This hefty supernatural debut thriller has many elements of commercial success but few of the literary kind. Fifteen-year-old Persephone (“Phe”) attends an exclusive New England prep school with a secret past. She meets Zach, an impossibly handsome boy to whom she’s instantly attracted. Phe has dreams that tie her to the town and meets an elderly lady who personally knew Phe’s previous incarnation in the 1730s. Zach and the rest of the “townies” are genetic mutants with supernatural powers, and Phe herself has ties to a chthonic Greek goddess. Hopcus spends time with student romance, music, fashion and gossip, often abruptly jerking the narrative into the next scary scene with another dream or an ultra-villain. Indeed, the author portrays all characters as extreme and keeps them static. She doesn’t build suspense, merely throwing it on the page, and indulges in some odd imagery—“He smelled comforting, like grapefruit and leather”—and frequently clunky writing. An adolescent-seeming effort that may well please many adolescents, which is fine. (Paranormal romance. YA)
