Incarnate by Jodi Meadows
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Publication Date: January 31, 2012
Pages: 384
Publisher: HarperCollins Children’s Books
Source: Received an ARC from the publisher
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.
My Opinion
I loved Incarnate by Jodi Meadows! I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this book — all I knew was that reincarnation was involved, and in a way I’d never seen it before. It seemed like something I would like, and I was right. Jodi Meadows created a beautiful fantasy world, where for thousands of years, a million people have been reincarnated over and over again. I had lots of questions about why this happened, some that were answered in Incarnate, and some that were not. I’m excited to learn more about the mythology of the world as the series progresses.
I loved the romance between the two main characters, Ana and Sam. From the summary it was clear that Ana was a new soul, meaning she was a teenager, and Sam has been reincarnated for thousands of years, meaning he’s a lot older than her, so at first I was worried that their relationship might come across as wrong because of their age gap. Luckily this wasn’t the case. The author made it clear that even though the souls are reincarnated, body chemistry and age also contribute to how a person acts and behaves. Also, Ana and Sam were so perfect together that their age gap was easy to overcome. Their relationship grew throughout the book, which I liked.
Ana is a likable, relatable character who I found myself rooting for throughout the whole book. She’s unsure of herself, but strong and determined at the same time. I’m excited to read more about her and the world Jodi Meadows created in the next book in the series. Also, there was a masquerade scene in this book, and it was done beautifully! So enchanting and magical. It was my favorite scene in the story. Incarnate is definitely a book I recommend picking up when it comes out in 2012.
I read the first chapter of the e-ARC from Netgalley, and I can safely say that if this book is as good as others are saying – and with what I have read so far – I'm just going to love this book. Thanks for the review!