Persistence of Memory by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Date: January 2010
Page Count: 212
Reading Level: Ages 12-UP
BOOK DESCRIPTION: Sixteen-year-old Erin Misrahe just wants to be like everyone else in her new school. But Erin has more to worry about than passing AP Chemistry or making friends. In times of stress, she has always been overcome by her alter ego, Shevaun, whose violent behavior wreaks havoc on those around her. Erin can never remember anything about these episodes, and she's grateful to have been spared them for a while.
But when a protective friend comes back into Erin's life, he insists that Shevaun is a vampire who actually exists apart from Erin. Shevaun has dangerous allies, like the handsome witch Adjila--and they're determined to sever Shevaun's connection to Erin once and for all.
MY REVIEW: I am a fan of Atwater-Rhodes' vampire novels. Despite some flaws and problems, I have enjoyed her take on the fanged otherworldly creature's lore. With this novel I thought the summary sounded great and I began to read it. I soon had to stop. The story dragged on and I lost interest in Erin's psychological background and the medications she took. I read something else, then returned back to this book to give it another shot.
When the story began to make sense and I wanted to read more, the book improved. It seems Erin's mother was drained by a vampire named Shevaun and somehow her memories and feelings were transferred to Erin. Poor Erin's "psychotic episodes" were merely her "channeling" Shevaun's thoughts or memories. I still think this concept is interesting, but in this novel it took too long to figure out what was going on and I did not connect with either main female character.
As implausible as I found so many of these situations (and I love fantasy and the paranormal), PERSISTENCE is not this author's best work. I thought there should have been more depth to the characters so the reader could connect better to them. Since the book was short, there was space to expand upon what I still believe is an interesting concept, except in this case the execution needed more planning and expanding. I am still a fan.
INTERESTING SCENE: (Page 206): "Erin did as commanded, because she didn't have a choice. There was nowhere else she could go as the eldest of her alters faced off with the half dozen Shevauns still fighting. She broke one's neck but barely had to touch the rest. She pressed a hand to one's forehead; that Shevaun collapsed like a doll. Another tried to grab her, but when the older one's hands touched the younger one, the two women became one."
COVER COMMENT: There are two different covers, one for hardback and the other, paperback. The woman on the hardcover looked like she was supposed to be Shevaun, the paperback picture has a picture of a younger girl I took to be Erin. I prefer the paperback cover.
RATING: +++
FOR FANS OF: Atwater-Rhodes' previous books.
BOOK SOURCE: Swapped.
REVIEWED BY: Laurie
This sounds really good I'm going to have to check it out. I've listed you on the sidebar of my blog under the title Need a great book to read? Check out these fabulous book bloggers. Cause your recommendations rock!
ReplyDeleteThank you for listing us! It took a while to get into this book but the premise was a cool one so I finished it. Hope you like it:)
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