Anamnesis by Susanna Imaginàrio

Hello everyone! Here we are today to talk about Susanna Imaginàrio' s upcoming book Anamnesis, which is released tomorrow. Anamnesis is the final installment of the Timelessness series, and boy, is it good! The book is released on July 29th and will be available in paperback, ebook, and audio (narrated by the fantastic Sarah Kempton, who has narrated the three previous books).

Overview

Mistakes were made.

The future is uncertain.

And Time doesn't care.

As the story ends, we'll finally learn how it started.

The world is breaking apart. Only the combined willpower of Hades and Hel can save it.

But Love has other plans.

Meanwhile, the gods need to deal with the outcomes of their choices; everyone else needs to survive them.

And Psyche must finally face her greatest foe.

Can free will cheat fate, or is fate the consequence of free will?

Review

This is one of those books where I have mixed feelings! On the one hand it is a book that I have been waiting for all year and I couldn't wait to read it. On the other hand it is a book that I have waiting for all year, and I didn't want it to end.

Anamnesis brings to a close the story of Psyche and all the other gods that was started in Wyrd Gods. Ever since joining the unknown god in the first book, I have been captivated by the trials and tribulations of Psyche as she has travelled through Niflheim and the end of this book is like watching a child go off into their own world. I think I might have had a bit of an empty nest feeling after I finished this one as you have kind of watched Psyche grow into her goddesshood.

The book starts directly from the end of Nephilim's Hex with Psyche getting up from the floor from when she was cast there by Chronos.

To say that I loved Anamnesis is an understatement. In fact, I love the series as a whole. It is one of those series that I have read a couple of times, and each time I read it, I find new things in it that I didn't see the last time, and it is going to be the same with Anamnesis. I am sure when I read it again (because I will!) I will find stuff in it that I missed because that is the thing with Susana Imaginàrio's writing, not one word is wasted. There will be little snippets of things throughout the book that you may miss peppered throughout the text that have some bearing on the story, either in the future, or sometimes in the past in the other books in the story, as in actuality her books are like a big jisaw puzzle in that you never see the whole picture until it is all slotted together. I think that this s is one of the things that I love about her writing as it is a vast complex web with each thread moving in circuity towards the central point.

In amongst the ending of the story, we get a reimagining of the myth of Eros and Psyche and how she attained her godhood. However, with true Psyche style nothing is as it seems. The classical tale of Eros and Psyche is full of romanticism and longing as Eros visited Psyche in the night, afraid to show his face. However, in Anamnesis, the tale is shown from Psyche's perspective, and instead of being filled with the usual classical tropes, it is a tale of malevolence and pain, and rather than being shown as the misty eyed god of love, Eros is shown as a spiteful, vicious monster whose only gift is pain, which Psyche endures night after night at the hands of the demonic god of love. Not only that there is an unexpected twist in the story of Eros and Psyche. I won't tell you what it is, but it works well and answers other questions that have been raised in the previous books.

As usual, there is loads going on in Anamnesis, there are the individual side plots of the other gods and also the main plot as it rushes towards its conclusion, and Susanna Imaginàrio is a master plot maker who regularly uses misdirection to lead you somewhere else whilst the main plot is merrily making its way towards its conclusion, and I have utterly fell in love with her style of storytelling. As usual the points of view will seamlessly switch from first person to third person, adding to level of depth and complexity of the writing. Furthermore, Susanna Imaginàrio writes some of the best dialogue that always keeps me entertained. 

As usual, the book is filled with Susanna's often sly humour that raises a smile. However, there is a scene with Aedan and Psyche that had me laughing out loud with its physicality. It is pure physical comedy that is just pure joy to read. 

As well as Psyche's arc, Susanna Imaginàrio niftily wraps up the tales of the huge cast of characters that have been introduced throughout the story as a whole and manages to introduce someone new that aides us to get to where we need to be. I think as well it shows off Susanna Imaginàrio's love of mythology, and that passion is quite infectious, as there were many times I got my big book of mythology out to look up the different gods and myths in order to give me some understanding of the nuances at play in the book (which obviously led me down a number of different rabbit holes let me tell you)

Anamnesis is a fine end to a story that I have loved. It has got better and better with each book, and with Anamnesis, Susana Imaginàrio brings the story of Psyche and the inhabitants of Niflheim to a close with the necessary pomp and circumstance that I would expect, making it a thoroughly satisfactory and mind blowing ending.