LIES MY MEMORY TOLD ME

A popular new technology has dangerous consequences.

Seventeen-year-old Nova Reynolds’ parents invented Enhanced Memory—an innovative virtual reality technology that allows people to download and engage with immersive experiences ranging from mundane practical skills to thrilling ones like singing on stage or traveling the world. When Nova meets mysterious Kade—who refuses to use Enhanced Memory after becoming overly dependent upon it—and they break into a skating rink, she learns that he makes videos to share his real adventures, something that has become increasingly rare. Even as original thinking and creativity decline, the demand grows for escaping into others’ memories. Nova’s workaholic parents become so busy beta-testing memories that they fail to clean the house and forget to attend her school play. During a lake-house vacation, her parents spend the whole time indoors experiencing Memories. Through Nova’s after-school job at a health facility for elderly people with memory loss, she accidentally stumbles upon the details of the memory extraction process and realizes something sinister is happening. This dystopian thriller presents a thought-provoking metaphor for video game and social media addiction, especially impactful as it is shown from the perspective of a teen who watches her parents lose control. The intriguing premise, fast-paced narrative, and satisfying twists compensate for the sparse character development. Most characters default to White; Kade’s mother is British and his father is Indian.

An entertaining, high-tech page-turner.