Actual rating 2.5/5

This is the story of a young girl, Hope, who dies of a rare heart condition, and before passing away organises a scavenger hunt for some of her friends. This way she wants them to meet and help each other the same way they helped her in the past.

The premise of this book seemed pretty interesting, an having read (and loved) "Tone deaf" by the same author, I was excited about this one. And my excitement increased when I met the diverse range of characters. I mean, there are visually impaired characters, autistic characters, characters with OCD, characters of colour, characters with eating disorders, non-binary characters, bisexual characters, lesbian characters, and disabled characters.

I think that, in general, there is good representation in this book. However, I don't like how mental illnesses are adressed, especially eating disorders. Because you can't make fun of or blame a person for having an eating disorder, nor shame them for harming themself. And it's important to have in mind that an eating disorder is much more than wanting to be thin, so you can't ask a person just to eat and expect their problems to go away because it's not that easy. In addition, I don't think neuro-diversity is adressed correctly, either. A person with OCD and an autism spectrum disorder is not just "your weird friend" and you cannot ask them just to leave their comfort zone or break their rules.

Taking that in consideration, I can't rate this book any higher, even though it's a moving story, with a lot of diversity, and a beautiful message.

TRIGGER WARNING for alcohol, suicide, self-harm, eating disorders, and drug use.

*I received this book through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review*

There are certain books, which I read the synopsis of and I'm just instantly excited. I have to read that book. That's what I had when I came across this book on Netgalley. It was exactly the kind of book that I like. A cast of characters all battling difficult situations, being led on a scavenger hunt by a recently deceased friend. It has all the markers of a highly emotional, captivating read.
Sometimes these books manage to reach the expectations I put on them, while others don't. I was so thrilled when I began reading this book and instantly fell in love with it.
The characters were all well written, fleshed out and interesting. I really liked the balance between them, there wasn't any character that I cared about less. I enjoyed the dynamics between this unlikely group of people and the way Hope managed to bring them all together. Helping them even after she was gone.
The pacing was spot on, keeping me hooked, without having too much going on all of the time, which can make a book feel a little too rushed or chaotic.
I really enjoyed how the emotion was portrayed as well. These aren't perfect characters, they all have struggles and flaws. I really enjoyed the realism which they were portrayed with.
Overall, this was a very enjoyable read and I would highly recommend it.

The thing that first drew me to this book is its beautiful cover and the idea of a girl leaving her friends a scavenger hunt that brings them together. That’s the premise of the story, at least, because Hope was ill and passed away, kicking off the clue-finding and attempted bonding of the two boys in question. While I think the plot, as a concept, is really interesting and that it could be done in a sensitive and thoughtful way, this book did not hit a home-run for me.

The writing wasn’t necessarily perfect, as it was a little repetitive sometimes, but the book is rated quite highly so while I may not agree with everything that I read in this book, take the following with a skeptical eye. Just because I had issues with it, that doesn’t mean other readers will. But I couldn’t give it more than two stars, given my experience with it.

There is a great deal of humor in the book, particularly from Erik’s point of view, and that kept me at least a little bit interested in his story arc, but for the most part I found it impossible to relate to the characters.

Now, I understand and agree with the desire to include a diverse cast of characters, but I simply cannot believe that the group in this story could actually get along enough to let this plot occur. And some of the characters are ones that I worry might actually offend people with mental illness, physical illnesses, etc. Because we have characters with both, and we have different ethnicities, different sexualities and family backgrounds and that’s all wonderful, but none of them are portrayed in a positive light aside from Hope, who had a terminal illness.

Yes, the characters are meant to grow and improve and become better people, but even in their own inner dialogue the vocabulary and thought processes seem really off-putting and like they don’t match the personality type we’re told they have. So while I obviously have to give this author credit for making a point of including so many different types of people, I feel that it may not go over as well as intended, as I of course sincerely doubt that there was any intention of insensitivity.

I do, additionally, have to give Rivers credit for including different writing styles for each character. I found that to be a surprise once a new character was introduced that had a vastly different tempo and design for their chapters. And for making a point of using pronouns for the character that they would prefer. I have friends who want to be called “they/them” so I greatly appreciate the decision there. But even that character has a number of problems of their own, and with all of the characters combined it almost feels like a challenge the author took to include as many types of diverse characters and all sorts of disabilities. If the setting for this book had been different, maybe it would not have felt so problematic.

If taken lightly, I’m sure that people could enjoy this book. But it was just massively difficult for me to read, since I work with adults with disabilities where I volunteer, so I could not rate it more highly. I wanted to love this book, but because of my personal experiences, I think, it just didn’t work.

Dealing with death and friendship while going on a scavenger hunt in the Big Apple? Sign me up! Olivia River's young adult novel sets out with a great premise, but can it actually hold up?

