2016 book 82

Claire North's The Sudden Appearance of Hope
North's latest novel (after The Fifteen Lives of Harry August, among others) is another book with an interesting concept and a somewhat muddled execution. It centers on a woman--the titular Hope--who, for some reason, no one remembers. Like as soon as they turn away, they completely forget she exists. Even her parents have forgotten her. So of course she has to become a talented thief to survive--and when she's planning a major jewel theft, an acquaintance commits suicide, leading Hope to investigate a mysterious new app called Perfection. For a while, things take on a sci-fi mystery/thriller tone that I was pretty into, but by the end I felt like the whole book was more of a thought experiment than a story.  It just kind of fizzled out. But like I said, really an intriguing concept. B/B+.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on May 17th.