Review: The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller
by Kirsten Miller
In her podunk hometown in Tennessee, Haven is an outcast. Her classmates tease her mercilessly. Her grandmother believes that she’s demon-possessed. Her only friend is Beau, a boy equally ostracized because he is gay. But during fainting spells, Haven escapes into visions of a past life, when she was a girl named Constance, madly in love with a gorgeous boy named Ethan. One day, while Haven is watching TV with Beau she sees the celebrity Iain Morrow and feels an instant connection. She knows that he is Ethan, the reincarnation of her long-lost love. So, Haven runs away to New York City, where Iain lives, and he instantly recognizes her and everything is bliss and love and happiness…except that Iain isn’t nearly as wonderful as Haven remembers Ethan. He’s a member of the secretive Ouroboros Society, an organization that claims to help people get in touch with their past lives but has much more sinister goals. Iain also lies to Haven, tries to control her every move, and may even be a murderer. Haven’s flight to the Big Apple to find her one true love may have uncovered a monster instead…
Haven is an interesting heroine. She’s motivated, strong, and talented. She runs her own dressmaking business, selling prom gowns to her classmates, and in spite of having no friends has managed to save $12000.00. That’s not bad for a teenager! But it seems like the minute she steps foot in New York City, this independence evaporates. Suddenly, she’s letting Iain boss her around and control her life, and she’ll believe anything he - or anyone else - tells her. Whenever a member of the Ouroboros Society hints that Iain is Bad News she immediately swears him off, only to take it back a few pages later. This constant vacillating gets really annoying toward the end of the book. All in all, her New York personality change is not for the better.
Meanwhile, Iain/Ethan comes across as a total creep. He gives Mr. Edward Cullen a serious run for his money. He’s a womanizer and a liar and does disturbing things like exactly reproduce Constance’s home so that Haven will be comfortable in New York City. I don’t find that romantic, I find that freaky! Iain later claims that his poor behavior is justified because it was done to get his face in tabloid magazines; hopefully, Haven would see him and find him. What? Furthermore, the lies were all to protect her. I must be getting old, because that just sounds silly to me.
The other big problem I had with the book was with the villain of the story. (I won’t name him to avoid spoilers.) Compared to the other characters, he seems very underdeveloped. I mean, for someone supposed to be the Machiavellian Evil Bad Guy he just seems more like your garden variety stalker. It’s a letdown, to be honest.
On the other hand, the Ouroboros Society was pretty cool. It’s in perfect balance, capable of great good or great evil, depending on the people running it. It definitely has the potential for future stories.
My dear friend Jeannie commented the other day that I seemed to be having a run of “great concept, poor execution” books lately, and I’m wondering if I should add The Eternal Ones to the pile. I would happily pick up another story involving this society. I just didn’t much care for the main characters, Iain/Ethan and Haven/Constance.
3 out of 5 stars
To read more about The Eternal Ones, buy it or add it to your wishlist click here.
In her podunk hometown in Tennessee, Haven is an outcast. Her classmates tease her mercilessly. Her grandmother believes that she’s demon-possessed. Her only friend is Beau, a boy equally ostracized because he is gay. But during fainting spells, Haven escapes into visions of a past life, when she was a girl named Constance, madly in love with a gorgeous boy named Ethan. One day, while Haven is watching TV with Beau she sees the celebrity Iain Morrow and feels an instant connection. She knows that he is Ethan, the reincarnation of her long-lost love. So, Haven runs away to New York City, where Iain lives, and he instantly recognizes her and everything is bliss and love and happiness…except that Iain isn’t nearly as wonderful as Haven remembers Ethan. He’s a member of the secretive Ouroboros Society, an organization that claims to help people get in touch with their past lives but has much more sinister goals. Iain also lies to Haven, tries to control her every move, and may even be a murderer. Haven’s flight to the Big Apple to find her one true love may have uncovered a monster instead…
Haven is an interesting heroine. She’s motivated, strong, and talented. She runs her own dressmaking business, selling prom gowns to her classmates, and in spite of having no friends has managed to save $12000.00. That’s not bad for a teenager! But it seems like the minute she steps foot in New York City, this independence evaporates. Suddenly, she’s letting Iain boss her around and control her life, and she’ll believe anything he - or anyone else - tells her. Whenever a member of the Ouroboros Society hints that Iain is Bad News she immediately swears him off, only to take it back a few pages later. This constant vacillating gets really annoying toward the end of the book. All in all, her New York personality change is not for the better.
Meanwhile, Iain/Ethan comes across as a total creep. He gives Mr. Edward Cullen a serious run for his money. He’s a womanizer and a liar and does disturbing things like exactly reproduce Constance’s home so that Haven will be comfortable in New York City. I don’t find that romantic, I find that freaky! Iain later claims that his poor behavior is justified because it was done to get his face in tabloid magazines; hopefully, Haven would see him and find him. What? Furthermore, the lies were all to protect her. I must be getting old, because that just sounds silly to me.
The other big problem I had with the book was with the villain of the story. (I won’t name him to avoid spoilers.) Compared to the other characters, he seems very underdeveloped. I mean, for someone supposed to be the Machiavellian Evil Bad Guy he just seems more like your garden variety stalker. It’s a letdown, to be honest.
On the other hand, the Ouroboros Society was pretty cool. It’s in perfect balance, capable of great good or great evil, depending on the people running it. It definitely has the potential for future stories.
My dear friend Jeannie commented the other day that I seemed to be having a run of “great concept, poor execution” books lately, and I’m wondering if I should add The Eternal Ones to the pile. I would happily pick up another story involving this society. I just didn’t much care for the main characters, Iain/Ethan and Haven/Constance.
3 out of 5 stars
To read more about The Eternal Ones, buy it or add it to your wishlist click here.