dystopia ones) where I was enthralled. I also enjoyed the queer-normative and diverse world where our two lovers are women of colour. But, the romance and the criminals with their martial arts didn't work for me at all. And, I also felt the book was let down by poor logic and the main characters treating other people really badly.

***In More Detail: The Romance***
The romance was definitely given the biggest focus in the book. In fact, the dystopia plotline stalls for 150 pages (33% of the book's content) so we can see our two main characters yearn for each other in silence and/or feel discontent with their existing relationship. During this time, the characters prepare for dinner parties, discuss laundry and cooking responsibilities with other people, have meetings, and share backstory, some of which felt more appropriate to a contemporary rom-com. As I said, the plot stalls.

There is a lot to like about the romance, but it leads the two main characters to treat other people terribly. One cheats on her boyfriend and yet still plans to move in with him to save money. The other learns that her mother has <spoiler>a terminal illness</spoiler> only to never think about it again.

There's also a big power imbalance between the two characters, and there was one scene that was meant to be full of romantic tension but felt borderline like one of them was negging the other's appearance.

***In More Detail: The Dystopia***
This dystopia had so much to say! The book touched on social class and nepotism, wealth privilege, the relationship between religion and power, consent, identity, museum ethics and the theft of cultural heritage, the politics of who museums listen to about a culture/people, the politics of what museums choose to record and what they choose to let be forgotten... And it did so in a way that was poignant and powerful, and with a unique magic system to boot. I could write pages and pages about all these themes in the book.

That said, it didn't feel like the world was completely fleshed out. World-building is so important for dystopias, but things didn't really make sense. For example, this is a world with trains, electric cars, radio, alarm systems, laboratories, etc., but people don't know how guns work and use swords and axes instead. Even if that knowledge had been lost, there's no way that they couldn't have re-invented guns.

I also felt that the big secret alluded to in the book's description was, sure, uncomfortable, but certainly not damning enough to cause our main characters' reactions. <Spoiler>Consuming human blood for ritual purpose is fine, but the fact that 240 years ago, their ancestors' consumed — with the recent dead's consent — human brains would bring down the entire power system? I just don't believe it. They're already engaging in borderline cannibalism.</spoiler>

All the same, I would have loved to have read a version of this book where the dystopia took centre-stage instead of the romance.

***In More Detail: The Criminal Gang Using Martial Arts***
This element of the book felt like vibes over plot. It was the main focus in the last 25% of the book (~110 pages). But, logically, at every point, there were better options for our characters than the ones they took. It was unnecessary.

The amount of violence was also astonishing and unbelievable. Human bodies do not recover quickly enough for them to get injured that many times in quick succession and be not only able to keep fighting but also mostly unaffected by their injuries when moving. And because they just kept recovering and beating people up and killing them, I found I didn't actually feel any tension or concern during this part of the book.

Even before this plotline became the focal point, one of our main characters also displayed a fair amount of toxic masculinity (because yes, women can display toxic masculinity) in the way she kept choosing to beat people up instead of processing emotions.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for the ARC!

Key, a memory hunter, and Vale, her guardian work for the Museum in Human Memory in a dystopian world that has been ravaged by climate change. During an unsanctioned detour on a research trip, Key dives back into a memory and finds that the official history as it's been taught may not be totally accurate.

I really really wanted to like this because the concept is great, but it just fell a little flat for me. The pacing was strange and the exposition about how Key dives into memories and why she is considered so special (beyond being essentially a nepo baby) took a long time coming. I didn't really feel a connection to either Key or Vale and felt they were a little bit one dimensional. While it maybe wasn't for me, readers who enjoy climate dystopian novels or dark academia should give this a try!

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book.*

While I find the entire concept & world building intriguing, the two main characters sadly did not grow on me. I found both of them slightly annoying which marred my reading experience because this book is as much character driven as it is story driven. Maybe it also had to do with Netgalley forcing me to read it on my phone via the app where you cannot change text size etc, so it was quite exhausting. I think the author has a lot of potential and I'm looking forward to whatever she's going to write next.

