My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares (CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Warning: This post contains SPOILERS, read at your own risk!

{Synopsis}

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.

A magical, suspenseful, heartbreaking story of true love, "My Name is Memory" proves the power and endurance of a union that was meant to be.

{My thoughts}

When I walked in the local bookstore I caught a glimpse of this book, I thought the title was interesting so I picked it up and read the synopsis. I was in the mood to read something like this, I waited it out a little looking for online reviews before I bought it but a few days later I decided I should.

There are a few parts in this story that I really really liked the very first one was the letter, it was so well written and served such a great purpose. I liked this part of the book because I would do the same thing if I was in the place of Constance. Try really hard to get to my present self, whoever I was going to be. To tell her about the wonderful man that I love and hope that she will at least remember how it felt, if dreams won't work then maybe the letter will make her remember. I wanted Constance to be the present character and not Lucy. I saw that Constance had so much fight in her, she tried to show Lucy through her dreams and through that letter, she fought hard for the love that she felt and for that I really admired this character. Obviously if I were in Lucy's shoes, or if any of us were in her shoes we'd all be running around confused as well. But I couldn't ignore the fact that Constance handled Daniel's ability better than any one of the girls that she became. Her love poured out of this letter and I love every word of it.

{Exerpt}

I don't know who you are, but I pray this letter will have gotten into the right hands. I pray that you will not scorn it for the strange notions it contains and will understand the ardent sincerity with which I have written it. I am Constance Rowe of Hastonbury Hall in Kent, near the village of Hythe. I am two weeks short of my nineteenth birthday. I was once called Sophia, and many other names too. If this letter had reached its intended reader, than I am you, I believe, your past, an older incarnation of your soul. I know that sounds ridiculous and impossible to believe. I felt the same way. But please try to believe it.

Daniel told me some of the ways his works living and dying and living again, but I don't understand it at all well. I know there are things about you/me that seem to survive every death. I would suspect that you have a birthmark on your upper-left arm. You probably have problems with your throat. You dream about the desert, and your nightmares are almost always about fire. Maybe you even dream about me and this house. I am hoping that you do.

I encountered Daniel here in the big house. During the war it's been turned into a hospital, though it belongs to my family. He was wounded a the Somme-the second, not the first-and I am a nurse's aide, and I cared for him. He died eleven days ago. I wanted to die with him.

Daniel knew me/you before, over many lives. He remembers everything. I don't know how he'll be when you see him, where he'll be from or what he'll look like, but he will be called Daniel. He will remember you if he finds you, and God, how I hope he will. He will want to call you Sophia and tell you extraordinary stories. You will be irritated, confused, perhaps even frightened at first. Get him to prove himself to you if you must. He's not mush for showing off, but he can speak and read an impossible number of languages, and he knows how to work every kind of ancient instrument, whether musical or scientific. His mind is better than a full encyclopedia. He will know things about you: what you dream and how you thin, and it will haunt you.

Please believe him. Keep your heart open to him. He can make you happy. He has always loved you, and you once loved him with all your heart.

 I believe that in all those times that he has come in and out of his different lives, Constance was the one closest to him. It really frustrated me that he constantly called her  Sophia when he encounters her, His love for her may have been started by Sophia, but she wasn't really the one who was able to love him back as much as Constance did.

The second part I loved in this book was when Lucy made Daniel realize that what is important is the present. It was a comfort when he finally called her Lucy and acknowledged who Lucy was. He realized the importance of the present and called her by her name, Lucy. Daniel held on to all her pasts so tight that he forgot to really appreciate the person she is the moment they meet again. It was nice to see him change.

I can't say that I really loved this book, probably because through the years I think I have finally made up my mind which kinds of stories I enjoyed the most. When I was a bit younger I really enjoyed novel's like this one, about love, about forever, about soulmates and a man or a woman's effort to find love or stay with the one they love. I loved watching relationships unfold and love grow in a story. But I found myself looking for something more magical in this book, something more, I was hoping that there would be more to Daniel's brother. A bit more into his character, but I suppose he was left as a mystery for a reason. 

{My Rating}

★★★☆☆ : GENERALLY OK - Not bad, but not life-changing.

If you enjoy being swept off your feet, being chased by a man who loves everything about you, if you want your heart tickled and go through the motions of love, the hurt and the hardships...you'd like this book. But I just needed a bit more.