Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Mother Talk Blog Tour: The Reincarnationist

Do you believe in reincarnation? Have you ever remembered something from a past life? Is deja vu a regular part of your days? Well those are all a part wound into the mystery in the new book I joined this Mother Talk Blog Tour for.

"The Reincarnationist" by M.J. Rose breaks through the barriers of time, places, and even people taking you from ancient Rome to modern day New York City. In fact, I'm sorry to say that it takes place in so many times, places, and people that it's hard to know whether you're becoming engrossed in the modern day drama of a photographer haunted by memories, the tragic ancient saga of two forbidden lovers, or the early 1800's mystery surrounding a brother and sister parted by evil intentions. While most of the chapters warn you ahead of time whose story you will be following, there are a few times when flashes take you backwards while you're completely embroiled in what's going on in the present day. Just when you're getting into what's happening to one character you are suddenly another one and kind of going "Huh?".

While I love the concept of this book, there is just too much going on for me to enjoy reading it. My thoughts are that the book would have went just as well if it had simply stuck with a more mellow plot line. What plot line you ask? Well The Reincarnationist is a suspense novel meaning there are twists and turns aplenty before you find out the who, the how, and the why.

Let me guess, you figured I was just talking about a book on reincarnation that just was too busy right? Ha, that's what you get for thinking! My thoughts are that M.J. Rose's main point in this book is to fill the reader with suspense wondering what will happen, why everything is happening, who is causing it to happen, and whether or not there will be a happy ending for anyone?

The book just wasn't the right fit for me but I know many of my fellow Mother Talk bloggers really enjoyed it so maybe it's a book more for suspense novel enthusiasts that might have a taste for reincarnation or the "improbable". As I said, I really like the subject of reincarnation and the idea of past lives being used as the premise of this novel. While I personally don't have memories from another era that haunt me, I have known people who do and it's a very fascinating subject. Meeting a child and just knowing that they have an "old soul" is humbling and amazing to say the least.

So it seems I have finally read my first book through Mother Talk that I will have to say I didn't like much at all. It was bound to happen but not because I consider this a bad book. The intricate and classy dustjacket alone is reason enough to pick up the book and I have no doubt that it will do quite well on the seller's lists. I'm sure it's a good book just not MY kind of book was all. I'm still thankful to have had a chance to read it and will still seek out other books from M.J. Rose to try reading.

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