Start Reading The Memory Collectors Envisioned By Kim Neville Available In Readable Copy

didn't realize until I started this book and realized it was set in modernday how tired I was with historical fantasy.
They're fine, I like them, but they all seem to have the same sort of feel, Putting this one in the modern day was such a breath of fresh air and I enjoyed it greatly.
And while I still love Emily Woo Zeller's narration she's the tops, I'm not a huge fan of her "Male Speaking" voice, which is basically the same across every man and every book.
But that's a minor quibble about a great narrator,.stars, rounded upward.

I was truly excited to read this book perhaps too much so, Its not a bad novel, but not the crowning wonder that I was expecting, My thanks go to Atria Books and Net Galley for the invitation to read and review,

Ev lives in poverty, sorting through trash in hope of finding treasures that she can improve upon and sell.
As the story unfolds, we are momentarily offbalance, learning about Ev and the setting primarily through context, We learn early on that Ev has a traumatic pastwith the particulars doled out in dribs and drabs to create suspenseand that she has an unusual gift, that of feeling the powerful emotions experienced by the items former owner.
She wears gloves to prevent herself from becoming overwhelmed, particularly by the negative feelings some objects project,

Harriet is an elderly woman with similar gifts, and shes in search of an heir, When she and Ev collide over contested objects, she wants to hire Ev, Ev resists at first, but is eventually drawn in after carefully negotiating her terms, An important side character is Evs longlost sister, Noemi, who pops back into Evs life unexpectedly, Noemis role here is to reveal the past events that have scarred her elder sister, as well as to motivate Ev to be successful and build a better life.


At the outset, I am impressed by the writing, and it looks like the hype is deserved, because I am immediately engaged.
But as the story moves forward, it becomes slower, then slooower, then slooooowerand I realize that this is one more fantasy novel in which the one original aspect, the “stains” that reveal the character of an object to people like Ev and Harriet, is just about all the author is going to give us.
Everything else, from the revelations about the past, to the relationship between the sisters, to the dynamics between the elder and younger sensitive women, to the problem posed by another gifted but malign person, to uh, everything, is sort of lackluster and tedious.
The character development is shallow and barely there, I never become comfortably acquainted with the world in which these women exist, Its as if the author has trotted out this one deviceIm trying hard not to call it a gimmickand then figures her job is done.
There isnt much else that I havent seen done much better by other writers, In the end, I tossed it on the DNF pile,

I read this story digitally, but I alternated it with the audio version, and am inclined to recommend the audio version slightly more to those that plan to read it.
Initially I dont like the way that the reader, Emily Woo Zeller, voices Noemi, using a chirpy, almost shrill voice, but after I have listened for a bit over an hour, I become accustomed to it and grow to regard the character with a fondness I dont find for the other characters.
Instead of perceiving her as shrill, I begin to think, “Oh, its okay thats just the way Noemi is.
” Since I dont fully believe any of the other characters, I have to give Zeller props for her performance.


This book is for sale now get it free or cheap if youre interested, but dont shell out the full jacket price unless your pockets are deep ones.

I loved the premise of this book but I just didn't connect with it enough to love it.


I find the whole idea of connecting to objects and past history being able to be felt through them so interesting.
Sometimes you just get a feeling or feel a connection with an object, This book takes that feeling and puts it into a story,

I was given an eARC by the publisher through NetGalley, via my blog: sitelink wordpress. com/
𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐞, 𝐚 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐳𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤.

