Full Disclosure: I received an Advance Reader's Copy of The Memory of Animals by Claire Fuller from Tin House via NetGalley.

Even though I received an ARC of The Memory of Animals by Claire Fuller, I bought a copy at a recent event where Claire was talking about her writing and did a reading from this. I'll admit, when she read, some things clicked that I missed when I was reading. The book is partially told in an epistolary way, which I absolutely love. The letters to H give us insight into the main character's life prior to the events in the book. I don't want to spoil anything, but there is a pandemic, and it may feel too soon even though Claire started writing this pre-COVID. Just when you think this is straight dystopian fiction, there's an element that takes us in a wild direction. I identified a lot with Neffy and would probably find myself in a similar situation under her circumstances.

Bonus points for the love of cephalopods! People really do underestimate how smart they are. Maybe this book will make some converts.

I occasionally dip my toes in dystopian waters, but this time I didn’t like the feel of the liquid swirling around my pinkies. I like pandemic stories, so this book, set in a maybe not-so-distant future where a virus has been wiping out everyone, was appealing. But it didn’t deliver. It wasn’t a total loss, but I wanted more.

The main character, Neffy, is stuck in a clinic where she volunteered to try a new vaccine. There are a few people with her. The relationships among them all are completely boring—I couldn’t care less about any of their little dramas. The dialogue is light as a feather, made even worse because it’s trying so hard to be heavy. I kept waiting for something to happen or someone to say something interesting, but I was out of luck. And everything is too passive for me. So the present, in the clinic, is the first story. But never fear, there’s more.

While she’s in the clinic, Neffy is writing letters to an octopus (!), which she had studied in her career as a biologist. She feels guilty over some of her past doings, so it’s sort of a confessional. I don’t like hearing about octopuses being mistreated, so there’s that; it’s upsetting for sure. And what is the purpose of this story line? Are we supposed to think that this is a clever little story about the captivity of octopuses, and maybe think wow, it’s just like Neffy, in captivity at the clinic? If so, flunk city. It doesn’t work. I loved Remarkably Bright Creatures where we had one cool octopus, and I love octopuses in general (I can no longer eat squid), but maybe people are jumping on the octopus band wagon too often these days? Besides, unlike the octopus that we loved in Remarkably Bright Creatures, this one doesn’t ever communicate (he doesn’t write back), so he has no personality whatsoever. A speaking role, or a writing role, maybe would have been more engaging. It’s a hard sell for me when an animal talks back, but here, it might have helped.

But wait, there’s another story going on: One of the guys in the clinic has a contraption called The Revisitor, which Neffy uses to goes back in time. We learn about her past this way. Her past is okay, no great shakes, but really, couldn’t the author have just told us about Neffy’s past, instead of relying on a gimmicky sort of time machine? And of course, Neffy can’t stop using the device, because, yeah, she’s addicted to it. Fake tension, like, oh is it safe? (Hear the ominous music in the background.) And of course, there are minor side effects when she uses the device, and we’re supposed to be shaken up and worried about her, but I’m sorry, I just didn’t care.

Little things bugged me. Like she mentions casually that her mom once knew an octopus, too. What? Sorry, I’m just not buying that octopus love is genetically passed down (that it’s a mother-daughter thing) or that they each happened to hang out with a cephalopod in their lifetime. Just ridiculous! And there were a few other things that didn’t ring true, but I’ll keep my mouth shut to avoid spoilers.

The three stories don’t fit together—no integration. The octopus one-sided penpal-ery seems random. She’s in a clinic during a pandemic and she’s writing to….an octopus? And the Revisitor device is a silly way to view Neffy’s past. I say, pick a story line and stick with it. Three’s a crowd. Personally, I wanted more pandemic, less memory lane and definitely less octopus. The pandemic story had potential, but it fell flat. I was claustrophobic in the clinic with a boring bunch of people, and wanted to see what was happening out in the world where the virus was wreaking havoc. All the interesting people must have been outside, because within the clinic we sure had dudsters.

