Lies My Memory Told Me

by Sacha Wunsch

Overview

From the thrilling voice of Sacha Wunsch comes a heart-stopping psychological mystery in a world where memories can be shared—and one girl can’t trust any of them.

Enhanced Memory changed everything. By sharing someone else’s memory, you can experience anything and everything with no risk at all: learn any skill instantly, travel the world from home, and safeguard all your most treasured secrets forever. Nova’s parents invented this technology, and it’s slowly taking over their lives. Nova doesn’t mind—mostly. She knows Enhanced Memory is a gift.

But Kade says Nova doesn’t know the costs of this technology that’s taken the world by storm. Kade runs a secret vlog cataloging real experiences, is always on the move, and is strangely afraid of Nova—even though she feels more comfortable with him than she ever has with anyone. Suddenly there are things Nova can’t stop noticing: the way her parents don’t meet her eyes anymore, the questions no one wants her to ask, and the relentless feeling that there’s something she’s forgotten…

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781335018274
Publisher:	Inkyard Press
Publication date:	10/19/2021
Edition description:	Original
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	372,694
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Sacha Wunsch grew up dividing her time between the family farm in Canada and traveling to numerous fictional worlds. She was a bookseller before discovering her love of writing mind-twisty novels - which has proved an excellent job since she gets to blame all the TV she watches on her love of storytelling. She now splits her time between the city and the lake, and still travels to made-up worlds as often as she can. Sacha can be found online at sachawunsch.com.

Editorial Reviews

An entertaining, high-tech page-turner.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Recommended for those who love to be kept guessing all the way to the final, satisfying reveal.”—Booklist

From the Publisher

11/01/2021

Gr 6–8—Nova may not understand how Enhanced Memory works, but she knows its value—with the push of a button, she can experience the world without traveling or even having to talk to a stranger. She can master new skills in minutes. And it is all perfectly safe; her parents invented it after all. Nova has no doubts about Enhanced Memory until she meets Kade, who first mistakes Nova for someone else. Nova blows off his outlandish conspiracy theories, until she starts to realize that pieces of her own life don't add up. But if she isn't Nova, who is she? Wunsch begins the book by building increasing tension and asking probing questions that promise a fantastic exploration into what makes a person themselves. However, the narrative spirals when answers become predictable, a grand rescue feels much too easy, and suddenly all is well again without nearly enough closure or explanation. While Nova's initial, frustrating, devout defense of Enhanced Memory makes sense by the end, the story's ending diminishes the stakes that felt so high halfway through. All characters present white. VERDICT A decent dystopian thriller for young readers just getting started with the genre, not quite ready for more nuanced worlds like Neal Shusterman's Unwind.—Annamarie Carlson, Westerville P.L., OH

School Library Journal

2021-09-01
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. (Thriller. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews