Kaitlyn's Review: Incarnate

Title: Incarnate 
Author: Jodi Meadows
Series: Newsoul
Pages: 384
Published: January 31, 2011

Summary:
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?


Review: 
There are a lot of feelings about this book that I have. Rhee recommended me this book (not so much recommend as told me to read it or she would disown me) but as soon as I started it, I loved it. Immediately the reader is thrown into the perspective of Ana, who is the only "newsoul" in a world of people who have been born and born again (and can remember their past lives) for about 5,000 years. The mere concept is intriguing, and I had decided by page two I would finish the book no matter what because I wanted to see how a world like this would work. 


One thing that I find is outstanding about the book is the fact that I didn't end up hating Ana. In fact, I love her as a main character. I tend to find other favorites in books-side characters. Usually, especially in first person from one perspective and entire book, I find it burdensome. You realize all the flaws in a character and you want to smack them when they keep going on, and on, and on about something. While Ana does a lot of "I am a nosoul therefore I am meaningless and everyone hates me" especially in the beginning, she has a legitimate reason and I allowed it to not bother me too much. 


On the same note, she grows with the story. She is a dynamic main character, which is essential. She learns and the reader learns with her. It is a brilliant growth and I loved seeing it happen with each page turn. I also loved that when push came to shove with the romance in the book, she didn't just jump into it like many characters in YA novels do. Even though the person she had feelings for approached her, given the circumstances, she told him they needed to step back and not even talk about it right then. I literally cheered when she did that, because it was so different, and I adored it. At that moment, I was in love with the book even more. 


The only thing I personally dislike about the book is a small irk that won't make much sense to anyone who hasn't read it yet, but I dislike that near the end, an antagonist says he's doing things in the name of science. I am a big believer in science and the wonders and how vital it is to humans, and the direct jab that this author (while intentional or not) took at it did make me a bit frustrated. It took science's real purpose and twisted it into something horrifically evil. But I realize that was not probably the intention of the author at all, so I pushed my opinions on that aside and decided that the character was just crazy. 


There are many other reasons I loved--adored--the book. So many parts made me laugh and smile. I couldn't stop reading it. I haven't been much in a reading mood since the new year, but this book had me ignoring my friends and I just couldn't stop and put it down. I plan on buying the book when it is actually released (in order to support an author and a book I love) and I plan  on pre-ordering the next in the series when it comes out. 


Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5 Stars