The Book of M

The Book of M is a devastating, beautiful novel. All at once, this is an adventure story, a love story, a fantasy, a dystopia, and a meditation on memory—what it means, and how it defines us as human beings.

We begin in a secluded hideaway in the woods: for two years, our primary narrators, Ory and Max, have been living in an abandoned Virginia resort lodge, hiding from the volatile world. Outside their refuge, human shadows are disappearing. When a shadow vanishes, its body starts to forget: small things at first, then larger and more important memories, until the person loses all sense of self. In return, the shadowless gain a terrifying magic, which can change anything from the color of a pocket knife to the physical laws that govern a city. After two years of Forgetting, the world is desperately distorted, and it is into that strange reality that we follow Ory and Max after Max’s shadow disappears and she leaves the lodge alone.

It would be easy for a reader to lose their bearings in this ever-shifting setting, if it weren’t for the author’s clear command of the laws that govern the world of her novel and her compassion for the characters who populate it. The world-building is as thoughtful as it is imaginative, and genuine human feeling is written into every page. This is a story about many things, about shadows and magic and myths and global calamity, but more than all of that, it is a story about people. These characters are funny, tragic, sympathetic, and real.

Especially for fans of apocalyptic novels, who love these stories because of what truths they can tell us about humanity, The Book of M is a must-read.

I received an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Book of M, Peng Shepherd’s beautiful and soulful, deep and deeply feeling
debut novel, is a poignantly rendered allegory in the guise of brilliantly crafted science fiction, guaranteed to resonate with both adolescent and adult readers! This book both exemplifies and defies genre by transporting us to a dystopian world vividly, freshly conceived yet eerily similar to our own. The story itself offers page-turning entertainment and a double expresso jolt to the imagination. Though descriptions are rich in detail and scope, there’s space on these landscapes and battlefields and inside these relationships for readers to add their own color as well as to draw multiple interpretations. By shifting from perspective to perspective, Shepherd garners sympathy for her characters while deftly navigating them through ever-changing straits. We root for Max and for Ory, the main heroine and hero among a vibrant supporting cast of freedom fighters, because in them we recognize parts of ourselves, what we aspire to and not to be. This ambitious and thought-provoking story is about love and loss, redemption and salvation. It serves up shadows, which in the novel mysteriously, portentously disappear, as a metaphor for individual agency and collective legacy, cautioning us to be vigilant citizens and inspiring us to be better people. Ultimately a heart-wrenching and hopeful portrait of humanity, The Book of M suggests we cast a lighter shadow by having faith in one another.

Still remembers how to drive?
This book is senseless to me and got more so the further I read..Lost all cohesion and just got confusing, meandering and not worth finishing. Anyone who reads this will understand my first sentence..I simply could not finish, sadly.

Filled with characters who are achingly human, The Book of M is a story with an immense heart. The premise at points will remind readers of vintage magical realism and later will harken to the more compelling entries in the post-apocalypse genre. The writing throughout is superb, and the conclusion is well worth the fascinating journey!

The Book of M is a wonderfully addictive and thrilling novel. This book became my new favorite with its extraordinarily vivid, emotional, and exhilarating plot that made me feel attached to the characters in a way that I never have before in a novel. Shepard has masterfully created a world that is simultaneously fantastical and grippingly realistic and relatable. The interwoven nature of the different storylines brings everything together to create a beautiful masterpiece of literary art. Experiencing this novel was magical and has altered the way I view my own life, experiences, and memories. Hearing the events of the story through multiple narrators’ perspective gives the reader the opportunity to experience the different ways that people deal with loss and change in their lives and relationships. I am waiting expectantly to read more of Shepard’s future writing.

I LOVED this book. It has a fantastic, intriguing premise (people start losing their shadows and with it, gradually, their memories) and as a result the world starts to fall apart. Because losing your memory is not just about not being able to remember the people and events of your life. This kind of memory loss is total: it's not being able to remember how to read and write-- or even remembering the concept of language. It's not being able to remember what the rules of civil society are, especially in a dangerous new world where the people with shadows and the people without are terrified and at war with each other. This book has such an epic, roaring framework but it's also intimate because it's centered around a husband and wife. What happens when a wife decides to leave her husband because she has lost her shadow and knows she will only endanger him with her coming reality? The story took my breath away.

I'm not particularly interested in dystopian novels OR post-apocalyptic novels, and yet this book was so, so good. Speculative fiction with some magical realism -- a great combination.