The writing is decent. I didn’t hate the book; in fact, I was mildly interested in how it would turn out, so I’ll give it a 2.5, rounded up.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

I love speculative fiction and a good pandemic novel, so I read this book eagerly. Plus, there were octopi—what’s not to love? Fuller’s The Memory of Animals is a slow burn, a languid trip through a world ravaged by a global pandemic. The novel follows Neffy, a struggling marine biologist who volunteers to be a a subject in an experimental vaccine trial. The early pages are heavy on claustrophobia and foreboding as Neffy watches the pandemic rage outside, trapped behind the hospital walls.

I won’t give any plot spoilers, but the novel is a meditation on survival, humanity, and memory. Fuller is a beautiful prose stylist and her narrative was well worth the read.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for an early copy of this book.

While this might be an underwhelming example of dystopian fiction, as the novel places a significant focus on the past rather than the collapse of society, The Memory of Animals does stand out in the new wave of pandemic literature in the ways it captures the emotional toll of isolation and utilizes remembrance to illustrate what was lost. Fuller also masterfully captures the ways people compromise or maintain their humanity in desperate situations as characters’ struggle with their conflicting need for self-preservation and desire to find a sense of safety and belonging with other people. Through this novel, Fuller has created a heartwarming portrait of what it means to find hope at the end of the world and carry on, not only for those you lost, but for those you found in the aftermath.

(Read the full review at : https://westtradereview.com/westendfullerreview23.html

When the novel opens, the world is in the midst of a pandemic and Neffy has agreed to be a test subject for a new vaccine. She is doing so against the wishes of her boyfriend and family, motivated by a deep sense of loss and desperation. Unsurprisingly, the test does not go as planned, and eventually five participants are left to fend for themselves. From there the novel weaves together three timelines: what's happening at the hospital, diary entries Neffy has written to H, the octopus she freed from an aquarium, and Neffy's memories that she accesses through a new technology called The Revisiter. The novel is compelling even as some of the connections between human life and octopus life eluded me and the ending felt tagged on. Neither dystopian novels nor pandemic stories interest me, so it's a testament to Fuller's talent that I was engrossed by this novel which ask murky moral questions about freedom and survival.

As a deadly virus rages through the populace, five volunteers in an experimental vaccine trial wait out the pandemic behind barred doors.

Only one of them has actually received the life-saving shot.

Tense times are in store for all as Fuller explores the behavior of creatures in captivity, and the power of memories.

This is a lovely, powerful, and melancholy read.

Spooky, propulsive, and odd. I loved every page of this book! Follows a group of people after a pandemic sweeps suddenly through the world, and they seem to be the last ones standing. If you like speculative and dystopian fiction, you will love this one!

The world is experiencing a pandemic with traumatic symptoms such as memory loss, sensory damage, swelling, and death. The world is in desperate need of a vaccine. Neffy, a disgraced marine biologist, along with her fellow volunteers: Rachel, Leon, Yahiko, and Piper, agree to take part in a vaccine trial. Some will be infected with the virus while others are not. The stakes are high as this might just be the last chance to save the world! The danger and terror are mounting in the outside world as people try to get supplies, gather resources all while falling ill and chaos ensues.

While at the trial headquarters, Neffy writes letters to 'dearesT H' about her love of Octopuses and her experience working with them. When not writing and engaging with the other volunteers, she is introduced by Leon to a device that allows her go back and revisit scenes from her past. This device does not work on everyone, but it works on her.

Hats off to Claire Fuller for always writing original, creative, and well written books. I always get excited when I see she has a new one coming out. I was instantly drawn into the plot and wondered how things would turn out. I found this book to be gripping and hard to put down. The characters are interesting and there were some I liked, and some that were unlikeable, some who grated on my nerves.

This is about survival and human nature. I saw this playing out like a movie in my mind. Claire Fuller has delivered once again. She is a gifted writer, and I am always drawn in by her prose and plotlines. I enjoyed the tension in the book as Neffy questioned who she would trust while trying to survive. I also loved the sections where Neffy was writing to "H" about Octopuses. This worked very nicely in the story.

Well written, thought provoking, and tense.

I will read everything Claire Fuller writes. This is so beautiful and not at all what I expected. I love twists and I love Octopuses.

Thanks for the ARC.