At the end of summer break, Erik receives a party invite from his secret crush, Hope. But when he gets there he has to learn that Hope has died and has left him and three other friends, Aiden, Sam, and Kali, with a number of tasks. The clues lead them to New York City where they encounter Hope's graffiti art as well as their inner demons. Each of the characters has to deal with a different challenge to discover the next clue. They expect to find out more about Hope, however, in the end, the hunt is not about a dead girl, but about those who are still very much alive. Despite their differences and their mutual dislike for each other, they don't only grow individually, but also become closer with every step of the way.

I'm sorry to say that this novel is a typical example of 'great idea, bad execution.' What I found particularly annoying was that each of the characters is a walking illness and gets treated as such. There's hardly anything beyond their physical or mental condition. They are not fully fleshed out and are reduced to textbook examples of their illnesses/disabilities. Especially, anorexic Kali is the epitome of an eating disorder. I marked numerous examples of the characters giving a description of their feelings, without actually conveying them to the reader. On the whole, the writing is repetitive, and the plot is very slow and unexciting. The book attempts to be deep, complex and unique (e.g. the computer geek only using lowercase letters and abbreviations? Come on!), but in the end, it does not succeed in what it set out to do: painting a painful and realistic development of teenagers driven by the loss of a loved person. This book would have had great potential, but unfortunately, it lacks any emotional depth or a compelling plot that would make up for the rather mediocre writing. Maybe it would have been better to focus on plot development and to provide insight into the workings of the minds of adolescents who are grieving instead of the characters' unusual circumstances. But since the author is still very young, I'm certain she will learn and improve. She's a promising writer who may need better editing and guidance.

Hope is dead. Days after Hope's heart fails, her friends from all walks of life are thrown together to complete Hope's dying wish: complete the scavenger hunt set up by Hope herself. But to complete her scavenger hunt they are going to need to face their personal demons head on.

(I received an advance copy of this book via NetGalley for an honest review.)

So I wasn't expecting to like this book as much as I did, and I never imagined it would have as much representation as it did. So let's get started on the characters:

Aiden is Hope's best friend who struggles with a slew of issues such OCD (particularly the counting variety), anxiety, Alexithymia, etc. He has a lot going on. However, other then numbers, Aiden is obsessed with logic and medicine. He has collected nearly all of the Encyclopedias of Medicine, but his MI's seem to be getting in the way.

Erik was Hope's crush, captain of the football team, and he's a secret nerd. There's only one problem: He's going blind from LHON, and he won't be able to keep it from his friends and family much longer.

Kali is Hope's little sister. Well, as close as you can get to being sisters without actually being related. They grew up together in the same foster home, they are both artists, but Kali hasn't talked to Hope in years. Kali is bulimic, a self-mutilator, and does everything she can to numb herself to the world.

Sam is Sam. Sam met Hope through tumblr via fandom accounts. They shared a bond that can't be explained or understood until you've experienced that bond irl. Sam was in a bombing, lost their dad, and is trying to finish their dad's remaining coder work. Only problem is Sam doesn't have as many fingers as they use to and has a shit computer. (As a side note: I found Sam's "chapters" difficult to read at first but an interesting choice style wise. I'm not sure if I think its genius or ridiculous yet.)

So we have POC representation (because Aiden is African American and Kali is a mixture of things but we aren't sure what exactly because she doesn't know her parents), we have non-binary representation because Sam is Sam (also I think Sam might be Pan or Bi it's never really exclusively stated), we have a disability (Erik's LOHN), and then we have a plethora of Mental Illnesses (OCD, eating disorders, etc.). I think that's pretty damn good.

Overall I really liked this book. I loved the various representation, I thought the characterization was really well done, and the scavenger hunt and figuring out the clues with everyone was very fun.

So the only criticism I have has **a bit of spoilers**.

Okay, so at the part where Kali is offered money ($800) for the artwork (that is hers) that Hope secretly sold at the NY cafe and she turns it down to give to "more deserving artists", I was confused. She had this whole moment with Sam where they discuss how much a new computer capable of Sam's level of coding costs and how Same is struggling to buy things like groceries, etc. and Kali seemed to care, but apparently not. It was all fixed in the end with Hope's last gift to Sam, but still that seemed odd that Kali cared enough to buy Sam groceries but not enough to give Sam $800.

I also had a problem with Aiden's "task". Especially since the author went through enough trouble to mention that Aiden is more likely to be arrested because of his race. It just seems strange that *that* is the task that Hope chose for her best friend.

** Anyways, I really liked this book and overall I think this would make and excellent addition to anyone's diversity collection.

This book is crazy. It blows my mind and touches my heart. I already fell in love with this book in the first chapters because I recognize all the disorders that have mentioned in the book.

The story is not about Hope, but how her friends will face their problems or fears or issues. The book is easy to read and I really enjoyed it. This book is an eye-opener in all aspects. It definitely gives hope and believe in fate. I love the idea of the scavenger hunt, the objective is to help each characters conditions and/or cases to be a better person. The message of this book strikes through my heart. After reading this book, at some point, my perspective in life changed.