If the premise of the book sounds even remotely interesting to you, I highly recommend reading this book! It's so well-written and the characters are wonderfully developed.

I was captivated by the imaginative premise of this book, set in what is admittedly another post-apocalyptic world (today's generational fascination.) Shadows holding memories - lovely. I also appreciated the international nature of the characters - no Johns or Emilies here. It brought home how much more alike than disparate we are, and how one country's tragedy can so quickly become another's, just as one culture's salvation can become everyone's. Thought-provoking. Makes me want to start writing a diary!

It is the near future and suddenly, with no warning, people start losing their shadows. And they find that after they lose their shadows, they start losing their memories.

This is an unique story - a very interesting idea. And the author creates this new chaotic world where some people retain their shadows and some don't, losing their memories piecemeal until they even forget how to breathe.

Ory and Max are a married couple who attended a wedding at a lodge in northern Virginia. They've stayed at the lodge for two years since the Forgetting started, foraging but supplies are getting scarce.

This is a book that makes you think - about memories, about sense of self, about love. I highly recommend it.

I received this book from William Morrow Books through Edelweiss in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

This is an intriguing dive into Fantasy, taken by other authors, but with a unique style. Brilliantly written characters drive the story with good pacing and captivating settings.
I really enjoyed the authors style and the plot was both wondrous and enticing.
I always want to see characters that act real and alive, and this book built it's characters spectacularly. The dynamics between Ory and Max are interesting and relatable.
I am excited to see future books by this Author.
I would recommend picking this book up if you are an avid fantasy fan or this is your first foray into fantasy.

The idea was interesting, the ending was satisfying, and the prose was beautiful.
However, the middle was very slow, and I really wish the relationship between the male main character and his wife was developed a lot more.

Gripping, intriguing, fantastic! Three words to describe this book. This book was seriously amazing! I loved how it was very intriguing from the very beginning and draws you into the unknown and unfathomable, into a world where nothing is at it seems and the in-seemingly possible is possible. It was beautifully written and I loved Shepherd’s style of writing. The pages turned themselves and I found myself not wanting to put it down as I wanted to know what would happen next. Full of mystery and surprises, you can’t help but feel a whole bunch of emotions for all the characters in the book.

This book takes place in a futuristic world and mostly follows the two main characters, married couple Ory and his wife Max. One day on the news it is reported that a man in India has lost his shadow. No one knows why or how it happened, or what it means, but it is a strange phenomenon that mystifies everyone. Slowly the news spreads around the world, leaving most people scared and confused. Until the phenomenon spreads and countries begin shutting down their borders, leaving inhabitants quarantined. No one is allowed to enter or leave the country. The people who have lost their shadows have strange things happen to them that cannot be explained. They seems to gain powers, but it comes at an unthinkable cost. Their memories start to fade. Some people touched by this plague and lose their shadow lose their memories quite quickly, while others seem to lose their memories more slowly, and are desperate to hold onto their memories. If you realized one day that your shadow had suddenly disappeared, what would you do? What would you be willing to give up to remember and hold onto your precious memories?

The world as they know it is no more. Chaos erupts and people are scared and more and more lose their shadows and their memories. No one knows how to help. No one knows how to stop others from losing their memories or their shadows and people are frightened. Buildings are destroyed, homes are wiped out, electricity is wiped out and food is becoming scarce. People are robbing and killing others for food and shelter. The whole world is chaotic.

Ory and Max both have their shadows. Then one day Max loses her shadow. They both know that once her memories start to fade away she will become more and more dangerous; But so far she has all of her memories. How long will she have until her memories begin to fade? One day while Ory is out gathering supplies, Max runs away to try to save Ory from herself and sparing him from having to watch her deteriorate like this. When Ory returns home he is devastated to learn that Max has run away. How could she do this to him. They promised one another to not abandon the other.

You will experience many emotions reading this book. I know I certainly did. I had hopes that Ory would be able to find Max one day and they would both be ok. The story continues from both Ory and Max’s points of view. Max as she has run away and her journey to where she is running, and Ory on his path to try to find Max, the love of his life.

Will Max manage to get where she is going with her memories intact? Will Ory be able to find Max before she forget him and it is too late?

