This ARC was courtesy of Disney Hyperion.
False Memory by Dan Krokos is surprisingly a young adult sci-fi novel that is set in present day and not in a dystopian society. It was an interesting novel with interesting concept that was quite entertaining, unfortunately again this was an instance of concept over execution. Of course, this was a debut novel so there is always room for improvement.
False Memory hits the ground running with our main character, Miranda North, waking up in a shopping mall without a memory of anything. However, things take a turn for the weird when everyone freak out around her literally throwing themselves down the stairs to get away from her. On top of that, she meets a guy named Peter who says that he knows about her psychic powers and knows her from before she lost her memory.
If anything can be said about Dan Krokos’ False Memory it would be that it’s action-packed. As soon as the novel starts there is action and it does not let up until the very end. Now, don’t get me wrong I love action in all the novels I read, however I enjoy for there to be a bit of development in between. In Dan Krokos’ defense there was development, but just not enough for me that it justified jumping from one kung-fu style action sequence to another.
That also ties into something I saw that was missing, emotion. There was a love triangle in False Memory, but that is not exactly the type of emotion that I thought was missing in this novel. What I was looking for was the emotion that comes with death. There was quite a bit of killing in this book and coming from the eyes of a girl that, for all she knows has not killed anyone (remember, her memory’s gone), she seemed oddly at ease. I just wanted to see more emotion incorporated in there to make it feel more powerful and not something that could just be glossed over.
As I mentioned before, False Memory is original. And that is something that cannot be glossed over. The, not magic system but sci fi element, of this story is very cool and I have not seen it before. Something that I absolutely adored was there were limitations and complications that came with these powers, ones that carried a heavy toll. I think it is great when authors make sure that their characters aren’t invincible. Actually this toll on them was one of the saving graces for this book. If it was not there then the people affected by this sci fi element would definitely be considered too perfect.
Dan Krokos also has a deft hand when it comes to plot twists. I mean there were some twists in there that took me completely by surprise, especially the one that sets up for the second book. Most of them were well crafted, but like I said before they would be just that more effective if there was more emotion behind them. As a whole though, they were very fun to experience.
So, if you want a rip-roaring, young adult sci fi book that is not a dystopian, False Memory is right up your alley.
Check out Dan Krokos at his website here.
Content:
-Language: Nothing heavy, just some moderate use.
-Violence: Did I mention how much action was in this book? Well, some violence comes with that, but I cannot remember it ever becoming bloody.
-Sexuality: None.
-I recommend this novel for ages 13 and up.
My rating:
7.5/10
-Dylan