Delighted to include this title in the June edition of Novel Encounters, my regular column highlighting the month’s most anticipated fiction for the Books section of Zoomer, Canada’s national culture magazine. (see column and mini-review at link)

The Memory of Animals by Claire Fuller was a fascinating book that went far beyond the pandemic scope that I initially expected. Neffy volunteers to be a test subject for an experimental vaccine during a worldwide pandemic. Her family and friends are very much against the idea, but she joins a motley group of volunteers at a hospital regardless. One of the volunteers, Leon, shares some controversial technology he developed that allows people to revisit their memories. Neffy jumps back into many of her past mistakes which increasingly blurs the line between past and present. And that ending! I wasn't sure how all of the little mysteries would come together, but I was pleasantly surprised.

I have long been a fan of Claire Fuller’s work. Her latest, 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝐴𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑠, is such a claustrophobic and gripping novel. I was so invested in the story and desperate to know what would happen that I read it in two days.

In short, a pandemic virus hits. The main character, Neffy, has volunteered to participate in a clinical trial during which she’ll be given an experimental vaccine and then the virus itself, but this soon goes awry and she finds herself alone in a feverish dream state, losing track of herself in the where and when. The rest of the story follows her and a few remaining participants as they figure out their place in an altered world.

Part of me slightly bristled at the reminder of early pandemic times, the memories of wiping down groceries, communicating through glass, being scared to go outside. But mostly I was intrigued, the situation familiar enough to be relatable but different enough that I could enjoy it without too much stress.

Interspersed letters to ‘H’ kept me guessing at the mysterious recipient’s identity until it was revealed, and they added a lot to Fuller’s commentary on isolation. I also really enjoyed the Revisiting sessions, which effectively functioned as flashback scenes that fleshed out Neffy’s background. I wish we’d gotten more about how the actual Revisitation process works, but I also know that this isn’t that kind of book—and ultimately these sections were still very effective and thought-provoking.

Overall I’d describe the vibes as a mix of 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝐶𝑙𝑜𝑢𝑑 𝐶𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑜𝑜 𝐿𝑎𝑛𝑑, 𝑆𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦, and 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐷𝑒𝑎𝑑, with a sprinkling of step-sibling stuff that I wasn’t expecting and am still trying to figure out.

But yes, Claire Fuller. I will continue to read everything she releases.

I’ve read three of Claire Fuller’s previous novels (Swimming Lessons, Unsettled Ground, and Our Endless Numbered Days) and enjoyed them so I looked forward to reading her latest. This dystopian novel didn’t impress me as much as the others.

During a devastating global pandemic, Neffy, a 27-year-old marine biologist, has registered for an experimental vaccine for a disease which in its latest iteration causes edema, memory loss, and sensory damage before leading to death. The vaccine test is suspended when staff abandons the medical facility in London where the test subjects are housed. Neffy finds herself safe from the chaos in the outside world but confined with four other young people: Rachel, Leon, Yahiko, and Piper. The five must figure out how to live together; fragile alliances are formed and shattered, and interpersonal conflicts arise. Neffy feels that the others are keeping secrets from her. Since she is the only volunteer who actually received the vaccine, pressure gradually builds for her to leave the facility to restock food supplies.

Neffy spends time writing in a journal addressed to H; in it she writes about her love of octopuses. She also becomes interested in a technology invented by Leon which allows users to intensely re-experience memories. She is increasingly drawn to the machine which allows her to revisit her childhood, a love affair, and her work with octopuses.

Though described as a novel about survival, it does not develop as expected. Danger, action, violence, and survival struggles are minimal. The middle section in particular is slow paced. The five test volunteers manage quite well, though food supplies are limited. The only real suspense revolves around if/when Neffy will venture out. The conclusion, on the other hand, feels hurried. Twice near the end there are major time jumps so much is skimmed over. After the day-to-day structure, these time gaps are jarring.

