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Memory of Animals
Memory of Animals | Claire Fuller
9 posts | 9 read | 1 reading | 7 to read
In the face of a pandemic, an unprepared world scrambles to escape the mysterious disease's devastating symptoms: sensory damage, memory loss, death. Neffy, a disgraced and desperately indebted twenty-seven-year-old marine biologist, registers for an experimental vaccine trial in London--perhaps humanity's last hope for a cure. Though isolated from the chaos outside, she and the other volunteers--Rachel, Leon, Yahiko, and Piper--cannot hide from the mistakes that led them there. As London descends into chaos outside the hospital windows, Neffy befriends Leon, who before the pandemic had been working on a controversial technology that allows users to revisit their memories. She withdraws into projections of her past--a childhood bisected by divorce; a recent love affair; her obsessive research with octopuses and the one mistake that ended her career. The lines between past, present, and future begin to blur, and Neffy is left with defining questions: Who can she trust? Why can't she forgive herself? How should she live, if she survives? The Memory of Animals is an ambitious, deeply imagined work of survival and suspense, grief and hope, consequences and connectedness, that asks what truly defines us--and the lengths we will go to rescue ourselves and those we love.
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review
Meshell1313
Memory of Animals | Claire Fuller
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Pickpick

#camplitsy23 Woah that ending! Another great camp Litsy pick! I enjoyed this pandemic tale and it‘s dystopian feel. I kept hoping for a cure and for them to be rescued which is why the ending shocked me so much I think. A group of survivors stuck together for better or worse. I can‘t wait to discuss the revisitor more and that ending next week! ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 stars!

Megabooks The ending was really interesting. Excited to discuss it next week! 1y
squirrelbrain I wasn‘t sure about the ending. 🤔 Looking forward to your thoughts next weekend. 1y
Chelsea.Poole I agree—that ending! I wasn‘t expecting it! (edited) 1y
53 likes1 stack add3 comments
review
EmberIvyRose
Memory of Animals | Claire Fuller
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Mehso-so

This was interesting and had some good parts, but overall it left me kind of feeling like it could have been much better.

review
jlhammar
Memory of Animals | Claire Fuller
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Pickpick

Really somewhere between so-so and a pick. Read this atmospheric novel in one go. Not terrible, but I feel like this could have been so much better. Given the subject matter it should have packed an emotional punch, but instead I was left cold and critical. Should be fun to discuss.

Okay, so my #CampLitsy23 rankings? Birnam Wood was my fav followed by Bandit Queens. Yellowface in third place, Memory Animals fourth, HBB fifth, and Rom Com sixth.

batsy Nice rankings. Mine would probably go something like Birnam Wood, Bandit Queens, HBB, Yellowface, and Romantic Comedy & Memory of Animals tied for last 🙃 1y
squirrelbrain Interesting to see your rankings! Birnam Wood is my favourite too, and I‘d best not comment on the rest until camp is finished. 😃 @jlhammar @batsy 1y
SamAnne Yay! Birnam Wood was my fave. I got the impression I loved it far more than others did. I‘m traveling, don‘t want to buy Memory of Animals so not,sure I will read it. Sounds like a borrow not buy. (edited) 1y
See All 6 Comments
Tamra I was puzzled by the Revisitor(?) not sure it worked well as a plot device. There were probably better ways to fill in MC background. 1y
Tamra @SamAnne given the mixed reviews of Memory, definitely recommend borrow. I‘m glad I did. 1y
jlhammar @Tamra Yes, agreed! I‘m not sure how successful that was - seemed unnecessary. I also could have done without the stepbrother sex stuff 🤢 1y
79 likes1 stack add6 comments
review
ImperfectCJ
Memory of Animals | Claire Fuller
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Pickpick

Somewhat reminiscent of The Children's Hospital (without the floating), this is a quiet and unsettling look at what the pandemic could have been (or I suppose could still be in the future) had the mutations taken a different direction. The ending I found somewhat unsatisfying, but I'm not sure how else Fuller could have ended it.

merelybookish Agree about the ending! 1y
BarbaraBB I am halfway through and enjoying it so far. 1y
51 likes1 stack add2 comments
blurb
BarbaraBB
Memory of Animals | Claire Fuller
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#WeeklyForecast 32/23

I am having All the Little Bird-Hearts in progress, it is good! I also want to start the tagged book for #Camplitsy23 this week and want to join the #PersephoneClub this month by reading There Were no Windows. Hopefully I‘ll read even more, on Friday my vacation begins!

