Early Review – Sing Me Forgotten by Jessica S. Olson (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 336 pages
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Release Date: March 9, 2021
ISBN-13 : 978-1335147943
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley from NetGalley for Review
Rating: 4/5 stars

“ Cast into a well at birth for being one of the magical few who can manipulate memories when people sing, she was saved by Cyril, the opera house’s owner. Since that day, he has given her sanctuary from the murderous world outside. All he asks in return is that she use her power to keep ticket sales high—and that she stay out of sight. For if anyone discovers she survived, Isda and Cyril would pay with their lives.

But Isda breaks Cyril’s cardinal rule when she meets Emeric Rodin, a charming boy who throws her quiet, solitary life out of balance. His voice is unlike any she’s ever heard, but the real shock comes when she finds in his memories hints of a way to finally break free of her gilded prison.

Haunted by this possibility, Isda spends more and more time with Emeric, searching for answers in his music and his past. But the price of freedom is steeper than Isda could ever know. For even as she struggles with her growing feelings for Emeric, she learns that in order to take charge of her own destiny, she must become the monster the world tried to drown in the first place.”

Series Info/Source: I got a copy of this book through NetGalley to review. This seems to be a stand alone book.

Story (4/5): This was beautifully written and has a fascinating premise. This is basically a gender reversed Phantom of the Opera retelling with some twists. In this world a race of people exists that can manipulate memory through song and they are usually killed at birth. Our main protagonist is a young woman who was rescued from this death at birth and raised in a theater. She is trained to use her skill to manipulate the theater goers into loving their theater experience regardless of the actual performance. As things unravel she begins to figure out how to use other powers she has and find out the lies that form her life.

This is absolutely beautifully written, with amazing imagery. The beginning moves a bit slow and this is definitely a story that spends a lot of time discussing the fascination with music. In the end it’s more of a love story than anything else.

Characters (4/5): While I really enjoyed Emeric (Isda’s love interest) and his depth of caring, I thought he acted somewhat inconsistently throughout. I had a lot more trouble engaging with Isda’s character; she makes poor decisions and is fairly unlikable. However, that being said I do think she was a good female portrayal of the Phantom from the Phantom of the Opera who is also a kind of evil/sympathetic character. Isda is very grey in tone and while I didn’t really like her, her decisions are fascinating to read about.

Setting (4/5): I liked the idea of a society that runs off of memories and the sales of them. It’s a unique idea and the inclusion of a couple of races of modified humans that can control and pull out memories is intriguing. Unfortunately, we don’t get to see a ton of this world because of Isda’s isolation in the theater.

Writing Style (4/5): The story moved a bit slow for me and some of the decisions Isda makes seemed a bit contrived. In spite of those issues the story is creative and beautifully written, I didn’t have any trouble staying engaging and reading it. This book stands alone well, so it seems like a stand alone to me but there are some unanswered questions too. The ending is kind of a downer and I was left hoping we’d get a follow-up story that would leave our characters in a better place..

My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this. It’s a very creative premise and is beautifully written with amazing imagery. Parts of it do move slow and the characters were a bit hard to engage with and like. There is a ton of discussion and description of music, so if that’s not your thing you probably won’t enjoy this much. I will definitely be checking out Olson’s future books.