Review: Grasping at Eternity by Karen Amanda Hooper

Grasping at Eternity
(Kindrily, #1)
By: Karen Amanda Hooper
Publisher: Starry Sky Publishing
Published:May 25, 2012
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Rating:

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.

One thing you should know about me before I start my review is that, I do not like “soul-mate” books. Just saying “soul-mate” sends off alarms in my head. However, I kept going back to this book because not only did it sound good but the second book sounds amazing. So I sucked it up and gave this book a go. I’m glad I did because I thoroughly enjoyed it, soul-mates and all.

The majority of the book is about Maryah stumbling around her new life with her Godmother after Maryah’s family is murdered. She has to not only adjust to a new family but a new school as well. She has no idea that she is a reincarnated soul who not only had a soul-mate but gave up everything to erase her memory when she last past away to start her life fresh of memories instead of remember past lives. This may not seem like a horrible thing but when she erased, she not only lost her memories for Nathaniel and her other kindrily (reincarnated family) but she also lost her power that made her who she was.

Nathaniel was an interesting character. He does a lot of careless things in the book and tries to keep his distance from Maryah as much as he can. He’s hurt by the fact that she would erase him from her memories. He’s lost without her and doesn’t know how to cope with the new reality that his soul-mate is no longer his. It was nice that the book is written in both Maryah’s and Nathaniel’s pov because otherwise the reader would view him as a huge jerk with a split personality disorder but with reading parts in his pov, you get to understand what he’s going through.

Throughout the book, the author hints at monumental things in the story that are later brought up in the book. So if you pay careful attention to everything that happens, you can figure out what’s going to happen early on. I was not paying close enough attention. HaHa. I knew that the pieces I was reading had significance but I didn’t start to piece it together until I was closer to the end of the story. A lot of this story is character and story development. It isn’t until about three quarters of the way through that pieces start to slowly come together.

I’m really glad that there is a sequel because I feel like we’re just starting to scratch the surface of this story. Not to mention the tearjerker ending that I will admit, I did not see coming. I loved that Karen added that in there. You’ll know what I’m talking about when you read it.

I may not be a soul-mate person but Karen did such an amazing job with this story that I didn’t even notice. I cannot wait to continue the Kindrily series and find out what happens next with the group.

“Even a broken clock shows the correct time twice a day.”