Review: Eternal by H.G. Nadel

Title: Eternal
Author: H.G. Nadel
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Sourced Media Books
Publish Date: January 2, 2013
Source: I received a copy from PR; however, this did not affect my review.

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You're a YA fiction fan.
• You're a paranormal fan.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "A love story that spans across continents and centuries.

Julia Jones is an eighteen-year-old science prodigy with a big secret. After landing a prestigious internship with brilliant but eccentric Dr. Caleb Bertel, she is finally ready to move on from her mother's death. But after Julia revives Dr. Bertel from a near-fatal electrocution, strange things start to
happen.

Without warning, Dr. Bertel disappears. Then Julia receives threatening notes on her car, and someone has her followed. The young police officer assigned to the case, Austin Moore, believes the events are connected and asks her to help him solve the mystery of Bertel's disappearance. Instantly
attracted to him, Julia agrees. Still, she knows that she has seen Austin somewhere before, if only she could put her finger on it.

Will Julia uncover the mystery of Bertel's disappearance before it's too late, and does she dare trust Austin with her heart?"



My Two Cents:



"Eternal" is the kind of story that you sink down into and read in only a handful of sittings. This book is compulsively readable. It's fairly fast paced and has some interesting twists and turns that definitely kept me on my toes!

This book is a sort of retelling, sort of continuation of the story of the love affair of the French priest, Pierre Abelard and his love affair with the beautiful Heloise, who was a science prodigy in her own right. We don't get to find out much more about Pierre and Heloise other than they find themselves in forbidden love. I'm not sure that this story is one that young adult readers would know much about and I think it would have been really helpful to know more about the love story and why it was forbidden in order to show that in the present day story in this book that Austin and Julia don't just fall into the sort of insta-love that seems to be prevalent in a lot of young adult books. It also would have filled in some of the holes in this story, I think.

I really liked the character of Julia. I think a lot of times, female characters in love stories, especially younger female characters can suffer from "damsel in distress" syndrome where they need to be saved by some big, strong guy character. Julia at least tries to save herself because she doesn't seem to want to be a bother to anyone else. I appreciated that about her. I also appreciated that she is a genuinely smart person. I think she would be a great role model for young adult readers. She is a science prodigy and definitely enjoys and is not shy about being really smart, which is also very cool for a young adult character.

I really enjoyed all twists and turns in the book.

Bottom line: a pretty good book with a strong female lead!