Cinfhen Ohhhh, I‘m so curious about 1y
BarbaraBB @Cinfhen It‘s very good. Sad, but I always love sad books 🤷🏻‍♀️ 1y
Cinfhen All #Booker books are SAD 😔 it‘s like a prerequisite for the nomination 1y
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TrishB Lol! Agree with @Cinfhen they have to be sad! I do love a sad book too. 1y
BarbaraBB @TrishB That‘s true with the Murray as the exception maybe but you bailed on that 😂 @Cinfhen (edited) 1y
TrishB The sad may have come further on! I just didn‘t make it that far 😁 1y
Cinfhen I don‘t mind sad books @TrishB @BarbaraBB but I HATE that almost ALL the Booker books are SO BLEAK! The one im reading now certainly is 1y
Tamra Enjoy your vacation! 1y
BarbaraBB @TrishB 😂😂 1y
BarbaraBB @Cinfhen I don‘t like bleak books either. But I do like sad books. I don‘t know if my English is good enough to know the difference. But “bleak” for me is connected to misery while “sad” can be about subjects like loss and grief and loneliness. Absolutely not sure if I‘m‘ right but by my own definition I like sad books but not bleak 😅 @TrishB (edited) 1y
BarbaraBB @Tamra Thank you so much! Four more days to work and then I‘m off 💃 1y
TrishB @Cinfhen Old Gods Time is very sad! 1y
Cinfhen You‘re right @BarbaraBB there is a difference between sad and bleak - bleak is definitely darker than sad and the Barry is DARK - im actually not “enjoying” it at all @TrishB (edited) 1y
BarbaraBB @Cinfhen @TrishB I just finished the tagged and loved it. Wow. What a book. Sad though. Not bleak or dark… I think. I‘ll read Old Gods soon. Will keep you posted! 1y
TrishB @Cinfhen Old Gods is pretty relentlessly bleak I agree. Hoping to get to the Fuller this week. 1y
BarbaraBB @TrishB Starting it now! 1y
65 likes16 comments
review
Tamra
Memory of Animals | Claire Fuller
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Pickpick

Riveting and frightening. After Covid one can easily imagine society dissolving into chaos & disorder in the wake of a pandemic. The same can be said of the difficult choices individuals may be forced to make.

I‘m undecided at the moment as to whether the memory element works as a congruent plot device. 🤔

Unbeknownst to my daughter, cephalopods play a central role in the novel and my daughter is drawing a hen - a female octopus.🐙

Cathythoughts Lovely picture , lovely daughter ❤️ (edited) 1y
AmyG Glad to hear this is good. 1y
merelybookish Great review! I also was uncertain about how it all.hung together. 1y
75 likes1 stack add3 comments
blurb
Tamra
Memory of Animals | Claire Fuller
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Loving this novel so far - scary in its plausibility. 🥹

On a road trip, one of my favorite things. It would be an otherwise sunny & clear day without the smoke from the Canadian wildfires. 🔥 🫤

jlhammar Glad to hear you're enjoying the new Fuller - can't wait! 1y
LeahBergen Yeah, sorry about that. 🇨🇦😬 1y
Tamra @LeahBergen nothing for you to apologize for! I feel badly for Canadians and the forests. Forest management is a complicated & difficult job, especially with a changing climate. 1y
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blurb
Megabooks
Memory of Animals | Claire Fuller
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#RecentAcquisitions It is the year of Claire Fuller, and I am here for it! Looking forward to my gorgeous #aardvark copy for #CampLitsy23 next month, but in the meantime, I‘ve got Bitter Orange, which is my 3rd by her this year.

The Guide is my #Bookspin. I‘m in the middle of Cassandra from the library now. The Rachel Incident has such a beautiful spine! And Forgiven was a consensus suggestion for a second book by Homes. Happy weekend!

Cinfhen Those are beautiful covers and spines from @AardvarkBookClub 1y
Megabooks @Cinfhen yes, and I love that they don‘t have anything extra on the spine! The subtle change on the cover is perfect. (edited) 1y
BarbaraBB A gorgeous edition 🥰 1y
batsy I haven't read Fuller yet, though I have Burnt Orange on my TBR. Looking forward to Animals! 1y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Can‘t wait to read the tagged! 1y
72 likes5 comments
review
merelybookish
Memory of Animals | Claire Fuller
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Pickpick

A pandemic is raging, as Neffy volunteers to take part in a vaccine study. But while the test is underway, things fall apart. Soon Neffy & other participants are left in the hospital to fend for themselves. This timeline is interspersed with letters Neffy is writing to an octopus she freed from an aquarium & memories she accesses through a technology called The Revisiter. Together the threads create a murky moral story about freedom & survival 👇

merelybookish Not all the parts worked together for me and the ending felt pat. Still, it's a testament to Fuller's talent that I stuck with a dystopian novel and found it compelling, #netgalley 1y
Tamra I‘m anxious to try it, though dystopian isn‘t in my wheelhouse. 1y
TheKidUpstairs I just bought this one today for #CampLitsy 1y
See All 7 Comments
merelybookish @TheKidUpstairs Oh right! I forgot it's a #camplitsy book! 1y
merelybookish @Tamra Me neither but it''s more than that too. 1y
sarahbarnes Glad to see you liked this one well enough! I have it on hold at the library. 1y
BarbaraBB I have a copy on hold too. Great review. 1y
69 likes1 stack add7 comments