I received this book for free from . This review is voluntary. My opinion is not influenced in any way.
Memory of Water on June 10, 2014 Pages: 272
Format: Paperback
Buy on Amazon • Buy on Barnes & Noble
Goodreads
Knowledge is power.
Global warming has changed the world's geography and its politics. Wars are waged over water, and China rules Europe, including the Scandinavian Union, which is occupied by the power state of New Qian. In this far north place, seventeen-year-old Noria Kaitio is learning to become a tea master like her father, a position that holds great responsibility and great secrets. Tea masters alone know the location of hidden water sources, including the natural spring that Noria's father tends, which once provided water for her whole village.
But secrets do not stay hidden forever, and after her father's death the army starts watching their town-and Noria. And as water becomes even scarcer, Noria must choose between safety and striking out, between knowledge and kinship.
Imaginative and engaging, lyrical and poignant, Memory of Water is an indelible novel that portrays a future that is all too possible.
An amazing, award-winning speculative fiction debut novel by a major new talent, in the vein of Ursula K. Le Guin.
10 Random Things about Emmi Itaranta
I have a cat named Miso.
The scent of pine trees in the sun is one of my favourite scents.
I’m always cold. As a result, my personal sense of style (or lack thereof) is based on oversized knitwear and woollen socks.
That said, I do love Nordic winter. I only wish it lasted three weeks instead of five months.
My superpower of choice would be fluency in every language that exists, and a few fictional ones.
If I had to take the music of one artist to a desert island with me, it would be Kate Bush.
I wanted to be a filmmaker when I was a teenager.
I named the Jansson expedition in Memory of Water after Tove Jansson, the author of the Moomin books, because I’m a big fan of her work.
When I take eggs out of a box, I have to make sure the remaining eggs in the box are symmetrically arranged.
When I was a child, I firmly believed I could learn to fly if I practiced hard enough.
Okay, first we need to pause and take another peek at that gorgeous cover. Yes. I fully admit to being a cover snob and this one is just fabulous. In person it is almost shiny and it is oh-so-pretty. Okay, on to the review. Memory of Water by Emmi Itaranta tells the story of Noria, who has taken over as tea master. In her dystopian world, this is a very important position. She is entrusted with a lot of knowledge and secrets. Noria is not content to simply go along with the government rules any longer and this causes a lot of trouble for her. She’s trying to do her small part to improve the world she lives in, but it may be too late for that.
The author writes wonderfully and really does a nice job of contrasting beautiful words with a bleak setting. The story was powerful and interesting and the author’s words brought it to life in the most profound way. Noria is a great character. I really liked that the author wrote a dystopian story that seems very plausible and could happen in the not-so-distant future. There were many moments during reading this book that I had an eerie feeling, thinking how this could very well be the world we live in someday. I was entranced with both the story line of Memory of Water by Emmi Itaranta and the author’s style of writing. I read page after page and didn’t want the story to end. I would definitely like to read more books by this author.
| Rating Report | |
|---|---|
| Plot |
|
| Characters |
|
| Writing |
 |
| Pacing |
 |
| Cover |
 |
| Overall: | |
