Grasping at Eternity (The Kindrily, #1) by Amanda Hooper

4 Stars

When it comes to fantasy reads, I’m a tough cookie. There has be the right combination of nice writing style, character development and whimsical story telling that makes it a good read for me. I wanted to read Grasping at Eternity for a few reason, 1.) the rave reviews 2.) the cover (I know I shake my head in shame) 3.) book 2, Taking Back Forever comes out at the end of the month.

This is my first Karen Amanda Hooper novel and I have to say, I’m impressed and very satisfied.

On with the review…

[Summary]

Maryah’s parents and brother are attacked and murdered. Maryah was saved by Nathan, who she doesn’t know is her soul-mate. With no family to go to, Maryah lives with her God parents, who happens to be Nathan’s parents. Nathan desperately wants Maryah to remember her past and their relationship, but is becoming restless. Maryah continues to have odd dreams and tries to make sense of them on top of dealing with Nathan’s hot and cold personality.

[Review]

A lot goes in on this read, like many reviewers, I was confused at times, mostly towards the beginning. At one point I had to re-check that I was reading book 1 of the series. But once I got into the story, everything sort of just fell into place. I would describe Grasping at Eternity a mixture between Fallen and Twilight. If you liked the story line of Fallen, but also loved the quirky family-vibe of Twilight then this book is for you.

[Maryah]

I’m pretty much up and down with Maryah. I really liked her throughout the book. I thought she was the typical teenager reacting perfectly towards the recent death of her family. She was a bit upsetting towards the middle-end (when we get to the climatic-ending), BUT that didn’t last long and thank goodness because I would have dropped my rating.

[Nathan]

I liked Nathan. I know call me crazy, especially about that one scene. Two words, hot-air balloon! BUT, Nathan is great. He’s kind of like this tormented soul and when you hear his story you just think to yourself, damn, good thing I am not you. You really did feel his pain, especially with the dream scenes.

[Overall]

There is a slight love triangle in the book, which does add some nice tension, however at times I wanted to slap Maryah for some of her actions. I also wanted Nathan to interact with Maryah a bit more, I think they didn’t really “meet” until 30% into the book.

The story is very descriptive, was a bit long and a little too detailed for some parts. I thought the overall resolution should have been presented during the middle and another issue should have been brought up for the ending.

Overall, I LOVED the fact that EVERYTHING was stated. I mean, there was really no guessing what the main issue was. We have Maryah who erased her memories and then love sick Nathan was dealing with it. Because it’s a fantasy read, I did enjoy the whole “powers of element”, explanation of “Kinderly” and the additional supporting characters. I have a soft spot for Carson.

I thought the cover and conclusion was solid and left me with a warm bubbly feeling. I recommend this read and look forward to Taking Back Forever

A copy was kindly provided to me by All Night Reads via NetGalley for an honest review

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