YA Review: Tabula Rasa [Blog Tour]

Tabula Rasa by Kristen Lippert-Martin, September 23, 2014. 352 pages. Published by EdgmontUSA. Source: publisher for blog tour.

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.

First Sentence:

She points to the chair.

 Going in Tabula Rasa was somewhat of a wildcard as I personally hadn't really heard anything about this one. Nor was it one that I had been waiting on as I hadn't heard about it till I was invited to participate in the book tour for it. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this wildcard read and how I couldn't put it down.

Tabula Rasa is one of those books that grows on you the further you read. While I may have been a little confused during the first couple of chapters as I was seriously wondering why Sarah was part of the Tabula Rasa project; like, what she was trying to forget or what did someone want her to forget. But as the story progressed and her past started to be revealed I couldn't help but be sucked into the story as I needed to know what the end game was and how everything interconnected within the book.
   Really, it was the little things that connected the characters that really made me invest my day into reading this book. I could see how everything was tied together and what the relationships between certain characters meant for the story-line, what I couldn't see, at first, was how the author was going to be able to tie everything together and bring a resolution to the plot. I want say too much more on the plot because it was just too exciting to risk spoiling it. Just know that I was so happy after seeing how all the twists and turns play out-and I think you'll be, too.

Even though there's quite a bit of action throughout the book, I enjoyed the atmosphere that the author created as Sarah tried to regain her memories and figure out why someone hired mercenaries to kill her. As the story progressed and I came to see more of the big picture on why someone would wish her gone, because it was thrilling how it was more than a thriller but also about the emotional side of things and how everything she'd been through effected her.
   I really liked the way Kristen Lippert-Martin handled the difficulties that Sarah faced as her memories began to resurface. But don't get me started on the sparks the blossomed between Sarah and hacker boy. I enjoyed the way their relationship evolved and how they first came to trust on another before things progressed any further. The pacing of their relationship, even though they only knew each other for a matter of days, is what me me okay with the sparks that started flying.

As for the writing on whole, I thought the author did a great job of balancing the pacing with the reveal of Sarah's past. While I was hungry for more answers and to see if I was right, I enjoyed that not everything was dumped on you at one time.

Final Verdict: Tabula Rasa- Mysterious and thrilling, I would recommend not missing out on this one.

Tabula Rasa earns

About the Author:

Kristen Lippert-Martin has an MFA from Columbia University. She's worked at Time, the world-renowned Brookings Institution, and even had a stint as a stand-up comic before turning to writing full-time. She was awarded the SCBWI's Work-in-Progress grant in 2010. 

She lives in Arlington, Virginia, with her husband and four children. Tabula Rasa is her first novel.

You can haunt Kristen Lippert-Martin at-
Website | Twitter | Goodreads |

Be sure to check out yesterday's stops on the Tabula Rasa blog tour by visiting Curling Up with a Good Book for a Q&A and YA Outside the Lines for a guest post with the author. Don't forget, you can also check out today's tour posts over at The Hiding Spot and Jean Book Nerd.

To follow the whole tour, just go ->HERE<- p="">

this book was received in exchange for an honest review.