Book Winners and Book Review - "The Sudden Appearance of Hope" by Claire North

First of all, the winners!

Libellula Jewelry and Linda Landig

Thanks for playing!

Both will receive one of my favorite books I've read this year, Claire North's "The Sudden Appearance of Hope".

I was captivated a couple of years ago by another favorite author, V. E. Schwab and her book "The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue". Chances are if you liked that one, you'll like this one. Both books have a main character who can't be remembered, but they are each their own very special book.

From the GoodReads blurb, I was intrigued...

My name is Hope Arden, and you won't know who I am. But we've met before - a thousand times.

It started when I was sixteen years old.

A father forgetting to drive me to school. A mother setting the table for three, not four. A friend who looks at me and sees a stranger.

No matter what I do, the words I say, the crimes I commit, you will never remember who I am.

That makes my life difficult. It also makes me dangerous.

___ ..__.__...___

This book is about more than a girl who can't be remembered (an awesome thing if you're a thief, which she is, a terrible thing if you want friends, of which she has none). It's also about an app called Perfection which gives the user points and perks as they follow the road to being a Perfect person. (Side-eyeing really hard at Instagram right now.) The app is huge and everyone in the world wants in on it, even when the stakes for achieving said perfection get high. The social-media-poking in the book really got to me because I have yet to figure out how to manage proper expectations of my life when I consume social media, and I often go on mini-breaks (again, side-eyeing you, Instagram) to keep focused and balanced.

Hope is absolutely not about Perfection and the story charges along to an end that stuck with me for days. TSAOH made me think about the world, myself, and a lot of  personal "what ifs". It also made me think about what perfection really is and if it even exists. It's very much a science fiction book complete with hacking and Hope's peculiar condition, but it's also a social story that revolves around identity. My identity right now is going through big changes, so this book spoke to me not just on the "damn, Claire North can really craft a beautiful sentence" level, but on a visceral, human level.

At first, the book was confusing, but I stuck with it and eventually, all will be  revealed. I hope you read it and let me know what you think!

XO Lori