Titlle: The Persistance of Memory (Mnevermind #1)
Author: Jordan Castillo Price
Genre/Themes: Dystopia / MM romance
Release Date: 4 May 2012
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My rating: 4 Stars
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Synopsis
Every day, Daniel Schroeder breaks his father’s heart.
While forgetting your problems won’t solve them, it does seem like it would make life a heck of a lot easier. Daniel thought so once. Now he knows better. He and Big Dan have always been close, which makes it all the more difficult to break the daily news: the last five years were nothing like his father remembers.
They’re both professionals in the memory field—they even run their own memory palace. So shouldn’t they be able to figure out a way to overwrite the persistent false memory that’s wreaking havoc on both of their lives? Daniel thought he was holding it together, but the situation seems to be sliding out of control. Now even his own equipment has turned against him, reminding him he hasn’t had a date in ages by taunting him with flashes of an elusive man in black that only he can see.
Is it some quirk of the circuitry, or is Daniel headed down the same path to fantasy-land as his old man.
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Titlle: Forget Me Not (Mnevermind #2)
Author: Jordan Castillo Price
Genre/Themes: Dystopia / MM romance
Release Date: 19 Feb 2014
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My rating: 5 Stars
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Synopsis
No two people are exactly alike, but Elijah Crowe is very, very different.
Elijah is on the autism spectrum, so the tasks of day-to-day life most people breeze through are a challenge for him. His career suffered because he never got the hang of schmoozing, and now his talents are being wasted teaching classes at the mall. His social circle is limited to his ex, his therapist, and a structured inclusion group at the Rec Center. The one bright spot in his life is the memory science of Mnemography.
Although he loves nothing better than devouring the latest research and tinkering with all the specialized equipment, he never clicked with any other experts in the field until he met Daniel Schroeder. Daniel runs a memory palace—he even writes his own mnems—and that shared interest alone would make him fascinating. But Daniel and Elijah met under unusual circumstances, where the statement, “I like you, and I think you like me,” held some surprising nuances.
Now Elijah suspects he’s gay, but the few prominent people in his life are less than supportive. Some are downright hostile. Elijah might not be neurotypical, but he’s plenty smart. Surely there’s some way to get people to accept him for who he is. If only he could figure out how.
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Titlle: Life Is Awesome (Mnevermind #3)
Author: Jordan Castillo Price
Genre/Themes: Dystopia / MM romance
Release Date: 24 Feb 2015
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My rating: 4.5 Stars
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Synopsis
Daniel Schroeder wants nothing more than to repair his father’s broken memories, but it’s been a long time since he’s thought of himself as a memorysmith. Even though convincing Big Dan of their current reality is the most painful task Daniel faces every morning, somehow life manages to prevent him from finding a cure. He needs to keep their family business running. And he needs to moonlight at a competitor’s shop to keep all his employees paid. Or maybe he’s just trying to keep himself from exacerbating the situation.
A year ago, Daniel would have presumed he was clever enough to memorysmith his way out of their predicament, but nowadays he’s not so cavalier. Playing with people’s memories shouldn’t be taken lightly, and things can always get worse. Even with the help of some of the best minds in the business, Daniel still isn’t sure how to navigate his way out of the persistent false memory that’s crippled his life. Is new programming the answer? Better gear? More money? Or is time the only thing that can heal Big Dan’s memories…if they can even be fixed at all.
What Daniel needs most is some breathing room, and Elijah Crowe is eager to provide it. Since he’s smitten with Daniel, Elijah is determined to prove himself—and he’s more than qualified to clear Daniel’s schedule by taking over some duties at Adventuretech. With the support of his new boyfriend, possibilities begin to open up for Daniel, hints of things he hasn’t even realized he’d stopped hoping for: the contentment of a harmonious family, the fulfillment of his creative expression, and a chance for a relationship with a man he loves.
Review
I read this series a while ago and was very much impressed by it. I meant to review the complete series of three books together but somehow it was never the right time.
I have so many thoughts about these books and will at least try to express some of them in a coherent manner. Simply put - this MM dystopian/speculative (romantic) fiction, and I'm not using these terms as strictly defined categories but rather as a reflection of what the story felt like to me while reading it - is breath-taking, raw, emotional and real and oh, so clever.
I'm amazed at the imaginative genius of Ms Price. The other work of hers I've read (review), Meatworks was also very rich, imaginative romance, though I definitely liked this one better.
The story is set in the not so distant, somewhat bleak future where people experience mnemes (as a mix of dreams and memories) as a form of entertainment.
This is the story of Daniel and Elijah, a story of being adult - serious and responsible, but also hopeful and forgiving and never really giving up on your dreams.
Book 1 was slightly slower, more descriptive, in a way setting the stage for the things to come in the next two books. It created this richly imaginative world populated by characters who felt so real, human, very much like the people we meet in our life - some were smarter, others less so, some were compassionate and loyal, others - less so. They were all multi-faceted, multi-layered, with thier own strengths and weaknesses, searching in one way or another for that forever elusive piece of happiness and sense of achievement and satisfaction.
Book 2 stood out the most for me. It's told from Elijah's POV and I can't describe how much a loved it. He is on the autistic spectrum and Ms Price made him an absolutely unforgettable character. There was no melodrama and excessive sentimentality in his portrayal. He felt real, his voice was a mixture of strength and confidence on the one hand and vulnerability and confusion on the other. His sudden attraction to Daniel after being married to woman was confusing for him but he took it for what it was and explored it without prejudice or judgement.
The romantic relationship was mostly the focus in the final book. It was difficult, there was no magical 'We belong together, so everything happens naturally/effortlessly'. It took some work both for Daniel and Elijah to be able to be together. The way it is most often in life - love is there but being with someone also takes time, takes getting used to one's quirks and oddities, accepting some limits.
The whole mneming business was complicated to comprehend though in my mind I had this weird association between mneming and a children's animation I watch with my kid (Zack and Quack). The depths of the desrciption of the this future world was fascinating and what was even more fascinating how personal, human Ms Price made the story.
If you are looking for a brilliantly writtne, imaginative, yet as real as it gets, romantic story, you need to try this series!
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