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The Sudden Appearance of Hope
Feb. 6th, 2019 08:05 amAnother of my Xmas books was The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North. I'd not read any of the author's books before (she's Catherine Webb, also writing as Kate Griffin as well as Claire North) and I knew it had won the World Fantasy Award.
The book is set in the modern world and has two main elements, both of which pop up very quickly. The first is that Hope, the protagonist, is forgotten by everyone. If she leaves a room, by 30 seconds later everyone will have forgotten her. This started when she was sixteen and her parents forgot her. The other element is a social media phenomenon - Perfection. It's a way of life where those following it (on their phones) can win points and achieve perfection. The story that unfolds is a mixture of human observation, mystery and getting to the bottom of the two elements. Whilst it is not the happiest of reads, it isn't nearly as sad as I feared it might be given that Hope, through her ability of being forgotten, is very isolated from others. I enjoyed following Hope through the book and, whilst I would have liked more concrete answers to some parts of the mysteries, it mostly tied up the loose ends. Overall - cautiously recommended.
The book is set in the modern world and has two main elements, both of which pop up very quickly. The first is that Hope, the protagonist, is forgotten by everyone. If she leaves a room, by 30 seconds later everyone will have forgotten her. This started when she was sixteen and her parents forgot her. The other element is a social media phenomenon - Perfection. It's a way of life where those following it (on their phones) can win points and achieve perfection. The story that unfolds is a mixture of human observation, mystery and getting to the bottom of the two elements. Whilst it is not the happiest of reads, it isn't nearly as sad as I feared it might be given that Hope, through her ability of being forgotten, is very isolated from others. I enjoyed following Hope through the book and, whilst I would have liked more concrete answers to some parts of the mysteries, it mostly tied up the loose ends. Overall - cautiously recommended.
