Review - My Name Is Memory

My Name Is Memory
by Ann Brashares

Daniel has been blessed (or cursed) by the ability to remember every life he's ever lived. He's also spent centuries trying to be with the woman he loves. Now, at last, he's found her again. But will he ever get the chance to be with her, or will fate once again intervene and keep him from his one true love?

While the premise for this novel sounded intriguing, I was kind of nervous going into reading it. Reincarnation is a topic that hasn't been done all that well in fiction. In many cases, I get the feeling that the author read one non-fiction book on the subject (probably Many Lives, Many Masters by Dr. Brian Weiss) and then decided that they knew enough about the topic to write a novel. I got the opposite feeling here. I don't know what the beliefs of the author are, but the story made me think that she's at least investigated reincarnation in more than just a superficial way.

I thought the writing was quite good, and the story pulled me along and kept me interested. But what I really ended up falling in love with were the characters. Especially Daniel. He's wonderfully well-rounded and interesting (and a really nice guy), even though he could probably use some therapy. While the narrative does jump back and forth, filling us in on both the past and present lives of both Daniel and Lucy, the story is really Daniel's. He's the one who can remember and see the big picture.

The ending was slightly abrupt (and one heck of an unpleasant cliffhanger if this is a stand-alone book), but I really enjoyed it overall. I would highly recommend it, even if you don't believe in reincarnation; just view it as fantasy and enjoy it for the heart-warming love story that it is.

Plot: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Pace: 4/5
Writing: 5/5
Originality: 5/5

Overall: 4.6 out of 5