The Recall Paradox

Memory Index #2

by Julian R. Vaca

What if everything you remember is a lie? Freya Izquierdo and Fletcher Cohen believe they’re done with top-secret memory knifing. After successfully hacking a terrorist’s memories and foiling the Memory Ghosts’ next attack, they spend their school break intending to clear Fletcher’s dad of being accused of colluding with the radical group. Exposing the truth should be straightforward, if not easy. But Fletcher’s house is robbed, and Freya makes a shocking discovery about her flawed recall. When they return to Foxtail Academy, no one but the dean and Dr. Sanders seems to remember Freya, Fletcher, and their friends Chase and Ollie. Then the Memory Ghosts make contact, and everything the four students thought was true proves false. As they struggle to shine light on the shadowy battlefield between Memory Frontier and the Memory Ghosts, their only option is to undertake the most difficult and risky knifing mission of their lives. But this time, more than their lives are at stake. In this heart-stopping and gripping conclusion to the critically acclaimed Memory Index duology , the only way out is in, and the only way to safety is through reckless danger that could wipe Freya and Fletcher from everyone’s minds . . . forever.

Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Fiction, Dystopia

416 pages, Paperback

First published April 11, 2023

About the author

Julian R. Vaca is a Daytime Emmy Award–winning writer, Telly Award–winning director, and the author of the critically-acclaimed THE MEMORY INDEX. Its sequel THE RECALL PARADOX published in 2023. The details around his next novel are being kept under wraps.

Connect with Julian at JulianRayVaca.com and on Instagram @JulianRayVaca.

Reviews

[Shannon Miz · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5*

I quite enjoyed the first book in this series,  The Memory Index . It wasn't perfect, but it was entertaining and I was excited to read the conclusion, since I do love a duology. That said, this one just didn't hit the same for me. I felt like the problems I had with the first book were exacerbated in the second, and it just didn't have the same excitement level as the first. I liked the main characters, though it didn't feel to me that there was a ton of development from the first book, frankly. Plus, this is probably more of a "me" issue, but since they were all coupled off it just felt... I don't know, but you know how when in a show, the main characters get together early and then the show kind of jumps the shark? Sort of like that.

Anyway, even though I liked the main characters, I could not keep track of all the secondary ones. I couldn't recall (heh) their particular roles from the first book in many cases, and there wasn't much in the way of explanation to help me decipher. Sorry fam, my memory is just not that good. Honestly, my biggest qualm with this one was that I was just bored. I would find myself reading, but not actually retaining anything because my mind had been somewhere else. So then I started... well I won't lie, I started skimming around the halfway mark, which is something I almost never do. (I feel like it is sort of cheating? But I was already so deep into the series I needed to know how it ended, so.)

And the end was fine. It still felt like plot points were resolved sort of easy along the way, and I just kind of... shrugged and moved along. Other readers seem to have enjoyed it more though, so if you liked the first one, don't let this deter you!

Bottom Line: It just didn't hit for me. I felt kind of "meh" and bored, but I still did like the characters, and the concept.

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

[Andrea Cox · Rating 1 out of 5]

The premise of this one sounded good, but the delivery was lacking. I was highly disappointed in the bad language that was included, as that set a poor example for the target audience of teenagers. My disappointment was doubled when I realized this was a Thomas Nelson book. That company used to be well known for clean Christian fiction stories that a reader could trust, that a reader could hand to their teenagers without worrying about the content they’d be reading. This book did not follow that trend. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first recent book that has broken my trust in the company.

I hope they re-raise their moral standards soon.

I stopped reading this book at 21 percent.

Content: expletives (English and Spanish), profanity (English and Spanish), underage drinking, alcohol

[M. Slinger-Carreer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to wrap up this duology. Kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next to these characters. I was happy with how everything was explained and turned out. And while I do enjoy a good love story, I liked it was only an element here; it wasn't the ENTIRE story. There was so much more going on and the love story didn't hinder the main plot in anyway.

[Nicole Zelniker · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite things about being an author is when other authors ask me to blurb their books so I can read them early. Now, I'm (im)patiently waiting for it to come out so I can make all my friends read it too.

My blurb: The Recall Paradox hooked me from page one and refused to let me go until I finished. Like The Memory Index, this sequel is at once a thrilling dystopian adventure and a beautiful meditation on grief, memory, and humanity.

