Thursday, January 31, 2013

Eternal (and Televenge giveaway winner)

Holy crapola- I forgot to announce the winner for the book Televenge. I'm such an ass. So thank YOU random number generator..

#5 Gini

YAY, Gini! I have your address around here somewhere so I'll forward that on and you'll get to read a really great book. (And then I want you to tell me what you thought!) But let's talk about another book because none of you are reading enough and it's my job to fill your lists.

Eternal - H. G. Nadel
Eternal

Julia Jones is an eighteen-year-old science prodigy with a big secret. After landing a prestigious internship with brilliant but eccentric Dr. Caleb Bertel, she is finally ready to move on from her mother’s death. But after Julia revives Dr. Bertel from a near-fatal electrocution, strange things start to happen.
Without warning, Dr. Bertel disappears. Then Julia receives threatening notes on her car, and someone has her followed. The young police officer assigned to the case, Austin Moore, believes the events are connected and asks her to help him solve the mystery of Bertel’s disappearance. Instantly attracted to him, Julia agrees. Still, she knows that she has seen Austin somewhere before, if only she could put her finger on it.
Will Julia uncover the mystery of Bertel’s disappearance before it’s too late, and does she dare trust Austin with her heart?
OK, this is kind of a suspense/mystery/paranormal/romance all in one. If you like cross genre books with enough story making you wonder what the eff is actually going on, this one is for you. I will warn you right up front that some of the speech or how things written felt a little different to me, but it's not enough to make you say to hell with it all and give up on it. Also weird is that I just finished the book Beautiful Creatures (in time for the movie, of course) and the romance aspect of it was kind of similar whereas both couples are essentially soul mates and have had several lifetimes together but one or both of them screw it up and so they re-live it until they get it right.. kind of. 
So that alone is kind of interesting because you're waiting to see if Julia and Austin figure it out this time. And while Dr. Bertel and others are essentially possessed by .. demons??, it kind of feels more like zombies. Because their mannerisms and how they speak made me think of zombies which also is different from what I have read before. I know zombies are all the rage and while these aren't really zombies, that's what I kept feeling like they really were. 
I loved the story overall, finished it rather quickly because it's under 300 pages so that's basically an afternoon delight for me. I also love that the characters are developed enough for the story, but there is room left to grow for what will be a trilogy. A lot of things are either left hanging or finished in a way that there clearly could be more and that there should be, but you aren't left feeling pissed off that an author just gave up on this book. 
But my favorite part of this book is the look back in time. Not only are we reading Julia and Austin's modern day romance and story, but they are the reincarnate of Abelard and Heloise who is like the French version of Romeo and Juliet. They obviously have a tragically sad and horrific story and it's kind of replayed in modern day, which is a really cool twist for a book. Not many authors can wrap two stories into one seamlessly that requires you not to think to hard, and H.G. Nadel does it well. Totally impressed with that and frankly, that kind of made the book for me. 
Check out the author's webpage, Twitter and Facebook too and get updates on the rest of her trilogy!

4 comments:

Gini said...

WOO AWESOME! Thanks Sara! I love a fat, juicy book like you wouldn't believe. :D

Amy Osmond Cook said...

Thanks, Sara! Loved the review.

Amy Osmond Cook said...

Thanks, Sara! Loved the review.

Anonymous said...

I totally did not realize that there was an Abelard and Heloise connection here ... I LOVE that!!!!

Thanks for being on the tour.