Review: Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

Incarnate
by Jodi Meadows
Series: Newsoul #1
Publication date: 31 January 2012
Katherine Tegen Books, Hardcover, 374 pages
Source: Library

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NEWSOUL
Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.

NOSOUL
Even Ana’s own mother thinks she’s a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she’ll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?

HEART
Sam believes Ana’s new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana’s enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else’s life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?

Jodi Meadows expertly weaves soul-deep romance, fantasy, and danger into an extraordinary tale of new life.

Rating: ★★★★★

Incarnate was amazing. Breath-taking. Touching. Unique. And the list goes on. It’s very different from the YA books I’ve been reading these days as it’s not about dystopian, instead about a whole alternate reality.

I won’t explain the story-line ’cause I’m a long-winded person and it would take forever for me to summarise it. But overall, the story-line was really good apart from the fact that there were lots of loose ends untied which I’m guessing Miss Meadows would explain in the next two books of the trilogy.

Next, the characters. Ana isn’t exactly your typical sort of protagonist. Firstly, she came off sort of damaged which would usually bother me but didn’t because I thought it would be expected, growing up the way she did. Moreover, Ana’s growth from her experiences throughout the book was subtly shown which made her somehow more realistic and relatable. In Sam’s case, I felt like he was a really deep, sensitive sort of guy. Not exactly fitting the strong, super attractive, perfect guys depicted in many YA books. His flaws however, made him all the more perfect and endearing because lets face it, we gotta love a guy who isn’t too fictional. Basically, I’m really happy with all the characters. Those I should love, I loved and those I should loath, I loathed.

In conclusion, Incarnate is one of the best books I’ve read though it can be pretty intense and you need to pay attention to the little details to get the feel of the book. I guess it’s like deciphering the lyrics of a song. It sounds great, but gets even better if you understand the underlying message. Can’t wait for Asunder now!