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Book review by Jessica Singh, Member Services Supervisor
These Memories Do Not Belong to Us, by Yiming Ma, Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2025. 209 pages
Set in a future, where China rules most of the world, Yiming Ma’s debut novel explores the connection between technology and a government’s ability to control its population. In this future, all citizens are fitted with “Mindbank” technology, a tech device connected to the brain that allows for the recording and transmitting of memories.
When our unnamed narrator inherits his mother’s Mindbank, he discovers banned and subversive memories. He vows to share them with the world, at great risk to himself. The reader is treated to these Mindbank stories. Each story follows a different character and collectively they tell a harrowing tale of a world where government censors review memories for banned content, alter memories, and punish those with experiences they don’t approve of.
What I loved about this book is that Ma focuses on how both government and technology affect everyday citizens. With such heavy topics, Ma crafts a series of relatable characters to help the reader understand this bleak future. This is a book that will make you think about the true cost of handing over our data, and how authoritarian governments will always work to control what their citizens read, see, and ultimately think.
If you liked These Memories Do Not Belong to Us, Jessica has created a reading list with similar titles you may want to explore.
This review was originally published in the Saturday, February 28, 2026 edition of the Waterloo Region Record as part of the "At the Library" feature. This regular feature shares reading experiences and recommendations from local library staff.