The Memory Police review by Josh

The Memory Police takes place on an unnamed island where whole categories of things disappear and are quickly forgotten. Perfume disappeared and people not only forgot the word for it, but lost their ability to smell it even if they encountered it.

Later boats disappear. Then birds - one day they all simultaneously took flight and left the island and people who kept them as pets opened their cages and let them fly away too. Then photographs. Then fruit. Etc.

Most people - normal people - simply forgot about them and moved on with their lives. The ones who worked on boats found new occupations. But some people, notably the narrator's editor, R, hold on to their memories of disappeared things. The Memory Police are like the Stasi or ICE of the island, and their job is to hunt down these memorious individuals and make them forget.

I thought the concept was intriguing, but the book itself is kinda meh. The characters and prose are forgettable - not unlikable, just kinda bland.