Hi everyone!

This week’s post is about a VERY interesting book that looks at the concept of time

My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares is a young adult romance science fiction novel that follows Daniel, the boy who has lived many lives and has spent all of them falling in love with the same girl. This book spans multiple ages, multiple societies and multiple love stories. In a deadly race across time Daniel must save his love’s life and all of her lives so that maybe one day they can be together. But first she needs to remember him.

Firstly I would like to note that I read this book absolutely ages ago so my knowledge of it may be semi-shoddy however when I saw it on my shelf the other day I knew I had to talk about it.

The characters, specifically Daniel and Sophia are both very well written. One of the major strengths of this book, and one of the first things I felt upon reading it was how real their love felt. Brashares does a superb job at crafting Daniel in a way that shows how ancient and wise he is as one who ‘remembers’ but also how pure and innocent he is a perpetual teenager in love. Sophia and her lack of memory is both frustrating and also fascinating because as a reader we learn of what romance looks like from two perspectives: one that is fresh and one that is matured with time.

My favourite part of this book, without a doubt, is the role time plays in the plot. The fact that Daniel has lived multiple lives felt extremely cool to me and the concept of rebirth within My Name Is Memory felt very unique too. Unlike many of it’s contemporaries this book never over dramatises Daniel’s situation or makes it feel like he is some weird isolated godlike figure. Instead he is just a man who is very old which I found was both endearing and natural.

The only downside to My Name Is Memory has to lie in it’s ending. Due to the fact that the plot is so strong (notice I haven’t spoiled it because I want you to see for yourself) it only felt fitting that a strong ending should exist too however in this case there was a simple lack of one. In my opinion Brashares bit off more than she could chew in the time frame of the narrative and this led to a hasty and weirdly broken up ending that did not feel conceivable.

Would I recommend this book? Certainly. Just be aware that the ending is pretty horrible!

I give this book a 3.6 out of 5 stars.

Keep on reading!

And thanks again Beth.