Tabula Rasa

Sarah is one of those heroines that one cannot help but love. She is fiery, determined, intelligent, brave, loyal, and so much more. She is never truly a victim, no matter what the situation appears to be as the book opens. Neither is she unrealistic. Given the technology and the motivation, nothing about Sarah is implausible, just as her story is possible. It is easy to slip into her skin and understand what motivates her and what she is feeling. Similarly, it is nearly impossible not to cheer for her when the going gets tough. She is vulnerable and not afraid to show it but has the savvy to understand that there is a right and wrong place to show weakness. As she unravels clues and gains more of her memory, she proves herself worthy show more indeed of a reader’s sympathy and accolades.

What occurs inside the hospital is exciting, intense, and, as previously stated, entirely probable. Nothing about the science behind Sarah’s procedures are extreme, and there is nothing to say that someone somewhere is not doing something similar. This plausibility gives the story an added air of danger as the line between ethics and scientific progress blurs. Even better, the science behind the procedures and the mysterious goals of the hospital are well-explained and easy to understand. It always helps a science fiction novel when the science is of the kind easily grasped by the majority of the reading audience. Ms. Lippert-Martin balances that line with ease, making her story that much stronger because of it.

The pacing of Tabula Rasa is absolutely fantastic. The action essentially starts from the very first page. While there are breaks in the action to give the heroes a chance to regroup, rest, and plan, the tension remains taut as all parties – readers and characters alike – know that the story does not end until either the heroine dies or the bad guys meet their fate. This knowledge serves to heighten the drama and ratchet up the intensity of the story, making it the type of novel readers will race to finish.

On top of all of this fabulousness within Tabula Rasa is the knowledge that this is a stand-alone novel. Sarah’s story begins and ends within its pages. There is no need to worry about unanswered questions or cliffhangers. This knowledge alone is to make the story a much-welcome anomaly within the young adult publishing world.

For a debut novel, Tabula Rasa is very impressive. Ms. Lippert-Martin keeps readers on the edges of their seat and reading long past bedtimes with her suspenseful story. The characters are easy to like and fun without becoming cartoonish or simplistic, while the science is easy to understand and scarily possible. With the added bonus of being a stand-alone novel, readers will enjoy a fast-paced action thriller that is highly entertaining, well-written, and a welcome addition to the book world. show less

I sat down to start this at 8:30. I blinked, I read, and I got up, completely finished at 11:10. It. Was. A. Banger. One of the kids compared it to Slated, which I had totally forgotten about (bad sign, but I forget everything), but I don't think they're that much alike. This takes place over three days, there's a lot of James Bond-esque fighting going on, and it opens with conscious brain surgery. I was in from the very beginning and wasn't disappointed at all. And there are SO many interesting aspects of this book to discuss with a group: is the romance necessary? What's up with the soldiers? Were the reveals at the end too much or just right? Would you want your worst memories erased? I'm very intrigued that there's a sequel. I show more never read the sequel, but I might for this one. show less

tabula rasa... 5 stars
I loved this book and ripped through it as fast as my little hands could swipe the kindle pages. Tabula Rasa means a mind not yet affected by experiences, which is exactly what someone is trying to do to Sarah, wipe her mind clean.
This was non stop action and suspense, you never knew what was coming round the corner. I loved the main characters, Sarah or Angel as she was before "The Hospital" and Thomas These two made me keep on reading well into the night. They talked just like teenages might and there was no sex, which I like, just some teenage sexual tension. I found this to be wonderfully readable. My favorite charcter just might be "Oh No" what a perfect name, he made me laugh outloud, loved his craziness! show more
Sarah wakes up one day ready for an operation she is told will help her, from what she is not quite sure. She is bald and has metal spikes poking out of her head. She thinks she is in a hospital. She has no memory of her life before, who or what she was. Right away the action builds and things start to explode and go bang, she finds drugs and clothes under her bed and she runs! She hooks up with Pierce who later becomes Thomas and they escape outside in a raging blizzaed, with solders inside and outside of the building that is quickly being blown up and destroyed. Who is this Angel or Sarah or even more impotant who really is Thomas.... friend or enemy? How did Sarah come to be in this Hospital, if that is really what it is? What are these drugs she needs to take or else? Memories come flooding back to her of the girl she used to be but, where is her family and how did she end up here? Who is the mysterious man with the green eyes just like hers? You must read this book to find out! show less

