I'm always intrigued by tales involving memory loss. Actually, we all experience memory loss all of the time ... it's not just ChatGPT that hallucinates. Every time we retrieve memories, we change them. And the memories we encode in our brains at any given time are subject to all kinds of inner and outer influences. C'est la vie. Here we have a mystery-thriller involving a lead who's suffered head trauma and has anterograde amnesia, but is recovering. Then she witnesses a murder. Probably. She's also an artistic talent. That comes in handy.

I felt this story was interesting but perfunctory. It's written by a true crime reporter under a pen name. There's a lot of info-dumping, especially at the end when the killer is discovered. The whole story is overlong, with so much time spent on the lead figuring this and that out. Felt like I was sitting at a desk job. And this happens several times over. We don't need this minutiae. This was a bit of a lost opportunity ... I kept waiting for hints that the lead was either leading us astray or herself or others, but that never cropped up.

Spoilery comments: Really glad that none of the main cast, including the lead, were the perpetrators. The take on amnesia feels legit, with the lead losing most of her friend group, who weren't really her friends, and struggling with the frustrations as well as acknowledging the bliss that comes from not remembering certain things, especially recent things.

On the narration ... overall, well done, but the female detective sounded like a gruff dude (which confused me and made me lol in equal number) and also indistinguishable from the head of the support group.

This one will be appreciated by crime thriller lovers who are tired of tropes and perhaps wish for a more encyclopedic narrative.

Echoes of Memory was fantastic! Quinn’s habit of constantly shifting back-and-forth and questioning herself was actually more fun for the reader than it sounds like it should be. The mystery of “whodunnit” was elevated by Quinn’s frustrating memory struggles. I also enjoyed the change in perspectives between characters. Detective Reyes is one tough cookie when she wants to be. The star of the book, however, is the flowers. I’m impressed by the authors “flowery” descriptions of Quinn’s floral arrangements.

I enjoyed how this was a slightly different take on a police procedural, focusing more on the victim helping the police solve her case.

This book centers around Quinn who witnesses a murder. The only problem is that she has short term memory loss because she was the victim of her own violent attack. She immediately wrote down the details and called the police. Each day she has to relive the traumatic event as if she is finding out for the first time.

I liked Quinn as a character and appreciated her strong support network.

I also appreciated the author's attention to detail and accuracy when it came to police procedurals. I have read so many that are just off the wall wrong.

I thought the narrator did a fantastic job capturing the essence of all the characters.

Overall, it was an interesting read.

I loved this book! It was fast paced, suspenseful, and the FMC was truly remarkable! After suffering a head injury from a random assault, the FMC witnesses a murder a few months later. Since she hasn’t recovered her memories from her assault, and has trouble forming new memories, she keeps everything in a notebook. Immediately after the incident, she writes everything down to keep a detailed record of events. Between reporting the crime to the police & attending her group therapy sessions, she falls into a rabbit hole & things start to fall into place. There’s so much more I’d like to add, but can’t without giving away significant spoilers. Highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and RBMedia for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Quinn was attacked one night and brutally beaten and to this day, months later she does not remember a thing about the attack or anything afterwards. In order for Quinn to remember even the simply things about her life and job, she must keep post-it notes and a journal of important details. Here memory only holds for about an hour and then it is like it never happened. Quinn relies on the journal to itemize each thing she must do at work and her day to day activities. Once night after following her notes in the journal she takes out the garbage at the flower store she works at so that she can close up for the night. As she enters the alley, she witnesses a brutal attach of a man being murdered and thrown into a van. She takes cover behind a dumpster but she is not sure if she has been spotted as the attacker turns around and looks down the alley. Quinn immediately writes all the information she witnessed into her journal and then calls the cops. However, they are reluctant to believe her because she cannot tell them what happened without referring to her notes. The story takes us on the journey of Quinn trying to work with the police to find out who this man was and who murdered him all while trying to stay safe from the attacker.

*Many thanks to Sara Driscoll, RBMedia, and NetGalley for a free audiobook in exchange for my honest review.*
An average, in my opinion, thriller based on the idea of a person who witnesses a crime but whose memory does not allow her to remember the details. It sounds good, however, the dialogues between the main character and the doctor and the detective are too long, and their aim is to explain the neurological aspect of the woman's health issues. It started well, but somewhere in the middle I lost interest.

Ooooooooo this was good! I enjoyed the mystery, thrill, and suspense of this story. The development of the friendships and characters throughout the story were interesting. The author definitely did a good job of adding in background type of information regarding the brain and what happens after a traumatic brain injury. This one sucked me in and I didn’t want to stop listening to it.

I really thought I would like this book. I envisaged a Drew Barrymore-esque '50 First Dates' scenario but with murder. I was really looking forward to it but unfortunately, there was just too much focus on memory and recall for this to have held my attention.

At a whopping 11 hours and 9 minutes of audio, this became a chore to finish. There was too much repetition, the author 'told' instead of 'showed' throughout. I even found the lengthy explanations of the investigation process hard-going. I have Masters degrees in Psychology and Forensics, I had to learn a lot about the brain and recall so I thought this would be right up my alley. But this read more like a manual in parts which is not what you want out of your leisure reading.

I couldn't get past the glaring plot holes either. Witness testimony is highly unreliable and having an investigation centred on a witness who cannot retain information just felt too implausible for me.

Others may enjoy this style of writing - its possible these topics are a little overdone for me as I had to study them for 7 years. I just wanted a story and felt like I got an education again instead.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for my copy.

You know it's a great audiobook when you stay in the parked car to just keep listening. I just had to keep listening to find out how everything was going to unfold. Definitely recommending to my friends!