I would like to commend the author, Olivia Rivers, she's amazingly good. I really like this novel.

I will surely recommend this book to my students as part of their book review project in class and also with my friends, they will surely enjoy reading this.

This book absolutely blew my expectations out of the water. In the Hope of Memories follows four teenagers with only one thing in common: they all loved, and were loved by, Hope Jackson. The story is told through alternating POVs of the four main characters, and it follows the group as they go on a scavenger hunt through Philadelphia and New York City that Hope set up for them as one of the last things she did before she died.

The synopsis of this book kind of gave me Since You've Been Gone (which is one of my favorite contemporaries) vibes, but In the Hope of Memories is much more poignant and reflective. Which is not surprising, since the entire premise revolves around a group of four strangers processing the loss of one of the people they loved most in the world. It expertly shows the different ways in which people deal with grief, and, additionally, showcases the variety of feelings that come along with the loss of a loved one. Loss does not always equate to grief; in reality, it's much more complex and messy. These characters all processed the loss of their friend in their own unique ways, feeling everything from anger, to confusion, to denial, to hopelessness.

In the Hope of Memories is a masterclass on writing a diverse cast of characters. Those of us who advocate for diversity maintain that writing only white, cis, straight, neurotypical characters is not only exclusionary, but also just plain inaccurate, because that's simply not the way the world looks. Rivers clearly understands that we all come from vastly different backgrounds and experience life in different ways. Nearly every character in this novel, even the side characters, is marginalized in some way. This was so, so refreshing to read, because again, that's how the real world is. It felt true to real life (yes, diversity haters, DIVERSITY IN FICTION IS REFLECTIVE OF REAL LIFE.). However, the characters didn't simply feel like an arbitrary *~diversity checklist~* thrown in as an afterthought; all the characters are complex and multifaceted, and they all seemed to leap off the page. I recognize that I am not the best person to judge the accuracy of much of the representation in this book-- I am white, cis, and able-bodied; I am not visually impaired; I have not been diagnosed with an eating disorder or with OCD; I have not been in the foster care system; and I am not on the autism spectrum. Rivers herself is disabled, so that makes at least one of the perspectives in this book (at least partially) #ownvoices. (Side note: please let me know if the term #ownvoices would not apply here.)

Speaking of characters, let's talk about them! We first meet Erik, a jock who worked with Hope for years but never had the courage to tell her his feelings for her (or acknowledge hers for him). I loved seeing him grapple with the changes in his life, the uncertainty of it all. Next, we meet Aiden, a brilliant rule-follower who went to school with Hope, and whose reliance on logic and compulsions due to his OCD sometimes get in the way of his living life to its full potential. Third, we meet Kali, Hope's younger foster sister, who's battling depression, self-harm, substance abuse, an eating disorder, and a general feeling of worthlessness that causes her to lash out at those she loves. Finally, we meet Sam, a computer programmer and Hope's best internet friend.

Then, of course, we have Hope herself. Though not a POV character in the novel, she is present throughout. All four of the characters view Hope with the reverence we reserve only for the dead. Though it's plain to the reader that Hope's methods throughout the scavenger hunt can be misguided at times (forcing someone with both anorexia and bulimia to eat is not a valid or ideal solution), it's clear her intentions are pure and that she was universally adored by everyone around her.

I really enjoyed the scavenger hunt aspect of the book! It's difficult to fully flesh out a dead character without using their flashback POV, but Rivers did it brilliantly through the scavenger hunt clues. I thought Hope's clues gave the reader an excellent sense of who she was as a person and what her relationship with each character was like. They were also just immensely clever, and I enjoyed each character's contributions towards deciphering them. Plus, the growth all four characters undergo as a result of participating in Hope's scavenger hunt is remarkable and beautiful. I also loved the incorporation of Hope's art into all the clues!

In short: I smiled, I laughed, I cried, and I learned through reading In the Hope of Memories. I will be meditating on this gem of a novel for a very long time. And, as a final shock to me upon finishing this book, I read the author's bio and discovered that SHE IS A TEENAGER AND COLLEGE STUDENT. This tidbit made me all the more in awe of her writing skills! I highly recommend this book to EVERYONE, especially if you enjoy contemporary that focuses on heavier subject matter.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher/author from NetGalley in exchange for honest feedback.

This was a lovely read, but more than that, I really enjoyed the amount of representation in this book: different races, gender identities, disabilities, etc. it was easy to find myself in bits of the characters.

The plot centers around a group of teenagers following a scavenger hunt that their friend left behind when she died. Bits of the scavenger hunt were a little over the top, and a little too...easy. But I don't think that's the point. The point was the colorful characters, all loners in their own ways, brought together and the bonds that are formed. And in that respect, the book was extremely touching.