Review - Incarnate

by Jodi Meadows
publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
date of publications: January 31, 2012
format: eGalley
pages: 234
source: Netgalley
Amazon / IndieBound / B&N / The Book Depository

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?

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

What I Thought

Where do I begin?  From the very first page, I knew that Incarnate was going to be one of those books that completely sucks you in.  So many of the elements that make up this story are intricately woven and fascinating, often resulting in pondering and wonder.  The sense of fantasy combined with a dystopian society insured a unique reading experience that I found both mesmerizing and exciting.

The world building that Meadows accomplished is above and beyond what one usually expects.  On the one hand, there are creatures such as dragons, centaurs, and sylphs either featured or mentioned.  On the other, the society that makes up the city of Heart is so very dystopian in design that the level of interest is increased all the more.  That these two conventions exist side-by-side in this book inexplicably works.  One might be surprised by that, but it just does.  It is all pulled together by the people, who are reincarnated again and again, thus adding the edge of ancientness that really put the way of this world into perspective.

Our main character, Ana, is a tough nut to crack, in more ways than one.  She is both so starved of affection and wary of others that she is difficult to fully understand, at first.  She is a wonderfully complex character because of this that there isn't a dull moment where she is concerned.  Sam, however, makes for an excellent juxtaposition.  He is a very even-tempered character, though he does have his own ghosts in his past.  The interactions between the two is very dynamic and intense, producing many butterfly-in-the-stomach moments.  I wound up enjoying the romance aspect of this book more than most of the books I have read in recent memory.

The overall story that makes up Incarnate is simply breathtaking.  All of the different layers come together to create a fantastical, though-provoking plot centered around an even more fantastical, dangerous world.  I simply couldn't get enough of this wonderful book and am already looking forward to the rest of the series.  Incarnate has provided me with yet another new favorite that I am dying to put on my bookshelf.  Incarnate is a must-not-miss read that I can't possibly recommend enough.

Obligatory legal statement: This eGalley was provided to me free of charge by the publisher via Netgalley. No monetary compensation was received in exchange for this fair and unbiased review.