Past-Life Regression

Use this forum to discuss the June 2018 Book of the Month"The Girl Who Knew da Vinci" by Belle Ami
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MishM1
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Re: Past-Life Regression

Post by MishM1 »

Past Life Regression is a sensitive technique that has to be handled expertly because the author not only has to make it realistic but has to convince unbelievers of its plausibility. Trying too hard to do either will come across as corny. If you rolled your eyes, it wasn't handled properly.
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Post by pixiequeer »

Honestly, I have always been really into the paranormal and paranormal happenings, so I fully believe that past-life regression is possible, and I think it was represented both realistically and non-realistically.

It is realistic in the sense of paranormal activity and how paranormal happenings can and do present themselves.

It is unrealistic in regards to reincarnation. Reincarnation is basically the same soul going into different bodies, so that same soul cannot be in multiple different places at once, unless it is a spirit or act stuck on repeat, which has a specific name of its own.
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Post by David Horta Alonso »

Angela thinks she had met Alex in her past two lives. How is this possible? This makes her believe that they both have a shared destiny and it attracts them to each other.
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Post by RT_offscript »

bookowlie wrote: 01 Jun 2018, 09:32 The concept of past-life regression is prevalent in this story. Was it handled in a realistic way or did it verge into fantasy? When the man's eyes started moving in the painting, I have to admit I started rolling my eyes. I also thought Alex was too quick to take Angela's experiences as fact.
Hi bookowlie! I agree with you that Alex unrealistically accepted Angela's experiences about past-life regression. In addition to Alex's quick acceptance, I thought that Belle Ami also revealed Scordato's intent too early in the story; and as a result of the author's two choices, the plot was slightly rushed. If Ami's objective was to write a fun and short read in just 240 pages, however, she did a great job!

On a slightly different note, the author could have incorporated discovering a journal or other artifacts instead of using past-life regression to reveal the characters' past lives. In doing so, Ami might improve the believably of the story; but the book will lose additional originality and become even more similar to a Korean drama series called Saimdang.
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Post by Bookcool123 »

The author is good enough to create a story as magnificent as this book that it makes the reader question about having past life.Besides, she needs to established that certain kind of event to make her story move in the present.
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Post by Taekwondoqueen »

I agree with you on this. Alex and Angela figured out what was happening way to quickly. I mean, maybe they thought about it and then denied it and then kept trying to find a different explanation. That, however, did not happen. They, first off, figured out what was going on very quickly, and then they just accepted it, thinking, nothing is wrong about all of this. At the very least, Alex should have doubted it a bit since he wasn’t sharing these visions. Still, this book was extremely enjoyable.
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Post by David Horta Alonso »

I found the concept of past life regression interesting. I don't believe in such ideas. Angela believes that she has met Alex in her past life.
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Post by Fozia-Bajwa »

This story is about the love relationships of Angela and Alex and the past life regression is not described on the reality basis in the story.
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Post by ems2 »

I think there has to be some disbelief when talking about past lives. Since I have no knowledge that past lives exist, I don't really have anything to compare it to. Did it seem hokey? Yes. I found it really odd when all of the past life couples helped kill the bad guys. First of all, how do three women hold a gun at the same time, and don't they have to be corporeal to actually move a solid object?
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Post by kwahu »

I think past-life regression is a great creative idea. However it may fall out if it's exaggerated. I will also say it somewhat leans to the reader's discretion.
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Post by Wahu_m »

I appreciated the authors effort, I haven't read too many fantasy novels so the past life interludes all seemed refreshingly different to me.
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Post by Yerenzhu »

I felt as if the whole past-life regression wasn't well drawn out or elaborated as well as it could have been. I didn't like the whole "eyes moving from the painting" either. I feel as if it could have done better in some ways.
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Sharill Rasowo
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Post by Sharill Rasowo »

I think it was a deliberate decision on the author's part to make it unclear whether the character is crazy or they really did experience past life regression.
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Post by Jajachris »

cristinaro wrote: 04 Jun 2018, 06:55 Well, the past-life interludes were not exactly realistic to me. In many instances, I had the impression Alex treated everything too carelessly and light-heartedly. Besides, he does not seem to have any problem in Angela kissing him during her trance episodes. Did you notice that the action takes place between August 3 and September 15? Let's say they were lovers in other lives and their instant connection is explainable as such. However, there are too many things happening too fast over a very short period of time. I would have liked the past-life episodes to be much more detailed for the story to gain credibility.
I agree with you, it would have had more credibility if the past life episodes had been more detailed and spread over a larger space of time.
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Post by Medhansh Bhardwaj »

I won't argue about past-life regression being true or false. But in the book's context, it was pretty hard to believe it. I think the author touched this topic in a very casual and childish way. It needed much more convincing substance.
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