[Evelina | AvalinahsBooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

How I read this: Free ebook copy received through Edelweiss

I don't get it what it is with this series - the premise and the whole idea is SO GOOD, and yet the delivery entirely kills it. I only requested this book because I wanted to know what happens to Freya, what's up with that brother story. So, the main plot. But I remember I hated wading through the jumble that the first book was, and the second one is somehow even worse. It's almost as if this was being written to be a movie or something? And I feel like maybe it would be so much easier to follow if it was, or if it at least was an audiobook?

First of all, there's no recap, and I'm getting tired of authors expecting readers to remember what we read a year ago - I can barely remember what I did yesterday. What's so hard about a small recap? Everyone else besides the reviewer also waited a year for the book to come out. Do you think anyone remembers all the names, which there are so many of..?

That's less of a problem than the writing itself though. This one was all over the place. And this is a review copy, so I hope they fix this in the final one, but I kind of hated how in one chapter it will be "I did...", in the next one it's "she does", and then it's back to "he did". So not only do we constantly switch persons and POVs, but we are also constantly switching tenses. The last book was written like this too, so I think this is just legit the style of the books, and they're not going to fix this before publication. It made for a really weird reading experience. I can get the POV switching, but the tense switching just made me feel weird. Again, though, maybe that's changed in the final version - or maybe it's just a stylistic choice, in which case, I didn't really care for it. This is why I say it feels like a screenplay, which is not that much fun to read at the best of times.

I told myself last time I wouldn't request the sequel, but the premise was so good, I forgot how I felt and still did. It seems though that's it's a duology, and not a trilogy, so at least the story wrapped up, although I didn't find the ending very satisfying either.

I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.

Book Blog | Bookstagram | Bookish Twitter

[MyBookNest7 · Rating 5 out of 5]

“This one can remember the future.”

I have been super interested in this one ever since The Memory Index ended and I came to know that the second book in the duology is going to be called The Recall Paradox. Having said that, it has still been a month since @netgalley approved an advance copy for me, but I finally managed to put life on hold for a while to finish this crazy adventure. Crazy in the absolute best ways, of course!

“One of the greatest tragedies of humankind is that we weaponize that which was intended for good.”

It is such a great effort to begin a book with something so intriguing as this one and then just keep the momentum for the rest of the story. While it was an absolute treat to meet the gang again, it was wonderful to meet the new characters as well. Deciding whether to trust the newcomers was surely like being stuck between a rock and a hard place, but that is where all the fun lies.

“What’s more terrifying—losing your memories, or confronting difficult ones?”

Somehow, the entire experience just leaves you with tons to think about. If the pandemic we really had to face was that of losing our memories, nobody really knows how good or bad we would fare. Let’s just hold on tighter to our memories, our dreams, and our present, just in case.

As always, thank you, @netgalley!

“Sometimes optimism feels foolish, but optimism always leads to hopefulness, and remaining hopeful is never foolish."

[Ellie Ginger · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid 4.7 - I think because it’s YA I found the dialogue to be a bit cheesy at times, and I did notice one small plot error, but overall I thought this was a great secondary novel that provided necessary context and wrapped up the story nicely, while still bringing in new narratives.

[Sunil · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The Recall Paradox, Julian R. Vaca builds on the strengths of The Memory Index and delivers a much more exciting and interesting sequel that gave me a lot more of the COOL SCI-FI SHIT I was really enjoying at the end of the last book. Freya, Fletcher, Chase, and Ollie basically don't even go to school anymore in this book, as they spend all their time knifing memories and investigating shit!

There's a lot to like here, as the very Inception-y concept of knifing lends itself to some creative and intense action, including a daring helicopter chase that's just begging to be in a movie. I also dug that other characters besides Freya had special abilities that could be used in action scenes in the real world, like a daring climactic heist. Yes, everything these kids do is daring. Vaca also finds some beautiful and thoughtful moments to muse on the power of memory to both connect people and distance them, as Freya discovers her memory of her father is not entirely accurate and spends much of the book revisiting her own memories to reorient herself to the truth of her family situation. There are a lot of fascinating revelations scattered throughout the book regarding Memory Frontier, the company that has a monopoly on artificial recall, and the Memory Ghosts, the ostensible "terrorist" group that Our Heroes were initially drafted to help fight against.