Walking down the street you look down and you see your image in the form of a shadow staring back at you. Hoping to follow it and trying to see if you can pace yourself along with your shadow what would you do if it suddenly disappears? The world as we know just might change at the shadows we cherish so deeply fade away and along with your shadow your memories and your understanding of who you are, what you are and the world will turn you into someone that becomes know as the Shadowless. Within the pages of this intricate novel the fear that the characters face, the terrors that will befall each and every one of them will be narrated by many different voices as you enter the world in the Book of M. Your narrators are many starting with Ory and Max who were held up for two years in a hotel only to learn that the outside world was no longer safe or their friend.

Three distinct voices with others that augment their journeys as Ory searches for Max and Max tries to keep her memories of him alive while Naz and her sister try to stay alive but barely. The shadowless are everywhere and even when you are feeling secure you are always in the path. While Ory finally realizes his home is gone and Max joins a group headed by someone named Ursula the world around them is foreign, odd and their chances of survival depends on each other as those that have shadows still have memories while others have no record of the past, present or the now.
The author brings in one more person a neurologist named Dr. Zadeh who tries to restore or attempts to restore the minds of the shadowless, an amnesiac and some with Alzheimer’s. But, things change second by second and we meet Hemu a junior customer service representative at a call center for a U.S. cell phone company and a second string cricket player who winds up meeting our amnesiac and bonding through stories, Books that Hemu relates and research that he recalls hoping to find more memories. While airy joins another group and finds himself caught up in a military style environment as Naz joins his group and when their leader Paul loses his shadows he takes over.
Things change for all three voices when Ursula and Max’s group become enslaved and caged by the people in White or the transcendence who try to cast a false sense of security over this group hoping they will join them and One does when the mind goes in a different direction and brainwashing wins. The bars cannot be broken until it changes and fear sets in but will they escape?
Our and Malik and Immanuel are trapping a different world with the Red King and his Reds who want to burn all of the books that hold different memories as airy searches for Paul’s poetry and we learn why Books are important. The realization is starting and for those that embrace Books and their words it’s a valuable lesson in knowledge
At the same time The One Who Gathers, the amnesiac and his following need to find another place to hide in the facility from the shadowed and shadowless banging to get in. But, someone out there does enter and the key to Hemu’s research and more comes to light.
Meet Gajarajan in the form of nit a human and yet appearing as an electoral some degree and who has s shadow that follows him belonging to another hoping to find a way to attach shadows new shadows and hopefully understand exactly what kind of shadow was the type they needed to gather more to help him.
The Transcendence were nearby and their arrival would create a storm equal in devastation or more to Hurricane Michael. Vienna was losing her memory and David’s ran the wall guard hoping to keep only certain shadowed entering as Zhang, Malik. Vienna, Naz and Ahmadi arrive and things spiral in all directions as each one has something to offer but when danger arrives who wins them or the Transcendence?
But, Max never fades away and her thoughts and Ory’s are front and center but something happens when a shadowless enters and a startling revelation comes to light as it all changes for airy but how?
A story about true loves that of Ory and Max that might fade in time but will transcend forever within him. A story of sacrifice in the form of Vienna who wanted to help before she could not remember why. A story of loyalty, devotion, hope, survival, forgiveness, caring and the true meaning of the love of life and how precious our memories are and the sadness to lose them as some did. Take a huge candle and watch it slowly burn and when the wick is all that’s left remember like the memories of the shadowless it can no longer burn or be relit.
The Eight are those who are part of the ruling group who hope to keep those inside the sanctuary alive and maybe save more from losing their memories.
Eight is because it’s the number of verses about Surya in the Rigveda. The hope of finding his wife will keep Ory positive but the surprise twist and the starling will usher a change within him and s fire that sends him in many directions.
Where will the one who gathers the bodies be next? Will a cure be found? A dark cloud and a shadow that he sees but what does Ory see?
The final chapter is titled M and author Peng Shepherd weaves together an ending with a new voice that takes us inside the tape recorder that recorded Max’s thoughts to the revelation of the thoughts of the person who is narrating the final words of the Book of M.
What would happen if one day you remember and the next you have no idea who you are, can’t read, your memories are fading and your shadow no longer exists? A story to remind us that life is precious, there are too many wars and something that’s inevitable might not be so far from reality. A must read and thought provoking with a storyline that will haunt your mind and soul long after you read the final words. Just who is the true voice of the BOOK OF M? The author makes readers wonder if she is done with the shadowless and those that have shadows and if she will going to tell us what happens next to those that decide there is much more work to be done. MEMORIES ARE PRECIOUS!