I love the front cover of this book and while I enjoyed the story, there was nothing new about it. Even though it was full of action with a strong female protagonist, which was great, the majority of the book seemed to go nowhere. However, I did like Thomas. Not only was he a highly intelligent geek, he also had a sense of humour which made me smile, but the romance between he and Sarah didn't work. They acted more like friends than 'lovers'. As for the ending, that was anticlimactic as the "baddie" spent pages revealing all the secrets. While not a favourite, "Tabula Rasa" was a solid debut.

would like to thank NetGalley & Edmont USA for granting me a copy of this e-ARC to read in exchange for an honest review. Though I received this e-book for free that in no way impacts my review.Goodreads Blurb:"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 show more 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."This story has as many twists and turns as a corkscrew roller coaster, all needing to be navigated to a plucky heroine, and a computer hacker hiding a heart of gold underneath his gruff exterior. From the very beginning Sarah doesn't know why she's having this procedure done, she only knows what they've told her - that she has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). She doesn't even know who she is. She must have at one point, but she doesn't recall anything now; she simply assumes that the prior treatments have caused this loss of herself.Sarah is drifting in a sea of nothingness when the book opens, and as she ever so slowly begins to eke her way back to something, maybe it's reality, or maybe just a hallucination brought on by the medications or surgeries. But as she prepares for the final surgery, the one that will give her a brand new start, we learn what little there is to know about Sarah from her directly. Unfortunately she doesn't know very much at all, not even her own last name. On the verge of beginning the last operation things begin strangely, and then get downright crazy, fast. Not longer after the operation is interrupted to the point of everyone basically abandoning Sarah in the procedure room, we meet the fabled hacker. And from that point on the action is almost non-stop. The soldiers, the 'hospital staff,' and everyone else in the area are all after Sarah, the hacker, or both.The emotional tension and intentional confusion contained in this book make for very entertaining reading. Almost all the major players provide a wide array of emotional issues and varying maturity levels. Some are natural and normal, others a product of the tender mercies of the hospital, yet they all blend together to create an original story that puts some interesting ideas out there. Some of these ideas aren't necessarily new, but I've certainly never seen these particular concepts combined like this, which is what makes for such an enjoyable read. It doesn't hurt that ideas like those we encounter in this book are easy to imagine happening in the near future, if not now. This concepts within book don't require much suspension of disbelief on the part of the reader, demonstrating Ms. Lippert-Martin's wonderful touch of subtlety. With entertaining characters and well kept pacing throughout the entire story makes this book one enjoyable read, from cover to cover. show less

*I requested this book from Edelweiss/Above the Treeline as a free e-book ARC. I receive nothing but the book, and was not in any way compensated for reviewing it.*

Sarah, an inmate in a secure hospital, has no past that she can remember. Doctors have been working with her to extract her memories, so she truly doesn't know why she's here or what she's done. When soldiers attack on a stormy night, apparently after her, she escapes with some help from an unknown friend, who leaves her pills to take every 24 hours that start returning her memories.

The book starts out interesting, but unfortunately doesn't hold up to its potential. The idea of a dystopia with a character who has no memory was intriguing to me; however, its plot is thin and show more cliche-ridden. As a reader, I was at the mercy of Sarah's memories returning at just the right moment or Pierce - the hacker she meets and befriends - finding information about the hospital/compound, again at just the right moment. I did like the fact that the boy (and, of course, potential love interest) was a hacker and cute. Otherwise, it didn't really stand out in the crowd of all the YA dystopias available now. show less

Tabula Rasa is one of those books where you stay up late reading because you just have to know what happens next.

This book was a solid four star read up until (SPOILERS) the scene where the main villain summarized the plot so far and explains why she's the villain and how she's going to win right before the heroes rescue them in a move that would make Greek playwrights roll their eyes. It was so cliche and painful it makes me write run on rambling sentences. Everything that the story had been building to was absolutely destroyed in that scene.

I think Tabula Rasa will be good for middle-school aged students who may need the scene I described above, but high schoolers and older will be left disappointed.