It kills me to give this book three stars because it had such a strong start. Just a several chapters in, I was convinced that this book would easily become one of my top sci-fi reads. Even though it was consistently a little campy overall, the absurdity was a nice contrast to serious and complex premise.

However, at around the 2/3 mark, the carefully crafted plot began to fall apart. The author tried to tie it all back together in the final chapter, but by that point the grip the book had on me from the beginning was lost.

In terms of what I liked, as I mentioned above, the core idea was just so unique and well executed (at the beginning). The central theory of an anti-meme, the “classified” entries on different unknowns, and the continuing question of whose memories are actually reliable - all amazing.

The characters were a little flat, but I was originally able to look past that due to the positives I mentioned above. When it became clear that the ending wouldn’t be as strong as the beginning, it started to affect my overall opinion of the book. Especially considering there were threads of plots that were briefly picked up and then completely forgotten.

Despite the negatives, I would still recommend this book to others, especially those who love sci-fi. My personal take is that the ending was so radically different in terms of tone and execution, that even though it was an objectively fine ending, I was left feeling a bit let down. However, the book itself still has such a solid premise that one could easily look past any faults I found and find it an engaging read.

I would like to thank Ballantine Books and QNTM for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
5 Stars

"What if an idea was dangerous? What if an idea was tangible? What if there's monsters/entities around us all day every day that we can't see, hear, or remember? What if that entity has a defense mechanism that made you forget everything about them once you left the room, or everything about your entire day, even your entire existence?

How would we even fight this unknown? The unknowable? What if we've already been fighting and just don't remember we're even at war? Who have we already forgotten?"

Mayhem! Monsters! The Unknown eye on your back in every room.
This is such a great nod to a already delicious horror genre. I knew I was going to love this book before I read it and it did not disappoint.

There's so much here, so many thought experiments and I love following along the path of both Quinn's and their search for answers. I loved the little love story happening in the midst of it all. Even got me misty eyes there at the end which was the last thing I was expecting in this book.

Antimemetics and the Unknowns within this book and in a larger part the broader online database, have really served us up what I consider to be the best yet simulacrum of/for the Boogie Man. It's practically unknowable, unrememberable, and can be lurking just about everywhere. Just beyond your sight. Are they here now? Are they touching you? Are the behind every closed door? Are they taking your loved ones from your memory as we speak? Are they taking you?

All the stars. A new favorite. It got a little funky at the end (last 15%) but I still enjoyed it and can't complain.
100% recommend for horror readers.

4.25⭐️

A fever dream. A slow decent into madness. This book was unlike anything I’ve ever read before… and I LOVED it.

If you enjoyed Severance, if you were intrigued by Annihilation, read this book. A sci fi, psychological horror, weird, great time.

I don’t think I’m intelligent enough to give a brief summary of the book so I won’t try and I’m sure some of the brilliance of this story was lost on me. I’m just going to encourage you to give this a shot. It’s short and I ate it up.

I will be adding these types of book to my TBR immediately.

Thank you again for the advance copy of this re-released gem!

ARC from NetGalley on Kindle

NOTE: the version that came to my actual Kindle was heavily redacted. Sometimes, 80% of the page in spots. The version on my Kindle app was not. I don’t know if this was intentional and honestly it added to the mystique of the book, but I wanted to make sure to add that in this feedback. I would be happy to include photographs if necessary.
To be clear, I changed the font, attempted to highlight, and changed from day and night mode and still could not read the text that appeared “redacted”.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

Any book that is based on the SCP universe is game for me. qntm was able to keep the same mystery as SCP but made their own.

From page one, I was hooked. The story itself is broken up into shorter snippets of Marie Quinn's life as she navigates being the chief of the Antimemetics Division while trying to save the world from an idea that she doesn't remember. qntm did a fantastic job in explaining the science of things clearly and concisely, until the end of the book. Maybe I need to reread it when it's not 2am, but I was trying (and failing) to wrap my mind around everything.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, but still felt it lacked something. Maybe my expectations were more along the lines of reading different stories about different unknowns (like when you hit random entry on the SCP website). But I think that's more on my expectations and less on the story itself. I did go in blind without reading anything about it.