Mia Tsai's newest fantasy drops readers into an intense, dangerous world where people can walk through memories through the aid of certain mushrooms, but at great risk. Key can dive further into ancestral memories than anyone she knows, and she uses her skills to discover new mysteries to unravel for the Museum of Human Memory, choosing to be an academic rather than serving at the temple her family believes she's destined to lead. She and her bodyguard, Valerian, are out in the field when Key dives back 250 years, finding a clue that may hint at a great discovery--but they're in danger from rogue hunters, and have to escape before she can fully be immersed. But the memory she's uncovered lingers, affecting Key long after they leave, drawing her back to it and its potentially dangerous secrets.

The story is a slow burn indeed, both in terms of the romance and the plot, and it took me some time to tease apart the complex world and the story of Key and Valerian. It was fascinating, and I look forward to reading more in the series (because, I discovered, the story definitely isn't done at the end of the book!) There's a lot of danger and intrigue, and some fairly gruesome scenes, which would be good to know heading into the story. I'll be recommending The Memory Hunters to fantasy readers at our library who are looking for a rich world to explore full of secrets waiting to be unraveled.

I was hooked from the tagline of "Inception meets Indiana Jones" and this book didn't disappoint. I was invested from the first page and enjoyed the overall feel of this world and characters. The plot was everything that I was looking for and enjoyed the way the characters were created for this. Mia Tsai wrote this so well and am excited to read more from Mia Tsai as this was so well written.

I had a hard time getting theough this one. The pacing was all over the place, but mostly boring. The characters felt one-dimensional and the relationships between them were boring.

This one was awesome! Such a richly imagined world with a little bit of post-apocalyptic dystopia, a little bit of fantasy, and a grounding in world-specific science gives THE MEMORY HUNTERS a really vivid backdrop to build our characters with. And what characters they are: we have Kiana the golden child from a powerful family with uniquely strong “magical” talent and Valerian her tiny-ball-of-rage sworn sword who came from nothing and is too proud to accept help. Of course they’re both harboring buried (?) feelings for each other.

What also really stuck out for me was the conflict between the museum, the temple, the black market, and folk traditions. When you consider that this book’s “tangible memories” are a metaphor for cultural artifacts and history, the whole thing reeks of how historians stole and trampled on indigenous cultures in order to craft their own narrative; how organized religion does pretty much the same thing but in a different light; how simply enacting revenge on those institutions can’t bring back what was lost unless you do the work of dismantling them and providing reparations and rebuilding; and how indigenous cultures have preserved their histories and stories without (and often in direct opposition to) colonizer intervention.

I read this book while traveling and it kept me thoroughly engaged (despite a delayed flight and being on a plane way past my usual bedtime) up until the last act. I think the final section suffers a bit from Vale needing to sort of do the same thing over and over, particularly since she does most of the POV lifting in that section.

I did really like how things ended, though, with a lot of interesting threads to pick up in book two!

I really struggled with this book. It had some really great ideas and the premise sounds fantastic -- Inception meets Indiana Jones -- but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. In the end, I had to force myself to finish.

Inception may be my favorite Christopher Nolan movie and Indiana Jones is so beloved, I convinced myself for years that Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was actually good. Both of those properties, however, have a rich and expansive world that feels limitless. The characters are likeable and have depth. I see the comparison to them based on the opening chapter, but that’s about where it ends.

It seems like about 90 percent of the book takes place in one city and most of the first half of the book is people in rooms talking. There was a small amount of action in the first chapter, but after that, I was waiting for something to happen. Even the world itself was confusing -- it seemed as though it’s dystopian, set years in the future after this world has collapsed, but then the entire macguffin of memory extraction felt like a fantasy element, even with the fungal “science” tie-in.

The main characters are Key and Vale -- a memory hunter and her guardian. I’ll note here that both are female, but I was confused often because Vale had many masculine characteristics so I often thought of her as a man. The two are co-workers? Boss and subordinate? Friends? Lovers? …basically all of those things at some point in the book. Their relationship escalates from the beginning of the book until the end, but the path it takes is herky jerky and I often didn’t understand either of their motivations, especially when it came to their feelings for each other.

There’s a plot to the book, but it gets lost and bogged down by the lack of world building (like there’s this whole religion that’s tied into retrieving memories, but it also seems like it’s the “official history” as well, but it didn’t make a lot of sense how any of it actually worked or the religion’s tenets or anything really). In the end, it set it up so basically Key and Vale were the only two on the right side and everyone else was bad and wrong. Some characters were set up to have some nuance, but it was hard to find in the end.

