The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North

Hope is a young woman who has a small problem: everyone forgets her. It first started in her late teens when her schoolmates and teachers really didn’t recognize her. Soon her mother didn’t put a plate for her at dinner and, just a while later, doesn’t recognize her at all. So she must leave home at sixteen and she soon finds that there is just one career available for her: crime. She steals valuable jewels and artifacts and sells them at darknet. It is almost impossible to get caught if everyone completely forgets you in less than thirty seconds. And if she gets caught, she just has to go to the toilet or be somewhere hidden for thirty seconds, and her pursuers have forgotten everything. Her life is sometimes hard: it is hard to get service at a restaurant, get treated at a hospital, to have job or date if you are instantly forgotten. But theft, one night stands, and not tipping, are easy.

A young woman she likes kills herself. They have met several times – it has always been the first time for the other girl, but Hope had really liked her. One reason for the suicide was Perfection, a new mobile app which aims to make you perfect – really perfect. It gives points when you aim for “perfection” and gives you offers for health clubs, dieting foods, and eventually cosmetic surgery and even brain manipulation techniques. Hope’s friend committed suicide as she felt that she was too “imperfect” and wasn’t able to gain points as fast as she hoped.

From the darknets, she finds someone who is working against the company that created the Perfection app. But if you are forgotten in seconds, it may be hard to co-operate with someone – especially if and when that someone’s methods may eventually be worse than the “disease” they are curing.

An excellent and memorable story that is written with fine and inventive language. The events aren’t strictly linear, but the book isn’t confusing in any way. The writing style may be slightly fragmented at places, but that suited the plot and even the persona of Hope. However, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by the same author was even better than this book.

488 pp.