Let me tell you... I loved this book. I loved it so much that I read it a second time to write this review. When I first read The Memory Thief, I had no idea I would still be thinking about it two years later! The emotions, struggle, and setting will suck the real world away in an instant and pull you into a world where every step is a risky endeavor.
The Memory Thief is set in a dystopian world where the “gifted” can give and take memories from others, and the “ungifted” can do little about it. Some gifted, called “sifters,” are even able to use their gift on sight instead of by touch. Memories are a greater currency than coin, making it common practice to pay for necessities with the good memories people possess. There is an even darker side of society where people will pay for torturous memories to be implanted in their enemies.
Of course, every world of tyrants must have opposition, and Madame’s Stone Realm is no different. The Shadows, thieves of their own right, play a Robin Hood role in the realms to contrast Madame’s Minders. The Shadows take what was unrightfully stolen and give it back to the poorer, often ungifted, citizens.
Julietta is a 17-year-old with the gift of giving and taking memories. Though she begins as a somewhat willing prisoner of Madame, the tyrant who rules the stone realm, Julietta quickly realizes that stagnation is no longer an option. She sacrificed a life with the shadows to protect her comatose mother, and now that life is threatened with one, fateful letter.
Julietta takes great risks to save her mother by contacting the Shadows and is forced to attempt an impossible heist from a tyrant even more dreadful than Madame. When the leader of the Shadows pairs her with the Shadow that recruited what is essentially Julietta’s little sister, she tries everything to stay distant from him. The trek to the woodland realm holds many hazards and romance blossoms through the hardship.
The whole book builds toward one goal: take down the tyrant. Even so, Julietta wrestles with even greater conflicts internally. What is she willing to do to save her mother? Is forgiveness real? What about love, and is it worth the pain of loss? Most of all, dare she hope that “better things await” her (pg. 26)?
The Memory Thief not only told an action-packed, exciting story, it also made me think about my values and philosophies at the same time. The story begins with Julietta witnessing the killing of Kellen Marks for “treason”. With his last words, he utters a phrase that Julietta wrestles with for the rest of the book: “Better things await me”.
After betraying the Shadows, causing the deaths of those closest to her, and putting her mother in a coma, Julietta has lost all hope and lives (if you can call it that) haunted by the guilt of her past. She alienates the people she should trust and holds her secrets close to her chest. Through learning to trust and love Reid, she discovers that strength is not found in solitude, but in community. True strength is fostered by the friends you choose and the loved ones you cherish.
Julietta experiences so much loss that even the reader is left wondering if things will turn out ok for this mess of a protagonist, but that mess makes her a relatable hero. She is struggling to find her identity and dangerously close to choosing one that will sabotage the possibility of love and trust. She knows that an identity made with someone else’s memories is hollow (a strong message for those of us on social media), but it takes Reid’s pursuit, Porter’s change, and Greer’s forgiveness to realize that her identity can be one of strength, community, and growth.
At the beginning of the book, Julietta doesn’t even want a partner to help her on her way to the woodland kingdom. By the end of it, she is the one fighting for her relationships. Though Greer dies at the end of the book, Julietta has changed so much that she sees the value of his love and sacrifice even through the grief of losing him.
You can tell how much love and attention was poured into The Memory Thief, by the beautiful cover, clean internal design, easy-to-read map, and the glossary of terms at the beginning.
If you are looking for educational YA reads, this would be a great choice for your high school student (or middle school if they are particularly mature– I leave that up to you). It deals with identity development, which is perfect for highschoolers and it even has a list of discussion/essay questions you could assign at the end of the read.
All around, I love this book and can’t wait to hear your thoughts on it too!
