Scars of Cereba

Falon’s mind has been broken by the memories implanted in it. And while they may be remnants of his own past, he is a different man than when he first attained them. At war with himself, his two halves are in a constant battle for control. Memories twist his mind and force him to bounce between the old and the new Falon. To make matters worse, the memories of the memoria who caused the fracture resides in his mind as well. Time is running out for him and he must force his three selves to work together to escape execution.

Imagine being split asunder in your own body, unable to control when someone else takes it over. Rachel Emma Shaw brings Falon’s history into the story with such a clever plot device. To have three different people warring for control over one body, forcing it to change direction and purpose when each mind takes hold. It’s no wonder Falon is in such rough shape when the reader is reintroduced to him. The mental anguish Falon endures as the story progresses is so heart-rending, and yet you’ll also feel conflicted because of the various minds. Readers may side with the choices of one, yet disagree with the choices of another, but it is all the same person. Then again it begs to ask the question, who are we without our memories? Are we completely different people?

Scars of Cereba does explore who someone can become without their memories. Stripped of the past, Sari was Sarilla’s last chance at freedom and innocence. But when you can no longer remember your past mistakes, it is easy to make them once again. Lacking both the training and the wisdom of the past, Sari embraces her memoria powers in a way that would horrify Sarilla. And while Sari may be free of her past mistakes, it leaves plenty of room for her to make new ones.

This was a dark and disruptive story. With the switch in perspectives on almost every page, I had to pay careful attention to who was currently controlling Falon’s actions. But this added another layer to the story as the characters interacting with Falon had to do the exact same thing with less information at hand than the reader. I loved every minute of it! Scars of Cereba is a fantastic sequel to Last Memoria.