An excellent variation on the idea of psychic powers here. I have to applaud Anderson for creating strict rules for these abilities and sticking to them. And we have a solid cast of characters with complex relationships. While some of the twists are telegraphed pretty early on, the characters are engaging enough to make for a compelling read.

Special thanks to Aladin Press and NetGalley for an e-arc of this novel which was published 4/29/2022.

Middle-grade books are not my usual go to book but this one was fair. Middle Schoolers will enjoy it.

A 12 year olds mom is missing and she learns they are witch hunters. You get witches and ghosts.

The book was very well thought out and plotted. Just not a book for me.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I was so excited to get my hands on The Memory Thief!

I LOVED it for so many reasons, and here are a few:

1. The cover art! I can't help it—I love beautiful art!
2. The mc, Rosie, loves books!
3. Witches!
4. Ghosts!
5. A BFF :)
6. Two girls navigating real life and how their friendship is changing.
7. I know I already said ghosts, but they're on the list again because there are more ghosts, and you're going to love the variety!
8. The kids must solve the problem!!!
9. Danger, adventure, mayhem, storms, secrets!!! And more!

I think The Memory Thief has the right amount of spookieness for middle-grade, and I can't imagine anyone not loving it! As I stepped into the pages, it was like I'd turned back the clock and remembered my middle-grade years. What a beautiful story! I highly recommend it!

The Memory Thief is a fun and refreshing read! I loved the main character and the story. The writing was fast paced and witty and very engaging.

This was a fun MG read with a bit of action, magic and drama. I enjoyed the protagonist. She was slightly quirky to me, but fun to see grow through out the story. I look forward to reading more from Jodi Lynn Anderson.

3.5
I recieved an E- ARC from Aladin Press via Netgalley! Huge thank you to them for the ARC!

This was an objective 4 star but a 3 star personally so I settled with 3.5.
I thinj this book would have been an all time favorite of mine if i had read it at the age that this book is targeted for. It has two of my favorite things: witches and ghosts! So naturally i very much enjoyed this book.:)
Although it was admittedly darker than i thought it would be, it is the perfect creepiness for its targeted age group and i can see a lot of kids loving this book. Especially if they are into witches and ghosts like i am or just like a good creepy book perfect for fall time!
I also could relate a lot to the main character and her struggles with growing up and having a hard time with letting friends go and making new one. So i appreciated seeing that represented. The coming of age aspect was done very well in this and i think a lot of kids and even adults will be able to relate to that.
My only critique was that the characters felt a little two dementional to me. But even with that, i was still eager to pick this back up. So it didnt hinder my enjoyment of the book that much.
I would recommend this and i will more than likely be continuing with the series when it comes out!

Rosie Oaks, a 12 year girl, lives her life feeling as if something is missing and with a mom who can barely remember how to live, let alone Rosie. To make up for what she is missing in life, Rosie writes stories for her best friend Germ. One night in an attempt to “grow up” Rosie burns her stories, unleashing a world she never knew existed. Rosie and Germ are introduced to the sight and all that comes alive at night. With the help of ghosts, Rosie discovers the Witch Hunter’s Guide and the 13 Witches. One witch in particular seems to have done Rosie and her family wrong: The Memory Thief. Rosie, Germ, and their ghost friend Ebb go on a quest to find the Memory Thief and get back what she has stolen. But can Rosie find her own witch hunter weapon? Can Rosie defeat the Memory Thief before losing herself to the witch?

Wow. I loved this story. It’s perfection for middle grade readers to get lost in. To see a young child like themselves that doesn’t seem to have anything extraordinary about themselves other than their creativity and their love for family and friends. It shows courage, friendship, how to recover from a loss, growing up and maybe apart from friends, and so much more. The entire story was unique, creative, and just plain fun to read.

This was a really interesting book. I liked the idea of the witches and the way that all the characters were developed. I really liked the idea of the Witch Weapons and the way that they are used. This is a great book!

This is a great magical read. I really liked Rosie's determination and fascinating relationship with Germ. Rosie's desperate desire for her mother's love is so heartbreaking.

