Title: Reincarnation
Author: Suzanne Weyn
Published: 2007 by Scholastic
Obtained: Library
From prehistory to the present, theirs was a love for the ages. It starts with a fight in a cave over an elusive green jewel . . . and then travels over time and lives to include Egyptian slaves, Greek temples, Massachusetts witch trials, Civil War battlefields, Paris on the eve of World War II, America in the 1960s . . . and a pair of modern-day teenagers. For readers who believe that love is stronger than time or death, this is an unforgettable novel from a wonderful storyteller.
First Sentence:”And the next thing I knew I was a baby.”
So despite my dislike of the ultimate concept presented, I read this mostly to see how she went about writing this story, what time periods she would choose, how they would meet, how they would “die” or “move on” or whatever, and basically how she was going to make it all work.
Aside from the font choices, the attempt at fancy lettering came off looking rather amateur, I did kind of like this book. Until the end few “lives.”
So it all starts with them as “cavemen” or whatever and they get in a fight with each other and die. So from here they are sent around the world, through many time periods, they get close . . . and then are torn apart. It was rather depressing actually.
It was also very confusing.
The only way to tell who was who was to know their “trademarks” or whatever and then to associate that way. Throughout the novel, I learned certain things like a bad ankle, a beautiful singing voice, frequent headaches, jealousy of a certain character continuously, a hurting jaw, and other random stuff. The “guy” and the “girl” and the “sidekick jealous girl” and the “mean-ish jealous guy” were the main characters who were reincarnated through time.
While the author probably could have gotten a little more creative with her concept, she was already highly confusing. What mostly confused me was the whole “spirit phase” or whatever the characters would go into after they died. Actually, the whole rebirth cycle bugged me, because it was inconsistent and annoying. But what really got me was in one of the last stages, where the characters started figuring out what was going on and talked about the reincarnation and the religious elements of it. I would have rather read a story based on an abstract idea to make the romantic element more passionate, than have to deal with all the weird religion details.
The story does end nicely though. But when I got there I just wanted it to end, because it was getting on my nerves. Regardless, it was a nice concept that just dragged out a little too long for my taste.
Rating: 
Content Warnings: Possibly some mild language (I really don’t remember), and kissing.
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