“The Memory Jumper’, the debut novel by Amanda Michelle Brown, is a futuristic retelling of Rapunzel. We follow eighteen year old Adelaide, a memory jumper, who has the ability to manipulate, create and destroy memories. We follow Adelaide and her mother, Fawn, who sell her services for people who need to forget. But when Adelaide meets Mason, a young inventor, she sees that there’s more to life than the underground bunker they call home, and realises the strength that has always been inside of her.

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This synopsis was what really hooked me at first, and I was super excited to start reading. However, it ultimately fell flat for me. The plot was easy enough to follow, but I found most of the twists and turns quite predictable. I feel the characters were all very one-dimesional, and that made it really hard for me to sympathise with them. On the other hand, I did feel that Fawn’s character was more fleshed-out than others and could feel the tension her characterisation created. The romance felt super forced and insta-lovey, and I simply did not feel any sort of connection between the two. The pacing was all over the place, dragging through the middle and then a million things happening at once towards the end of the novel. I also found that the writing was a bit young for me, but that’s just personal preference.

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Although this wasn’t a new favourite by any means, I did have a pretty good time reading this book and can see the potential for Brown’s future work. I’d be excited to see what she comes out with next.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this ARC

Before I begin, I’d like to say a huge thanks to the author and Netgalley for sending me this ARC! I truly appreciate it.

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“The Memory Jumper” is a futuristic retelling of Rapunzel. In this retelling there are people called “Memory Jumpers” who can jump into anyone’s mind and shift their memories or erase them for good. Because of that, they are deemed a threat to society and wiped out. We follow our main character, Adelaide, as she navigates through life in an underground safe house, where she has spent all of her life, hiding. It’s her normal and she is content with it. But when she meets Mason, a dashing inventor who wants nothing more than for Adelaide to be freed from her narcissistic mother, her life changes. But is it for the better or the worst? Will Adelaide be brave enough to escape? Find out in Amanda Michelle Brown’s debut novel!

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I’ll be the first to admit that after I finished the book I questioned whether or not I should rate it so low. I had the mindset of, “Well, people went out of their way and sent this to me for free. Maybe I should rate it high?” But, I decided I wouldn’t do that. I need to be honest in my review. While I’m a little disappointed that I’m sitting here typing up a negative review, I realize some constructive criticism needs to be done.

So why didn’t I care for “The Memory Jumper”? Well for starters, I didn’t like the writing. I understand that Adelaide has been living underground and her narration/language may be a little behind because of that. But I felt if the author wanted to demonstrate that, then it could’ve been written better. I also felt like a lot of the characters were one dimensional, and I, sadly, couldn’t care about them. The plot was easy to follow along with, but it was a little boring and I could easily predict the twists and ending from the beginning.

I know I may seem ruthless and it might look like I hated this book, but I liked somethings about it! While I hate narcissistic behavior, I felt Brown wrote Fawns character very well. I also did enjoy the storyline and thought it was a pretty neat idea. And while I didn’t necessarily enjoy the writing style, I did like how easygoing it was. I can definitely see why people would enjoy this. I’d say this book would be perfect for middle schoolers. It’s a nice, easy read, that I could see that age group reading.

Overall, I think I made it clear that this book wasn’t my cup of tea. But for it being a debut, I think it was a pretty good one. I can definitely see a bunch of potential in this author and am excited to see how far she goes!

<i>The Memory Jumper</i> has a fantastic concept (it's a futuristic retelling of Rapunzel, with a fantasy twist). But the execution didn't live up to my expectations. The main character (and to some extent, every single other character) felt one-dimensional and simplistic. I never connected to her or related to her at all. Mason, the love interest, also was also a flat character and I never shipped the two, due to lack of interest in their respective fates. (I know I sound harsh. But I read the whole book and didn't hate it!) Actually, Fawn, Adelaide's narcissistic guardian, was a more complex character, though one of the villains. (The other villains were a lot less interesting.)

Plot-wise, <i>The Memory Jumper</i> was okay. Maybe a little trope-y but okay. The pacing/suspense didn't really hook me, but that was largely because of the characters. I prefer character-driven stories, and as aforementioned, this disappointed me on that level. The story was quite interesting, though, and a unique take on the classic fairy tale of Rapunzel.

The worldbuilding was rather disappointing; the world was not at all developed. In some ways, tech seemed to have advanced, but in others, it reversed and went back to twentieth-century lows. The world was based on this one, with many major countries mentioned. I believe it was set in America? But it was America under monarchy rule again, which is absolutely awful. She also played with many aspects of our culture and changed the government and geography. A 100% fantasy world would have served the story better, as bemusement detracted from my enjoyment of the story. (I do tend to like fantasy better than dystopian/futuristic, though, just saying.) More backstory to understand HOW the world changed so much would have helped. The magic elements also could have used more development. Memory Jumping and the prophesy-type thing that Fawn's two henchmen did also could have been explored more. (Why am I forgetting what it's called <i>and</i> what their names are...)

And finally... the writing and themes. Brown's writing style is simplistic. I can understand why, though - it's her first novel and the simplicity suits the story and Adelaide's unexposure to the world. (Is that even a word?) It did make the reading experience easy and fast, as an added bonus, and I never felt like I didn't have enough details to understand the context. Also - I suppose the themes have to do with trusting your memories and trusting yourself? I don't have anything against either of those themes but they're not particularly applicable to my life. But they're not very prominent - or I'm just blind.

All in all, do I recommend <i>The Memory Jumper</i>? (I feel bad saying this, but also justified, so here we go...) No. I like to read powerful, beautiful, impactful, timeless books, and this doesn't quite fit that definition. However! I will keep an eye out for this author's future books. She has a lot of potential and I look forward to seeing more from her.