What an amazing story of friendship, adventure, and family! This is a wonderful middle grade fantasy book that I think that all readers will enjoy! Rosie and Germ is a tale of what happens when friends start to grow apart - which at this grade level is a very common thing as students begin to grow up. I think many students will be able to see themselves in these girls, and relate to them. The many different personalities of the ghosts led to wonderful additions sprinkled in as well! At the heart of it all, is the adventure that Rosie ventures out on to connect with the mom that has never been there for her.

Rosie lives with her mother, but her role is more mother than child; at 11, Rosie runs the home, including cooking, cleaning, and making sure her mother attends her work-from-home job and remembers to eat. To help her cope with her life, Rosie also writes stories, full of the types of unseen characters found in fantasies and fairy tales. One night, in a fit of anger over her mother's continued dependence and apparent lack of interest, Rosie burns her stories - and ghosts begin to appear instead; in exchange for her stories, Rosie gains the ability to see the unseen, and, in particular, to see ghosts. Quite a few ghosts, in fact. Thus begins Rosie's discovery of the truth behind her mother's inattention; it's due to a run-in with a witch.

Join Rosie, her best friend Gemma (called Germ), and their new friend, Ebb, one of the many ghosts inhabiting Rosie's home, as they search for the answers Rosie has wanted all her life, and now has a chance to find. This is a wonderful story about magic, truth, and coming-of-age, as the friends discover they can grow up, and things can change, but they will remain friends, just with some differences.

The Memory Thief is the first of a new series by Jodi Lynn Anderson. Rosie Oaks is twelve-years-old, trying to survive in a life where her mother doesn't remember having her and her father died years ago. Thankfully she has a best friend, Germ, who sticks with her through trials and troubles. As they start middle school, Germ is pulling away and hanging out more with the popular girls. Rosie has always been shy, trying not to draw attention to herself and her negligent mother. She escapes in books and writes her own fantastic stories. After a disagreement with Germ, Rosie destroys her stories. Somehow that opens Rosie's mind and she can see ghosts and hear them talking, a lot! Germ is a true best friend and they forget their differences to discover what this means. With the help of Ebb, a boy ghost about their age, they discover that the world is much more than they thought. Not only are there ghosts, but there are thirteen evil, powerful witches - the worst two are the Memory Thief and the Timekeeper. Using a book called "the Witch Hunter's Guide" Rosie learns what it takes to stop the witches from taking over the world. This is a book of friendship and family, magic and hope and how it allows even the smallest of people to do big, incredible things. My middle school students will love this book, as they did Anderson's other novels, especially "My Diary from the Edge of the World." It was a fun read, suspenseful and compelling. Rosie's struggle with her mother's lack of memory is heartbreaking and may be a trigger for some people, but it is handled very honestly and hopefully. This would be an excellent book for discussion for book clubs, parents and children and is just an all around great read. Anderson sets us up for Rosie's adventure with another of the thirteen witches. I am eager to read the next installment!! Many thanks to Net Galley for the opportunity to read an ARC.

I really enjoyed the premise of this book, but the action was slow moving. Rosie was a likable protagonist, but her forays into magic often felt forced and I don't think Anderson wrote fully-fledged witch characters with believable motivations. The book would flow better and leave a better impression if it were shorter and tighter. I was not enticed to read the next book in this series.

This book has everything a child could want, full of magical creatures, adventure and a female protagonist who will give you all the Harry Potter vibes. From the focus on friendship and family, to grief and how a child’s imagination can get them through almost anything I was hooked on this one – thrilled to see that it’s a series and already looking forward to the next book!

Thank you to Rockstar Book Tours for having me on as part of the tour!

This was a unique Middle Grade novel, with nice writing! If it sounds interesting to you, I would definitely recommend trying!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

I really wanted to like this one more, but it just fell short for me. I did start liking the characters more by the end, but I felt it was a little confusing at times. This author is a favorite of mine, but this book didn't see like her usual writing style. I could definitely see more books in this series being written, especially about the other witches. I'm not sure I would read another one.

This scary witch and ghost story is about Rosie and her best friend Germ. Rosie's mom has always been there, but never felt connected to her. Rosie has felt powerfully that something was missing. One night Rosie hears voices, so she invites Germ over for a sleepover to see if she can hear them too. Both girls see the ghosts and find out that Rosie's mom has been cursed and that Rosie should be able to get the curse removed by killing the witch, if the witch doesn't kill her first. This is a very exciting book to read with very interesting characters. It's also the first of a trilogy, so I can't wait to read the next one!