I’ve never seen a story illustrate Orwell’s maxim from 1984 that “He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past” as well as Yiming Ma’s haunting, troubling novel in stories, These Memories Do Not Belong to Us. This novel imagines a world dominated by a new version of China, a reborn Qin empire. And this empire has more than surveillance and informants to help it control its population. Most, if not all, Qin citizens have a Mindbank implanted in their brains. The original intent was to help people remember everything and to connect them to the Internet. What people didn’t know was that the government also had access to Mindbanks and, along with this access, the power to alter or censor memories.

Our journey begins when an unnamed narrator receives his mother’s archived memories from her Mindbank. This is normal practice in the Qin empire; memories can be inherited. When our narrator starts poking into these memories, he is terrified to learn that his mother held onto memories that are now banned. If he’s caught with them, he’ll be sent for re-education—and he is definitely going to be caught with them, just as soon as the Censors get around to reviewing his inheritance. The memories include old tales about what used to be Japan, about what happened when the Chrysanthemum Virus appeared, what happened when the Qin went to war with America, and about a few of the ways that the Qin government gradually extended its power even into the minds of its citizens and history itself.

It took me a few stories to understand why these memories had the narrator so worked up. The people in them and the events portrayed even seemed a little boring in places. Slowly, the stories and memories reveal alterations in the historical record. It’s amazing how a government ruthless enough to rewrite history can completely change how people see the world. One of the stories, set in a quarantined village during the epidemic of the Chrysanthemum Virus, reveals the government’s long-standing lie about citizens willing to metaphorically wall themselves up to slow the spread of the highly lethal virus. We know that they were never asked to quarantine; they were left to die by their government. By the end of These Memories Do Not Belong to Us, I was tense with worry for the narrator and the looming visit from the Censors.

A large part of what made These Memories Do Not Belong ot Us so frighteningly effective is that the idea of a neural implant to store memories and access the Internet doesn’t sound implausible. Elon Musk and his engineers have been working on NeuraLink for years now. It makes sense that some people would want a device to help us remember things: imagine never forgetting important dates, or remembering what others said when you weren’t completely paying attention, or being able to relive the best parts of our lives whenever we want. This novel argues that these abilities could come with a price so high I would never want to pay. Science fiction is so good at taking technology that is just on our event horizon and running with it in ways that highlight ethical dilemmas, harmful impacts on people and nature, and so on. These Memories Do Not Belong to Us encouraged me to hold my knowledge of history even closer and to possibly become a Luddite.

This constellation novel was excellent. It’s essentially a group of short stories about a far speculative future where the Qin Empire (formerly China) is the world’s megapower. Each tale is woven together and they take place over a wide span of time. Each story or memory in future can be bought, sold and holds value.

This book explores censorship and how thoughts and memories are dangerous in a new world (how far away is this, really?!) The protagonist holds a collection of his late mother’s memories and is determined to share them before they’re destroyed (along with him.) The tales that Ma tells are interesting and beautiful. Any reader would be grateful these are being shared. I tried to put myself into the shoes of someone living in this future world while reading. I bounced back and forth between “how can these be illicit” and “wow, I guess it would be harmful for an authoritarian government for someone to discover this!”

Fans of speculative and dystopian fiction will eat this up. It’s awesome to find a debut novelist write such a cool book in this sub-genre.

Thank you to Yiming Ma, Netgalley and Mariner Books for the gifted eARC.

Loved this debut series of Black Mirror-esque dystopian short stories by Yiming Ma. The book is set in the future where, under the rule of the Qin Empire, citizens are each equipped with a Mindbank-- a device that records and shares memories between minds. In this world, memories can be shared with others to be relived/re-experienced over and over again, but they can also be altered or corrupted to manipulate the viewer. After unexpected passing of his mother, the narrator receives a trove of banned memories from her Mindbank that allow readers to question why each memory was banned and why his mother thought it important enough to leave for him. The disconnected stories each make you really consider the pitfalls of digital surveillance, capitalism, and superpowers and highlight the importance of things like freedom, resistance, art, and education. The stories can be easily read in order, or you can skip around-- the order in which they're consumed doesn't matter as they aren't really interconnected or chronological in that way.
I think that I was expecting the book to be more about the world in which the narrator lives and how the Mindbanks directly impacted society on a day-to-day basis, but what it ended up being was a description of a set of others' memories from before/after/during the war. In all, these recountings were also really well-written and thought provoking-- it was just not what I was expecting, so that's on me. Ma's writing is incredibly beautiful and easy to follow, and I can't wait to see more from him in the future!
Sincere thank you to NetGalley, Mariner, and the author for the chance to read this book in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you, NetGalley and Mariner Books for allowing me to read this book early. The opinion in this review is my own.

This book has such an interesting premise. People can share their memories directly and a man inherits his mother's memories but much of what she leaves behind is illegal to remember or share. What happens when what you're allowed to remember and what memories you're allowed to share is regulated?

I thought I was going to like it more but unfortunately it didn't quite work for me. The pacing was quite slow and hard to get into. It did remind me of Cloud Atlas in the fact that it's like many stories in one. There were so many memories shared from different POVs that I had a hard time figuring out how they all connected. After a few different chapters I started to lose interest.

