Review: Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

Title: Incarnate

Author: Jodi Meadows

Publisher:  HarperCollins

Publication Date: 1.31.12

Pages: 384

Genre: Fantasy, SciFi

Series: Yes (Incarnate #1)

Source: ARC from publisher

Rating: B+

Summary (from Goodreads):

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 suspicious and 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?

Review:

Not going to lie: It took me (what seemed like) forever to get into this book. I don’t know if it was my headspace or something else, but I just could not connect with this book for the first seven or so chapters. I would put it down and come back over and over, but finally around chapter 8 I felt like I hit a turning point and there was no going back. After that? I was well and truly hooked.

Let’s just address the obvious first, OK? The cover. It is, hands down, the prettiest cover I have seen in years. It’s just stunning.

Second, I was so completely intrigued by the plot line that Jodi Meadows came up with. Reincarnation isn’t a new idea, but the idea of a society built upon it where everyone has known each other for thousands of years? That is epic and a fantastic idea.

The world building in this novel blew my mind, as did the idea of how time was kept and years marked. I love the way each block of time is given a name based on what happened then. And all the creatures that Meadows created! Talk about incredible! There was so much going on in this novel—action, romance, drama … You name it and Jodi Meadows delivered it.

There is something about Ana that I just adore. Maybe it’s because she’s so new and fresh and such an outsider, that I feel like she needs to be protected (even if Ana doesn’t share my opinions of herself). I loved her interactions with Sam. They, to me, really drove the entire story. I loved their scenes and interactions. I also love that their love built up over time and wasn’t the formulaic insta-romance that seems to be everywhere.

Incarnate is a breathtaking, inspiring read. Meadows takes you on this incredible journey, and I was grateful to be along for the ride. I can’t wait to see what the next book in this series will bring.

Buy: Amazon