ARC Review: Tabula Rasa | The Perfect Match of Setting & Mentally Compromised Characters

Tabula Rasa by Kristen Lippert-Martin
Published by Egmont USA
Format Reviewed: eARC
Publication Date: September 23rd, 2014
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 352
Reviewed by: Stephanie
My Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Buy It

The Bourne Identity meets Divergent in this heart-pounding debut.

Sixteen-year-old Sarah has a rare chance at a new life. Or so the doctors tell her. She’s been undergoing a cutting-edge procedure that will render her a tabula rasa—a blank slate. Memory by memory her troubled past is being taken away.

But when her final surgery is interrupted and a team of elite soldiers invades the isolated hospital under cover of a massive blizzard, her fresh start could be her end.

Navigating familiar halls that have become a dangerous maze with the help of a teen computer hacker who's trying to bring the hospital down for his own reasons, Sarah starts to piece together who she is and why someone would want her erased. And she won’t be silenced again.

A high-stakes thriller featuring a non-stop race for survival and a smart heroine who will risk everything, Tabula Rasa is, in short, unforgettable.

I received this title from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. No compensation was given, offered, or accepted to change or alter this review.

The first line in Tabula Rasa's synopsis says, "Bourne Identity meets Divergent" and that crossover sold me. I've never read the Bourne Identity books so all of my perceptions come from the movies, which I understand to be very different. With that said, this comparison is actually quite accurate for Tabula Rasa. 

Going in, I had a lot of expectations but I also didn't really know what I should be expecting. The "hospital" and its procedures were well-developed and I immensely enjoyed each revelation. In fact, the mystery and information surrounding the "hospital" were my favorite aspects of Tabula Rasa.

The obviously mentally compromised characters positively impacted the premise. They made things more difficult for the main character but they were also the only tools she had. They kept the stakes at just the right level, even during downtime.

Sarah was a believable main character and perfect for the premise. Honestly, I had my own desires for Sarah's past and those weren't what the author chose. This isn't a bad thing. My one fear was that her past wouldn't measure up. Luckily it did, it just happened to not be exactly what I wanted. I won't lie, that kind of bummed me out a bit. I suppose I was looking for something more Bourne Identity here than Divergent and received the opposite.

Tabula Rasa's setting is its crown jewel. The story and the characters are all well-suited for it, but the setting is definitely what grabbed me and held me for the entire novel. We're talking about a raided hospital filled with mental patients, most of which have spotty, violent back grounds. And, all the while, there's a team of men hunting you. Oh yeah, and the power in half the building is out. I loved the setting. 

Follow