Tuesday, May 08, 2012

Review: The Forgetting Curve by Angie Smibert

From Goodreads: Aiden Nomura likes to open doors - especially using his skills as a hacker - to see what’s hidden inside. He believes everything is part of a greater system: the universe. The universe shows him the doors, and he keeps pulling until one cracks open. Aiden exposes the flaw, and the universe - or someone else - will fix it. It’s like a game. Until it isn’t. When a TFC opens in Bern, Switzerland, where Aiden is attending boarding school, he knows things are changing. Shortly after, bombs go off within quiet, safe Bern. Then Aiden learns that his cousin Winter, back in the States, has had a mental breakdown. He returns to the US immediately. But when he arrives home in Hamilton, Winter’s mental state isn’t the only thing that’s different. The city is becoming even stricter, and an underground movement is growing. Along with Winter’s friend, Velvet, Aiden slowly cracks open doors in this new world. But behind those doors are things Aiden doesn’t want to see - things about his society, his city, even his own family. And this time Aiden may be the only one who can fix things ... before someone else gets hurt. 

My Rating: 3 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: The sequel to Angie Smibert’s Memento Nora, The Forgetting Curve, requires you to have read and remembered what happened in the first book since it dives right back into the world of Memento Nora, but recaps everything very, very briefly. I find it therefore ironic that The Forgetting Curve deals with the concept of memory.

In Memento Nora, the story was narrated through the eyes of Nora, Micah and Winter. Although Winter’s voice is back in The Forgetting Curve (though she didn’t seem as fascinating due to the neurochip in her head), the perspectives of Nora and Micah have been replaced by Aiden and Velvet. I understood the reason for the change, but I didn’t like it because I thought Velvet’s story wasn’t as interesting as everybody else’s. Also, I found it hard to relate to Aiden because as someone who isn’t very technologically savvy, he lost me whenever he started talking about hacking.

Aside from the emotional disconnect from the characters, the plot of The Forgetting Curve confused me at times and left me wondering how the Nomuras got involved with TFC’s scheme and what TFC’s end goal is (besides making a profit, of course). As well, *minor spoiler ahead* while the idea of implanting neurochips sounded cool, the science behind it seemed kind of vague to me.

The Forgetting Curve was released by Marshall Cavendish on May 1, 2012.

Comments About the Cover: The cover matches Memento Nora’s pretty well. I also like that it manages to convey Aiden’s coolness. 

In exchange for an honest review, this ARC was received from the publisher (Marshall Cavendish) for free via NetGalley.

5 comments:

  1. I thought Memento Nora was a fun, cool book. I'm a bit worried since I read the book a while ago but I think I should be ok with reading this one. I'm not tech savy either and I'm sure I would be lost too with all the tech-speak.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Blahaha! Just goes to show you have to rely on your own memory to remember stuff. LOL

    I don't think I'm the right kind of geek for this series. I never could muster up the want to read Memento Nora, and I can say the same goes for this follow up, especially if the characters are lackluster and the tech talk is too techy.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sometimes you really need that recap of the previous book especially if its been almost a year since you read previous book. But don't think I'll be reading this anytime soon since I haven't even read Momento Nora yet.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Uh Oh. I'm definitely not technologically savvy either. I'm actually quite challenged. I would be completely lost with the hacking stuff too! I enjoyed Memento Nora, but I think I could probably pass on this one and be okay:)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Agpic
    Thanks for sharing this great content, I really enjoyed the insign you bring to the topic, awesome stuff!

    ReplyDelete

I love comments and will reply back via either email or stopping by your blog. Please note that this is an award-free zone.