Reviewed by LadyJay for TeensReadToo.com

Since she was a child, Erin has been plagued with mental illness. Her schizophrenic episodes have kept her in and out of various institutions for most of her life. Now, at age 16, Erin's therapist has decided she must re-enter the real world.

Public school is a little frightening - lots of kids, larger classes, more stimuli to trigger an outburst. Erin attempts normal teenage activities; making new friends and trying out for the fencing team, but nothing is able to stop her alter-ego from rearing her ugly head.

Erin believed that Shevaun had finally disappeared, but now she is back with a vengeance. Erin must find a way to control Shevaun before it's too late.

Amelia Atwater-Rhodes has been writing about the paranormal since she was thirteen. Her stories involve vampires, shape-shifters, witches, and magic, and PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY is chock full of all of these elements.

The story is fast-paced, which makes it a quick read. Those readers who enjoy the supernatural will definitely want to give this book a try.

Also, look for sequels on the horizon. Atwater-Rhodes' final chapter is open-ended, leaving room for future stories about Erin and Shevaun. ( )

Persistence of Memory is my first exposure to the writing of Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. I am actually really impressed with her writing but I find the overall premise of the novel wearisome. Parts of the novel where perfectly captivating, such as the connection between Shevaun and Erin. Through this connection Erin posses all these abilities that most “normal” people wouldn’t, she’s knowledgeable of several languages, and she has fighting skills that no untrained 16-year-old would know.The aspect of characterization is probably my biggest complaint. I think the characters would have been fascinating had they been well developed. Atwater-Rhodes just kept skimming the surface, I was waiting for her to take the plunge and it never came. The supposedly “strong” relationship among the four main characters was so vague, it was unnerving! I just wanted to yell at the book!At times the plot was confusing. I was able to follow it without any trouble, but I wouldn’t be surprised if younger readers become lost! Perhaps had the novel been longer and more developed, I think I would have more positive things to say about it. ( )

AAR is a guilty pleasure of mine. Yes, she's below my reading level but sometimes she hits just the right note. One of her locales or some of her dialogue comes back to me, which is why I continue to read her books.

I liked the first third of the book but I had trouble staying with it all the way though. The Erin/Shevaun link reminded me of the Anita/Raina munin-thing in Laurell K Hamilton's Blue Moon. And that's not a good thing. Blue Moon was where I got off the Anita Blake train. Maybe that's what pushed me away from this story.

I did enjoy the character of Sassy. I wouldn't call myself a shapeshifter fan but my favorite L. Hamilton character is Richard and my favorite K. Armstrong character is Clay, and Sassy reminded me of both. Not bad company to be in. ( )

I have been a fan of AAR since I read the first book she published. I was 13 at the time, which was the same age the author was when she wrote "In the Forests of the Night". She is honestly the specific person that lit the flame in me to begin writing. Ever since then, eight years later, I've always kept up with what she publishes and read it as soon as possible.

This story was incredibly interesting. Perhaps because I'm studying psychology, it really fascinated me at some parts. However, I think the story and the writing fell flat every now and then. She's written better and much more captivatingly, but I did enjoy the progression of the story. It was very steady, not too fast nor too slow. This is a book that would probably be enjoyed by her fans or anyone that likes YA vampire fiction with a twist. ( )

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Being diagnosed with schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder at a young age, has landed Erin Mishrahe, in a ward for most of her childhood. But after being eighteen months free of her alter ego, Shevaun, Erin is enrolled into a public high school for the first time at the age of sixteen. For the time being everything seems to be going quite normal until she is transported to France in another person’s body, Shevaun.

Everything for Erin, gets even more puzzling when an old friend, makes a reappearance in her life and tries to explain to her that she really isn’t schizophrenic and that Shevaun, her alter ego, really is a vampire.

In the meantime Shevaun, now fully aware of the strange connection she and Erin shares, is determined to be rid of the connection between the two, even if it means killing Erin in the process.

So after reading a lot of negative reviews of The Persistence of Memory, I was wary about picking the book up. The plot seemed a little far-fetched and unusual so I no clue what to expect, only have read one Amelia Atwater-Rhodes book (Demon In My View) years ago.

But the book turned out to be really good with loads of surprised. I actually liked the main character Erin. I personally felt she was quite sensible, despite the fact she was a supposed schizophrenic with Disassociate Identity Disorder. She was skeptical about certain things, until she had concrete evidence that they were true.

But my favorite character had to be, Erin’s friend Sassy, diagnosed as a compulsive liar, he was always fun and interesting to read about. I loved the parts whenever he was mentioned. He was funny and protective of Erin, which I thought was so sweet, and he had a lot of charisma, which I was not anticipating. I would want to read a sequel just to read about him more.

My main problem with the book was that at times I got really confused and would have to back track to understand what I was reading, which got a little annoying. But other then that the book as a whole surprised me in more then one way and I was pretty satisfied at how things ended.

Although, I have very limited experience with Amelia Atwater-Rhodes book, I really liked this book more then Demon In My View. So I guess that accounts for something right? ( )