Mundie Moms

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Book Review: INCARNATE by Jodi Meadows



Published by: Harper Teen
To Be Released on: January 31st, 2012
Source: ARC from publisher to review
4.5 stars: I Enjoyed It
Pre-Order from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

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?

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

If you like something that's a little unique, refreshing, addicting and has a few key elements like a well written romance, dragons, tensions, battles, a MASQUERADE BALL (nope not like the CP one, but this one is still really good), sylphs and a few reincarnations, than you need to go pick up this debut book from Jodi Meadows. This combination of elements made for an incredibly hard to put down book that felt like a cross between fantasy, and paranormal. I really enjoyed getting wrapped up into Jodi's story telling, her unique mythology and her incredibly fascinating world building.

The characters were all interesting to say the least and I liked that I got to know them more over the course of the story. Ana is someone that truly grows into a stronger character as the story goes along. She's had one heck of a horrid upbringing and it isn't until after being rescued from the alluring love interest Sam, does she start to really grow into the character she's meant to be. *sigh* Sam. It definitely wasn't hard for me to be swept off my feet by Sam. He's complicated, level headed and he pushes Ana in a very different way than most lead male characters in YA books do. Ana herself is stubborn, persistent and I admire her for asking questions and seeking out answers. It's through Ana's quest to get answers and learn more about herself and her existence that we learn more about this society's history. Ana and Sam's romance is so well done! It's drawn out, it's complicated and boy do they have some great character chemistry. I LOVE this romance. It reminded me a little of the romance from Graceling. It's beautiful, pure and it's one that blossoms as the characters learn to trust in each other and get to know one another.

The other thing that I really enjoyed about this story is Jodi's unique mythology with reincarnation and the rich history that comes with it. I found it fascinating that her characters would not only keep coming back after living numerous lives, but they'd be able to keep their memories of all their past lives. Not only that, but they could be a different sex when they are reincarnated. The story's society is bit a intriguing as they are made of members who have known each other over the span of generations giving the different lives they've lived. Each time they come back they keep the same friendships. I liked that the concept of "new" or "no" souls. No matter how many times a character is reincarnated they keep their same soul, good or bad.

Incarnate is a fabulous debut! Jodi's writing is simply beautiful. I fell in love with the way she tells her story, and I loved that it's both simple and complex all at the same time. It's well paced, it's engaging and at the heart of the storyline is an enchanting love story that truly a breath of fresh air. The battles, the tensions and twists that are revealed at the end of the book are fabulous! My only compliant is having to wait so long to pick up the sequel. I highly recommend picking up this book when it's out later this month.



Don't miss your chance to meet Jodi Meadows on tour via the Pitch Dark Days!! Go HERE to find out what stops she'll be at and if you're in Austin, TX be sure to stop by and meet her on 2/17 at the Barnes & Noble in the Arboretum at 7 pm!

23 comments:

  1. I have a galley thanks to NetGalley, can't wait to pick it up. Also, I'm reading The Alchemy of Forever, that deals with the reincarnation topic too. Will we get more books like these these year? I'm not sure.
    xo, Ella

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  2. Dying to read it. Great review, MMs. :)

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  3. LOVE LOVE LOVE this book!! I can't WAIT to get myself a final copy! I loved the reincarnation topic too, I think it was really interesting how they were all basically over 5,000 years old and remembered it! So cool!

    Anna @ Literary Exploration

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  4. Great Review!! I <3 this book as well! Cant wait to get my finished copy:D

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  5. I love the mythology sound of this it sounds so good, can't wait to read it! Nice review!

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  6. All you have to say is "masquerade ball" and my heart starts to swoon lol. Loved your review!

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  7. Ella- Ohh I'll have to pick that one up too. I hope you enjoyed Incarnate.

    Sophie- Thank you! I think you'll love it. I know you'll LOVE the ball ;)

    Anna- I can't wait to pick up a final copy either. I'm so glad you LOVED it!

    Amanda- Thank you!

    Maria- Her mythology is really cool. I loved it.

    Tara- Thank you! I loved the masquerade ball scene! They should have mentioned the ball in the synopsis. haha

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  8. great review!! i'm dying to read this one. <3 i won an ARC of it, but the person hasn't mailed it yet so it's looking like i'll get to read Incarnate when it releases. :\

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    1. Ashelynn- Thank you! I hope you get the ARC soon. It's a great read.

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  9. This is the second good review I've seen of Incarnate today, so I'm leaning closer and closer to "officially" putting it on my to-read list!

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    1. Natalie- That's your sign to put it on your list. :) LOL

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  10. The reincarnation angle really intrigues me. And I love the cover. Thanks for the great review.

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    1. You're so welcome Natalie! Jodi does a great job with her reincarnation. It's definitely intriguing.

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  11. Loved this book too! My review is up next week. The names she chose were so interesting.

    Jen

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    1. I can't wait to read your review Jen! I'm glad you loved it too.

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  12. I loved this book! It's so completely different, and I loved the sylphs especially! Our review will go up the 19th.

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    1. Amy- I love that so many people have enjoyed this debut! I can't wait to read your review.

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  13. Incanrante is indeed a fabolous debut. I loved the unique world she created with a mix of fantasy inside. However, it's had to label this book which I loved very much!

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    1. I completely agree with everything you said. It's very hard to label the book and I like the different elements Jodi mixes together. It's very unique.

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  14. Reminds you of Graceling? That's all the endorsement we need. We've been looking forward to this one anyway, so we're glad to hear it's good!

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    1. Just the way the love story unravels is similar to Graceling's. I should say it totally reminded me of Graceling's love story, because It's one that takes time to unravel and is built on trust, friendship and loyalty.

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