#Review: Annabeth Neverending by Leyla Kader Dahm (@annabeth_egypt)

Annabeth Neverending
Leyla Kader Dahm
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal & Urban, Young Adult, Sci-Fi, Mythology

At first, teenager Annabeth Prescott thinks she’s found quite a deal when she talks down the price of an ankh pendant she discovers at a flea market. She soon wonders if the bauble is more than she's bargained for when she faints and glimpses images from a past life in ancient Egypt. 

The discovery coincides with another new find: Gabriel, a handsome young man who takes an interest in her. When she meets his twin brother C. J. at a Halloween party, she realizes they look exactly like two boys who figure prominently into her memories.

Does C. J. share the heroic qualities held by his past incarnation Sethe, her bodyguard when she was Princess Ana? Does Gabriel possess the same evil powers he wielded as Kha, the black sorcerer who sought her affection?

Love meets the supernatural in this gripping young adult paranormal romance. Readers with an interest in reincarnation, as well as ancient Egypt, will be drawn to its mystical mixture of history and hesitation as Annabeth sways between the two brothers. 

Will her reincarnated soulmate win out? Or will Kha finally find the way to her heart?

Goodreads | Amazon 

DISCLAIMER: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for a review. And fell in L♥VE! You know the drill, >>> ♥ <<< Highlight between the arrows when you see them, if you wish to view spoilers.

My Review: Annabeth Prescott is a fifteen year old girl who begins to work at a flea market with an elderly woman by the name of Mrs. Lansing. Annabeth is immediately attracted to an ankh pendant being sold by another merchant, and negotiates a bargain of a price to have it as her own. Little does she know what secrets it holds for her. The moment any part of her skin touches the gold of the ankh, her mind is immediately taken back to a former life. She finds herself in ancient Egypt, as Ana, an Egyptian princess. It is here that we meet her former lover, Sethe, a slave as captivating as the Nile river that flows through the land.

Annabeth follows her former self through a series of memories every time she touches the ankh; she learns that she is, in fact, a reincarnation of the Egyptian princess, and she longs to continue seeing these memories. She started to recognize many of her past in the present time, down the very reincarnation of her pet cat, Mew-Mew.

After her first trip to her former life, Annabeth comes back to the present time, opening her eyes to Gabriel, a seventeen year archeology major. Let's not forget extremely handsome and gives off to be cocky, but a good kind of cocky. Annabeth and Gabriel hit it off right away just as Mrs. Lansing had hoped. 

Evidently, because Annabeth is noticing reincarnations from her past life, she begins to wonder if she can fight destiny. She knows what it feels to love Sethe, yet, she is quite happy with Gabriel. That is, until she sees Sethe's reincarnate, C.J., who happens to be Gabriel's fraternal twin brother. The moment Annabeth lays eyes on C.J., she can feel fate and destiny pulling her back to the way it was supposed to be. Or so she believes, because there is still a yearning to be there for Gabriel, all throughout the book. 

With destiny pulling Annabeth's every move and emotion, things start to feel like they are falling into place. With the exception of her undying sentiments for Gabriel, who could possibly be the reincarnate of Kha, an Egyptian who practices black magic. Due to a misunderstanding, or false destiny if you will, Annabeth and Gabriel end their not-so-built relationship. C.J. immediately is there and Annabeth finds herself drawn to Sethe's reincarnate. What more? C.J. believes every word Annabeth tells him about her theories, to the extent that he starts making her believe that he has memories from his former life.

As Annabeth and C.J. grow closer, because she is confused about her mixed feelings for Gabriel, she is constantly having dreams of kissing him. . . Her theory is that because he has the powers, Gabriel is putting himself in her dreams, at least she thinks this. Her theory starts to make sense, because there are far too many coincidences. Yet, even Gabriel is starting to believe that he is a reincarnation of the evil priest. And yet, he still loves Annabeth enough to fully confess his love to her, even though he thinks she should stay away from him. This only makes Annabeth's confusion worse.

This is the ending. Do not highlight! I am only putting it here because I have to get it out!

>>> C.J. and Annabeth makes plans to runaway together, but this does not take place. Annabeth is convinced that C.J. is Sethe and Gabriel is Kha, the man who killed the both of them. As things start to pull together, Annabeth sees C.J. for what he is about to do, kill Gabriel, and allows her confused feelings take over, as she shields Gabriel from the fatal blow. C.J. then starts to put the pieces together for Annabeth, revealing that he switched souls with Gabriel, whose first name is Seth. ♥.♥ <<<

My Rating: 5 of 5 stars! I am not usually into the reincarnation kind of plot, but the way the author twisted it and how it was written, she had me sold from the start! I loved every element in this book. I was up and down. People! Gabriel was my favorite from the moment he was introduced. >>>C.J. . . . He is as slimy as his ancient self. <<< I usually latch onto the first guy that sweeps the girl off her feet, so we can all see where my loyalty lies. I skipped ahead, though I never let myself do that . . . there came a point where the author had me believing the opposite of what I was led to believe, and I wanted to give myself some reassurance, because I was about to lose my mind over the fact that this character might not have been what I expected, and then it all turned out fantastic. But I can solemnly that I shall never skip ahead EVER again.

The build-up to the climax of the story was well-executed. The pace of the book was quick when it needed to be, and steady the rest of the way. Every time Annabeth had a memory-seizure, I was paralyzed alongside her.

For those of you who visit my blog, and know when I am this excited about a book, I go visual crazy. I might have visualized Gabriel and Annabeth so easily while reading. So, here is the cast I see in my head. I did not visualize C.J. . . >>> probably because he had someone's else's body. <<<

Grant Gustin - I feel that he fits Gabriel, in my head. Granted (no pun intended) his eyes seem to change in every picture I see of him, but here his eyes are hazel-like. Now, if you have read the book before, you will know that this is Gabriel's opposite. This is not what you perceive him to be . . . at least not until the last few pages in the book. 

Now, I am not entirely sure how I came to see Shailene Woodley as Annabeth, but she just fits, and I would totally ship her with Grant. Annabeth is a fantastic character. I relate to Annabeth's character, because of the confused feelings she has for Gabriel, and for C.J. I felt everything she was feeling whenever she looked at Gabriel; the sympathy, the tender care, everything. I even felt the confusion, and I do not get confused!

Added later: I think that the author should write a collection of novellas, each telling a brief story about one of Annabeth's past lives.