Synopsis:
Reincarnation dooms Daniel and Sophia to wander the centuries, falling in love with tragic results in just a few but missing each other in most, and when they find themselves in high school together they just might be able to break the cycle and be together.

Review:
I find the concept of reincarnation tedious and frustrating, so I’m probably not exactly the ideal reader for My Name Is Memory. And now that I’m a mom, I like it even less. I don’t want to think that any other woman might have nurtured MY babies! Superfast Toddler and Superfast OMG-here-any-day-now are unique individuals and I’m their mom, nobody else, got that? (Feeling a bit protective as I nest my way towards my 7/3 due date.)

The basic idea here is that Daniel is one of the few souls who carries memories from one life to the next. Sophia, the woman he has loved for centuries, does not. He keeps finding her in various lives and trying to persuade her to love him based on their epic history together. She doesn’t believe him but likes him anyway. One of them dies early and the whole thing starts over again. Now, Daniel and Sophia (named Lucy in this life) are in high school together, but another old soul threatens their happiness.

I just never bought into the love story that’s at the heart of this book, and that’s kind of crucial to its enjoyment. I did like the similar Time Traveler’s Wife, so it can’t just have been frustration with the missed connections between the lovers, but I know that played a big part of it, here. I just wasn’t swept away by it.

Many thanks to Riverhead for the review copy.