It's so much, in fact, that this second half of a duology feels like the second two books in a trilogy smashed into one, so it doesn't feel like plot twists or emotionally cathartic moments get a chance to land because there's not enough build-up and then we're already hurtling on to the next thing. I felt like Chase and Ollie got short shrift this book, really falling into the background compared to Freya and Fletcher, especially since we get a whole host of new characters in the Memory Ghosts. As I got into the last hundred pages, I was almost positive this "conclusion" was really just setting up another book to continue the story, thinking there was no way Vaca could wrap up all the loose threads in so little time. And yet, he did! In a way that's supposed to be SHOCKING but is actually pretty much what you'd expect if you weren't a character living in this world. A lot of the worldbuilding here, despite some original twists that do distinguish it, does fall back on predictable narrative tropes for how these stories go. Don't get me wrong, it's a classic for a reason, and I still ate it up, but I think a little more development of the characters and some more examination of the fallout of the revelation would have made it have more impact for me.

Overall, it's another page-turning read, and honestly, I was turning the pages so fast I can't say the lack of impact wasn't due to my not savoring every single sentence. Vaca takes the reader on a swift adventure with some interesting sci-fi concepts and memory musings that may feel familiar to me but will likely thrill the target audience.

[Sofia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second and last book of the Memory Index series was a quick and thrilling read. It's a fun book to read to be sure, though for me it's a bit devoid of feeling.

I couldn't really feel the impact of Memory Killer, Restoreys, etc, onto this re-imagined 80 society. For me, it felt very much that I was told, but not shown. There were instances were the main characters got into deep trouble, that other characters were described as having suffered for a long time in the book, and they got out of it after maybe 5 minutes. Dean Mendelson's son was stuck in a memory loop while getting into a car while Artificially Recalling. He was stuck replaying the same memory again and again. This thing happens to Freya and Fletcher and they manage to escape the memory loop after maybe 5 minutes of being stuck, but both imagining a 'shared dream' of them going to prom. It felt way too easy and random, considering that being stuck in a Memory Loop was described as this super dangerous thing.

In the end, the big plot twist of the story is revealed, which I could somehow guess from the middle of the book. Still, it felt rushed and left some things unanswered. It's revealed that there was no Memory Killer illness after all. This was a side effect of using the memory recalling technology. The CEO guy who made this tech fooled the world into thinking they need his technology because of Memory Killer.

In the first book, where it's described how some people are recollectors (meaning they only need to recall once per day) and some are degenerates (meaning they need to do so multiple times per day), I wondered how come all the rich people were recollectors and all the working class people were degens. With Memory Killer being a fake illness and people not actually needing the technology to begin with, it kind of makes sense that the scans would be fake and set up as well. Still, wouldn't people start to wonder how come all the middle and upper class people get recollector status while the working classes get degen? Which is why again, I think it would be better if this was made about having the iPhone and low range Android Restroreys (or whatever the tape machines were called) and convincing people that with the expensive one you only need to recall once per day, while with the cheaper one you need to do so more frequently. This could explain better the "rich have good memory, poor people not" thing.

I also didn't like Freya and Fletcher that much as a couple. They didn't have chemistry for me, which is a shame cause their love for each other kind of 'saves the day' for them multiple times.

Overall it's a fun book that I very much enjoyed, but definitely questioned the plot.

[Karen Cohn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Recall Paradox is the sequel to The Memory Index, and picks up exactly where the first volume leaves off - almost to the point where the two should be published as part one and part two of a single volume; an unexplained incident from the beginning of The Memory Index is key to the conclusion of The Recall Paradox.

This is a multi-genre novel, being a mystery set in an alternate past. Memory loss is a significant issue facing society's aging population today, and the basic concept underlying this novel is that it should be possible, in the near future, to record an individual's memories and play them back for that individual as a treatment for dementia. But in this novel, there's an added issue: developed to deal with dementia and other forms of memory loss, artificial recall is introduced to the world just in time to stave off a world wide pandemic of memory loss, a disease called Memory Killer. But something is going wrong with the devices, and the company that produced them is trying to pilot an improved version, using high school students as guinea pigs. As Fletcher and Freya and their friends dive deeper into the issues surrounding the skills they been taught to access the memories of others, they discover what the cause of the problem might be - and it's not what they expected.

