Published: April 1st, 2011
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Series: Memento Nora, Book 1
Rating: YA 13+
Format: ARC
Source: Sent from Publisher
Goodreads ❘ Amazon
Nora, the popular girl and happy consumer, witnesses a horrific bombing on a shopping trip with her mother. In Nora’s near-future world, terrorism is so commonplace that she can pop one little white pill to forget and go on like nothing ever happened. However, when Nora makes her first trip to a Therapeutic Forgetting Clinic, she learns what her mother, a frequent forgetter, has been frequently forgetting. Nora secretly spits out the pill and holds on to her memories. The memory of the bombing as well as her mother’s secret and her budding awareness of the world outside her little clique make it increasingly difficult for Nora to cope. She turns to two new friends, each with their own reasons to remember, and together they share their experiences with their classmates through an underground comic. They soon learn, though, they can’t get away with remembering.
**This is a Review based on an ARC (Advanced Reading Copy). The final text may be different!**
This is certainly a different view on dystopian for me. Although it doesn't "seem" so different from our world, there's definitely some major differences such as, of course, the forgetting clinic, then there's the more technological updated stuff, etc. A very different concept, this book was (yes) short and pretty small, but very powerful.
This book is narrated by the three main characters, which is really cool because we get to learn through different perspectives and learn new things through each character. The chapters have very cool little heading things that tell which character was narrating so NO confusion for me! :D
I must say though, because it's quite a short book, you don't really find out so much about each character more than the basic things. Nora is the pretty popular girl, Micah is a skater dude, and Winter...the artsy one. But I do love how their friendship (and love! <3 Nora and Micah) breaks through the walls of "social status" and that they become friends no matter what other people say! There's also the very cool grandpa of Winter's who knows Kung Fu I believe...or is he a ninja?? I can't really recall. It's pretty cool though!
I really found the plot easy to follow, and things twisted and surprised me during the middle. Nice ending too...although I though there would be book 2?? The ending could have ended better than! but I have no idea. But the twists in this story were pretty shocking. I mean, I was surprised at first, but then it all made sense...ooohhh, there's a bit for you mystery lovers!
The writing in this book was short and easy to follow, nothing so complicated that made my head spin. For a short book, it really did fit a lot of action and suspense! I finished this book in around an hour and it really did keep me wanting more, so I COULDN'T put the book down!!
Memento Nora is a small but action-packed book that will keep you hanging onto your seats wanting more. Dystopian Fans, Adventure Fans and just anyone who wants an amazing read should pick up this book!
NOW.
**Thank You so much to Marshall Cavendish for sending me Memento Nora for review!**
If you like this book, try...
- The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau (Amazon
❘ Goodreads)
- Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (Review ❘ Amazon
❘ Goodreads)
