About the Book
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Author:
- Kirsten Miller
BFF Charm: Yay
Talky Talk: Southern Gothic
Bonus Factors: The Devil, Good Crazy Religious Folks
Relationship Status: Crush
The Deal
Haven Moore is having the visions again. Ever since she saw New York’s own infamous playboy Iain Morrow on her grandmother’s gossip news show, she’s remembering things… from a time before she was born. About a girl named Constance, and the boy she loved, Ethan. She thought she stopped the visions when she was nine, after her mean old grandmother– convinced they were from a demon she inherited from her father, God rest his soul– sent her to counseling with the reverend Dr. Tidmore. But now they’re back with a fervor, and almost the whole town of Snope City, Tennessee, is convinced Haven has a demon, or is possessed by the devil himself.
The ridicule and judgement she receives at the hands of the fine folks of Snope City doesn’t bother Haven nearly as much as the urgency she feels to solve the mystery of the visions themselves. Then she discovers that her father believed she was remembering things from a past life. He had contacted the Ouroboros Society — located conveniently in the Big Apple — an organization for people who remembered their past lives, and decides she needs to go looking for herself. Once in New York, she finds herself in the throws of true love (or is it?) and as she follows clues to unravelling the mystery, she finds more questions than answers: what is really going on in the secret society? Is Iain, or anyone she’s known her whole life, for that matter, who they claim to be? And who are the gray men?
BFF Charm: Yay
I fell in love with Haven instantly, although I did find myself getting frustrated with her as the book progressed. I felt like she really needed a friend to help her sort out the emotional roller coaster ride she was on, and to talk some sense in her when she kept flip-flopping about what she was certain of. In true teenage fashion, Haven was convinced that whatever she was feeling AT THAT MOMENT was the absolute truth. Only trouble is, that kept changing.
Swoonworthy Scale: 5
The romance between Haven and Iain is pretty epic, yet serves as a side dish to the mystery.
Here’s the thing, though. I’m personally not a big fan of FATE. I prefer a love-at-first-sight sort of romance to one where you love the person before you ever meet them. For me, it takes away from the butterfly-in-your-stomach first discoveries that make falling in love swoony to begin with. However, that aside, the romance in this book is still majorly intense.
Talky Talk: Southern Gothic
Kristen Miller writes beautifully. Having grown up in the South, I have many happy and horrifying memories about rural southern life, and Miller captured them both with flair. Even when I got irritated with Haven’s teenagerish decisions, Miller’s voice was spot-on. Her descriptions of Snope City and New York were vivid without being flowery, and I found the story not just compelling, but incredibly well-crafted.
I did find that I picked up on her bread-crumb clues to solve the mystery long before Haven did, but still enjoyed the ride Miller took me on to its conclusion.
Bonus Factor: The Devil
Since angels are all the rage now in YA literature, it was nice to see Ms. Miller pull out all the stops and just put this guy — whether in people’s imagination or in the flesh — right smack in the story.
Bonus Factor: Good Crazy Religious Folks
Okay, so snake-handling Pentecostals are soooo not on my list of people to visit, because, eeweeewwww, snakes! But it was refreshing to see how Miller differentiated between people who really had faith– even if they were a might crazy– and mean old fearful-judgmental religiosos.
Relationship Status: Crush
I think this book is really cute, and really cool, and I’m thinking about making it a mix.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received neither money nor cocktails for writing this review (dammit!). The Eternal Ones is available now.
