Book Review: Eternal Love by Nived

Warning: The subject of today’s review, Eternal Love by Nived, contains content of a sexual nature. If you are not over 18 years of age, please leave this page. If you otherwise wish to avoid such subjects, please proceed with caution.

Happy Saturday, everyone! I hope everyone’s having a great weekend. We might still be in a pandemic, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t find ways to entertain ourselves at home. After all, we’re readers and writers—what more could we ask for? Well, in case you want another book to add to your to-read list (and everyone here does), I’m bringing you a review for a fantasy romance novel called Eternal Love by Nived.

Devin Elliot is entering her final year of college with dreams of exploring the world, her camera and her two best friends by her side. Now that years of a horrid on-again/off-again relationship have finally come to an end, she has sworn off women…and dating…for now. Of course, that was before she met the new student: Amirah. The strength of her attraction to this woman is irresistible, embarrassingly so. The more time they spend together, they more that Devin thinks the attraction might be mutual. Whether Amirah is genuine or just using her for pleasure, though, Devin cannot tell. If only Amirah’s abusive boyfriend Todd weren’t in the way.

Yet there’s something else about Amirah, something beyond her seductiveness that seems so familiar. All Devin’s friends gravitate to her, even Devin’s dog likes her, and—wait. What was that language that Grandma Ava was just using to speak to Amirah? The closer the full moon and Devin’s 25th birthday approach, the more it seems that everyone else is in on some big cosmic secret, and Devin is at the center of it all.

From shapeshifters to nymphs, past lives to soul mates, sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction.

Eternal Love by Nived is an intriguing new take on the typical coming-of-age tale. Rather than taking place when the character is 13, 16, 18, or even 21—all traditional cornerstone ages used in popular coming-of-age fiction—this story uses the more mature age of 25 as the turning point in Devin’s life. Given how more recent generations are making life’s bigger decisions and starting to come into their own around this age—often later—nowadays, I must commend Nived on making the theme much more relatable for today’s Young Adult/New Adult readers. Instead of facing the challenges of finishing high school and going off to college as the “real world” growing up problems, Devin faces finishing college, still not finding love in her mid-20s, and realizing that even at her age, she knows nothing, not even who she is. Nived has successfully shown something that writers are only starting to truly explore with the developing New Adult genre: 18 is not the end-all age of growing into who you are meant to be.

Of course, this socio-cultural implication is not the only thing to love about this book. The main character—in fact, the vast majority of the cast—is unabashedly LGBT+. Moreover, the characters do not hide their sexuality in any way, and the only character that seems to have any issues with it is developed as an overall jerk (to put it very mildly) anyway. These characters are not just in sexual relationships but genuinely in love. There are a couple times when LGBT+ characters act more on sexual instincts that are not really to any emotion, but those moments seem justified by the plot and/or character development of these and/or other characters. The fact that the characters are lesbian or bisexual (perhaps pansexual, but that possibility is never really explored) never feels forced, and the LGBT+ community is just as natural a part of the book as is the heterosexual community. There is acknowledgement that issues could still arise, such as the fact that Devin’s act must open bars that are specifically gay bars and negative comments are made by the jerk male character. Still, that only makes the book feel more realistic while also allowing these characters to feel just normal as the heterosexual characters—as they should be.

Above all else, though, Eternal Love’s best characteristic is its world building. This book has a vivid, imaginative world with strong creative energy. I don’t want to go into too much detail as much of the world building occurs in the second half of the book and I don’t want to give away any spoilers. Nevertheless, I should say that I have never seen such a unique intersection of shapeshifters, portals, cosmic beings, and past lives. I am especially glad to see that the shapeshifters are not canine shapeshifters but feline (for the most part). Popular fiction focuses so much on canine shapeshifters, wolf shifters in particular. Don’t get me wrong; I love wolves and dogs a lot. However, I also love variety in my fiction, and I know that there is much more shifter lore out there than just wolves and other canines. So, seeing that Nived decided to use feline shifters in Eternal Love made me very happy and very eager to read it. I think that Nived has successfully pulled off her own distinct twist on this shapeshifter lore, even more so than making them felines. From their origins to their continuation, she has me fascinated enough to learn more.

Regardless, the book isn’t perfect. The writing itself is, for the most part, solid. Still, it could use another round of editing for consistency in tense since I noticed unjustifiable shifts between past and present tense and some other minor issues. I also noticed that the pacing is a bit awkward. The first half, when the relationships are being built and only one or two fantastical elements are introduced, passes by rather slowly. In contrast, after the fantastical elements are more completely introduced to the story, the narrative pacing picks up rapidly. I felt as though the story was really picking up just as it was ending, in fact. Perhaps, with the world being so intricately build and beautifully complex, more space was needed to develop the second half to its full potential and balance out the pacing of the first half. As it is, it’s almost as though I’m reading two shorter novels, one that deals with the beginning of the relationship and one that deals with the end and begins Devin’s journey of magical self-discovery. They can’t truly be without each other, but right now, they aren’t fully fitting together, either.

There is also an element of the book as a romance novel that some readers might not be comfortable with: sex scenes. As with most stories in this genre, there are both sensual and love-making scenes in Eternal Love. They are always appropriate for the plot and for the development of the characters involved. However, I would have preferred if they could have been a little more spread out throughout the second half of the book. Some of them feel clustered, most likely due to the rush narrative pacing of that section of the book, which does make them feel a little overwhelming. Regardless, they do not hinder the reading experience or take away from the story in any way, so I think that if a reader does not normally have problems with sex scenes, these ones should not stop them from enjoying this book.

All in all, Eternal Love by Nived is a great read. An unexpected combination of fantasy, science fiction, and romance, it has a little bit of something for every speculative fiction lover. Based on the ending, I know that there is more to come, and I can’t wait.

You can buy Eternal Love by Nived as an eBook or in paperback on Amazon. Also be sure to follow the writer on Instagram @nivedthegifted and Twitter @mi_nived.

Do you know of any books I should read? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com and let me know!