Rating: 
Summary: Good Concept but dull writing
Review: The concept kept me going as I kept hoping that something exciting would happen, but the plot was so dull that even the surprise was unexiting and did not involve the reader at all. The writing was beyond dull and seemed to deal with trivial matters that had nothing to do with understanding the characters, the plot or the overall theme. Not Recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Compelling, but characters are tiresome
Review: The Memory Game is a startling and well written novel. The characters are described with great clarity and the plot is clever with several deft twists. The quality of writing is impeccable, and everything is explained in a lyrical style. Why, then, only Three Stars?The characters may be original and three-dimensional but most are unlikeable. The very British word `pompous' describes them all perfectly. I almost stopped reading halfway through because the characters were all so self-absorbed and stereotypically `upper class' in an irritatingly bohemian way. The past and present actions of all the characters were made up of a mass of illicit affairs, broken marriages, secrets, lies and arguments. The one act that really underlined to me why I disliked them all so much was when Jane's brother decided to make a documentary about them all and despite initial protests they all took part in it - it was such a cold blooded thing to do and seemed so pretentious. The complex web of infidelities also wore thin, it got to a stage where there were so many affairs between different members of the same family that it was difficult to recall them all. To some extent, I came to sympathize with the narrator, Jane, although I thought she was insufferable a lot of the time. The book was written in a first person narrative but I could not relate to nearly all of her life experiences. Even her love interest, Casper, managed to irritate me. Why the hell would any sane person want to name their daughter Fanny, which refers to a woman's genitals in Britain? Overall The Memory Game is a competent thriller with a shocking, albeit thoroughly depressing, ending. The one thing that really shone out at me was Nicci French's writing style which was faultless. Often a new paragraph would start with a surprising opening line that would draw me in and keep me hooked. JoAnne
Rating:
Summary: Compelling, but characters are tiresome
Review: The Memory Game is a startling and well written novel. The characters are described with great clarity and the plot is clever with several deft twists. The quality of writing is impeccable, and everything is explained in a lyrical style. Why, then, only Three Stars? The characters may be original and three-dimensional but most are unlikeable. The very British word 'pompous' describes them all perfectly. I almost stopped reading halfway through because the characters were all so self-absorbed and stereotypically 'upper class' in an irritatingly bohemian way. The past and present actions of all the characters were made up of a mass of illicit affairs, broken marriages, secrets, lies and arguments. The one act that really underlined to me why I disliked them all so much was when Jane's brother decided to make a documentary about them all and despite initial protests they all took part in it - it was such a cold blooded thing to do and seemed so pretentious. The complex web of infidelities also wore thin, it got to a stage where there were so many affairs between different members of the same family that it was difficult to recall them all. To some extent, I came to sympathize with the narrator, Jane, although I thought she was insufferable a lot of the time. The book was written in a first person narrative but I could not relate to nearly all of her life experiences. Even her love interest, Casper, managed to irritate me. Why the hell would any sane person want to name their daughter Fanny, which refers to a woman's genitals in Britain? Overall The Memory Game is a competent thriller with a shocking, albeit thoroughly depressing, ending. The one thing that really shone out at me was Nicci French's writing style which was faultless. Often a new paragraph would start with a surprising opening line that would draw me in and keep me hooked. JoAnne
Rating:
Summary: Murder - the victim being the book itself
Review: The only thing that made me finish this book was knowing that I could write a review warning others not to waste their time. This book made me cringe. It seemed as if the book was completed, and then the author decided to go back and add a meaningless adjective to every noun, in a feeble attempt to revive a literary corpse. Some innovative use of the word "very" was a real highlight. By the tenth time a character had a "gulp" of some beverage, I seriously contemplated mailing a thesaurus to the writer. As I write this review I realize that maybe I am being too harsh. But then I take a very, very, very big gulp of my icy cold refreshing drink and put it back on the smooth old mahogany desk, and light up a long thin relaxing cigarette, and have another gulp and think.... naaah.
Rating: 
Summary: Perfect debute: read it!
Review: The story was thrilling, twisted yet credible and always fascinating. The characters and their behaviour seemed to me as real as life and the concept behind the story (repressed memories) was interesting and instructive. The book made me also remember 'a Secret History' by D.Tartt which is of the same quality!
Rating: 
Summary: For a first book? Wonderful
Review: Their first book, I'm told. I don't know why I relate to so many of their main characters. Whatever the reason, they are one of my favorite authors of the past year. Memory Game has eye raising twists and turns throughout. No one seems to be as they appear to be. One downfall...I could not keep all the names straight-- and the first few chapters helped none for me in discerning them. Could be the interuptions of RL.
Rating:
Summary: Good movie, lousy reading
Review: This is a one of the lousiest books I have ever read, but it'd make quite a thriller on the big (or small) screen. Shallow and underdeveloped main character, neurotically smoking and boozing throughout the story which was dull in spite of the interesting subject of repressed memory...... Pity
Rating:
Summary: Memory a game?
Review: Whether it be "Memory Game" or "Kim's Game", as the narrator describes them and then confesses to confusing the two, game theory becomes the controlling conceit for this exploration of family solidarity and family secrets. A terrible murder (with attendant ramifications of incest) is disclosed 25 years after the victim, a beautiful and enigmatic teenager, has been buried in a pit right outside the front door of her home. The gruesome discovery of a pregnant girl, who had been thought--by all but the murderer--to be merely missing, becomes the stimulus for the narrator, her childhood friend and rival, to embark on a quest to recover dark hidden memories of a vanished childhood among the "blue remembered hills" of her "land of lost content." The account that follows--with its frequent forays into psychotherapeautic sessions--is gripping, even as mesmerising as the psychotherapist himself seems to be, and the narrator goes through an ominous process of question and answer only to find ultimately that the "truth" of her breakthrough is not truth at all. The only disappointing part of this process comes in the rushed conclusion following her acceptance of the validity of the "false-memory" syndrome (an exposition of which is glossed over far too hurriedly); the denoument seems strangely contrived and much less believable than what has preceded it.
Nevertheless this is an absorbing read. It will please the literary minded as well as mystery lovers. It has certainly left this reader with a taste for more from this spell-binding writer.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting subject, i.e. repressed memories
Review: Whilst I found the subject matter interesting, i.e. repressed memories, I found the storyline did not hold my complete attention in spite of the twist at the end. Two things jarred me throughout, the first, the central character was living on her own, yet baked constantly (who ate all the food?) and second, she smoked her way through plantations of tobacco. A fair read but not only.
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