The Book of M: A Novel

Great treat to find how much I looked forward to reading this book and really hated putting it down; a real page-turner. Note: read on a Kindle but “button-pusher” will never catch.The author creates a dark, compelling atmosphere where the sheer emptiness of everything is the scariest thing lurking; the reader fills in their own impressions of the isolation. The unnerving tone starts with this isolation, making the central characters pivotal, and peppers in flashback stories of a larger, loving community, showing the totality of the losses. There is an early introduction of something that foreshadows a terrific gut-punch later.Skillful use of shifting perspectives between not only the primary characters but the past and present, fleshing out the small character details that deeply connect them to the reader. Tight narrative focus: the reader knows only what the characters know at the time, underlying the danger: “Assuming they could remember how to speak, or anything they’d seen at all.”The story is an examination of the elements of relationships that matter most to those involved, the things clung to that define the idiosyncrasies of the special people in our lives. The use of first-person storytelling really draws the reader into each moment, also cementing the true protagonist of the novel.I spent some time considering what a separation as described in the book would mean to me (no spoilers). Is there comfort knowing any such anxiety over the loss will be temporary or is it that much worse for knowing how ultimately intransigent everything is? Or is it even more life-affirming that what really matters is “now” with the connections formed making all the difference?Excellent lines:* “…as if he’d forgotten what language was and accidentally made sounds that weren’t words.”* “…danced around untethered to the earth, captivated by the un-understandable beauty of it.”* “It was disorienting—to listen as things that used to matter so much evaporated.”* “He hadn’t known he would need such a strong memory of it. That he wouldn’t be able to just go to the shelf and take it down whenever he wanted.”* “What reason could I have to ever leave you?”* “Would I still love you like I love you now? Or would I fail to see you just as you’d failed to see me?”* “But even if I never say it, it’s still real, because a thing does not have to be said to be real. It just has to be remembered.”

The book gives you so much to think about. The characters were so well developed and so likable. The scenes were vivid and I was often on the edge of my seat, unable to put it down. And I never saw the twist at the end coming. Definitely recommend it

The Book of M is an interesting story about a world where for some unknown reason people's shadows start to disappear. It's discovered that shortly after someone loses their shadow, they start losing their memories. Memories like who people are, how letters make words - how to read, or how a doorknob opens a door, or that eating food keeps you alive. The world spins into chaos and we follow a cast of honest, grounded characters who try to navigate it the best they can while keeping an eye on their own shadow, or a grip on their fading memories.In the middle of the book - I was not so interested - it was more about warring groups - for resources and also between those who shadows and those who did not. I have to admit I thought of Dr. Seuss and the Sneetches who had stars and those who did not. I also thought that if those with shadows waited - those without shadows would forget anyway ...lol Anyway - I did get a little but disinterested in the middle of the bookThen the ending was worth waiting for

I give The Book of M high points for its creativity. I’ve read many end-of-the-world novels, and most revolve around a pathogen, alien invasion, climate change, nuclear holocaust, or robot domination. Never have I seen one which contains the premise of people losing their shadows, with the subsequent loss of their memories, as the reason for humanity’s downfall. On just this point alone, the book is worth reading.The writing is clear and the story flows nicely. I found it enlightening how Ms. Shepherd described in the book the experience of dementia or Alzheimers when people lost their shadows and eventually their memory. I’ll add another kudos for creativity concerning how the dialogue of one of the major characters was in the form of a voice recording, at least for much of the story.I was disappointed, however, at not finding a reason for the loss of people’s shadows. Another negative was that the story meandered a bit aimlessly during much of the middle as it digressed into fight scenes between the shadowed people and the shadowless. But the positives outweigh the negatives. It’s a storyline that I’ll remember for a long time.

For a debut novel, Book of M avoids many of the traps of first time writers and delivers a unique world and story. It does fall into one debut trap though - not knowing what is better left on the editing room floor. There's a looong section in the middle of the book where things are happening but nothing is really progressing. The book would perhaps have worked better if it was structured in 3 or 4 parts, each focussing on one character/group/location, rather than having all the different perspectives inter-cut throughout.The characters are generally a well written bunch, though like so many novels these days it does feel a bit like the author had a diversity checklist they were following to make sure nobody could claim they weren't represented.The story is not quite like anything else I can think of, though perhaps some of Brian Aldiss' novels are a relevant reference point. The internal logic of the events that drive the novel is sometimes unclear, it doesn't necessarily feel like the rules are consistent. That does mean that things aren't overly predictable, either, which is not necessarily a bad thing.Well worth a read despite a few quibbles, and recommended for those that are looking for something a bit different.

I started out liking this a lot, the strong points being an original plot, and the concentration on the human relationships and reactions to the situation. What also came across strongly was the day to day hardships experienced by the people affected. So far so good, but where it failed, to me, was in the lack of adequate explanation of how/why the situation came about in the first place(unless I've missed something fundamental). The reliance on instances of "magic" to explain certain events, was, I thought, a bit lazy. And why would one person's forgetting something then affect other people's perceptions? If this is accepted, then I would have thought far more weird things would be happening, probably too many to allow anyone to survive for very long. Finally, the ending, with its somewhat unexpected twist, I found unsatisfying. I can't say any more without it being a spoiler, so I'll leave it there. At least I finished the book, but I was starting to wilt by the final couple of chapters.

This book is written how I might write down remembered dreams but the author manages to create a plot and good characters to go with the dreamscapes.It isn’t a classic apocalyptic book by any means, it’s more unique and thought provoking. Not all questions are answered in the book, the why’s or how’s are still there at the end but it does still end in a fairly satisfactory way without leaving the reader hanging.The more I read, the more I wanted to keep reading… always a good sign! But I’m still unsure who this book appeals to because it isn’t about a war as such, or disease as such, not climate change but still some sort of dystopian future type novel.

I read this in 5 days, I just couldn't put it down! This book is endlessly imaginative. The plot sounds a bit ridiculous but it's so well written that it feels completely believable. There's so many twists and turns as well, each time I thought I knew what direction it was going in something completely unexpected would happen. It uses the trope of 'mysterious illness causes the end of the world' combined with a quest for a mysterious holy grail that may or may not help with The Forgetting. It raises lots of really interesting questions about what makes us who we are, how we affect the world around us and how important memory is for survival. It's really gripping and yet also magical in places. And the twist at the end caught me completely off guard, and made question everything I thought I had understood when reading the rest of the book. Would absolutely recommend!

The Book of M is a thought-provoking, interesting and original debut. I enjoyed reading it but feel that it could have been shorter and still packed a punch.It is a book with 4 storylines/protagonists . Ory, Max, Naz and The Amnesiac.People around the world have lost their shadows and along with them their memories of their lives and what makes them, them.Ory and Max are married and the story really starts with them. When Ory goes out for a supply run, Max disappears.I found that I wasn’t a big fan of Ory as a character/person as he seemed more concerned with himself and how he felt about his wife disappearing than with how his wife must be feeling at losing her shadow.Don’t get me wrong the characters were all well written Ory included but he was also annoying.I don’t want to write much more as I don’t want to spoil anything.Read this book, it is a very powerful story and will stay with you for a while.