My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares + Giveaway

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: The book follows the story of Daniel and Lucy through their many lives. Daniel falls in love with Lucy in his first life and in his following lives he is constantly searching for her and trying to get her to remember him. The book starts off in present day with Daniel and Lucy still at high school, the story continues forward from there, but there are also chapters set in the past. At first I was a bit confused, especially as all of the characters except Daniel have different names in each time period. But as the story went on I got used to the way it jumped around through time and it started to make more sense.
My favourite part of the book was the bit set in England in 1918, this was when Lucy first started to believe Daniel about their past lives, and for me it was where the 'love story' really started.
The book seemed to take a while to get started properly, but towards the end things start to get more exciting, the final part of the book is full of adventure.

The author did a great job of describing how the past life/reincarnation works in this story. At the start of the book some things didn't seem to make sense to me, but they were explained throughout the book. So any questions I had, such as do men always reincarnate as men?, were answered further on in the story.

The ending of the book is a bit open-ended and I can't wait for the sequel because I'm dying to know what happens next!

I have an extra ARC of the book to giveaway, so if you'd like to win in it, please fill out this form.
Open internationally! Closing date June 20th.   This giveaway is now closed. Sorry!
Thanks to Hodder UK for providing the book.

Suddenly Sunday

Svea at Confessions and Ramblings of a Muse in the Fog created this weekly event and invites anyone to join in and leave a link at her blog.

I feel like I've been neglecting my blog lately. It's not intentional, it's just there's always something else to do that takes priority I guess. Anyway, let's move on...

I have not had a very good week this week. Yesterday I found out that my bank card had been cloned and someone had stolen all of my money from my bank account!! The bank said that they should be able to reimburse me after they've done a full investigation, which could take weeks! In the mean time my account has been frozen and I can't pay anything in our out of my account. Also I'll have to open a new account which means ringing around every company that I pay bills to and letting them know that my payments might be delayed until this all gets sorted. Major stress that I do not need!

Apart from that, everything else is the same as usual, I have yet another essay to write this week, to be honest I'm beginning to wish I'd never opted to do this course, but it'll be worth it in the end.

On the book front I've read quite a few books lately, but there hasn't been anything special, they've actually all been a bit... meh...

I did find a trailer sort of thing for a book that I like the look of. It's called By Midnight and it's by Mia James. They have this cool little webpage set up where you can read the first chapter, and you can even enter to win a copy of the book (UK only). I'm not usually into vampire books, but this one looks a bit different, and after reading the first chapter I can't wait to read the full book! Check it out at: http://www.orionbooks.co.uk/ravenwood/

Waiting on Wednesday - The Detective Branch

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

The book I can't wait to read is The Detective Branch by Andrew Pepper. Due for release on February 11th 2010. I have read all of the other books in the Pyke series, and I have really enjoyed them, so I'm really looking forward to finding out what happens next.

Synopsis: London, 1843. Pyke has been part of the Metropolitan Police's newly formed 'Detective Bureau' for six-months. Unsurprisingly Pyke is confronted by faceless opponents within the Bureau and the New Police who don't like his unconventional methods, his criminal past and his dubious law enforcement record. When the body of a policeman is found, it initially appears that the man has been killed while on duty in the course of a robbery that has gone wrong. But Pyke's investigations reveal that the policeman might have been murdered and the robbery offered as a ruse to cover-up what really happened. Then a tavern landlord - and as Pyke discovers a former policeman - is killed and a connection to the dead policeman is unearthed: both joined the New Police at the same time and served under the same inspector in the East End. Digging into both men's past, Pyke's investigative team unearth evidence of corrupt practices and connections to slum-lords and high-ranking City of London officials - as well as a policeman who has subsequently climbed to the top of the New Police.