Copy kindly received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This sounds like it could be a really good book, but the young characters are already annoying my in the first two chapters so I'm going to put it down. It seems there are many people who love this book, so I'm sure its great, I just can't read it right now.

TL;DR – Unlikable characters and an unbelievable plot make this book hard to read despite its great premise.

What a gorgeous cover, amiright? Unfortunately, this book did not live up to my expectations. I thought the premise was so promising! I love scavenger hunts and so I was excited to read this book, but at the end of the day, I was let down. My issue with this book mainly centers around the characters and the plot. First, I felt the plot was completely unbelievable. These four teenagers pretty much just take off to New York for a few days and then face almost no repercussions when they get back. And also, the scavenger hunt was EXTREMELY HARD. I literally have no idea how they were able to solve any clue.

The characters themselves were super flat and felt inconsistent. We get narrations from all four of the main characters, but I still didn’t feel myself connecting with or really liking any of them. When it was their turn to narrate, they were okay, but then from everyone else’s perspectives they were complete butts. It’s hard for me to figure out which perspective is the real character and they were all annoying anyway.

I thought the writing was pretty good, though, and I did enjoy wandering around New York City. I definitely would like to visit a few of those places. This book also includes a lot of diversity–each character kind of has their own thing going.

Overall, I just thought this book was too unbelievable. Hope is portrayed as being this perfect person with literally no faults (except for her penchant for graffiti, but even that isn’t so bad). I think the book would have been better if just one aspect of it had been more believable: 1) The characters weren’t so flat, 2) An easier scavenger hunt, 3) Hope was less perfect. Any of those things, I think, would have made the book more enjoyable for me.

Overall Rating: 3
Language: Moderate
Violence: Mild
Smoking/Drinking: Moderate
Sexual Content: Mild

Note: I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In the Hopes of Memories is the most diverse book I have ever read. Each character has a disability or a mental disorder, they’re all different races, they all cope in very different ways, and they all feel real. It’s beautiful. All of these teens are brought together by the death of one of their closest friends, and none of them have met before. The dead friend, Hope, sends them on a scavenger hunt that is meant to help them fight or finally give into their futures.
Erik is a high school quarterback who is being scouted with scholarships, who is also happening to go blind and is about to lose everything.
Kali is a foster child who suffers from depression and anorexia.
Aiden suffers from OCD and anxiety, and is the son of an alcoholic.
Sam is foster child who suffers from PTSD after being in a school bombing where they lost their father. Sam is in a wheelchair, is covered in scars, and was born with a gender disorder and prefers the “they” pronoun.
The character growth is monumental, and you feel for every single one of them.
Except I had a lot of trouble feeling anything for Sam when we were in Sam’s chapters, because I couldn’t stand the format. It didn’t fit in with the book and I often fought through them. That is the only reason I took a star from this book.
I’m in awe of this book, though. I’m so happy I had the pleasure of reading this.

I can’t help it that I have a thing for books I think are going to make me cry. They’re irresistible, okay???

Surprisingly, I didn’t cry much in this little gem, though I did find myself laughing a lot. That’s probably because Hope, the deceased girl whose friends this book revolves around, is hilarious (yes, even in death), and I just couldn’t help but walk away from this story with my faith in humanity largely restored.

This is a feel-good kind of book. If you need a pick-me-up during those dreary days when nothing really feels right, I highly recommend that you pick up In the Hope of Memories and take it for a spin. You won’t regret it.

This entire book is about a scavenger hunt set up by Hope to try and bring her friends from various parts of her life together after she’s gone. She wants them to take care of, and learn from, each other. It might sound a bit cliché, but I promise you – the delightful wit and prose more than make up for the premise. I was instantly sucked into the story, and I came to deeply know and care about the characters, including hope, as I read. I wanted her friends to get their stuff together so that they could all find what they were desperately looking for. I won’t spoil anything for y’all, but the ending does a good job of living up to the title – there are more than enough memorable moments to go around.