Karma - Alicia Keys

The Eternal Ones
Eternal Ones, Book 1

Author: Kirsten Miller
Genre: young adult, fantasy
Pages: 416
ARC Acquired From: Penguin booth at ALA 2010
Release Date: August 10, 2010

Brief Summary:
Haven Moore is an outcast in her small hometown in the Bible belt Tennessee. Everyone, including her grandmother, believes her to be possessed by a demon, because of her visions of her past life. Her mother has been distant and a bit crazy, since Haven’s father died in an accident with his mistress. Haven has only one person she can truly depend on: her best friend, and designing partner, Beau. For a long time, Haven questions whether her visions are truly real or whether she is just crazy. She discovers notes of her father’s and learns that she has had the same visions since she was a child. Not only that, but she accurately knows buildings in New York, a city she has never visited. When she has another vision after seeing a scandal-ridden playboy, she becomes convinced that he is her lover from her past life. She runs away to New York to investigate her past life, the mysterious Ouroboros Society and perhaps find her true love.

Review:
I have a bit of trouble trying to determine exactly how I feel about this book. Perhaps the best way to describe my reaction is this: the idea is an exceedingly interesting one, but the execution could have been better. The characters never truly sprang alive for me. The bad guys were even more weakly drawn, never making me feel truly worried for the protagonists. The love story never sold me either; Haven and Iain, the playboy, never really seem to have any real chemistry and their relationship lacks any foundation or trust. The ending was predictable, poorly explained and rather cheesy. What worries me perhaps the most are the strange religious themes, which point to Pentecostal Christianity. Not the staid version either, but the rattlesnake in a box ones. I really cannot figure out what that whole element was doing in there or what the reader was supposed to make of it.

Nonetheless, the book progressed at a decent pace and is perhaps worth a read, if only for its relatively unique ideas. This is not a great book, but if it intrigues you despite the review, check it out.

"It's called Karma baby and it goes around"