Genre: Science Fiction-Time Travel
My Rating: 3/5
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.
This book is amazing right until BEFORE the end. I wish someone would have stopped me before I read the last few chapters that ruined me of the awesome feeling I was having because I thought I have found THE ONE! I thought this book will be one of those books that you just can't put out of your mind for years! Alas..
My Name is Memory could have been an amazing book. It was written beautifully and I was hooked to the story right from the start. I like how we get to jump through centuries forward and experience the different lives of Daniel as he tries to right his wrongs and unite with the love of his life(s), Sophia.
There was no doubt that the story was beautifully written and the author is not lacking in that aspect. Unfortunately, what the author does lack is the ability to tie loose ends. From the start we are entertained with Daniel and his life stories but as we progress it was evident that there was more to it than Daniel pursuing his love life. There were the antagonist, Joaquim (who is Daniel's brother from his earliest life times) who's hell-bent in murdering Daniel and Sofia. Seriously, after thousands of lifetimes, he still can't get over it. He is an interesting addition to our list of characters but as was the ending, he is one of the loose ends that the author somehow overlooked. There's also something that has been bugging me. Why does Sofia keep asking and wondering how Daniel could have swam that long and that fast when they were getting away from Joaquim? Of course it was nearly impossible for a mere mortal to do that but by the way Sofia kept insisting made me thought that Daniel was developing a super power. But that is one of the things that we don't get to know the end of.
The main focus of the book is of course about romance and although I do enjoy the love story at first but I soon tire of it. What really attracted me to the book is the idea of the life times and how Daniel actually remembered his past life and how he acted on that knowledge.
This could be a masterpiece if it weren't for the ending that doesn't manage to actually end anything. If this book is part of a series than I wouldn't mind the least. But this book is a stand alone. The ending was much unresolved. I don't mind an open ending if they're rightly done giving you free interpretations on what could happen and in the same time gave you assurance that everything will be okay in the end. This book however is the sort of open ending done wrongly. It feels like the book was ripped in the middle leaving you with no clue about the next page.
If this book is part of a series than I wouldn't mind the ending as it would have been called a cliff hanger and we can actually look forward to the second book. Unfortunately, this book is a stand-alone which means the ending is truly, purely suck!
Overall, I do enjoy a large part of the story. The language used and the overall tone of the story is gratifying. If I treat the ending more as a cliffhanger than an absolute ending maybe then I will not hate this book as much. Cross fingers that a sequel is coming!
