Review of "The Eternal Ones"

"The Eternal Ones"
Kirsten Miller

4

Pub. Date: August 31, 2010
Pages: 416

Synopsis: Haven Moore can't control her visions of a past with a boy called Ethan, and a life in New York that ended in fiery tragedy. In our present, she designs beautiful dresses for her classmates with her best friend Beau. Dressmaking keeps her sane, since she lives with her widowed and heartbroken mother in her tyrannical grandmother's house in Snope City, a tiny town in Tennessee. Then an impossible group of coincidences conspire to force her to flee to New York, to discover who she is, and who she was.

In New York, Haven meets Iain Morrow and is swept into an epic love affair that feels both deeply fated and terribly dangerous. Iain is suspected of murdering a rock star and Haven wonders, could he have murdered her in a past life? She visits the Ouroboros Society and discovers a murky world of reincarnation that stretches across millennia. Haven must discover the secrets hidden in her past lives, and loves¸ before all is lost and the cycle begins again.

When I first started reading "The Eternal Ones" I fell in love with Haven's character; she was strong and had a great sense of humor. She challenged her controlling grandmother and stood up for herself against the girls at school. I really felt like Beau and Haven were the closest of friends and I love the fact that they had their own dress business. I thought the book would only get better once Haven got to New York to try to solve the mysteries of her past life, but I ended up being a bit disappointed.

I felt like not a lot of time was spent in the Ouroboros Society and that it was just talked about by the characters. We did learn a lot about the society, but through character's word of mouth. I feel like if Haven had gone into the Ouroboros Society and discovered things for herself it would have had a stronger effect. The society was built up to be this grand organization, but in the end it just kind of felt like a sleazy club run by a couple of players. Another thing I didn't like was the fact that I felt like Haven spent too much time running away from things and hiding. Part of me understands this, but I kind of wish she had confronted some of her problems better.

Overall I did really like "The Eternal Ones". It moved at a quick pace and I liked the characters; even some of the less wholesome characters were pretty great. Miller has a unique writing style that I fell in love with. If the writing and characters hadn't been so awesome I would not have enjoyed this book nearly as much. I did find the book to be a bit predictable, but it didn't ruin the story for me. Part of me wonders if "The Eternal Ones" was just a little too hyped up, this can easily lead me to be let down by books.