This has an interesting premise and is executed pretty well. I liked the idea of a story based on Buddhist philosophy. It's imaginatively told and includes some engaging characters. A lot of scifi fans will probably connect with this.

I really appreciate the ARC for review!!

Reset feels, in many ways, like one of the Cycles it describes: hitting the ground running with no explanation, blossoming into understanding, and ending (appropriately) somewhat abruptly. It’s a beautiful tragic romance built on the back of other tragic romances, leaving a handful of tantalizing threads hanging in the air and hinting at an even greater story. The ending is, in its own way, a hopeful one, even if it may take a breather after finishing to come to that conclusion.

(Received an A rating in Sci-Fi Magazine Summer 2021 issue)

Reset is a really enjoyable book. The premise really interested me, a future where people get their memory wiped every 4 years in the name of peace, but somehow some people remember through dreams parts of their past that they shouldn't. Seeing Aris go from an extreme live for the day mentality, not even bothering building any relationships because they won't last, to embracing the dreams she has as memories is a great experience. I loved her connection to Benja, it felt really genuine and valuable. Metis is also a very intriguing character that I wish would have taken more of a spotlight, he seems to know things he doesn't get to reveal completely.
My only complaint is about the characters that play the role of "puppet masters". I would love to know more about them, we do get the basic information on their background and motivations, but we don't really get to know who they are and it makes it hard to connect to them.
Overall, this is a really good read, the characters are compelling, the story is captivating and it leaves you thinking what approach you would take if you lived in a system like this and just how much of an influence your past can have in your present and your future.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

A theme in dystopian/utopian fiction is: How do we manage a society after things have gone so very wrong, so that the mistakes of the past are not repeated? What would you do to make a society that will not come to extinguish humanity for good, this time? And what is the dystopian price to pay? Do you engineer society so that everyone takes drugs daily to subdue their passions, as in Equilibrium? Have everyone die at the age of 21, as in Logan’s Run? Stratify society in a distorted and restrictive way, as in Brave New World? Place a sin-eater of a tortured soul at the dark heart of the city, taking the sins of the city and the people, as in Those Who Walk Away From Omelas? There is a common assumption in all of these works that for humanity to have a utopia of any sort, bounds must be put on humanity, severe ones at that.

And so we come to Sarina Dahlan’s novel, Reset.

Review at TOR

Thank you so much to net galley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book! This was my most anticipated book of 2021 and it did not disappoint. It took me a little while to get into but I loved this book and the plot of the book!