Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Review: My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares


Title: My Name Is Memory
Author: Ann Brashares
Available: Now
Publisher: Riverhead
Number of pages: 336
Reading level: Adult




3.5 out of 5 Stars


Received via LibraryThing’s Early Review Program





Description from Goodreads:


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. Daniel has "the memory", the ability to recall past lives and recognize souls of those he's previously known. It is a gift and a curse. For all the times that he and Sophia have been drawn together throughout history, they have also been torn painfully, fatally, apart. A love always too short. 

Interwoven through Sophia and Daniel's unfolding present day relationship are glimpses of their expansive history together. From 552 Asia Minor to 1918 England and 1972 Virginia, the two souls share a long and sometimes torturous path of seeking each other time and time again. But just when young Sophia (now "Lucy" in the present) finally begins to awaken to the secret of their shared past, to understand the true reason for the strength of their attraction, the mysterious force that has always torn them apart reappears. Ultimately, they must come to understand what stands in the way of their love if they are ever to spend a lifetime together. 



My thoughts:


My Name Is Memory’s story line was fascinating. Imagine a man who can remember his past lives. He has spent the majority of those lives searching for a woman he met hundreds of years ago. His reason for perusing this woman is because he felt an unexplained connection to her at first sight. He has found her soul in several of his new lives, but it was always impossible for them to be together. Romantic isn’t it? In modern day Virginia, Daniel has finally tracked down his Sophia (known now as Lucy). Close in age and free of commitments, Daniel hopes this is his chance for a happily ever after with the woman he fell in love with lifetimes ago.


I devoured the majority of this book. Unfortunately, the ending was dissatisfying and left this reader without the closure I so very much desired. Open endings like this can be done well, but I don’t feel like that was the case with My Name is Memory. It was so abrupt I was left feeling like my book was missing a chapter or two. I only deducted half a star from my rating because I adored the characters, and the writing was beautiful. If only the author had given me a little more at the end I would have been left a happy reader instead of disgruntled one.

Ann Brashares on the web:


6 comments:

  1. I want to read this one but the execution doesn't sound completed.

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  2. Romantic but sad at the same time. Thanks for sharing. With such an ending, I probably should avoid it.

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  3. This premise (guy and girl search for love with each other over the ages) is pretty popular. Makes sense, because as you said, it's very romantic. Sorry to hear that you didn't like the ending!

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  4. Bummer about the ending. Thanks for the honest review.

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  5. I actually felt exactly the same about the ending! So much so that when I finished the book I scoured the internet for more information about the book. What I found? This is actually the first book in a "planned" trilogy. Although, I have heard that she's having trouble writing the next (second) book. So, yeah, thus the no-closure. I was a little ticked. Ugh.

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  6. Oh boy do I want to read this one. I love Brashares' writing. And this story sounds so incredibly interesting. I need to pick this up ASAP! I'm sorry about the abrupt unsatisfying ending but isn't this book part of what is supposed to be a trilogy? Maybe the ending was meant to leave you unsettled in suspense.

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