I’m a mom of four, a practicing geek, a holder of many opinions (which I’m more than happy to share with you—really, just ask). I earned my MFA from Columbia University. My debut YA thriller, Tabula Rasa (EgmontUSA), Fall 2014, is about a girl whose memory is forcibly stripped from her and so naturally she must kick everyone’s butt in retaliation. I live with my husband and merry band of misfits in Arlington, VA.
Tabula Rasa by Kristen Lippert-Martin
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Tabula Rasa is one of those stories that takes you on a non-stop action filled ride. I dove into this book and I enjoyed it quite a bit and I think what grabbed me was the description “The Bourne Identity meets Divergent” I mean… I love both of those.
Sarah is sixteen and it is clear she isn’t the same person she was before she came to the facility she’s at. See, she has been undergoing a cutting edge procedure that will allow her to be a blank slate (or Tabula Rasa). Unfortunately for Sarah, she isn’t really sure why she is at the facility because she can’t remember anything. As she is prepped for her most recent surgical procedure, the power mysteriously flashes on and off and creates another delay. It is also the beginning of the rest of the story.
As things change quickly for Sarah, she realizes that the facility is under attack by mercenaries who just happen to be looking for her. Unfortunately for her, Sarah can’t even remember why someone would be searching for her let alone the fact that once they do find her, why they would want to kill her. As the story progresses, we find out more about that but I can’t really reveal much without giving anything away.
Sarah is an interesting character. It is clear that she still has remnants of her previous life inside of her and there are flashes of it throughout her stay at the facility despite the efforts of the medical staff. She hasn’t had an easy life but this is something you learn as the story moves forward. I liked Sarah and I especially liked her when she was interacting with Thomas.
Thomas was probably my favorite part of the story. I loved the dialogue and banter he and Sarah had throughout the story and although I’m not sure how believable it was that he seemed to be the smartest seventeen year old ever, I still loved him. Thomas is the son of a hacker who happens to be at the facility to do a job and he immediately jumps in to help Sarah. As they work together to survive the attack, they also have to figure out what is going on with Sarah’s brain and how she can get her memories back.
Overall I thought this story was well done and I have to say, as soon as I started it, I didn’t really want to put it down as I wanted to understand what really happened to Sarah to get her to where she was but also, how she was going to get out of it. While there were some things that had me shaking my head a bit, I didn’t think they took me out of the story. If you enjoy a story with non-stop action as well as a bit of a mystery, definitely check this one out.
Thank you to Netgalley and Egmont USA for the review copy.
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