My Thoughts On: Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

Posted November 8, 2011 by Asheley in Uncategorized / 10 Comments

Incarnate by Jodi Meadows
Published by HarperCollins
Publish Date:  January 31, 2012

384 Pages
My Source:  Borrowed
Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

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.  -(summary from Goodreads.com)

My Thoughts:  I can’t remember ever reading a book like Incarnate, where it speaks of reincarnation. I was curious about how the author would handle this topic and I was curious about how the beautiful (ARC) cover would tie into the story, and I was thrilled with the result. Let’s get right to the breakdown, shall we? 


Reasons to add Incarnate to your To-Be-Read list ASAP: 


1. Quest. Ana is the only person ever born that has not been reincarnated from one of a million souls that have been in existence for thousands of years. She is ostracized for this and treated as an outcast. She doesn’t understand why she wasn’t reincarnated, why people don’t like her, and why life has to be this way for her. Ana is on a quest to find some answers, which leads her to the city of Heart, where the great library holds the answers to everything. To get there, she has to trek through the forests of the Range, heavy with deadly sylphs, and make it through the gates of Heart. Despite her determination, this journey is harder than she ever imagined, and Ana doesn’t realize how lucky she is to run into Sam along the way.


2. Romance. I don’t often put the romance aspect of a story this far up on my list because to me, it usually isn’t the main point of a fantasy-type story. There is a romance that builds between Ana and Sam, but it builds slowly (one of my favorite slow burns ever) and I was all about this romance. It is very sweet and very tasteful, but friends, this romance is very present – and I finish this book with stars in my eyes for Sam. The boy made my heart pitter-patter, I won’t lie


3. World-building. I’m a sucker for excellence in world-building, and I know I’m not the only one. So when I find a book that has a wonderful world on the inside, I want to share it. This book is set mainly in the city of Heart (which actually has a pulse!) and the bordering area of Range. There are dragons (yes, dragons!), sylphs, and some other fantasy aspects that left this sci-fi/fantasy fan flailing with excitement. 


4. Music. You guys, Sam is a musician. He’s been a musician for all of his lives, for thousands of years. He’s composed hundreds of beautiful pieces of music and he plays several instruments. He’s basically this world’s version of a rock star. ~ Ana shouldn’t know about music – after all, her evil mother has done everything she can do to make sure Ana doesn’t know any of the comforts of life, and music is one of them. But Ana has secretly taught herself how to sing and she has stolen a few moments away to listen to the music of her favorite composer, Dossam. Oh! how she loves his music – the sound of it, the way it makes her feel, the way it makes her heart swell…if only she could be allowed to study music for real. ~ Good gracious, the musical things that happen when Ana and Sam are together!… 


5. Cover. This cover is stunning, yes? AND for those who want to know: this butterfly theme DOES exist as a scene in the book! Hooray for a cohesive theme for a YA book cover, right? Seriously, though, while I was reading, I kept closing the book to catch a glimpse of that pretty butterfly. Loved this. 


Y’all I could go on and on about my MAD LOVE for this book, but I’ll just stop here. These reasons I’ve given you are justification enough that you should just put this on your TBR list. Read it, and then come back and let me know if you agree with me or not. 


This book is a super-fun fantasy complete with dragons and towers, but there is also digital equipment inside too. What a fun mix! I couldn’t have been happier about the way music was handled in this book, as it was not as cheesy as music has been handled in other YA books. In fact, the music was a super-hot foundation for the super-sweet but incredibly swoonworthy romance that builds as a slow burn between Ana and Sam. I honestly can’t recommend this book enough to YA fans and fans of fantasy alike, as long as they don’t mind a little bit of a romance thrown in there. 


I’d also like to mention that this book is age-appropriate, meaning that it isn’t overly smoldering. There is just enough romance, but it is not overly suggestive at all. This book is PERFECT. Everyone, read it as soon as possible! You will be SO GLAD you did. 


*I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts and opinions. I received no compensation for my review. Thank you HarperCollins! 

Asheley

About Asheley

Asheley is a Southern girl. She loves Carolina blue skies, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and NC craft beer. She loves all things history but prefers books over everything.

You can find her somewhere in North Carolina, daydreaming about the ocean.

Find Asheley on Litsy @intothehallofbooks!

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10 responses to “My Thoughts On: Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

  1. Oh I want to read this so bad! Your review…girl it's amazing!!! Awesome job. You just made anyone who was on the fence about Incarnate want it more than anything else!

  2. I just got this one from Netgalley because you love it. I was totally not interested but you are another blogger or two that I like have had such RAVE reviews of this one that I shall have to give it a chance! 😀

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