What a rollercoaster of a story! Full of emotions, grief, regret, loss and the importance of feeling these feelings, how they shape us to be the person we are today.
I feel like I was able to connect and sympathize with our MC, Alana, who has so much responsibility put on her by everyone of the town of Whistler. Her struggles were relatable, even though hers are supernaturally caused. She felt like a fully round out character with multiple layers.
There is a sapphic romance in the story, but it is just a side note and we also get to see a non-binary side character.

This book was beautiful. It talks about grief and loss in such a gentle way. I also love how it talked about expectations and living up to them. Not to mention, it's queer. I wish the spooky elements had been a bit spookier but overall it was beautiful.

What an absolutely haunting, beautiful look at grief and trauma. i loved the exploration of memory and how it affects us. There were so many amazing quotes in here i'd be typing all day if I wrote them all down. alana was such a strong, willful character and I loved her story development. this book and its monster will stay with me for a long time.

Thank you so much, NetGalley,PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group, Razorbill, for the chance to read this book in exchange of an honest review.

In the caves of Whistler Beach, in Maine, resides a monster called the Memory Eater and for centuries the Harlows have been in charge of keeping her there and feeding her unhappy memories from people who wants to forget. After ther grandmother's death, it's now Alana's job and duty, but after an accident, the monster escapes, throwing the whole city into panic. Alana should know how to solve this, how to keep the monster contained again, but some of her memories have been eaten and she doesn't remember why and how much she has lost. With a monster on the loose, it's her responsibility to catch her again, but as she delves in her family's history and secrets she starts to understand that things aren't what they seem to be and how tampering with memories comes with a price.

Rebecca Mahoney wrote an intense and deeply original book about monsters, trauma, grief, memory and their painful exploration and importance. The memory eater is one of the most incredible book I've read this year, exploring the importance of memories and how they weigh and their importance in our growth and development. Seventeen years old Alana find herself burdened by a dangerous family business, a business her whole city had take advantage of, surving and thriving with their peculiar own monster and using her to get rid of painful memories and moving on without them. With the monster loose, all of them are forced to confront the danger and, mostly, Alana has to discover family's secret in order to get things right.
It was original, wonderfully written and deeply recommended.

A girl struggles with love, duty and self-preservation as she fulfills her role as the last of an ancient family - keep a monster contained in a cave.

Alana lost her grandmother and broke up with her girlfriend, Charlie, leaving her heartbroken as she takes on her hereditary role of keeping the Memory Eater locked up. Years ago, her ancestress, Abigail, used a blood spell to bind the Memory Eater to a cave in Whistler after she decimated the memories of everyone on a ship to America. A deal was struck - the town and council wouldn't let her starve, and she wouldn't take more than she was offered. Now Alana's blood keeps the seal intact. But when the Memory Eater gets the better of Alana and escapes, it'll take every member of her community to help her save the town.

Charlie, Alana and her new guardians are rendered with depth and compassion, showing an unbreakable circle where mistakes are forgivable. Difficult themes of grief and justice are dealt with through magical realism in this book with a heart of gold.

A stunning story that pulls you in and lingers with you.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book has such a unique way of explaining grief and trauma. There's so many memories people want to forget and I love how a 'monster' is taking the pain away from as simple as someone embarrassing themselves by selling coffee to a more traumatic event.

The plot twist towards the end/middle when you find out about the monster was so good! Something I didn't expect.

This was definitely a very interesting read. The plot is something I have not experienced before. It felt a little slow for me, and a little boring at some parts, but overall, I still felt it was very creative.

Sometimes a book pushes on a piece of you rooted so deeply you sometimes you forget it’s there. The Memory Eater, while about pain, felt like a comfort to read. It understands pain, and so it becomes a place to rest those pieces that are so hidden. Stunning beyond words.

The prose was beyond beautiful, the relationships made my heart squeeze, and it has just enough body horror to lay a thin film of horror over anything. My love for this book immense.

This book was so gripping almost from the start. I wish there had been more depth to the characters or that it hadn’t taken so long to explain the mere presence, even, of some of them, or their relationship to the main character and the plot, but otherwise I could hardly put this book down. Review coming to my channel soon.