I was not expecting much but was *absolutely hooked* after the first chapter and devoured it in a single day (already planning to re-read). This book explores the SCP universe and follows the Antimemetics Division as they try to neutralize threats. The story is fast-paced and exciting. It does not shy away from giving real answers to hard situations, has excellent prose (well above average for sci-fi/fantasy imo), and builds an exciting, interesting universe full of weird creatures and 3-dimensional characters.
I will be recommending this to anyone I know that reads sci-fi!

Thank you for the ARC from Net Galley.

4.5 Stars

*A received an e-arc of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

This book of interconnected short stories are actually SCP stories turned whole, though as someone who knows only vaguely what SCP is, it holds its own as a separate entity.

The stories / chapters function as a more or less complete story, told in fragments / short story excerpt format, though all the stories take place in the same universe, more or less chronologically with recurring characters.

These stories tackle memory - how you separate what is real from what isn't, how you handle losing memories and gaining false ones. They are also fundamentally character driven - and I love the Quinn's in particular. This is definitely on the horror side of sci-fi, but I really enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is perfect for fans of Severance and The Silence from Doctor Who. Seeing that I’m a fan of both, I definitely enjoyed this book! An enemy that you forget as soon as you look away has always been a concept that deeply unsettles me. This book conveyed that uneasiness very well. It mixes science with horror in a very satisfying way. I also love when books are scientific without making the reader feel confused or stupid. This book is able to include a lot of science and still be understood by the average reader.

*There are sections of this book that are blacked out throughout the book. I thought that was a stylistic choice by the author to represent things being forgotten/ classified. However at about 60% through this book I realized there are supposed to be words that you can read peeking through the blackout. You are not able to see these on a kindle because of the low contrast. Keep that in mind if you’re using an e-reader.

There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm--I've described other books as feeling evocative of the SCP Foundation project, but this book truly feels ripped from the wiki. It's a collection of somewhat cohesive short stories that explore (sometimes literally) unfathomable threats in the world. There's a lot of heart here, but I think some of it gets obscured by the jargon-heavy world building. For that reason, it's hard for me to recommend unless you already have a keen interest in the paranormal. Sideways thumb.

Having read stories by qntm before, I was eager to read this novel! It definitively delivered - this was a fun sci-fi romp! It was a fast paced, adventurous novel that I really enjoyed. Highly recommended.

How can I even describe this book? There Is No Antimemetics Division is the story of a woman in charge of an organization that investigates and studies and contains unknown antimemetic entities. From a beam of light that eats memories to a stone that prevents people from being able to remember how to ride a bike, the organization collects, categorizes and contains everything from relatively harmless to world-ending unknowns.

I don't want to go into too many more details about the content of the book so that I don't give anything away but this was really a fun read. It felt a little like a monster of the week episode at first as the character went through a series of chapters coming up against different types of antimemetic entities but it was a set up to get the ready into a space where they could understand everything that would follow. The overarcing narrative of the book was more than worth the first few chapters and over all the whole book was a five-star read for me.

The character development was great, the world was wild, and though it was a high concept novel it was well written enough that I never really questioned what was going on.

My only complaint is that there are several instances of blacked out text throughout the novel and on my e-read they just appeared as black squares. I read 85% of the book this way only to realize when I pulled it open on my laptop to read the last 15% that on a screen with higher contrast there are actually words in those black squares, which means I missed things throughout the book. It wasn't enough to derail me giving this five stars but any readers who are going to tackle this book on an ereader with lower contrast just be aware that you might be missing out on some things!

I'm about to go back and read through some of the sections that I missed but even still this was a highly enjoyable novel.

Thanks to qntm for writing it, to Ballantine Books for sending it over to me, and NetGalley for facilitating the delivery.

There Is No Anti-Memetics Division by QNTM (aka Sam Hughes) was one mind-bending rollercoaster ride of a book. How do you combat a creature that exists as a concept and can erase your ideas immediately as you have them?

