The Memory Hunters by Mia Tsai is a captivating blend of urban fantasy and mystery, offering a unique take on memory manipulation and the power of the mind. Tsai’s world-building is intriguing, full of magical elements that feel both fresh and familiar. The main characters, especially the protagonist, are relatable and complex, making it easy to connect with their struggles and growth.

However, the pacing can be a bit uneven at times, especially towards the middle, where some sections feel slower than others. Still, the rich, atmospheric writing and emotional depth kept me hooked throughout.

Overall, I’m giving it a solid 3.5 out of 5 stars. While I thoroughly enjoyed the concept and characters, I felt like the plot could have been tightened up a little more to keep the momentum going. Still, it’s definitely worth the read for fans of fantasy with a touch of mystery and a lot of heart.

Thank you Kensington Publishing and NetGalley for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. My review is my own and not influenced by others.

‘Inception meets Indiana Jones in this propulsive fungal science fantasy following a headstrong academic and her equally stubborn bodyguard as they unearth an ancient secret that rocks the foundations of their society—and challenges their unspoken love for one another.’

The description sounded so good! But the writing style, world building and plot were so confusing that I had to DNF this book and spent my time with books that are much better to read.

Wow! Fantastic can’t wait for sequel. I loved the intricacies and twists and turns of this book. Female lead, magic and fantasy. Slow burning relationships. Thank you to the author. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

I really enjoyed this fantasy adventure featuring an archaeologist-adjacent scholar who does fieldwork excavating for memories for a museum. Indiana Jones was an apt comparison; I also caught vibes of Selah/Tair of Sargassa in the main pairing of Key and Vale. Spoiled, selfish rich girl with a heart of gold and earnest innocence paired with a poor, scrappy servant with an impossible power dynamic and slow-burn lingering glances.

The Memory Hunters centers around a society in which memories can be extracted through a complicated process involving mushroom fillaments that humans have evolved to do and made part of their spiritual practice. Key is a rich kid memory hunter who works at a museum but is destined to become a spiritual leader at her family's temple; Vale is her guardian. Key is reckless, brash and always right, and Vale, despite having a milquetoast boyfriend, is hopelessly in love with her and along for the ride.

I was confused about how the memory extraction process worked and while this was billed as a science fantasy, I didn't see much science in it and these researchers acted more like Indiana Jones than actual scientists. I would have appreciated a more thorough and immersive description of how memory hunting worked, seemed like they just took a tablet infused with mushroom juice and I was confused from there. Even the spoiler of the true source of the ability didn't offer much elucidation. The worldbuilding was a little light on this, but I found it fascinating and wanted to know more, for such a long book.

But I absolutely loved Key and Vale and their slow-burn romance. I appreciated the pressures that Key was under that made her seem like a self-absorbed brat; she changed and became a better person through her bond with Vale. I need more princess-bodyguard sapphic romances like this.

I appreciated how Vale was a scrappy, tough kid who was always underestimated, but what was unique about her was her fierce devotion to her big, loving family back home and how she tried to recreate those links with her boyfriend and friends but was betrayed by her new support system at the end. I wish there had been more closure with her boyfriend, for him being such a large part of the story; I appreciate the bi rep but I wanted the focus to be on the main sapphic couple. Vale was so cavalier about the kiss and emotional affair; I wanted more of a conversation or a realization from her instead of her just seeing her man turn on her. I am tired of sapphic romances with bi women cheating on their boyfriends.

The slow burn between Vale and Key was epic, though, and they definitely took center stage as the main love interests. The boyfriend bit bugged me because I couldn't understand Vale's motivation for staying with him other than a thinly veiled excuse for tension. Anyway, by the end I was rooting for Vale to finally dump him but she never really did. Another side pet peeve.

Overall this was a fun, refreshing adventure and while some parts were predictable (I dislike guessing what will happen ahead of the characters) I was drawn in by this world and the fascinating ethical dilemmas of museum collections vs taking artifacts that belong to the cultures that originated them. I will be paying attention to this author's future work and hope there will be a sequel; it was certainly set up for one.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

There's some books that come into your life at the wrong time. Everything about this book is something I should like but I find myself wandering at times while reading. It wasn't action oriented (which is fine) but without a more clear inciting event and hook it was difficult to get myself to want to come back to it. Overall, the ideas expressed and discussed in this novel were deeply thought provoking and enjoyable but perhaps my mind needed to be ready for the writing style and story structure.

This book wasn’t for me. From the blurb I was expecting a more action adventure type of story with less sci fi elements. I don’t enjoy sci fi as a whole so it may just have been me. The writing was too heavy for my taste and the plot too circular.

I was looking forward to this book as the mention of Indiana Jones as well as dark academia and natural disasters had me intrigued. I did finish the book but I felt like it didn’t quite live up to the pitch unfortunately. I couldn’t connect with the main character very well, she came across as quite selfish. The world itself was interesting and it was good to learn about the magic system but it felt like it took a while for anything to actually happen.

Visceral, thoughtful, exciting, and sci-fi dystopian novel about a world where memories are both a commodity and artifact to be extracted and remembered in the Museum of Human Memory. In the world of The Memory Hunters, history and the arts are revered, and certain gifted individuals or memory divers do field collections of important memories through absorbing them from found objects or specimen. They can also have their memories erased when they get overloaded. The question is what makes a memory significant and worth remembering and who gets to tell the story? The book also dives into how forgotten memories can lead to misinformation or benefit institutions. This book has strong Brave New World and The Giver feels - two of my favorite books.

The protagonist, Key - “the blessed one” is a memory diver, who is strong-willed, independent, but empathetic. Vale, as her guardian, was also fierce and interesting character foil. This was a mysterious and fascinating read at the same time, and the world building around the museum, temple, and outside world is phenomenal. Beautifully written.

Special thanks to Kensington Publishing, Erewhon Books, and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest, independent review.

THE MEMORY HUNTERS is a gorgeous, haunting dystopia that will infect your blood with its hyphae and fruit inside your heart. Tsai is a master at building romantic tension, even as revelations unfold in a cascade of "oh shit, OH SHIT, OH SHIT," amidst a plot as complex as the story's world. The story surfaces deep questions of culture and institutional preservation, and who has the right to remember things. The yearning of Tsai's characters is exquisite, and the worldbuilding rich with detail and meaning. I'll be thinking about this one for a long time.

My thanks to Kensington Publishing and NetGalley for a free DRC of "The Memory Hunters" by Mia Tsai.
This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2025 because of the comparison to "The Fifth Season". I will be transparent and say there is one similarity : natural disasters, but not on the same scale.
"The Memory Hunters" is a Fantasy with some SF elements that had a impactful start and it promised a lot of mysteries and complex relationships.
My biggest difficulty was relating to the main character, Key. She was the embodiment of an extremely selfish, self centered rich person. But because I could relate to the second main character, Valerian, I continued my reading journey.
From the initial strong start I did feel that the narrative went in circles for a while and we learned a bit more about this world, magic and much more about the politics, but I did not felt that the story progressed in a significant way until we got closer to the end.
In conclusion I got invested in this Appalachian-influenced setting, in the intriguing world and magic, thought that some of the relationships were interesting and it was worth getting to the end.
While I an mot as satisfied as I anticipated, I would still recommend this Adult Fantasy to advanced readers of the genre that want to experience an original world with some political background and a some sapphic yearning.

I really did not like this at all and I could not keep reading it. The writing style was difficult to follow and the dialogue was not very good.