On a positive side the writing was well done. The dialogue suited the mood depending on the POV you were reading from. It was thought provoking. It gave 1984 and memory police vibes. The world was interesting and this was an interesting spin

A thoughtful, quiet reflection on memory, technology, and power that packs a lot of punch. I enjoyed the interwoven stories although I wish I'd had a bit more of a map of the characters and how their stories overlapped. I'll definitely keep an eye out for more books from this author.

This was a tough one for me to get into at first. I kept trying, without success, to make the connections between the short stories. When I gave up on that, and just read them all for the sake of themselves, it became much more enjoyable. The thread that does connect them all is the Mindbanks that they all have, which store their memories and can be accessed by other people. I found that concept very creepy indeed. It's a dystopian future where China, now called Qin, is the world superpower and has taken over most of the industrialized world, including North America. It was a very unsettling read, particularly in the current climate of rising fascism.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC to read and review.

This is kind of like a bunch of short stories coming together. The stories come from Mindbank, a collection of memories, and those memories are from other people. You can learn lessons from them. Theyre quite interesting. I did enjoy some of the memories and some were quite sad. It does come together, but I was a bit bored and didn't know where the story was going to go.

Thank you to Netgalley and the piblishers for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a refreshingly reflective read that captured many of the emotions I've been feeling these past few weeks! I think the message Ma is telling is extremely relevant right now, and her points were laid out in a way that I almost didn't realize it until the end. I loved how there were references to the different stories between themselves and the way that it all wound up together at the end. Maybe not the most exciting or thrilling read, but definitely an impactful one.

I feel so lucky to have received this as an e-ARC because I absolutely devoured the book!! I love the writing style, the creativity, and the running theme of the Mindbank through the whole novel. The style reminds me of “We Should Never Meet” by Aimee Phan, which is a collection of connected short stories that make references to one another. The introduction and ending remind me of “If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late” which was one of my favorite childhood books.

As the reader, you have the choice to read the stories out of order, which is very unique! The stories are woven intricately together and jump to different time periods, but remain overall in the same storyline. When I have the chance to, I’ll definitely be re-reading this in the future and going to try to read it out of order for a new experience. Definitely recommend!

This dystopia is a kaleidoscopic look at memory and how governments can control the narrative and possibly the minds of citizens.

Thank you to Mariner Books, Netgallery, and Yiming Ma for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: Following the devastating effects of a deadly outbreak (enter Chrysanthemum Virus) and a war, Qin (formerly China) has fitted each citizen with a Mindbank. These mindbanks record and monitor all citizens' memories, thus beginning memory capitalism. The narrator has inherited his mother's memories which are an act of resistance. These memories are presented through interwoven vignettes. This dystopian novel feels like a prescient warning of the perils of technological advancement and dominion.

Overall: I like Ma's writing style- which I would describe as quiet looming. I had a difficult time piecing together how all the vignettes fit together aside from the fact that they all were memories of others from before, during, or after the war. I may go back and try to read this again because it feels like one of those books you need to read a few times for it to register.

Rating: 3/5- Liked it.

Recommended: For readers who are fans of dystopian novels.

I absolutely loved this novel. I enjoyed each chapter and connecting the dots with each of the characters. I look forward to reading more by this author.

First, thank you to Mariner Books and NetGalley for the ARC. These opinions are my own given freely.

This book is not for me. That being said, it’s a great concept and definitely has an audience - it’s much more character driven and has a writing style that’s more literary than genre fiction, which is not what I was expecting.

I absolutely love the concept and the general overarching “plot”. I connected with some of the chapters more than others, but overall, I struggled to finish. I found the writing was too slow paced and far too much struggling to tell what was dialogue and what was a thought or an internal feeling. I also didn’t feel like I connected with any of the characters because it jumped around so much and didn’t always use names.

If you like speculative fiction with a heavy emphasis on character and writing style, this is for you.

A unique and prescient story--or, as the cover more aptly describes, a constellation of stories--in which storytelling itself is depicted as an act of defiance against fascism and groupthink. The path to resistance is to feel, to express, to think independently and have empathy for each other's experiences.

The framing device for the book is that the narrator has inherited their mother's memories, stored on a futuristic technology called a Mindbank, which allows the government to have access to its citizens' inner lives in exchange for copious entertainment. Many memories are outlawed, and the narrator is committing a potentially criminal act by viewing the memories and sharing them with the reader. It's a neat concept, and I enjoyed the various stories. However, I felt the conceit of the framing device and the stories' connective tissue--first, the idea that they are dangerous to the Qin regime and challenge the status quo, and second, that certain characters overlap as each other's influences and ancestors--was there, but was not fully realized.

The stories move between characters, eras, and settings. The tone of the writing is a consistent grounding agent: intelligent and slightly distant, a self-aware narration that's offered with sincerity and purpose. The reader gets glimpses of small moments of connection and striving, of perseverance and survival. Standout stories involved a watchmaker's apprentice in a town overrun with a plague, a fable about a disabled swimmer who achieves greatness at a great cost, and a poignant story about a sumo wrestler at a draconian training center who longs for home and the mother who sent him away so he'd never be hungry.

