Review – GRASPING AT ETERNITY

TITLE: Grasping at Eternity

SYNOPSIS: Leave it to Maryah Woodsen to break the one rule that will screw up eternity: Never erase your memories.

Before entering this life, Maryah did the unthinkable—she erased. Now, at seventeen years old, she’s clueless that her new adoptive family has known her for centuries, that they are perpetually reincarnated souls, and that they have supernatural abilities. Oh, and she’s supposed to love (not despise) Nathan, the green-eyed daredevil who saved her life.

Nathan is convinced his family’s plan to spark Maryah’s memory is hopeless, but his love for her is undying. After spending (and remembering) so many lifetimes together, being around an empty version of his soulmate is heart shattering. He hates acting like a stalker, but has no choice because the evil outcast who murdered Maryah in their last lifetime is still after her.

While Maryah’s hunter inches closer, she and Nathan make assumptions and hide secrets that rip them further apart. Maryah has to believe in the magic within her, Nathan must have faith in the power of their love, and both need to grasp onto the truth before they lose each other forever—and discover just how lonely eternity can be.

X-MEN meets MY NAME IS MEMORY in Karen Amanda Hooper’s latest young adult release.

REVIEW: I really enjoyed reading Grasping at Eternity, a book about Maryah, a girl that is the lone survivor of her family’s murder. Oh, and did I mention her godparents, whom are her legal guardians believe in reincarnation and soulmates? Those two elements (reincarnation and soulmates) make Maryah’s story an unique one, one that I have never read before. The world they live in like one I have never visited before. Maryah’s situation is one I have never been in before (duh, it’s fantasy) nor is it one that I have read about. Needless to say, this book is pretty unique. And it is that uniqueness that makes it unpredictable – something that doesn’t happen as much as I would like. It kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen. I couldn’t wait to finish reading it to see what would finally happen. And when I finished it, I couldn’t wait to read the sequel.

One thing that I loved about the book is the concepts involved. I love the idea of soulmates and reincarnation is pretty cool too. Especially in a world where it is possible for certain individuals to retain their memories of their previous lives as they move on to the next one. That being said, you would think some of the characters living in this century have spent lots of time in other centuries and other places. They have, and they haven’t dropped some of the customs, ideals, or language involved from the past. For example, some of the characters speak with words and phrases from back in time. I really liked that because it made the book more realistic. Instead of having all the character speak in modern terms and slang, some of them use vocabulary that was popular from where they lived in their other lives. Like 19th century English from England per say.

Another thing I loved was the characters. Of course there were times where I felt like banging their heads together and shaking them. At times it seemed like some of them (especially Maryah) were powered more by emotions, which made sense, but was also somewhat frustrating. Other times, they displayed perfect use of their brains and proved they could use logic. What I found really nice was that most of the main cast of characters were pretty well developed. And the cast was big, but each characters still had distinct personalities and characters.

Overall, I was delighted with Grasping at Eternity. I have already reread it twice and am anxiously waiting to start its sequel. If you like soulmates, reincarnation, and uniqueness, you should definitely give Grasping at Eternity a try! 🙂