Neffy is the most fully developed character. She has not made the wisest of life choices. It didn’t occur to her that when she took a job at an aquarium she would be working with captive sea animals? When faced with difficulties, her tendency is to run away, to escape. Revisiting the past, therefore, is something she cannot resist; she becomes addicted to the experience, though she tries to justify her behaviour by asking whether people “’can learn from the past? See things differently, or let it help us decide what we do in the future?’” Her watching a piece of litter begin blown around foreshadows her personal growth: “Its meandering journey is a tale of doubling back and indecisiveness, while all the time having no choice but to be pushed forward because the invisible wind says to go back is only an illusion.”

The other test volunteers are only sketchily developed. I found it difficult to distinguish Rachel from Piper. Their coping mechanisms are interesting. Some seem to be in state of shock; some dream of rescue and happy reunions; some hoard objects from the world they knew; and some endlessly scroll through photos from their earlier lives.

Neffy’s obsession with an octopus held in captivity is obviously intended to suggest parallels between the animal and Neffy’s situation. Both are confined and subjected to experiments. Captivity affects an animal’s psychological and physical health, as does confinement affect the humans within the medical facility. Neffy even asks, “Does freedom win over containment, even with all its risks, including death?”

There are some elements that bothered me. Neffy’s journal, written in the form of letters intended for H, is strange, especially once H’s identity is revealed. These entries seem to serve little purpose but teach us about octopuses. There’s a mystery surrounding the reason for Neffy’s dismissal from her job and the reason for her debt, but the solution is not surprising in the least. The novel lacks cohesion; the three narrative threads (present, past, and the journal for H) don’t work together to develop theme. Perhaps a commonality is an examination of our ethical obligation to help others if doing so endangers our lives, but the scattered, unfocused approach means the reader has to try very hard to find connections.

I was disappointed in the novel. It’s not bad, just not as polished as the author’s other books.

An experimental vaccine may be humanity's last hope in The Memory of Animals! With the world battling a fast moving pandemic, marine biolgist Neffy signs up for a vaccine trial. As life outside the hospital's windows descends into chaos, Neffy and the other volunteers are forced to confront the mistakes that led them there. When Neffy befriends Leon, another volunteer who created a controversial machine that helps users to revisit their memories, Neffy soon withdraws into her past. As she visits memories of her childhood, a recent love, her obsession with octopuses, and the mistake that ended her career, the lines between the past, present, and future blur ... leaving Neffy is unsure who to trust, whether she can forgive herself, and how she can move on.

Claire Fuller is one of my favorite authors, so I couldn't wait to read her new novel! It's hardly surprising that many authors have written about pandemics over the last few years. Some books I've enjoyed, and others, not so much! The Memory of Animals is one of the most thoughtful pandemic books I've read. The story has many layers, and while it's not an action-packed book, there's a creeping aura of suspense that propels you to keep reading. There's more going on than Neffy realizes, and she's a complex, yet sympathetic character. I also found it interesting how the volunteers were completely isolated from the disaster that was happening outside the hospital's windows, yet they couldn't escape the immense loss. One final, surprising twist made for the perfect ending!

Thanks to Netgalley and Tin House for the ARC of this!

This was very weird, tense, and fast-paced. A illness that attacks the memory is a specific fear of mine, so I definitely found the idea of that creepy. The idea that one can revisit memories was interesting, and I wonder if it was its own invention or meant to combat the illness in some way. Overall, I enjoyed reading this. For fans of The Book of M and Severance.

This work of speculative fiction imagines a pandemic where organs swell, minds are lost, and everyone dies. A small group of people are selected for a vaccine trial. When our main character, Neffy, wakes up in isoluation, it seems she and the small group are the last people left. Told in "real time" coupled with flashbacks to Neffy's pre padenmic life and intermixed with letters Neffy writes to an octopus, Claire Fuller unfolds a story I could not put own.

Yep, there's some really weird stuff in this book book. There's also some really beautiful stuff like the writing and the rumination on the lengths we will go for all sorts of things. The editor's note calls it a mashup of How High We Go in the Dark, My Octopus Teacher, and The Breakfast Club. I see it and I'll add The Road and Remarkably Bright Creatures but make it weirder. I can't guarantee you will like this one, but I do think you will binge it and not be able to stop thinking about it. The Memory of Animals publishes June 6th and I can't wait to talk about it with anyone that picks it up!