Thanks NetGalley, Sara Driscoll, and Recorded Books for this ARC

The Echos of Memory by Sara Driscoll ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoyed the plot and character development. I didn’t care for the dialogue or narrator but overall the story was interesting.

Liked the characters but some of it was a bit unbelievable that someone with a memory issues could help solve a murder.

Quinn is a young woman who was left for dead one night after being beat by a stranger and she recovered but has some memory issues. Now a few months later, she is learning to live with her new problems and she is coping pretty well. One night when she is taking out the garbage, she witnesses a murder. She writes everything down and reports it to the police. She works with the police and her memory issues in order to try and solve the case.

I really enjoyed this read! I liked how everything unfolded differently because of the memory issues. It made the read very interesting. I liked how fast paced it was and it kept me interested the whole time.

I liked the characters and I would definitely recommend!

I listened to the audiobook and I liked the narrator a lot! She had a nice voice and it was an easy listen.

It was not quite a five star for me because I did feel like it was a bit long.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc and alc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

I enjoyed this thriller and the concept. In the middle it fell a bit flat for me because of all the information. It is bit of a slow burn thriller, which is why my interest at time waned. I did enjoy the narrator. Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced listening copy in exchange for my honest review.
3/5 star

Thank you to NetGalley and RBMedia for the ARC

This was a really interesting story and a interesting concept. A main character who witness a murder but because of a head trauma can't create new memories and therefore doesn't remember the incident. I liked our fmc and her drive. I found her refreshingly fearless in the way she continued to investigate the murder and push herself further in therapy to help her memory problem. The side characters were good as well in the way they helped and supported her. And the underlying mystery was good. A different, but fascinating thriller.

A slow burn crime mystery. One night Quinn, a florist witnesses a murder. Or so she thinks, there’s no body. What’s worse is she can’t recall memories, as she was attacked a while back that left her with a brain injury. She keeps a notebook where she writes everything down. Including details of what she saw that night as a form of therapy. This is a unique take on this genre, although it is a bit of a slow burn, it is a good plot. The mystery was very well laid out, with some really good turns along the way. Driscoll is able to incorporate a lot of details about memory loss and keep it interesting the way she does it. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity.

Very good thriller/mystery! Will definitely read more by this author. I enjoyed the different approach with the main character having a traumatic brain injury and not being able to form new memories.

Wow action packed thought provoking. This audio book was a binge listen. The writer had vlearly done tgeir research into the effects of brain injury and trauma and thus shown throught. The narrator dud s fsbujon of just making it a natural part of the narrative. What would you do if you witnessed a murder but you can't remember all the time dye to an attack on you. I loved the way the police were betrayed as both understanding and ignorant. This was full of teists and turns and good solid side chatacters. A real joy to listen 2 and also screamed series potential.
Thank you so much netgallery and publisher and author and narrator.

I wouldn't really call this book a thriller as there's nothing for the readers to 'uncover' and no suspense element really. There wasn't any sense of anticipation of "what comes next", "which one to trust, and who not to trust". There was a crime, and the case was solved as the book progressed with the help of our protagonist.

But I did enjoy the book, which is why I am giving it 3.5 stars. It might not have been gripping, but it was a pleasant one. The character's internal struggles, fight with herself for self-love and confidence, resilience, and the other characters all made it an overall interesting journey.

I also liked the narration, it's always pleasant to find an audiobook with a narrator with a level voice who knows how to change the tones aptly enough for the different characters to be easily distinguished but not sound too odd or forced while doing it!

Never Fall for a Dragon
Mate Mountain #1
Lola Glass
Never Fall for a Dragon is the first book in a spicy new series.
This book got some pretty bad reviews, but I can’t figure out why. It is a fast read and a hot read. I do not like books about demons and there was a demon in the book, but I like dragons. I enjoyed this book. This is the kind of book you read when you need to be distracted, you don’t want anything serious, and you want something hot.
Elodie sees a man and woman in what she believes is an argument. She rushes to the woman’s aid only to discover things were not as it appeared. It was too late though; she had already touched the dragon and so began the heat. The Dragon Shifter, August. Explained what happens when a female touches a male Dragon Shifter. She immediately goes in heat. It is very painful for the next 4 weeks she will be in agony unless he is touching her. If they give in to their desire, they will be mated/sealed for life. August along with the help of some friends, take Elodie to a house where they will stay for the next 4 weeks. The house is unfurnished, so August has furniture delivered. He also has food delivered.
Elodie and August have some very hot scenes as they attempt to resist having sex. They do everything but…it’s a matter of opinion I suppose. They actually get to know each other, and they like each other. What will happen at the end of the 4 weeks.
I like it. The book was a fun read.

Thank you NetGalley for providing a copy of this book for review.

Get ready for an intense and emotional ride with "Echoes of Memory"! From the very first page, this gripping thriller had me hooked. But fair warning, it contains some sensitive topics, so brace yourself.

I have a thing for books that explore mental illness and the complexities of the human mind. In "Echoes of Memory," Quinn is battling a traumatic brain injury following a vicious attack. Her struggle to retain short-term memories leads her to rely on journaling and sketching to hold onto the important moments. To make matters worse, she becomes a witness to a murder and finds herself teaming up with Detective Reyes, the only person in law enforcement who believes her tale.

After reading countless thrillers, it's rare to come across a fresh, intriguing plot filled with compelling characters like this one. I can't imagine being in Quinn's shoes, much less with no family to lean on. The author's writing is captivating, and I'm already itching to dive into more of her books, especially if she has other standalone novels up her sleeve.

Sincere thanks to RB Media for providing this audiobook through NetGalley. All opinions are my own and left voluntarily.