<i>The Memory Jumper</i> is Amanda Michelle Brown's debut novel, published by Lost Island Press, and the first full-length novel of theirs I've read.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This is a hard one to review because I honestly thought the concept was really fascinating.
The concept of memory jumping was unique and I really loved reading about how it worked.
As I kept reading, I realised it had elements of Cinderella in it and I quite appreciated how cleverly it was incorporated into the story, to stand out as it's own rather than just be another retelling.
The problem arose when I started disliking the characters, I found them to be very bland and 2 dimensional. I found them annoying and extremely difficult to empathize with.
The writing style was monotonous and didn't stir any curiosity, any kind of emotion or reaction in me. There were lots of long descriptions of irrelevant things which added more fuel to my boredom.
The concept was original and very interesting but it lacked execution which made the characters and the plot easy to forget. It had alot of potential but unfortunately it fell flat and was a complete miss for me.

Full review closer to publication date!

I'd like to thank the publisher, Lost Island Press and Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book, it was an interesting way of retelling Rapunzel. The dual perspectives adds depth to the story, it was an engaging and fascinating read!

What a debut novel!!!

I was blown away by how well the characters were fleshed out, the story didn’t really seem like a retelling and it’s a story about domestic abuse and the many forms it comes in that needs to be told. I’m looking forward to more from this author.

When i read the description of this book i was so pumped. A young girl's life is outlawed because of her ability to enter the minds of others and alter or erase their memories in a dystopian future- whats not to like?

The memory jumping itself is the highlight of the story for me. Envisioning the minds of others as a reflection of that person's self was a very cool idea. I think my mind would be a series of dumpsters.

The writing style is sparse, which i am going to choose to see as a plan to let the reader imagine more on their own. However, i wish there was some more breadth of description of the memory jumping process and the time it was outlawed, also some more info on how this monarchy and subsequent shitshow came to be. I also wished for a more indepth romance but really, we cant have it all. It was a fast read, and kept me with it. I also thought the inclusion of resources for people struggling with abuse/mental health was a thoughtful touch.

It’s very rare that a book will have me hooked from the very beginning until the end but ‘The Memory Jumper’ did just that. The author managed to perfectly convert Adelaide’s situation and as the reader I felt constantly tense, worried for what may happen next which is an accurate representation of how the character felt too.
‘The Memory Jumper’ is loosely based on the story of rapunzel but is still very unique to itself and is definitely not predictable, I would recommend to everyone!

The Memory Jumper is a futuristic retelling of Rapunzel’s tale. It follows Adelaide who has the ability to enter people’s minds and alter their memories. It explores her life being held captive by a motherly figure, finally seeing the outside world, and falling in love with someone worth fighting for. I enjoyed this book! It was a simple, quick read that didn’t disappoint. I wish there was more details about what happened to Fawn at the end and the overall magic systems in place though.

I love retellings, and this futuristic retelling of Rapunzel was a super fun read. Despite some issues I had with it, it had me at the edge of my seat the whole time. The story was compelling and I couldn't wait to find out what happened next.

It touches quite heavily on parental abuse, but I do feel it could have gone a little deeper. The two main villains of the story, Fawn and Paul Green, both went back and forth between seeming super sinister and just misunderstood throughout the book and I'm not sure which was the truth.

I do wish there was more world building, because it's set in a futuristic society but it's hard to understand why society got to the place described in the book and I think learning more about that would've been interesting.

There are also 'random facts' throughout the book which are kind of weird because some are true facts but some are made up.

The Memory Jumper is a Rapunzel retelling with a futuristic twist. Adelaide is a Memory Jumper, someone with the ability to manipulate memories, and is forced to work for her abusive guardian, Fawn, selling illegal Memory Jumping services to desperate clients.

When Adelaide meets wannabe inventor Mason, he inspires her to leave the safe house and pursue her dreams despite the dangers that lurk on the surface. To find freedom, Adelaide must choose to be brave—but cutting her ties to Fawn may come at a heartbreaking cost.

I wish this book had more world building done to set the scene, as this dystopian America has very minimal context for how it came to be and how we ended up back in what seems like a monarchy. I mean, lately it does seem like we're hurtling back in time anyway as a country, so maybe that's not too big a stretch of the imagination. But still...throughout this book the most futuristic aspect is Adelaide's ability to memory jump, Communicators (cell phones with hologram abilities), and the teleporter used to transport her back into her "tower" (or in this retelling, a bunker). At one point, one of the main characters describes how he invented a...*checks notes* a Roomba? He says he programmed a vacuum to clean by itself. I know the tech isn't the main focus of this book, but if it's supposedly set in the future, a little more worldbuilding could be beneficial.

We get two POVs throughout this book, and between Adelaide and Queen Colette, the plot becomes obvious right away. I do wish this method had been used to give us insight into Fawn's POV though. I found myself wanting to know more about her backstory, why she's the way she is, and what her days in the Outside are like. It feels like a missed opportunity to flesh out the villain more and provide some world building for the world Outside.

The descriptions of the memory jumping are quite enjoyable. Following Adelaide around different brains is fun, and there's a playful perspective on what that would look like. I also think the depiction for what it would look like growing up with an abusive guardian is well done. Adelaide's choice for freedom takes well over 75% of the book to get to, but it's realistic considering all the years of gaslighting and abuse she's endured at Fawn's hands.

Overall, this book is a 3 star read for me. It was enjoyable enough, just a few details I wish had been included to really enrich it.