Wednesday, October 31, 2012

2013 Truman Possibility 12: Memento Nora by Angie Smibert

Okay, this will be my last Truman book for about 3 more books.  I've got 3 e-galleys that are expiring in the next 2 weeks from Netgalley, and of course I must re-read Breaking Dawn before the movie comes out in about two weeks!  So, once those 4 are done, back to speeding through the last 13 books I hope.  I may have to sort them from smallest to biggest and get done what I can, and then just skim the others.  We'll see. I hate to do that.
Okay, on with the actual book for this review, Memento Nora.  This was a pretty quick read at only 184 pages.  I'd have been done sooner, but Mondays are always crazy with being the first day back to work.  It was a pretty good story.  As I said, very short, but quick and to the point.  In a way I like that we didn't have to spend so much time on all the side stories and world building, etc.  It was pretty succinct I'd say.  A good dystopian, that was pretty much left as a stand alone book.  Although, there is always room to go on, I think it's okay if it stays at just one.
Our main character is Nora, of course.  She lives in a future world where there have been so many terrorist attacks that no one feels safe.  In fact, the rich people live in "real" gated communities.  Nora is from a wealthy family, and her father works for a big security company that actually works for the major group called TFC, Therapeutic Forgetting Clinics.  In this new world, you can go to these places, and they can help you forget things.  Like when Nora and her mother are out shopping and a bomb explodes.  Nora is finally going to TFC for the first time.  Something weird happens in the waiting room, this guy writes "memento" on his cast, and as he is walking back out from the clinic, he sticks his tongue out at Nora, and she can see the pill on his tongue as he spits it out.  When Nora goes into the back room with her mother, her mother is setting the example by talking about the memory she wants to forget.  Only, it isn't the bombing memory that Nora figures, it is a memory of her father being abusive.  And because of this, Nora decides to not take the pill.  When she gets home, she begins remembering hearing her parents argue a lot, but that's all.  Back at school Nora goes to talk to the guy, whose name is Micah.  Micah tells her what memento means.  And she explains why she didn't take her pill either.  Micah is quite an artist and he kind of begins sketching out a comic of Nora's story.  They take the story and actually print it up with the help of Micah's friend Winter.  Then they secretly leave it around the school for the kids to find.
This causes a big ruckus as you may imagine.  Soon there are cops hanging around watching the school more.  And Nora now sees her father treating her mother badly and knows what is happening.  But when she tries to bring it up to her mom, well she's already been to TFC and forgotten.  As they get deeper in, the learn more and more scary things, even stuff about Nora's own father begins to fill into the blanks.  I won't tell any more, but there is so much more to this story really, and it is crazy how detailed it really is for such a short story.  If you like dystopian, this is something you should definitely pick up.  It's a quick, interesting read.