Like I said, I struggled with this one. There are some amazing ideas to build a book off of, but it felt like some of the backstory of those ideas was left on the cutting room floor or in the author’s mind.

Thank you to Erewhon Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

My thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for an advance copy of this fantasy book that looks at how people remember things, how people miss things, how people omit things, and the power of love and well mushrooms.

I have always been fascinated at how humans remember history. My grandfather could tell me stories about being a lumberjack in Canada, like he was reading it from his diary, and yet he couldn't remember anything about my father's childhood. We build monuments to memorialize events, and lie to people about what they are about. Fake news is used to control memories of what was just seen and heard, for to control the narrative is a way of controlling history. And of course control, always control. Control over what is known, what is thought, and even how people can feel for each other. Truth wills out is a common saying, but many don't want the truth, for it makes them face thoughts they don't want to have, or want to admit. The Memory Hunters by Mia Tsai is a fantasy that is very much about the present day, about memory, the past, control, power, and of course love.

Kiana Strade is a researcher and academic who could be a high member of the temple that rules her world, but instead Key, as she calls herself likes to be out in the field, getting muddy, messing with mushrooms and their powers, and looking for memories. Key can find lost memories, deep ones that not many can find, nor understand, something that many envy, many wish to control, and many wish to stop. Valerian, also known as Vale, is Key's bodyguard, watching over Key to keep her safe, not only from enemies, but from Key's own impulsiveness. Usually this is an easy job, one that Vale enjoys for many reasons, including the feelings she has for Key, and the money that helps her family, but things have become complicated. Key has tapped into a memory that seems to contradict much of what the world believes, something that could change things, and not for the better. Key's mentor ignores Key, and Key's own mother, a powerful person has demanded that Key halt her work, or risk the consequences. The consequences that might not only be physical, for Key is starting to miss time, and things are starting to get worse.

A book of fantasy, mushrooms, love, blood, family, and a lot more current events than one would expect. The book is very well written, with a rich world, that has a lot going on, great ideas, and a nice sense of pace. The characters are well developed, though Key was, well abrasive in many ways for a part of the book. As the book progresses, Key grews into herself, and her power and knowledge, which really made for a more interesting character. The relationship is real between the two, with lots of misreads, miscommunications, and finally lots of trust. The book is a duology, and I admit that I am excited to see where this book is going.

Fans of this kind of fantasy will enjoy it. Role players can learn quite a lot from this book, how to treat characters, how to treat museums and places of learning, and and some interesting new ideas on how to treat memory, blood and food as magical creations. Lots of fun, with a lot of ideas about the state of our current world to contemplate.

If you're looking to be transported to a unique and immersive world, The Memory Hunters is a must-read. The author crafts an intriguing setting that combines academia, botany, cli-fi, and fantasy in a fresh and exciting way, with a set-up I have never encountered before! The story follows Kay, one of the few who can see into the past, and heir apparent to the two institutions dedicated to this rare ability. As Kay faces tough decisions, she must come to terms with the true nature of these institutions and their role in shaping history.
Her protector and close friend, Vale, is more cynical, having experienced firsthand the struggles within their society. Together, somewhat unknowingly, they embark on a journey that raises important questions about representation, memory preservation, and the right to one’s own culture. All of this unfolds in a fast-paced, academic-fantasy adventure.
I thoroughly enjoyed the story, even though a few passages felt slightly slow or overcomplicated at times. Still, who could resist the tension and complexity of a friends-to-knight dynamic that’s as tumultuous as it is compelling?

I am so bummed! The Memory Hunters sucked me in from the beginning with it's Inception vibes, but as the story progressed it lost me.

This book ended up not quite as I expected.... the beginning kind of draws you in, very heavy inception vibes... but then it kind of falls flat.
Main character Key is spoiled, and unlikable. Vale is better, but still not really relatable.
It seemed like a fresh idea, but it kind of falls flat. More about history and finding items for museum while uncovering other mysteries. It just didn't keep my interest.

