by Rebecca Mahoney
Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Mar 2023
336 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History
Publication Information
A teenage girl must save her town from a memory-devouring monster in this piercing exploration of grief, trauma, and memory, from the author of The Valley and the Flood.
For generations, a monster called the Memory Eater has lived in the caves of Whistler Beach, Maine, surviving off the unhappy memories of those who want to forget. And for generations, the Harlows have been in charge of keeping her locked up—and keeping her fed.
After her grandmother dies, seventeen-year-old Alana Harlow inherits the family business. But there's something Alana doesn't know: the strange gaps in her memory aren't from an accident. Her memories have been taken—eaten. And with them, she's lost the knowledge of how to keep the monster contained.
Now the Memory Eater is loose. Alana's mistake could cost Whistler Beach everything—unless she can figure out how to retrieve her memories and recapture the monster. But as Alana delves deeper into her family's magic and the history of her town, she discovers a shocking secret at the center of the Harlow family business and learns that tampering with memories always comes at a price
"Via poetic prose, darkly ominous ambiance, and Alana's witty, undeniably teen voice, Mahoney movingly addresses themes of atoning for past mistakes, confronting intergenerational trauma, and overcoming grief in this unforgettable read." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"An eerie tale offering equal measures of fright, angst, and emotional catharsis." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Mahoney combines a touch of magic with a story of grief, loss, and growing up under the weight of a whole town's survival." - Booklist
"A contemplative, heartbreaking exploration of family and the ways in which we heal and hurt each other." - BCCB
"Strange and beautiful, The Memory Eater is a book you won't easily forget." - Nicole Lesperance, author of The Wide Starlight and The Depths
"Tender and unsettling and endlessly inventive, The Memory Eater is a book unlike any I've read before. I will be thinking about this story for years to come—I only wish I could give my memory away and read it again for the first time." - Courtney Gould, award winning author of The Dead And The Dark
"Eerie and atmospheric, here is a love letter to the power and importance of memory, wrapped up in a book you'll surely never forget." - Sarah Glenn Marsh, author of the Reign of the Fallen series
This information about The Memory Eater was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Rebecca Mahoney is a young adult and middle grade writer, and the co-creator of audio drama serial The Bridge Podcast. She's a strong believer in the cathartic power of all things fantastical and creepy in children's literature—and she knows firsthand that ghosts, monsters, and the unknown can give you the language you need to understand yourself. She was raised in Windham, New Hampshire, currently resides in Massachusetts, and spends her spare time watching horror movies, collecting cloche hats, and cursing sailors at sea. She can be found on Twitter @cafecliche.
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