Isabelle Popp has written all sorts of things, ranging from astrophysics research articles and math tests to crossword puzzles and poetry. These days she's writing romance. When she's not reading or writing, she's probably knitting or scouring used book stores for vintage gothic romance paperbacks. Originally from New York, she's as surprised as anyone that she lives in Bloomington, Indiana.
Reincarnation love stories are probably the most romantic romances out there. There’s something about the “I will find you in every lifetime” refrain that I find beautiful. I can fully understand why some people would think of it as a threat! But I know others of you are hopeless romantics like I am. A love that transcends death is as powerful an idea as I can conjure.
For a reincarnation romance to work, the author must find a unique angle on the concept. Reincarnation, of course, is a meaningful feature of many religions, and some books build on those faith-based ideas. These stories tackle old stories and put them in new contexts. Some can bring queer people into the narrative openly; others juxtapose ancient concepts with contemporary characters. With infinite lives, there are infinite stories to tell.
Other authors use reincarnation as a fantastical literary device, not unlike immortality. Essentially, reincarnation can be written as a kind of superpower, separate from any particular religious belief. Reincarnated people can have a huge accumulation of knowledge, plus the bravery that comes from not fearing death. These traits inform how they function differently from us mere mortals. These reincarnation love stories include romance novels as well as romantic reads across genres. For each of the books below, I’ll let you know how they deal with reincarnation, and I’ll wager at least one will catch your fancy in this lifetime.
See You in My 19th Life by Lee Hye
If you lived seventeen lives without finding your enduring love, you probably wouldn’t be too optimistic for life number eighteen. This is the case for Juwon Yun. Then she meets Seoha Mun, who changes her mind entirely. Naturally, she has to go and tragically die. Now in her new life as Jieum Ban, she must find her way back to Seoha, who’s pretty broken up about Juwon’s death. This manhwa has moments of lightness alongside true emotional depth.
Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven
This book has a fantastic premise. Two people fall in love in every lifetime, but they also kill each other every time. In particular, Evelyn is killed by Arden before her eighteenth birthday. This go around, Evelyn really needs to stay alive so she can donate bone marrow to her little sister. So she’s out to see if she and Arden can do it differently this time. Our Infinite Fates explores whether reincarnation is a curse, and if so, if it can be broken.
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Hearts of Fire and Snow by David Bowles and Guadalupe García McCall
This YA reincarnation romance is rooted in the Aztec origin myth about the paired volcanoes Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl, a tragic love story with a similar star-crossed lovers ending as Romeo and Juliet. Blanca meets new student Greg at school, and she is intrigued by him. There’s a reason for that: he’s been searching for her for a thousand years. Swoon, right?? If they are to make it this time, they will have to confront their long past. Alongside the romance, this story also discusses environmental justice.
The Hundred Loves of Juliet by Evelyn Skye
Speaking of Romeo and Juliet, here is a book that takes the play as its inspiration and tries to find a new ending for our tragic teens. In this version, Sebastian and Helene are grown adults and incarnations of Romeo and Juliet. Will they finally have a happy ending? In addition to the main storyline, we visit these two characters in many of their different incarnations. It has garnered a lot of comparisons to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, so if you like sweeping, swoony books, pick this one up.
Puppy Love by Tsuchida Haru
While plenty of these reincarnation romances are here to put you through the wringer, this one is not. What if a dog you rescued was reincarnated as a person? And what if that person still remembered your smell from when they were a puppy and you were a kid? Doesn’t that make you want to cry?? This is a short and sweet manga about learning how to prioritize happiness. And there’s a dog named Cotton Candy. If that doesn’t convince you to read it, I don’t know what will.
The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang
Okay, I am cheating a little bit because this book is not a proper romance by genre standards, but it is romance-adjacent, it’s about reincarnation, and this is my list. This novel chronicles the lives of two men whose fates are intertwined over millennia of reincarnation. The story focuses on three of their meetings: one in the year 4 BCE, one in 1740, and one in modern-day Los Angeles. At its heart, it’s about how people can be consumed by love, and also by sex, and it doesn’t shy away from either.
Check out our list of sci-fi and fantasy novels with reincarnation in them. And then contemplate who you might be in your next life.
English (US) · 