The Eternal Ones -- Kirsten Miller

Speaking of Kirsten Miller, I wore my I Am Kiki Strike t-shirt yesterday, and had to explain the reference to, like, every other patron.  By the end of the day, I had it down pat:  "Kiki?  She's a middle-school-aged superspy and kung fu master and secret princess who leads a team of delinquent Girl Scouts, one of whom is an explosives expert, so, yeah -- basically the coolest girl ever."  Everyone seemed very impressed and no one even attempted to argue.  So that was nice.

But, anyway.  The Eternal Ones.

Seventeen-year-old Haven Moore lives in Snope City, Tennessee with her emotionally shattered and withdrawn-from-life mother and her domineering, judgmental and hateful grandmother.  Though the prom dress business she and her best friend Beau run is extremely profitable, they are pretty much social outcasts:  Beau because he's gay, and Haven because most of the town thinks that she's possessed by a demon.

Yeah.  You read that right.

Apparently, in Snope City, Tennessee, it doesn't go over well if you pass out occasionally and then start babbling about past lives.

For years now, Haven has tried to block the visions of her life as Constance and her passionate (and doomed) relationship with Ethan -- or to at least ignore them -- but, lately, they've been coming more frequently and with more power.  When she sees the face of Iain Morrow, bazillionaire playboy and murder suspect, she recognizes him as Ethan.  And she knows that it's time to find some answers.

Is Iain Morrow actually a murderer?  Regardless of that, is he Ethan reincarnate?  If Iain is innocent, who killed Jeremy Johns?  Who set the fire that killed Constance 90 years ago?  Can the Ouroboros Society help her?  Can they even be trusted? 

In a nutshell?  Twilight - Vampires + Plucky Heroine + Secret Society = The Eternal Ones.

Give it to fans of Twilight*.  There are many parallels:  a possibly dangerous soul mate/a lover-that-might-kill-you, an extremely attractive male lead (his eyes are green, though) who is annoyingly possessive and bossy and unwilling to explain his actions... and a similarly not-so-striking female lead who is somehow still amazingly attractive to every straight male in the vicinity. 

Haven Moore, though, does have a leg up on Bella Swan in that Iain's behavior both freaks her the crap out AND ticks her off.  So there is that.  And the writing is certainly stronger than in Twilight, but granted, that's not exactly a high bar.

I had some difficulty with the plotting -- it was hard for me to swallow the idea that EVERYONE in Snope City (barring Haven's mother, Beau, his father and the Mountain People) actually believed that Haven was possessed/and/or/the Devil, and for a bright girl with supposedly decent instincts, Haven took a surprisingly long time figuring out who was actually trustworthy and who was not -- and, except for a few moments, I felt that the Endless Passion/True Lurrrve she had for Iain was was more Tell than Show, but overall it was enjoyable and light and certainly funnier than the Meyer books and it kept my interest, so it'll be a good pick for someone who's sick of moony, mopey emo vampires but still wants something Twilight-y.

I'll be extremely surprised if the movie rights don't get snapped up fast.

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*It's a bit less ridiculously wholesome than Twilight -- there's some swearing, drug abuse (not by our heroine), and, OMIGOD!, Haven has off-screen sex!  (Before marriage!  Well, sort of.)

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Previously:

Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City
Kiki Strike: The Empress's Tomb

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Book source:  Review copy from publisher.

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Comments

[Wonderfallz]

I was able to pick up a copy at The Strand the other day. I thought it was fun, although your right, a bit Twilightish about love, but what I really want more than anything is another Kiki Strike book. If I ever won the lottery I would send half a dozen copies of both books to every elementary school and public library in the country. The YA world needs less books about true love and more books about girls kicking ass.

[Leila]

I'd like more Kiki as well -- and I was concerned that my wanting more Kiki was affecting my opinion of the book. But the more I think about it, the more comfortable I am with what I wrote about it -- The Eternal Ones was an okay read, but not one that I was doing cartwheels about.

[Nike Shox Turbo]

Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation. (John Kennedy, American president)