Customer Reviews

Escape from Memory

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In the novel Escape from Memory, Margaret Peterson Haddix shows her ability yet again to come up with a plausible new world to show her readers.

Kira, the main character, gets more than she bargained for after being hypnotized by her friends at a sleepover. She begins to learn that her past may be a lot more interesting than she thought. Her mother refuses to tell Kira what her memory of being carried away from danger as a toddler might mean and so Kira and her friend Lynne then decide to find out why she was able to understand a language in her hypnosis that no one else can recognize and what else Kira's past might hold. Kira soon finds herself on a plane with a woman who claims to be her "Aunt Memory" from her homeland Crythe while Kira's mother is nowhere to be found.

Haddix has crafted wonderful novels and this is yet another that will appeal to a wide range of readers. This sci fi novel will appeal to sci fi fans as well as those readers who appreciate a well crafted realistic story since the backstory is well explained. I would recommend this to readers from eleven up to adult.

This book is extremely interesting and easy to get in to. I read it in two days in between school.

It starts out while hipmotized by her friends at a Friday night slumber party, fifteen year old Kira tells about secrets that she didn't know she knew. When she asks her Mom about them, she flips out and tells her never to be hipmotized again. Suddenly, Kira's mom takes an entire month off of her job as a librarian and dissappears. It is then that someone shows up at Kira's house and claims to be her 'Aunt Memory' and she comes from this town called Crythe, which is where she claims Kira was born. Aunt Memory tells Kira that her Mom has been kidnapped and taken to Crythe too and Kira has to go there to save her. Kira then goes through dangerous challenges trying to free herself, her mom, and her friend who slipped into her suitcase when she left while she wasn't looking. This story was so interesting. I love all books by Margaret Peterson Haddix and I would reccomend them to anyone.

Having read Running Out of Time,Turnabout and all the Shadow children books, I was a little bit disappointed with this book. The others could be easily enjoyed by all where this book definately is for a fairly young audience.

It starts out quite intriguing where Kira, a teen is hypnotized by her friend and has wierd memories that seem like they are from another person. When she asks her mother about the memories, her mother appears very disturbed and doesn't give Kira a satifactory answer. Then Kira's mother mysteriously disappears.

From there on the book turns into a fairly juvenile tale along the lines of Agent Cody Banks with a secret town, government plotting and dopey criminals. As one who did enjoy Agent Cody Banks I liked the book but was disappointed with the style because I was expecting something a little more believable like Turnabout.

This has been one of my all-time favorite books ever since I read it last year. The plot, though confusing, has just the right amount of twists and turns to keep you interested.

One thing I especially enjoyed was the fact that no one was pure good or pure evil, and very few people end up with the same character Kira percieves them with in the beginning. An example is Aunt Memory. At the beginning of the book, she is percieved by Kira as strange but welcome. A little while later, Kira begins to have second thoughts. Then, she thinks of her as kind, then evil, then, surprisingly, with a hint of sympathy.

This is an overall very good book which I would recommend to anyone 6th grade and up looking for a great book you can really get lost in.

The basic plot has the same roots as Harry Potter. I think most young people would like to belive that they are extaordinarily talented orphaned offspring who will be discovered for the truly special people they are. The plot moves along swiftly. The book does have some interesting things to say about memories and what they contribute to who we are and whether the brain should be used for recall vs reason. There is plenty of action, but the story takes outlandish jumps that require the reader to not just suspend his disbelief, but send it on an extended vacation. I was uncomfortable with the frequent threat of gun violence. It seemed a convenient way to put the good guys in peril that seemed oddly old fashioned in this modern concept novel. One scene where a pistol is discharged in a dungeon was ludicrous. I believe her strongest writing depicted the teenage girls just being girls at the start. There is an opening for a sequel at the end, but I won't be around for that.

This book started off rather promising, with the young girl Kira suddenly in possession of memories she doesn't recognize. It quickly veers off course, however. The woman who claims to be "Aunt Memory", then it turns out she isn't, then it turns out Kira's mother is, then it turns out she isn't her mother, then it turns out she is - rather pointlessly confusing for young readers. The Crythians, a generic mob who may or may not have memories, and in the end it doesn't matter because the villainess actually only wants this memory-erasing invention for money-making schemes of her own. The best friend Lynne, who could have been a feisty little character, turns out to be no one in particular. Especially disappointing is Kira herself, who doesn't really learn much from the whole thing, never finds within herself any particularly interesting strength or any kind of clever solution to her plight. (Ultimately it's the grown-ups who save the day, and it happens off stage.) Other annoying plot points; 1.) A plane crash, also off stage, which a major character survives with no explanation as to how. 2.)A trip to Crythe which is painted in very broad uninteresting strokes. 3.) No other Crythian characters to speak of except this generically evil Rona. 4.) Glib narrative comments like "I'd been raised an American. I understood greed better than my parents did."

