The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller
Oh, the Young Adult genre, how we turn up our noses at you and your readers. You are too brief, slim on plot, deal with problems that we adults no longer face, tend to focus on sparkly vampires or attractively attired werewolves, or the basically undead and/or freakishly paranormal. You know you have had similar thoughts at one time or another. People feel the hate so much so that they need to write posts defending their reading of the genre. Even Pam from the beautifully designed Bookalicio.us has felt the need to defend her reading choices with a post, When Will I Grow Up and Read Adult Books?
I am here today to change your mind. Well, to tell you to read The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller and she will change your mind.
NEVER has a book had me so glued to its pages. A bomb could have gone off and I could not have put the darn thing down. Dinner? Let them eat leftovers! Laundry? Tomorrow is another day. Shower? Who needs a stinkin’ shower?
Haven Moore is a 17 year old misfit in a small town in Tennessee. She has visions and the whole town thinks she is possessed by a demon. Let me hear ya say Amen. The thing is, these visions are not of death and destruction. They are visions of another life, another time, a fatal fire, and a love so strong that Haven just has to unravel the mystery before she goes batty. They just don’t talk about things like reincarnation in the backwoods of Tennessee, heck, even the snake handlers are outsiders. If she starts talking about past lives, they are going to lock her up in the looney bin.
Her search for the truth behind the visions leads this small town girl to the bright lights of New York, gray men, true love, murder, and a whole cast of seemingly normal, but no where near normal characters.
Is Ethan, her true love? Her murderer? Is he trying to save her or trying to kill her all over again? Who murdered Constance Whitman and are they trying to kill Haven Moore before she learns the truth?
This is Young Adult on steroids with deep characters, a thrilling and ever changing mystery and poses some interesting questions. Is there such a thing as reincarnation? Does love at first sight really exist?
I will give you a passage that hit me in a way that no other ever book has. I have issues with faith and religion and was surprised to be so touched by a piece of dialogue from a fictional snake handling preacher.
The problems come when it’s time to put our faith in things other than the Lord. There’s no doubt that other people can be tricky. But once again, it’s all about listening to your heart. That don’t mean you should ignore what your head’s telling you. But your heart will do a much better job of helping you figure out who’s good and who ain’t. Who deserves your faith, and who doesn’t. If you judge solely by evidence, you could wind up making some big mistakes.
Love and faith go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other. And as we all know, taking that leap of faith ain’t always safe. Sometimes you judge poorly, and you land right on your face. But unless you make the jump, you’ll never know what’s on the other side. You just gotta find the guts to do it.”
I am a big believer in following my heart and jumping, maybe it is time we stop judging and jump into the vast pool that is the Young Adult genre. I know I will and trust me, with writers like Kirsten Miller leading the change, we won’t regret it.
The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller
Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Razorbill (August 10, 2010)
ISBN-10: 1595143084
ISBN-13: 978-1595143082
Have you read a book that knocked your socks off lately?