Originally, this was posted as an online series of stories based on the fictional SCP Foundation, which was built as a collaborative writing project on Wikipedia by its users as a mysterious organization that studies unique creatures named “Unknowns”. Each entry is presented as a scientific case file, cataloged by a letter/number sequence and a corresponding danger level defined by a Greek letter. While some of the creatures listed are hysterical, others, like the ones explored in this book, are downright terrifying.

This story focuses on a subclass of creatures known as antimemetics. They hide in plain sight, feeding off memory and thought, shaping reality and wreaking havoc on society without anyone realizing they're there. Any that are captured by the Organization are studied by its Anti-Memetics Division. They must be specially contained, and the workers dealing with them have to follow very specific precautions with everything from having to use paper and pen (because their ideas can be stolen from their heads), injecting themselves with medicine to allow them to retain their memories from day to day, and even leaving notes for their future selves.

The book unfolds through a series of interconnected stories that follow different members of the Division and their pursuit of knowledge regarding these creatures. As they piece everything together, they realize that something huge and monstrous is coming for our world…or has already. There are a few main characters that are threaded throughout these stories, but don't expect any happy endings.

Without giving anything away, some scenes are quite grisly and disturbing, while others are thought-provoking and haunting. This book is dense with the science unique to its world, which makes it sometimes difficult to follow, but not impossible. There are also a few time jumps, both forward and back, that can add to the confusion.

This is not a book for the squeamish, nor is it a light read, but if you're a fan of smart, concept-heavy horror that truly gets under your skin, this one's a standout. It's unlike anything else I've read. I highly recommend this book for those who enjoy horror with a heavy dose of existential dread, which is a genre I happen to love.

Thank you to the publisher Ballantine Books, the author QNTM, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an ARC of There Is No Antimemetics Division.

I was so excited by the premise of this book and totally blown away by the first 40ish%. I couldn't wait to read more. Unfortunately the last 60% either sucked or I wasn't smart enough to understand it (possibly both). A huge disappointment regardless.

3 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for an arc of There is No Antimemetics Division" by qntm. This was genuinely such a fun read. The premise was interesting but I did not expect the ride and good time I was in for. From page 1 I was absolutely hooked and hanging on to every word.

This book should be approached with as little foreknowledge as possible, in my opinion, so I'll be really vague here. This story follows the dedicated employees of the Antimemetics Division, and their job is really hard, they're pretty sure, and comes with challenges they'll never see coming, until they do. Considering the action-heavy plot, I wasn't sure how much time we'd get really learning about the characters, but it also manages to give heart and depth to characters that spend most of their time focused on anything but their own feelings.

I really can't recommend it enough to readers who want a mind-f'ing, action-packed, suspenseful, endearing story to get lost in.

We all know memes but the majority of them are harmless - contagious, often repetitive ideas that take the form of sayings or songs, lodging in your brain for a while before fading into irrelevance. Antimemes, however, latch on and consume your memories - your first kiss, your daily commute, your awareness of the antimeme itself.
You could be in the room with one and not know it; it could be your coworker, lover or friend. It’s a vacant lot in the middle of a busy street, one you pass quickly to avoid the headache-inducing hum you always hear in the vicinity. It’s here, and it’s hungry. By the time it’s finished with you, those around you can’t see you, can’t hear you, and don’t know you ever existed.
Welcome to the Antimemetics Division. No, this is not your first day.

What a wild ride! The concept is so inventive, horrifying, and wildly complex without losing the reader in convoluted logic. It’s a refreshing take on the unreliable narrator and I felt a kinship with Marie and her fellow operatives, trying as hard as they did to stay one step ahead of each Unknown enemy. The story kept me on the edge of my seat and yes, even challenged my love of The X-Files.

Oh wow - this was a bundle of speculative fiction, horror, and sci-fi. There Is No Antimemetocs Division explores an organization dedicated to discovering, tracking, and containing entities that are unknowable and unrememberable. At times feeling a bit like a fever dream, ironically this read is one I will not soon forget.

