My Name is Memory. Finished 3-3-19, 3.5/5 stars, YA, pub. 2010
Unabridged audio read by Lincoln Hoppe and Kathe Mazur. 11 hours.
Daniel has spent centuries falling in love with the same girl. Life after life, crossing continents and dynasties, he and Sophia (despite her changing name and form) have been drawn together-and he remembers it all. For all the times that he and Sophia have been connected throughout history, they have also been torn painfully, fatally, apart.
But just when Sophia (now “Lucy” in the present) finally awakens to the secret of their shared past, the mysterious force that has always separated them reappears. Ultimately, they must come to understand what stands in the way of their love if they are ever to spend a lifetime together. from Goodreads
Do you believe in past lives, reincarnation? This is an interesting take on the idea. It introduces the concept, past lives included, without going into a ton of detail. What happens when you’re a new soul and you see your soul mate, but it’s too late? What if she keeps showing up in your lives, but never in a way that the two of you can be together? Not only does she show up in your lives, but the brother you wronged does too and he’s holding onto a grudge?
I never really ‘got’ the obsession over centuries, but I did like the current time that Daniel and Lucy had. I liked the concept of being surrounded by the same people, life after life, only in different ways each time. I liked the searching and the yearning that made the story move forward. I did not like, clearly, the maniac and evil brother that somehow broke all reincarnation ‘rules’.
This was a fun listen, BUT, and this is a big but, this story was to be the first in a series or trilogy and no follow up books were ever published. The book ended with a cliff hanger, not at all resolved and I don’t know that I’d recommend it without a follow up.
Wow, I don’t think I could start a book that ends on a permanently unresolved cliff hanger! That’s too bad. I wonder why that happened.
Oh man. I read this years ago and I knew that there was supposed to be a follow-up, but I had no idea none were ever published! Holy crap, that really stinks, because I really enjoyed this and had always planned to read the next one(s). How strange.
I don’t think I believe in reincarnation but I’m open to reading more about it. I think that cliffhanger would bug me though.
I feel bad for recommending this to you now! Honestly though, the ending really didn’t bother me. I remember when I finished, I visited the author’s website and it seems like she said at the time that she wasn’t sure if she was going to continue with the story. I just chalked it up to other books I’ve read, which were not a part of a planned series, ending abruptly with no clear resolution. I think sometimes the author wants us to come to our own conclusion. Though I’m not sure if that was her intention. I am glad you did enjoy it a little. 🙂
I don’t know if I’d enjoy this one. Soul mate stories bug me. But glad you found some things you liked about it!