Romance

Seething.

That is how I'm feeling right now...seething mad...after spending four hours devouring this genius of a story idea, only to be shocked by it's abrupt...ending? Can I even call it an ending? It's just a stop. Like a stupid, dead, brick wall kind of stop. The book was a solid 4 stars until that ending.

What the heck? Who writes a brilliant story (brilliant idea--not so brilliant of an author, just saying) and leaves it wide open without any hope of a sequel? She mentioned in her Twitter that it didn't sell well. Ya think? Way to set yourself up for one big failure. Ugh. I'm spending way more emotions on this book than it deserves.

(Spoilers ahead..)

Admittedly, this book was actually kind of stupid...it's just that I was so caught up in the story that I'm coming away with no closure and it's messing with me. There's all kinds of weird philosophies about reincarnation and body snatching going on and the improper use of "you" throughout bugged the heck out of me. The meeting with the real Daniel in Mexico was painfully anticlimactic and everything that happened after that just got stupider and stupider.

I'd like to point out that I'm often quite a bit more eloquent in my book reviews, but if one could physically spit words out, that's what I'd be doing right now. This was a new-to-me author and I don't imagine I'll pick her up again. Ugh. ( )

Re-read 04/2023
Warning: This book ends in a cliffhanger. The sequel is 13 years in the making. The latest update was posted on the author's TW account almost three years ago:
https://twitter.com/AnnBrashares/status/1284155339051610112?cxt=HHwWgMC9ycSentIj...
Edit: Found another update on the author's website: https://annbrashares.com/welcome-to-my-new-website/

That said, I'm not sure why I felt like a re-read of this book. I love the premise (reincarnation of souls and one protagonist who remembers them all), but it ends in an absolutely cruel cliffhanger. I'm reserving my final opinion/review of the story until I read the final book, but for now I'm sticking to my original rating of 3 stars. ( )

My Name is Memory/Ann Brashares I devour young adult books. Very few of them keep me thinking long after I finish them. Very few give me insight into life and have me pondering deep questions. My Name Is Memory had me crying public (let's not talk about the ending) and stunned for days.This book has a pretty complicated concept that Brashares pulls off completely. Though the idea of certain souls having memories is complex, Daniel's character explained this simply enough that I was never pulled out of the story to question how the world of the book worked. We get to understand how life in this world works as Lucy goes through her life.Brashares's characters have very real voices. There's not as much development of relationship between the two main characters as I'd have liked; however, the way their bond is portrayed is very realistic and reminds one what it's like to be irrationally in love.This is an easy read, perfect for the beach or a plane ride, but the characters will get under your skin and have you thinking long after the last page ( )

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Spoiler Alert!
I loved the first 90% of this book – I love the idea of Daniel following Sophia through the ages, I love the flashbacks and how Ann Brashares did not pick the popular parts of history for Daniel’s past lives but gave him wholly ordinary and typical life experiences every time he came back. She also manages to tell the entire story without any sort of religious slant, a massive achievement for a book that pretty much revolves around the idea of reincarnation. I listened to the audiobook with great interest and wonder, always hoping that all would work out well for the characters in the end. At the back of my mind, however, a feeling of dread kept circling through my thoughts, “This is the woman who killed Tibby, nothing can be ruled out.” And unfortunately, that nagging feeling followed me straight through ‘til its realization in the last few pages.

Never before in my life have I wanted to physically tear apart a book as much as I did when reading the last 37 pages of this one. I listened to it in the car up until then and decided to just read the last few pages – I had to know how it ended and what a terrible way it went! I should not have overlooked the Twilight comparison – my blood boiled and I’ve only felt such immense hatred toward a book once – while attempting to read the book to which this one is compared: Twilight. I think it has been pretty well established at this point that I detest books with female characters that I deem to be weak and pathetic and overly-womanly. I loathe plotlines that play out the stereotypical path that a woman’s life can take – love, sex, babies and then that’s it, you’ve completed your mission on this earth, pack up and you’re done – your story is no longer an interesting one to tell.

I was incredibly excited for this story because it is one of few books that I could actually see myself classifying as “New Adult” – real new adult literature (at least for the first 300 pages). It’s a well relayed story and an enjoyable one to read. And I really hoped it ended with Lucy and Daniel finally getting to spend some time together getting to know each other. Lucy and Daniel spend 5 minutes in high school and one car ride in Mexico 5 years later talking to each other before jumping in to bed together. I have no problem with this, I was thrilled when Lucy slept with her best friend’s little brother – that’s normal. It’s a way of life for more than a few people in their 20s. But do Lucy and Daniel really love each other? I don’t see how you can really love someone without getting to know them, not some perceived former version of their soul. Sophia and Daniel loved each other, Constance and Daniel loved each other, and even though Lucy makes a point of differentiating herself from her two former lives, it doesn’t answer the question of how she can love someone she barely knows.

I got the distinct impression that Ann Brashares wasn’t sure how she wanted to end Lucy and Daniel’s story. The last section, the “resolution” of the climax, just spins wildly out of control (Spoiler Alert!) – they survive an ocean storm for hours off the coast of Mexico, their rescue is unbelievable, they had sex once and Lucy’s pregnant after Daniel couldn’t have children for 1500 years, and then he abandons her in Bhutan and she doesn’t think she can even tell him about the baby. Just WHAT??? When did the tone of the story change so completely? Why? Just why does this have to be the direction of Lucy’s life? Not every ending needs to be a happy one, but it would be nice if it made at least a little sense and didn’t sound like it was hobbled together from random odds and ends. ( )