At one point the girl is hypnotized a second time and flooded with her own parents memories, which have been stored within her own mind. Again, such an interesting idea but what happens? Very, very little in the way of revelation. Another opportunity frittered away.

I'm surprised this book won an award, although I'm not familiar with the Eleanor Cameron award. One can only guess there were very few submissions that year. But I'm giving it three stars because the premise is imaginative. If only she'd followed through on it in an imaginative way.

I was expecting the book to start at a sleepover where a bunch of girls are getting each other to tell secrets, and one girl with a traumatic past starts spilling too much. Don't get me wrong, now. I don't dislike the book because it was not what I thought it would be.

Instead, it was a sleepover. Two or Kira's friends were hypnotizing her, and what they got out of her is unrealistic. The rest of the book seems incredibly rushed. Suddenly, coincidentally, her mother is missing, some random woman shows up and Kira willingly goes with her. It just feels so, so rushed. Also, a big unrealistic. Okay, the ancient city with all this memory stuff - that's the book. But Kira's best friend, guess what, sneaked into her suitcase so she's coming along for the party too!

I don't know if it's just the Kindle version, but I saw many grammatical mistakes in quotations.

When I consider reading a book, I look at what other people have thought about the book so I will try to make this review count. For one thing, this book hooked me to the point where I didn't bother to finish my homework and kept on reading. Escape from Memory was one of the best books I have EVER read in my life and trust me when I say that I have read a lot of books. I'm not the type of person who rereads something but I must have read this book about six times! Kira is an innocent girl living with a mother, Sophia, who is always seems far away. But Kira is disturbed by something in her mind. She sees hallucinations, illusions. Are they things from her memory? Have these things happened before? She can't get any answers from her mother. No matter where she looks, she cannot find anything about herself. It's like she had no past...like it was erased...Then, one day, things take on a shocking twist. Her mother is missing. She's gone. Where could she go? How could she leave Kira? How could she leave the very Kira who had always been so overprotected? And then, a stranger appears. She calls herself Kira's Aunt Memory and turns Kira's entire life upside down. She drags Kira off to a place where it is as if Kira and her Aunt Memory shot out of a time portal. Its is the past... Kira's past. Kira learns more than she had ever imagined. She finds betrayers and discovers who her acquaintances really are. And then, a fast, suspenseful end keeps you on your feet like nothing you've ever felt before. You will be holding your breath to the point of choking. Escape from Memory will leave you wide-eyed, shocked and craving for more. Haddix is not about to disappoint her readers and Escape from Memory is probably her best book yet. How she did it, only heaven knows. But this book is something you absolutely positively have to read and no questions about it!! You will not be disappointed but will fall in love with Haddix's crafted, suspenseful and fast moving book. Prepare yourself for the read of your life!

Have you ever felt like your parents were hiding something from you? Not like Santa Claus isn't real or the Easter bunny is a guy in a suit, no something else, something big. Like you did not belong. Or you weren't normal. An outcast. Kira has pale skin as light as day. Her hair is as dark as midnight in December, but as smooth as a silk blanket.

Kira has a normal life, or at least she thinks she does. Her mother is very stiff, but cares for Kira's well being. Kira's mom works at the local library as the woman behind the counter who checks the books in and out. One night at a sleepover the unexpectable happens. Kira agrees to let her best friend, Lynne, hyponotize her. As she is under the spell she talks of Mystic Languages, gunfire, the bells of war and an unknown world called Crythe.Her friends stare at her in an awkward way, because Kira does not remember a thing she said. They watch drama movies for the rest of the sleepover. Kira is trying to remember what she said but can't. She feels something is wrong.

When the sleepover is over she sees the mess on the floor so she starts to vacuum. she sees a note on the floor that says leave the house, take the car and drive to Lynne's. First of all, she is only 15. All a sudden a lady comes into her house. And tells her I am your Aunt Memory. Then she takes her away. Lynne her faithful friend knows when something is wrong so she hops into her suit case and follows Kira and her Aunt Memory. Soon Aunt Memory reveals her self as dirty evil woman what will happen next.

Haddix shows true friendship in this book a friend risk her life for Kira. This book also has courage and definitely adventure. It is amazing how Haddix shows so many descriptive words without being boring. My hands were glued to the book it was like I could not put the book down. Some times I was so overwhelmed with all the action I had to put the book down. I loved how each chapter she would leave you off a cliff. So you keep on reading. I guarantee it.

I enjoyed this book. You have to concentrate while reading it though. This is because of all the twists and surprises, but it makes a very good story. This author has to be very good at imagining things. I know I would never be able to make up a story as good as this one of the top of my head. I think Margaret Peterson Haddix is a very good author. I would strongly recommend reading one of her books.