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The Memory Hit

The Memory Hit Book Cover The Memory Hit
Carla Spradbery
Hachette Children's Books
June 4, 2015
Paperback
352

On New Year's Eve, Jess's life is unrecognizable: her best friend is in the hospital, her boyfriend is a cheater. A drug-dealing cheater it would seem, after finding a stash of Nostalgex in his bag.

Nostalgex: a drug that stimulates memory. In small doses, a person can remember the order of a deck of cards, or an entire revision guide read the day before an exam. In larger doses it allows the user detailed access to their past, almost like watching a DVD with the ability to pause a moment in time, to focus on previously unnoticed details and to see everything they've ever experienced with fresh eyes. As Leon, the local dealer, says 'it's like life, only better.' What he fails to mention is that most memories are clouded by emotions. Even the most vivid memories can look very different when visited.

Across town Sam Cooper is in trouble. Again. This time, gagged and bound in the boot of a car. Getting on the wrong side of a drug dealer is never a good idea, but if he doesn't make enough money to feed and clothe his sister, who will?

On New Year's Day, Jess and Cooper's worlds collide. They must put behind their differences and work together to look into their pasts to uncover a series of events that will lead them to know what really happened on that fateful New Year's Eve. But what they find is that everything they had once believed to be true, turns out to be a lie ...

 

Review:

“The Memory Hit” is an old-fashioned thriller for the young adult crowd.  Think “Scream” type thrills with a drug-dealing setting.

If you’re looking for romance, “The Memory Hit” is not for you.  There are some brief moments of it, mostly through memories, but that is all.  One of my favorite things about the book is the fact that there is an abusive boyfriend who is not portrayed as some misunderstood hero and a girlfriend whose thoughts are shown both before and after she realizes he is abusive.  Those portrayals are rare, and I like to point out any time a book treats abuse realistically and doesn’t in any way condone it.

The characters are well-developed in the way that you expect from a standalone thriller.  There are strengths and weaknesses in all of them, with realistic reactions to some really terrifying things going on around them.  There are several moments that had me jumping out of my seat and an overall atmosphere of general creepiness.  Add in the mystery of “whodunnit” and it makes for a fun and fast read.  Readers will feel thankful that nostalgex is not a real drug by the end of the story.

I recommend it to upper middle grade readers and up who enjoy a good scare and are looking for a quick read.

This review is based upon a complimentary copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

 

Content Warning:

Language, Very Mild Sexual Content, Violence, Drug and Alcohol Abuse