Book Review: "The Memory Wood" by Sam Lloyd

"The Memory Wood" by Sam Lloyd is the book club pick for Richard and Judy by the time this review is being written and honestly, I have mainly enjoyed many of the Richard and Judy book club reads because a lot of them are books I would never discover otherwise. Most of my reading is classics and stuff and I like being able to discover these terrifying thriller novels but this one was different. This one was very different. Normally I am able to put the book down and reflect for a bit before I read the next part but with this one I didn't. With this one I tried to put it down and all I could think about was the well-being of Elissa, or the truth about Elijah or even whoever was holding Elissa in that underground place in the woods. Before I knew it, I had picked up the book again and spent the next five hours desperately reading it until it was finally over. I had trouble getting to sleep that night. My mind was rattling.

The book is about a thirteen-year-old chess player called Elissa and she's been kidnapped by an unknown 'ghoul' and locked by a manacle in a cellar-like environment. She is eventually given food but it's a bowl of spaghetti shaped like Peppa Pig. She meets a boy with a flashlight who comes down now and again and asks her to teach him chess, he is a 12-year-old called Elijah. She asks Elijah to let her out but he refuses, stating that he cannot possibly do that. It is clear that there is far more to Elijah than meets the eye, and even what meets the eye should not be wholeheartedly taken in. She is not sure about him, but she is afraid of him. He doesn't do anything to her, but he doesn't do anything to help her either. It is a confusing relationship and yet, Elissa is focused on getting out, to knowing the truth and to being found. Her love of codes and puzzles is about to help her in ways she could never imagine.

The book is written brilliantly. We go from the first person perspective of Elijah to the third person perspective of Elissa and to the person investigating the case. It is all told episodically and honestly, that only builds up the tension. You get to see what is happening simultaneously between all of these timelines and that's incredible. The planning that must have gone into the novel is something that I admire and I think should be admired by others. The level of disturbing that this book is has to be measure by something bigger than the Richter scale because I don't think you will ever see it coming. I mean to say that if you read carefully, you can suspect the twist but there is something quite unbelievable about it all. None of it feels like it has been shoehorned in to make the book more interesting, instead it seems like the book has been meticulously planned in the art of misdirection. It is right there in front of your eyes, but you just don't properly see it until it is brought to your attention in the midst of the action.

The novel is incredibly graphic. Some of the descriptions such as the shooting of the deer and the wounding of Elissa's arm are just disgusting whilst there are moments of haunting psychosis in which people like Bryony lurk amongst the story even though they are long dead. It is a brilliant piece of character development, but only when you have read the entire book do you realise why this character development even happened.

As a conclusion, the only thing I can say is that if you read this book, be ready to be greatly disturbed and prepare to have difficulty getting to sleep because this book will change your perspective on the entire thriller genre. It is absolute brilliance.