I LOVED this but people who go into it actually thinking it's going to be some heavy Inception/Indiana Jones/Fifth Season vibe are going to be disappointed. So are the people that go into it thinking it is going to have a heavy romance component. This book is not any of those things.

What this book is ACTUALLY like is Babel, though Tsai has a lighter and more subtle touch in making her points than Kuang, who likes to wallop you over the head with her message, repeatedly, rather than trusting you to see what she has very clearly spelled out.

This is a book about historiography which is using fantasy to make its point. Who owns history? How does history change depending on who is telling it? What role do and SHOULD museums play in history? Are communities really incapable of caring for their own artifacts? Should the Elgin Marbles be returned to Greece? (The Elgin Marbles are not mentioned at all in this book, it's just a very common real-world example of this debate. And yes, they should be given back to Greece.)

There is a smidgeon of romance here, but it is not at all the focus of the book. This is also clearly the start of at least a duology, though that isn't actually mentioned anywhere; people expecting this to be wrapped up in one volume are not going to be happy, I can say that much. I liked the worldbuilding and the conflict here, though I think Tsai actually could have dug into the story of Key and Genevieve a bit more. Genevieve is a villain here, and yet her backstory is clearly also one in which SHE was the one fighting against unjust institutions, and her mentor Key is definitely a nepo baby who kind of just gets everything served to her on a silver platter. I hope Tsai uses some page time in the future book(s) to dig into how those things actually made Genevieve who she is. (I did spend some time here wondering if Key was actually going to turn out to be the bad guy, but no, that doesn't seem to be the case.) That tension is pretty much the only thing I think this book was missing, but it IS a significant enough gap that I KEPT thinking about it.

This is such a different book than Bitter Medicine but it was a VERY strong one. People that WANTED to like Babel but don't like how heavy-handed Kuang is with her messaging might find this one significantly better.

Thank you to NetGalley, Mia Tsai, and Kensington Publishing for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

I wanted to love this book but it didn’t live up to expectations. Firstly, I liked Key and Vale as the main characters. I understand why people say Key is an unlikable character but it makes sense to me. Considering, that she is an intense privileged academic of blood memories. Then her bodyguard Vale, who comes from a smaller town wants to prove herself. I enjoyed their dynamic. I didn’t feel like they were well-rounded characters. They fell a little flat.

The magic system was unique and interesting. I wanted to know more about it. Key mentions she is an anthropologist with the ability to dive into blood memories. I thought that was fascinating. I was curious about the “science” aspects. I felt like the reader is dropped into the story while that works for some stories. I felt like a better understanding of the world would have kept my attention. The pacing was a bit slow at times.

I can see the potential of this story. I hope the next book in the series is a bit more flushed out. I do agree that this book can be compared to Blood Over Bright Haven in aspects. They both deal with a trusting academic FMC and blinding believing people in authority. It is a dystopian that focuses on climate change and who has the right to choose which stories are worth remembering and which are not.

Some great ideas here, but ultimately I felt like this book didn’t know what it wanted to be. The first half is all character study with very little plot happening, and the second half does a complete 180. I also couldn’t get a great sense of the world—how the museum and church fit into the picture and why they were separate when they were kinda the same thing? A lot of questions popped up for me throughout the book that I don’t feel were adequately addressed, and I’m not sure I ever had enough of a handle on things to be able to enjoy the story.

The Memory Hunter is a book wish a lush, interesting premise that doesn't quite survive execution. I adored the dystopian Appalachian setting, and found the mushroom-infested mountains a funhouse mirror version of my own local experience. The idea of using mushrooms to recover memories was incredibly interesting as well, and Tsai does a great job of building out the different implications of the practice (political, religious, etc). However, I just couldn't connect wit Tsai's writing style. I wished more time had been spent lingering on descriptions and sensations rather than diving into action. For what had the potential to be an incredibly visual novel, I couldn't always get a good sense of what was going on. I had similar issues with both the plot and the romance. It felt like the story was trying to be too much as once - a romance, a dystopian thriller, a religious horror - and rather than transcending genre as likely intended it just becomes tonally disjointed. I didn't find the characters memorable, which made it difficult to enjoy the romance. A really cool concept that just didn't play our like I was hoping!