Marine biologist Neffy volunteers to test a new vaccine for the novel and deadly Dropsy virus, risking her life for others, but taking that chance will also give her a big check, and go a long way to pay off a very large debt.

She finds herself locked into the hospital as the virus mutates and becomes even more deadly, and her cohort in the study are afraid to leave. One of the cohort, Leon, continues his work on a device that revisits memories, and Neffy finds comfort in this.

As the book progresses, it shows the start of the breakdown of society under pressure, and how individuals (or groups) react. Spoiler: it gets pretty stark at times.

I have really liked Fuller's books in the past- but this one wasn't quite as good as the others. A few of the characters were a bit wishy washy, and the Revisitor could have been given its own book.

But the plot moved nicely, the main idea was good, and it was a bit different than other pandemic books I've read so far.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Thank you to Tin House books and to Net Galley for the ARC.

As the world is ravaged by a deadly pandemic, Neffy has volunteered as a patient for a vaccine trial. Despite the protests of those closest to her, she signs on and shows up in London to be injected with both virus and vaccine, just as the virus seems to be mutating into a new form.

As the world falls apart outside, Neffy and other volunteers struggle to survive within the safe confines of their building. They are a small and varied group, each with their own experiences and opinions on what to do next as their supplies run low.

Leon, another volunteer, has brought along a controversial new technology he was developing. He introduces Neffy to the concept of Revisiting, the ability to return in complete detail to past events. Over and over again, Neffy cannot resist the lure of her former life, the chance to see once more her mother, her father, or the man she loves. Through these Revisits we get to know Neffy as a child, the turmoil of her upbringing – her father’s hotel on a Greek Island and her mother’s constant movement from one relationship to the next. And we see Neffy’s love for the natural world, for the ocean, and particularly for the octopus.

Having read two previous books by Claire Fuller – Our Endless Numbered Days and Swimming Lessons – I see a lot of the same themes here in The Memory of Animals. Like her other novels, this is full of lush descriptions of the natural world. Setting is hugely important – whether it’s the claustrophic confines of the patient dwellings in the middle of London or the warm beaches of Greece. Again Fuller uses characters cut off in some way from the rest of the world. Water seems to be another recurrent theme.

Neffy herself is a fascinating character and who she is really drives the plot. In the present she is unsure in the face of a huge decision, paralyzed by her longing to return to the past (manifested in the actual ability of Revisiting). At the same time, she still seemed more decisive and sure of herself than the Neffy we get to know from the past. That Neffy was perhaps more decisive but seemed to run from her problems. Her decisions were often impulsive, based on emotions, and she refused to listen to those around her. She would be a hard person to be in a relationship with.

This wasn’t always an easy book to read, especially coming out a real life pandemic. It was both a reminder of how much worse things could have been and a warning of what could be. It was easy to cheer for Neffy and the other volunteers, remembering the news of the early vaccine trials for COVID-19. But Fuller wisely unfolds these characters and let’s us see them as real, sometimes unlikeable people, with complex motivations for participating in this trial. The survivors of a pandemic are not necessarily the best or smartest people but, perhaps, the luckiest.

First off, Claire Fuller is an incredible writer with a brilliant mind, there is no doubt about that. She managed to write a unique pandemic story that was multifaceted, with themes beyond focusing on the pandemic. Through Neffy, we are faced with questions of freedom and humanity; I believe Fuller wove that conversation VERY well into the novel.

Unfortunately, I think this one wasn't for me. I enjoyed many aspects but I can't say this one will stick with me like some of her other novels. However, I very much believe that it's a personal thing because it is a wonderful book, for whatever reason it just didn't do it for me. I will absolutely still be reading anything that Fuller writes in the future 🤗

Fuller’s apocalyptic novel imagines a pandemic more thorough than Covid and in doing so chills the reader effectively. Her portrait of a test lab and the handful of survivors in it has immediacy and impact. Less successful, for this reader, were the other,,parallel narrative streams - the letters to an octopus , and the Revisiting. Yes, it effectively touched in the backstory, but it seemed a clunky and ultimately irrelevant piece of business, there more for technical reasons. The conclusion of the novel also seemed problematic - hurried and incomplete.
So, I was held, but decreasingly so.