Thanks to social media, we all know what memes are: ideas that get stuck in our head and go viral because everyone, everywhere, is talking about them. But in "There Is No Antimemetics Division," the world is also filled with antimemes, ideas and entities that defy reason and resist being remembered, even to the point of consuming our memories, our lives, and our reality. Using a blend of esoteric math and philosophy, labyrinthine security protocols, bizarre technologies, and memory-altering pharmaceuticals, the Antimemetics Division fights to protect humanity from these bizarre entities. But how can the men and women of the Antimemetics Division accomplish their mission when their mission often requires them to forget everything they know about their mission? Suffice to say, this novel — which originated as a series of entries on the SCP Foundation wiki — is pretty high concept stuff, and gets trippy as it jumps back and forth between time periods and even different states of memory and existence. It also gets creepy in places, weaving in traces of cosmic horror, and boasts a streak of bleak humor (like the antimeme that only consumes bicycle-related memories). There were times when I wasn’t sure Qntm — the pen name of programmer Sam Hughes — would be able to pull everything together, but in the end, I found this to be clever, enjoyable, and even a bit moving.

By far the most unique story I’ve ever read. I was pulled in from the first chapters and the author did a wonderful job easing us into the organization without info-dumping. The focus is plot over character and felt like the epitome of sci-fi. Unfortunately, I’m not sure that I’m smart enough to enjoy it fully, which combined with a slowdown in pacing, I was lost near the end and found myself pushing through it.

I would recommend this for anyone looking to discover a true new idea.

I'm all but positive I've read parts of this book before. The idea is good, but things wander. As they should. I was frightened when I was supposed to be frightened and I may have forgotten how to ride a bicycle in the process.

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the ARC.

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

There Is No Antimemetics Division feels like a breath of fresh air compared to a lot of the horror I've read lately. It deals with truly existential concepts, and makes them just understandable enough to terrify the reader. If the synopsis sounds even some what interesting to you I would say go ahed and read it, even though I do have some problems with the novel.

Plot: I thought the plot here worked really well up until the end. Even though it is dealing in concepts that by their very nature are unknowable it all makes sense. My problem with the end is it just kind sputter out a bit and there is a lot of rehashing of the same info over and over again, which makes in-world sense for the characters but for the reader who hasn't forgotten it just kinda gets bogged down.

Pace: Again the pacing of the novel worked for me right up until the last 4 or so chapters. At the start it has a short story collection feeling, with each chapter introducing elements of the world that aren't super connected to the chapter immediately before it. I would say about halfway through it starts following a more traditional narrative structure, and the transition is pretty seamless. Then it starts slowing down, until the final chapter where it just zips through the conclusion.

Persons: I don't have a ton to say on the characters, they served their purpose throughout the novel and you got to know some of them well enough that the intended emotional beats hit as they were supposed to.

Place: I mean the setting of the novel is really the main juice here. The SCP-esque Unknown Organization is super fun, the whole concept of fighting a war you don't know about and can't known about is super intriguing to me. Memes and Anit-Memes are one of those things that feel very terminally online to me in a way, ideas and concepts that only people deep into online horror know about, so to see them getting more widespread is absolutely great.

Prose: Serve their job. Never so bad as to be noticeable, but never so great to be noticeable either.

4 stars

I had heard of this book before and it sounded fascinating, so I was excited to see it as an ARC choice.

It’s (mostly) the story of Marie Quinn, the Antimemetics Division chief (because there is a division. And we should be damn glad.). The Division collects “unknowns,” “phenomena in the world that actively defied reason.” But if you are thinking spooky dolls you couldn’t be more off base. These are… bigger. Weirder. Scarier. Think potentially world destroying. Maybe worse. And part of the fun(?) is reading about them.

This dark, demented and really good. I don’t want to give anything away, but it has a really satisfying (for me) ending and I so appreciated the creativity here…it’s rare to come across something like this (for me, anyway) and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m not doing a great job at reviewing it because it’s just one of those books where I don’t want to give anything away. It’s good.