Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Growing up in a small rural town in eastern Tennessee has not been easy for seventeen-year-old Haven Moore, a girl whose frequent visions of a past existence clash with the strict religious practices of her neighbors and family. Although Haven is convinced that her fainting spells and strange dreams about a boy named Ethan are an indication of her reincarnated soul, her tyrannical grandmother believes a demon has taken possession of her only grandchild and thus plans either to have the local pastor exorcise Haven or, if all else fails, to lock her up for good. Haven, however, has other plans, skipping town for New York City in search of the Ouroboros Society, an organization that she hopes can reunite her with the current incarnation of Ethan—whom she believes to be Iain Morrow, a wealthy Big Apple playboy—and put to rest the mystery surrounding her tragic demise in her former life. The book opens with a rich Southern atmosphere that, while edging towards campiness, includes a few well-placed gothic touches along with a cast of engagingly eccentric characters. Unfortunately, when Haven makes her way to New York, this slightly quirky, slightly creepy appeal is replaced with the jet-setting, absurdly rich lifestyle of her new (er, old?) boyfriend that seems to be a mere retread of Gossip Girls territory without the steamy love triangles or amusing catfights. The mystery surrounding Haven's past death, however, is actually quite intriguing, despite the fact that her naïveté is at times painful and she may give some readers whiplash as she jumps from one theory to the other. The ultimate revelation of the devilish baddie responsible for her soul's misfortune recalls the book's earlier Southern sensibility, and readers who slogged through the book's slower parts may well be satisfied by its deliciously sinister dénouement. [End Page 31]