Summary:
How far would you go to never say goodbye?
Laurie is sixty-five and living with Alzheimer’s. Her daughter Amelia, a once fiery and strong-willed activist, can’t bear to see her mother’s mind fade. Faced with the reality of losing her forever, Amelia signs them up to take part in the world’s first experimental merging process for Alzheimer’s patients, in which Laurie’s ailing mind will be transferred into Amelia’s healthy body and their consciousness will be blended as one.
Soon Amelia and Laurie join the opaque and mysterious group of other merge participants: teenage Lucas, who plans to merge with his terminally ill brother Noah; Ben, who will merge with his pregnant fiancée Annie; and Jay, whose merging partner is his addict daughter Lara. As they prepare to move to The Village, a luxurious rehabilitation center for those who have merged, they quickly begin to question whether everything is really as it seems.
An exhilarating, immersive debut from an astonishing new voice, The Merge is a personal story of love, family, and sacrifice, as well as a thought-provoking examination of the limits of control, resistance, and freedom in our modern world.
Details:
320 pgs
Published by Mariner Books
Release: Nov 11, 2025
Audio: 11 hrs 33 min
Narrators: Tamaryn Payne, Pearl Hewitt
Review:
TLDR: A provocative Black Mirror episode plays out on the pages of this not-so-far-fetched cautionary tale about the cutting edge technology ‘solutions’ we’re sold to believe are beneficial, and the lengths companies will go through to keep people in the dark.
The concept of ‘consciousness transference’ doesn’t seem that far away since the successful recipient of “Neuralink” back in 2022. The human mind is getting a lot more attention these days, so when i saw the concept behind The Merge I was immediately interested.
‘Merging’ on the surface, appears to solve a lot of problems facing humanity – reduction in population, increase cognitive abilities, higher work performance, reduction in greenhouse gasses, food and other resources with there is 1 body for every 2 people. But the ethical complications here are really what makes the story compelling.
Dealing with a mother whose recollection of events is growing foggier, the tension of who gains her trust is a great thread intertwined with the crusade and motivations of Amelia as she fights with her own moral compass and the pressures of those around her, and her own mother.
The pacing of the book is great. I really enjoyed the lead up and then the shift in the roles and setting that happened. All the while screaming internally at the characters because the reader knows more than the characters. It all led to a really great thought-provoking ride.
Sensitivity Warnings: Dementia/Alzheimer’s, suicide, medical content (including needles), death, and others.
Read if you like: Black Mirror, Memento, Severance, The Memory Police
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