I would especially recommend this to readers who enjoy literary fiction with a sci fi streak, fans of linked story collections, and those who agree that reading and sharing stories in this political climate is both personally rewarding and an act of resistance.

4.2, rounded for Goodreads

In a dystopian future wherein China is the world’s leading and only super power, we start off learning about an inheritance the main narrator receives from his recently deceased mother. Except it’s not any sort of tangible goods. And it’s not today’s world out there (or is it in some respects…?). He’s received a series of memories from her, believed to be highly illegal for him to even possess in one’s oft surveilled mindbank, and the clock is ticking on him being found out. What is a person to do? Why were these stories given to him? What do they mean? Why would these have been censored? With this overarching thread tying these memories together, we begin diving in to these short story memory episodes, causing us to question what is so sensationalist about these stories that they’re that dangerous to possess.

This book tackled its themes the best. It’s quite a short read/listen, but it packs a punch in making you think. And while it’s set in the “far-off future,” I think it’s especially thematic in many ways to today, because the allure of power and control is ever present. Perhaps that makes these themes ever-relevant. Some of the short stories show corruption and ethical degradation outright, while others feature this more subtly, showing how propaganda has seeped into the culture and education systems, bleeding into the beliefs of many common folk. Though throughout our short stories, in addition to the quite dissidence of the everyday man, I do see nuggets of hope, forgiveness, and encouragement to fight for beauty, for loved ones, for more.

I could have done without the hard-hitting final message of the book, after the final memory episode. I think the author got caught up in making sure we got the point of the book in the end, leading to the breaking the fourth wall, and talking directly to those listening (of the mindbank memories, which in this case is us the reader/listener). I understand wanting to drive the point home, though I feel like it was too hit-you-over-the-head. I would have opted for more subtlety, allowing for the questions to be asked and answered more organically, and therefore with more impact.

There was no shortage of valuable quotes in here. I could see myself tackling this book again, next time highlighting much more.

Special thanks to the author Yiming Ma, Mariner Books, and Netgalley for a copy of the book to read and review. All opinions are my own.

An series of interconnected short stories set in an alternate history/future where China takes over much of the world. While there are some overarching world-building aspects I would have liked to know more about, each story is excellent, thoughtful, and timely (with perhaps the exception of the pandemic story not quite ringing true post-COVID).

…we all share a deep longing for social harmony, even at the cost of remembering our true histories. from These Memories Do Not Belong to Us by Yiming Ma

The Qin empire has taken over the world. The Mindbank drives in everyone’s brains records and share memories. It is a way for the Party to hide the past.

“We would not be the first memory artisans to be sent to reeducation camps for creating unpatriotic content,” a character warns–personal memories could be confiscated, families dishonored. It is the risk of truth telling.

One shares her mother’s Memory Epics to an unencrypted cloud for the good of society, hoping the memories of how people lived before, during, and after “our society was irrevocable transformed” will inspire. “None of these memories belong to me, anyway. Not anymore, and never again.”

Her mother’s memories of resistance and solidarity reminds that we are not alone, that across history oppressed people have fought to hold to the good and beautiful.

The world revealed in this story is terrifying because it has happened and is becoming more possible every day.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.

The sprawling storylines orbit around the rise of the fascist Qin dictatorship and the system of "Memory Capitalism" in which citizens can transfer memories via mindbank. In each story, Ma probes the interconnections of technological advancement, digital surveillance, profit incentives, and the police state. Every story hit home more squarely as I saw the ways the real world is fast approaching this dystopian outcome. All in all, a fascinating novel that asks pressing questions about truth, history, censorship, and resistance -- feels utterly relevant in 2025.

I was really looking forward to reading These Memories Do Not Belong to Us, but I think it was a little bit disappointing. While this explores some interesting themes and has a format that I really like, the overall effect wasn't very engaging.

This is a dystopian novel set in a future where China has become dominant (Qin) and everyone has these memory banks with which collective memory can be controlled by the government. This book explores how the government can manipulate history and control people.

While this premise is really interesting, I don't think it really explored much of that and focused more on these personal stories. I don't think it was a bad book, the writing is very good and the themes make you think. On the other hand, I really had to push myself to keep my attention on this.

Reading 2025
Book 133: These Memories Do Not Belong to Us by Yiming Ma

Thanks to #NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book on Kindle in exchange for my review. This book published August 12, 2025.

Synopsis: For fans of Cloud Atlas and The Power, a hauntingly beautiful and profoundly prescient debut set in a future where China is the sole global superpower and citizens can record and transfer memories between minds.

Review: I have not read a dystopian book in a while and enjoyed this one. It seemed to me like a collection of short stories in which each was built on the other, until there was one left to tell the whole tale. Memory banks implanted in people’s heads, memories moved to one another with the push of a button, very interesting. Several of the stories that were woven into this book were great for me, others fell a bit flat. In the end, an enjoyable experience. For Sci-Fi, dystopian friends out there this is a book for you. My rating 4⭐️