This is an interesting concept for a novel, and unique - but as a mystery, it was a little weak, and the revelation came well after it was apparent what the solution to the mystery was. The novel is set in the 1980s, and regularly references music popular at the time, which is not particularly relevant to the storyline. There seems to be no purpose for this time setting, except possibly to eliminate issues with the technology that is central to the novel. Overall, it's a reasonably decent book, and worth reading for the concept, but it got mired down now and again in little details that could easily have been accounted for in other ways.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Lana Spelliscy · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an amazing follow-up book! The second in a 2 book series, you'll want to read the first book first. The story picks up right where the first book ended. While it seems that all the tasks have been accomplished, there are new twists coming that you just can't guess. Through it all the team leans on each other to stay grounded, focus on the truth, and keep each other alive. But all their best efforts may not be enough. The action is cranked up as everyone races to find the one piece of the puzzle that will either reveal the truth or bury it forever. Julian Ray Vaca takes a wonderful story to new levels in this follow-up. One where the characters bury themselves deeper into the readers life, cheering and wincing for each dangerous choice they make. The suspense increases with the tough decisions on who to believe and what the one missing piece will lead them to. I was so invested that I couldn't put this book down! I was gasping at the unseen danger coming, cheering at the successes in each step to the truth. You will not regret starting this book until it ends before you are ready to let the story go. It stays with you for days after you flip the last page! I am looking forward to the next great story from Julian Ray Vaca, it's sure to be entertaining and intense! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

[Sarah W · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Recall Paradox picks up right where the first book left off as well as introducing some more important characters. I do think you need to read the first book first as you will be missing some detailed explanation about what is happening. They talk briefly about the how to’s of memory knifing but not as much detail as the first. I loved the concept of using someone’s memories and the process of what people go through to remember and store the memories. I feel like everything was easy to follow and I wasn’t confused on how anything worked. Learning about the “powers” and ways to control them was interesting but when Freya was going through her memories it got a little slow at times, so I liked how the dual POV balanced the pace. It more action and suspense with some good-timed twists. The bond the friend group made was nice for character development and I loved the situations when they were all together.

Thank you @thomasnelson @JulianRayVaca and @tlcbooktours for the gifted copy.

[Nora St Laurent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buckle up for an epic journey that reminded me of parts of The Matrix (such as how they time jumped) and The Fast and the Furious (such as how theyhad some amazing car jumps etc.)

Really liked the characters, setting and creative and innovative story. The students try to unravel the riddles of the memory paradox and determine the talents this memory hacking team possesses, and it’s a nice retreat with some thought-provoking circumstances. You won’t want to put this book down.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I requested and received a copy of this book by the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Nora St. Laurent
TBCN Where Book Fun Begins!
The Book Club Network blog https://psalm516.blogspot.com/

[Cathy Eades · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy in return for an honest review Although it wasn't that long ago, I did struggle to recall some of what happened in the previous book and that did make it a little hard to get into this one.

Having said that, after reading a couple summaries, it seems the book picks up right where it left off. But it falls back into the the same traps the first one did. The pace drops off pretty quick and it becomes more about the characters than the world building. The plot should be interesting but I have to say I found myself skim reading pretty early on. It just felt a bit "meh". Part of this was due to the tone. The characters were self absorbed teenagers and I just couldn't gel with this

I'm sure others will enjoy it, but for me it failed to grab me and I quickly lost interest. Too much of the story was about the characters hanging out and the exploration of the memory frontier etc was, at times, too young and under developed. Not for me this one.

[Amanda Shepard (Between-the-Shelves) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll be honest, even though I read the first one in this series only last year, I had a hard time remembering exactly what happened at the end of that one. There's a bit of summary that helps with that, but it still made it a bit difficult to get into this one.

I think the concept of these books is really interesting, and I enjoyed the underlying plot of the story. There were, however, a lot of different characters introduced in this one and I found it difficult to keep track of who was who. Maybe that's because I listened to it on audio? I don't know.

I also sometimes forgot that this was set in an alernate version of the 1980s. ust adding a few world building details might have helped with that.

All in all, this is an enjoyable story, even if the overall story wasn't perfect. If you're into alternate histories with a little bit of sci-fi, this one is probably for you!

[Sara Raquel Cervantes · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Because rarely is life black-and-white. Rarely is it perfectly binary. On this colorful planet we inhabit, gray is ubiquitous, which is to say gray areas are all areas."