The Memory Collectors is a novel about two women both haunted by objects, Ev has a peculiar gift, the ability to feel emotions people have left on objects, This makes the world a loud, painful place to live, one full of energies that overwhelm her, Digging through garbage to find things she can sell, she always reach for objects that dont radiate too much of a sour feeling.
Stuff she can clean up and sell at Vancouvers Chinatown Night Market without weighing the guilt about the energy she is passing over to the buyer.
Its enough to maintain her life, even if it effects her health being around the bad

stains, Unlike Ev, Harriet is the keeper hoarder who feels threatened by her neighbors trying to remove her treasures, A woman who despises the vacancy of new objects and finds it unbearable to part with her bright, shining treasures.
It wouldnt be so terrible if her stuff wasnt spilling out of her apartment into her neighbors lives, People are sickened by the clutter, her mountains of junk, To them, Harriet is a crazy old woman to be well rid of, if only they could have her evicted.
By chance, Harriet and Evs paths cross, and so begins the tale,

Harriet feels stunned when she first becomes aware of Evelyn “Ev” , a girl who shares her gift, a fantastic, unexpected find indeed! Ev rushes off, before the two can speak, terrified of the feelings she picks up from the woman, a stain hoarder.
She panics, reminded of another person who was as obsessed with objects and their energies as much as the old hag.
She knows too well how such obsessions can ruin lives, but what is most frightening is that she knows the hag will seek her out.
What Harriet feels is a gift, Ev has always felt as a curse, a sickness she if forced to bear! Only one person could help her when the energies infiltrated every cell of her being, her sister Noemi.
Noemi is the only living person who knows her secret, that objects speak to her in a special way but Noemi is no longer speaking to Ev.


Harriet has a delicious idea, a solution to all her problems, She will create a “museum of memory” and who better to help her than Ev, She envisions her beloved collection safely sorted out, the harmful from the positive, becoming a safe space that can heal people who are suffering.
She just has to convince Ev that she isnt dangerous, and with their combined power the two can learn how to control the phenomenal gift they share.
But the man who spiraled down a dark path still haunts Ev to her core, What good could possibly come of this magic Her very existence, her memories of what happened to the man who had their curse is evidence that nothing good comes of collecting.
Her family was left in ruins and what little living she has accustomed herself to, what small security she has, may be the price she will have to pay.
Wouldnt destroying the objects be better Harriet believes together they can conquer every threat, use their strengths to help others and maybe even themselves in the process.
The past isnt ready to lie dead, and darkness must be confronted, Evelyn isnt the only one who has to learn to navigate her own feelings, Harriet too has lived so long with the stains emotions left behind on objects that she has neglected the state of her own.
It is a story about the encroaching darkness of the past and how we have to learn to differentiate between what to hold unto and what to let go.
It is an interesting, magical realism novel, although it is general fiction it certainly crosses into magical realism, I am picky about the genre, as I have read fantastic authors, but this story engaged me enough to keep reading.
I particularly enjoyed the story between Ev and Noemi, everything that happened to their family,

Publication Date: March,

Atria Books I enjoyed this book so much! At its core, it's a book about a hoarder named Harriet Langdon who lives in an overstuffed apartment in Vancouver, Canada.
One day she returns home to find 'binners' going through boxes of her stuff that have been put out by the dumpsters.
No!!! In her panic and anger, she still recognizes something special about the young ChineseAmerican woman who zooms off on her bicycle, leaving her friend Owen behind to help Harriet return her boxes to her apartment.


Owen, who creates art with 'found' items, is amazed at what he sees stacked inside the apartment and suggests that Harriet create a museum of memory for all her collections so other people can enjoy them.
He'd be willing to help, Harriet is intrigued with the idea, especially since she's about to be evicted, but really wants his friend to be involvedthe woman she learns is named Evelyn and sells her found items at the Chinatown Night Market.
Job offers are made and rejected but eventually Harriet wins her over, They will be helping each otherEv, to learn to control her special gift and Harriet, to create this wonderful new space.
Can they safely separate the good vibes from the bad as they sort

Wonderful characters, a touch of magical realism, and a bit of mystery make this delightful new novel very unique.
We all know how a special keepsake can invoke a memory, . . but these women take things much farther, I think I understand the desire to hoard a little better now after reading their stories,

I received a paper arc of this novel from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
Many thanks for the opportunity! I thought the cover art for this book was just beautiful, .