2017 World Fantasy Award winnerWow.Well.I don't know what to do with myself now that this book is done.Of all the great books I've read this year, this solidly lands in the top three contestants for favorite. Brad - he's one of my go-to reviewers when I want to know about science fiction - talks about a freedom vs. enslavement narrative happening here and that's absolutely on topic but, for me, this was more about inside vs. outside and how that relates to personhood.Are you a person, do you even exist, bro, if your words and actions have no consequence in society? Can you be part of society if you're not recognized by other people? Are you a super member of society if you do all the right things and behave in the most acceptable way possible? Is there a sliding scale on humanity from having no humanity if you're unknown as a person up to having all the humanity if you follow a narrow set of prescribed social rules?And looking at the freedom vs. enslavement - are you free if you don't have to follow rules, if you exist outside of all communal structure? Or are you kept in solitude because you can never have a connection to your fellow humans? If you can't have a job or form a relationship or have a home, are you free or is that just a different kind of imprisonment? Shunning a person is a form of punishment, it strips away their belonging. Is that freedom?There are a few storylines running through this book and it starts when they all collide.First, Hope Arden is unrememberable. She knows she exists but nobody else knows. Scratch that, some people do but those people have some sort of intellectual anomaly going on which allows them to remember Hope. She's so well-named.Hope exists in the now, never in the past nor the future. People interact with her face-to-face in the moment but as soon as they stop looking and talking to her, they forget all about her, forget the conversation they had, forget there was time spent with this person, forget the person altogether. They remember doing what they did but they remember doing it alone, Hope is literally out of sight, out of mind. There's no explanation for this, no one knows why this is happening but some do figure out that ithappening, that there's a person who is seen by cameras, whose voice can be recorded, who exists in the digital world despite no one remembering her in real time. They start to look for her. But how do you find someone you can't remember?At the same time, a lifestyle app called Perfection is making the rounds and it's incredible. People download it to their phones and it helps them achieve goals toward being a healthier, happier, all-around-better person. You get points every time you follow one of Perfection's suggestions and achieve success. Eventually, you're enticed to link it to all your rewards cards, to your bank account (it can help you save money and spend more wisely), and everything else in your life. As you gain points, you win prizes like a day at an exclusive spa or a shopping trip to a boutique for clothing that will look amazing on you. The more you use it, the better you become as a person and those who have acquired a million points get to join an elite club of perfect people. And that all sounds pretty great only it's not. It's insidious; the parameters of perfection are so narrowly defined by a market-driven algorithm that there's no room left for any type of individuality or thought. It's brainwashing at its finest and it doesn't even have to be forced on people, they want to use this app because it's fun and there are rewards and it does make you a better person and you'll be happy. Except for the people who don't have the mental capacity to conform so easily as well as those who can't afford to make it past 100,000 points.Enter the bridge between Hope and Perfection: Gaugin, Byron14, and an Interpol agent who is in charge of finding Hope and feels he's always about to get her but is never successful. These three people allow Hope to manifest feelings of trust, friendship, and love, all sustained by Hope, herself, but fed by the people who knows she exists even if they can't find her.The story is by turns heartbreaking and thought-provoking. There's suspense, there's spy-vs-spy stuff, there's diabolical scheming, there's the interplay of socioeconomics and politics, there's world travel, there are moments of devastation and moments of (eh heh heh heh) hope. There's also a ton of repetition.The book is repetitive but that's Hope's life. She repeats moments over and over because she can't build a history with anyone, everyone always meets her for the first time and they have the same conversations and it never ends. But repetition is the key to this novel as a technique used by Hope to keep herself sane and also used by Perfection to Treat people. Numbers repeat, moments repeat, phrases repeat, beats repeat (Heeey, Macarena!) the story constantly repeats. It's an effective, if incredibly annoying, device.For me, all the elements combined perfectly, no matter how small. One of the most irritating songs in the world is used brilliantly. Poetry is a weapon. Perfection being driven by marketing to achieve human conformity was so believable it made me want to get rid of a ton of my apps. The symbolism and inspiration of a woman crossing the desert. The desolation of Hope and her perseverance despite not existing outside of herself and the digital world gave me so much food for thought. Add to that, the reader for this audiobook is extraordinary and this one's going to stay with me for a long time.I'll remember you, Hope.