There's a lot of great stuff in this book! The writing was lovely, easy to read, and leaned into the dreamy diving scenes to great success. I really loved the relationships between Key/Vale by the end (holy yearning!), Jing/Cal, and especially loved Burdock as a character. The world and premise were interesting and exciting to start.

I do feel the book lived in an awkward in-between space and never quite found its footing. It seemed like it wanted an atmospheric, ethereal vibe similar to Annihilation, but it also wanted to be plot-forward with the religious controversy at its center. The push and pull between these two wants left it in no-man's land and the pacing suffered for it. Some parts in the middle felt like nothing was happening and when things finally did happen, the stakes were not compelling enough to make me care. I didn't feel invested in the characters until the very end.

I'm sure more can be built upon this solid foundation in the following books, although for now I'm not quite sure if I'll pick those up. Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington for the e-ARC.

I received a free copy from Erewhon Books via Netgalley in exchange for a fair review. Publish date July 29th.

I enjoyed Tsai's previous novel, Bitter Medicine, and I was excited for her SFF anthropology themed latest book. In The Memory Hunters, Key searches for memories of the past using hallucinatory mushrooms in a climate change-striken future where most technology has been lost. But when Key and her bodyguard Vale stumble upon a memory that contradicts established historical narratives, it sets them on a collision course with both the museum and the church...

The Memory Hunters is a subtly executed and contemplatively paced book. While the premise of using mushrooms to retrieve memories from hundreds of years ago initially appears to be fantasy, Tsai slowly reveals that Key’s world is actually a future version of our own, wracked by devastating hurricanes, heat waves, and an ocean that's slowly engulfing the land. Unlike many authors, Tsai doesn't make the apocalyptic setting obvious--it's primarily Key’s everyday world, and the hints that it's a version of the Appalachian South are subtle. In this world, history is revered, both as a practical means to extract lost technology and as the central focus of a church that worships memory and ancestors.

Key, or Kiana, is a bit of a difficult character. She's been raised like a princess of her city, as the heir presumptive to her mother's church position--not to mention her politically powerful father. She's rich, trained to be in the limelight, and bullheadedly self-centered. It's obvious that she expects special treatment, both in avoiding punishment and in gaining special privileges. I'm not sure I entirely liked her, but I do have to admit that her complex romance with prickly and cold Vale was well done. Key’s carelessness with Vale complicates the close bond they share as hunter and guardian, and the attraction both women have been suppressing. Understated and lovely.

A slow and thoughtful piece of climate SF about memory, belonging, and who has a right to history. Based on that ending, it's clear Tsai is planning a sequel, and I'm excited to read it. Recommended.

This one had all the makings of a lovely book: a deep-rooted tradition with a whiff of a cult, institutional competition and related politics, a genuinely kind and talented heiress with a heavy burden of expectations she herself and others put on her, a reluctant friendship and even more reluctant attraction between her and her easily triggered bodyguard, and a mystery leading to the origin of the entire social structure currently in place that the two stumbled on and will have to unravel.

What went wrong? Several things really, though it’s all and all an OK book. I personally thought the beginning was quite good, establishing the starting point of Key and Vale’s relationship that will develop and be tested throughout the story, as well as showing intriguing bits and pieces of the world building. For me, there was less political struggle between the Temple and the Institute than I would’ve liked: it sort of kept making a regular appearance but lacked the depth and detail to really make it shine. Most of the plot twists were predictable (the less-than-savoury past of the existing memory-related traditions, as well as Genevieve and Burdock’s respective plot lines), but I doubt this type of story could have followed a different template anyway. What put me off was the unnecessary repetition of some of the beats (for example, Key and Vale go through several rounds of “we’re friends, oh wait we’re not, no we are”), long monologues - both internal and external - that took away from the emotional tension of the scene, and Vale’s uncontrollable urge to solve any and all situations she finds herself in with violence, even when it is not only ill-advised but clearly suicidal. It just doesn’t read as real, and if there’s a real prototype for this sort of behavior, then I’ll admit that it can be realistic but still tedious.

All in all, a fairly fast read, though the first half of it trumps the second, in my opinion, and the ending doesn’t really give clarity to what will happen to the shaken ideological foundations of that world.

3.5 rounded up to 4