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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Intriguing and excellent read, May 13, 2002
I've never read any time travel-type books, but this one is really amazing. It's also my first Jude Deveraux, and I'll definitely be looking for more of both this author and this genre. This story is so unique, and so heartwarming, that it's hard to imagine that someone could even make this stuff up... what an imagination!!! It was a little difficult to follow at times, when the time travel switched back and forth... but even though it took me awhile to finish this book... it was well worth it. This isn't the kind of book that you can rush through... each word takes you on a unique and welcome adventure. Jude Deveraux did an amazing job with this book!
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful and tragic -- a wonderful time-travel, past-lives story!, April 27, 2006
I read A Knight in Shining Armor a couple of months ago and it became one of my all-time favorite time-travel stories and one of the most memorable romance novels ever. I laughed, felt the protagonists' frustrations and cried like a baby at the end. The novel is one that pulled my heart strings as I read it. And so, I couldn't wait to give Remembrance a whirl. It is another time-travel romance by Jude Deveraux. Remembrance has some elements that are similar to AKISA, namely the elements that were underdeveloped in the aforementioned novel. Even though I had a hard time getting into this one at first and the ending isn't as good as the one in AKISA, it is nevertheless breathtaking and beautiful and it brought me to tears. Thirty-nine-year-old bestselling romance author Hayden Lane is obsessed with her latest book hero, Jamie Tavistock. She thinks about him twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. She writes about him constantly. The problem is that she has concocted the hero without a plot or heroine to go with said character. Her obsession is so bad that her fiance dumps her. Hayden knows she has a problem and goes to therapists to figure out what's wrong. When all fails, she visits a clairvoyant who tells her that Jamie is her soulmate from a past life, and that said past life has left them both cursed for lifetimes to come. Hayden decides to visit a hypnotist to go back in time and meet the object of her obsession, but something goes wrong and she is left in the body of her former life, an Edwardian English woman named Lady de Grey. There she meets Tavey, the love of her life, and discovers what their problem is, and then she is mistakenly sent to where it all begins, to Elizabethan England. Will she be able to erase the curse that plagues them and change the course of history? Will she be able to meet her soulmate in this lifetime? There are many twists throughout the novel...
The topic of past lives and soulmates is interesting and I wanted to learn more about this storyline that was somewhat underdeveloped in AKISA. In AKISA, I was left wondering *why* Nicholas sensed what Dougless felt and knew when she needed him. It was obvious that they were soulmates, but the overall theme wasn't explored enough in that novel. It was explored here aplenty though. In fact, this novel has a lot of paranormal in it -- from curses to telepathy to hypnotism to spells to time transporting. The plot is quite intricate and it could get confusing if you don't follow well enough. Remembrance uses three different time frames: Elizabethan, Edwardian England and the present time. The heroine visits two of her past lives in order to find answers and solutions to her present problems. The Edwardian part is quite interesting and that is when you meet the hero for the first time. His name is Tavey in the Edwardian time. He is JD's typical brooding alpha male during that stage. However, when the story moves on to the Elizabethan era, you get a clearer picture of who the hero is. As Talis, he is proud, honorable and stubborn, but he is also sweet, loving and loyal. The heroine's personality remains the same in all three parts. She is someone who likes to tell stories and is insecure about her looks and is self-deprecating as a result. The tricky thing is that she is more or less three different characters with three different names. She is Hayden/Catherine/Callasandra and the hero is Tavey/Talis/Tariz. As said earlier, the plot is very complex, much like Green Darkness by Anya Seton, which I read at the same time as this one. The heroine was the least likeable as Hayden. I didn't like the first-person narrative in the beginning. Despite some witty remarks, her constant ranting about being a romance author in the first chapter read like a magazine column. I almost didn't continue reading the novel with that kind of opening chapter. When the novel came around to Talis and Callie (in third person), the chapters centered on their childhood were rather boring. I also found their attachment to each other kind of creepy at first. I almost stopped reading the book again at that point. But I became interested when they are grown. And by the end of their sad, sad story I was not only enthralled I was in tears! The end of Part Two was heartwrenching. I was heartbroken with the protagonists and dismayed with the villains. I hated John and Alida! They were so selfish and vile! The Callie and Talis portion of the story was indeed the highlight of the novel and made everything else in the story fall into place. Remembrance, like AKISA, is a bittersweet love story that will move you to the core. Have a box of Kleenex handy! You'll have to have patience with the story though. I hope that Legend, JD's other time-travel, will be as good as this one and AKISA.
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A masterpiece! It's extraordinary, otherworldy,too engaging to put down the whole night!, April 16, 2006
I am still in the process of reading this book the second time. the first time i read it years back i do remember i stayed awake a whole night to read it, just couldn't put it down. That's why i decided to read it again and it's just as good the second time.
The beginning is very slow. it takes you a while to get into the story and you don't get to meet the hero for first 80 pages. But Jude keeps you entertained with her insightful comments about life of a writer( more specifically, life of a romance writer) and her self depreciating humour makes you laugh so many times. it's almost like she is writing about all that she has learned from life and what it feels like to be a writer of romance novels and how other people look upon them especailly critics. She has poured down all her complaints from the litrary world who look down upon a romance novel writer and readers in this book. Being a die hard romance fan i agreed with her completely.
And then the story started about past life trangression. It was so intriguing, i just kept wondering whole time what is keeping them apart in all their past lives...
Talis and callie's story was mindblowing. It was about love, hatred, jealousy, revenge, obssession and that otherworldy connection between 2 children who are 2 bodies but 1 spirit.God at times it gave me goosebumps!
I am still reading their story. I don't remember the end, so i am getting back to reading the book again.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants something more than just a simple romance in their romance novel.
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