The Memory Thieves - Darren Simpson

Elsewhere Sanctuary is a place where children go to help them forget major traumas that have happened in their lives; they are even given new names.  Cyan has been a resident there for as long as he can remember when Jonquil arrives to begin her treatment.  However, she isn't as keen to forget everything and, when she asks to talk about the past, things take a darker turn and Cyan is shocked by the way Dr Haven changes her treatment.  Suddenly Jonquil is a shadow of her former self and Cyan begins to worry about what Dr Haven is doing and exactly how the sanctuary's treatments may be effecting everyone.  The question is, can he find out what is going on before his treatments cause him to forget these recent discoveries?

I wasn't quite certain what to expect when I began reading this book but I'd heard great things from others on Twitter so I was keen read it myself.  The world Darren builds is both wonderful and scary at the same time.  The premise of the Sanctuary is that it helps children to improve their mental illness and to rid them of the traumas they have faced in their lives; however, from the beginning, there seems to be a darker undertone in the notion of the lockets the children have to wear and the way they record their oath in such a traumatic way as a reminder to themselves of why they are there.  The further into the book I got, the more I felt the sinister nature of Dr Haven's treatment ... and the more compelling the book got.

Darren's writing is very clever: the book has a calm feel to it and the pace reflects the nature of the sanctuary; however, (and this is where I feel things get clever), the more you read, the more you realise that something is very wrong at this institute.  I felt myself completely gripped and desperate to reach in and save Cyan, Jonquil and the others but unable to do so - in essence, I felt trapped on the outside and helpless, rather like Cyan.  I could feel the panic slowly rising and the desperate need to keep reading overtook me, yet the pace of the story remained steady, which I found even more compelling and a reflection of Dr Haven and his approach towards his patients - it gave the whole book a very sinister undertone that had my heart racing!

I am sure that many of us will have memories we wish to forget, for whatever reason, but this book is absolute testimony that simply erasing them is not the answer!  

This is a different and almost eerie book and I can't wait to share it with the children at school to see what they think of it - I know that the discussions will be very interesting!

 The Memory Thieves is due for release on the 5th August.