Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

Release Date: January 31, 2012
Author Info: Website | Twitter | Facebook
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Age Group: Young Adult
Shelfability: Acquire/Borrow
Pages: 384
Format: Advance Reader Copy
Source: Publisher
Interest: Debut Author
Challenge: 2012 Debut Author Challenge
Buy the Book: Amazon

New soul

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.

No soul

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?

It’s been several weeks since I’ve turned the last few pages of Incarnate and I’m still not 100% sure with how I feel about it. Somedays I love it, some days I don’t. It’s rather unsettling actually. Usually I have such strong emotions one way or another. Perhaps my indecision is a reflection of the complexity of the book itself?

There are three things that I loved about this novel. The world, Ana, and the writing. (More specifically the world-building.) I wanted to know who and what Ana was, but the thing that kept me engrossed the most was the world. I wanted to discover all it had to offer. It’s secrets, if you will. And although Ana discovers several of them, I can’t help but feel that it’s only the tip of the iceberg.

I enjoyed the relationship between Ana and Sam, yet at the same time I found it to be unnerving. I simply wanted to picture Sam as a teen, but we are constantly reminded that he has had several lives, several forms and several loves. Is Ana only appealing because she is  different… A new soul?

The ending was also rather abrupt. The intensity builds and builds, perhaps I was just expecting too much. I’m definitely interested in revisiting this world and these characters. I feel as though the story has only just begun.

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