The second book to 'The Memory Index', Julian R. Vaca ties up all of the loose ends as we follow Freya Izquierdo and three of her friends in a world where a disease known as Memory Killer has swept the planet. To combat the effects of losing your entire memory, the world's population must use devices produced by a megacompany - Memory Frontier. As Freya and her friends are pulled into a testing facility disguised as a high school, they realize that Memory Killer may not be the only source of evil in their world.

Although I was not happy with the first book, this one has persuaded me to feel otherwise about the series as a whole.

[Julian Vaca · Rating 5 out of 5]

With the Memory Index duology, I wanted to untangle the mysteries surrounding memory and identity.

We all have memories from our formative years, and time paints those memories in vagueness. You start to wonder, Did this really happen this way? Was this event really as tragic or powerful as I remember it—or was it more so? It happens to all of us!

And then I started to wonder, Am I more than the sum of my memories? These questions became the foundation for my books. The main characters, while seeking to thwart an evil corporation in a reimagined 1980s, are really seeking to answer a question we’ve all asked: What’s more unsettling, losing your memories or confronting the difficult ones?

[Darla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this ARC book I won from Goodreads. The unique plot flows over seamlessly from book 1, the Memory Index, and it has new and exciting twists and turns that I could not guess. The book concept was different from anything else I have read before, and it kept me completely engaged. The flow of the story and the character development made me unable to put it down. The ending was spot on in my onion and provided me with closure. I would definitely read another book in the Memory Index universe and in the meantime, I cannot wait to read something else by this author.

[Maggie Crawford · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
I loved this book as much as, if not more than, the first installment. Teens banding together against an evil shadow-y government is one of my favorite tropes in YA literature, and this duology has quickly become one of my favorites. I love the main foursome and how they relate to each other SO MUCH. I would gladly ready any continuation of this story, although I did feel that this sequel wraps everything up that was established in the first novel pretty well.

[Ellen (Paperback Dietitian) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first (The Memory Index). I was surprised that I didn't see the major twist coming, so there's a point for that. Reading the first book is 100% necessary to read, understand, and enjoy the sequel. The Freya dad reveal seemed like such a letdown, considering that is something I was really looking forward to in a sequel. Dual POV chapters, 1980s setting.

(Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.)

[Jennie Webb · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was a pretty good ending to the series, but there's a lot of unnecessary (in my opinion) swearing, and it's still a bit confusing. Normally, I enjoy this kind of book, but I'm sorry to say this one is just not my favorite.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance e-copy of this book. All opinions are entirely my own.

[Kathryn Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book from Julian R. Vaca himself. Still can’t believe that that even happened. The beginning was a little slow, but when the action picked up and Freya, Fletcher, Ollie, and Chase jumped into the deep end, I truly enjoyed it. I loved how this series explored consciousness and memories. It really is a fascinating topic. Love love love.

[Sue G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exciting conclusion to the Memory Index. There was a surprise for Freya right off the bat, and one for Fletcher soon after. The plot twists kept us on edge through the end. There were some memorable descriptive phrases, the mark of a good writer. Well done, Julian❣️

[Kelly {SpaceOnTheBookcase] · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed book one of the series but I felt more invested in The Recall Paradox. I felt like Vaca took the bones of book one and amplified it for book two. The action, the characters and the ah-ha moment kept me flipping page after page. Well done!

Thank you Thomas Nelson for gifting me a copy.

[Briawna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great YA book. I’m a little sad that there are only 2 books in this series. The premise of the series in interesting, the characters are relatable, and the plot is engaging. I will definitely be buying this series for my classroom.

[Ravenbergin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great sequel! Although the actual events in this book couldn't probably happen, the idea that people would believe and live a lie feed to them by corporations and or governments definitely could. And probably have and are.

[Saul Sandoval · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was totally engrossed all the way through and loved the twist of the memory killer being actually caused by the memory recall and being put there as a false memory. It blew my mind. I was so sad to finish the book and hope that one day we can read more into this world. A+++

[R · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the creativity that went into the re-imagining of the 80s. The ending was a little too quick for me; I would have liked more detail on how things were resolved. Overall, I loved the characters and the plot and would recommend it.

[Tommy Humbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thrilling sequel to the memory index!

[Mara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This duology was a good time. I like books that have anything to do with memory and this one delivered. Twists, evil plots, and conspiracy. The end felt a bit rushed but I would still recommend it.