Review of ‘Architects of Memory’ by Karen Osborne
This was super intense. I sometimes think the word ‘gripping’ can be overused when it comes to books and movies. It’s meant to draw us in, but mostly I’m disappointed by its promise. Well, let’s just say that this wlw science fiction book needs to have ‘gripping’ tattooed across the whole cover. I haven’t read a book that held my attention like this in a while. One of my Goodreads friends warned me that I would read this in one sitting. That was no joke. I read this in 6 hours straight and could not stop reading until the end. I have a sore neck because I hardly moved as I was so engrossed in the story. This book starts and just takes off from there, and the pace is so quick that you almost can’t catch your breath.
I have not gotten to read much sci-fi this year, it’s my one disappointment for a year that has been really good for me book-wise. I’m hoping to get some good sci-fi books in before the year ends so I was thrilled to get my hands on this one. This looks to be Osborne’s full-length debut unless I’m missing something. For me, that just makes this book even more impressive. Osborne can write sci-fi and I can see her doing really well in the genre.
There are so much action and excitement in this story that I want to be careful not to spoil anything. I do want to mention that there is plenty of violence in this book. This is about a world recovering from a war with aliens so things are rough. While there were some grossness and some gory bits, I didn’t feel like anything was overdone. I thought the types of death and violence fit the story if that makes sense.
The reason I gravitated to this book was that it was sci-fi with a WLW relationship. There is a romance and I enjoyed it, but it is a lighter romance. We come into things in the middle so we don’t see them fall in love. Getting to see how their relationship started is just one of multiple reasons why I would like to read a prequel. Anyway, the other issue is that the main characters are apart for most of the book so that also limits things, but the romance that is there, it is sweet and I enjoyed it. I also like that sexuality is not an issue at all. I got the sense that both main characters were bisexual and they just loved who they loved and that was that.
The reason I can’t give this 5 stars is less about the writing quality and more just story choices I wasn’t big on. For instance, I wasn’t crazy about the ending. It was okay but I kept waiting for a certain something to happen for over half the book and when it didn’t happen, I was disappointed. Now that I read the blurb for book 2, I understand why Osborne didn’t do what she made me think she was going to do. As much as I really enjoyed this book, I’m about 50/50 if I will read the next installment. The main problem is I don’t really care for the new main character that will star in that book so I’m unsure. While this is a series, this book feels contained enough that I could stop here if I decide to.
If you are a sci-fi fan I would recommend this one. While it’s not perfect, it is extremely entertaining and completely gripping. This book will grab you and it won’t let go until you finish it. This is a memorable debut for Osborne.
A copy was given to me for an honest review.
