Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

Series: Newsoul (bk. 1)

Genera: Fantasy, Dystopian, Sci-fi, Romance

Subjects: Reincarnation, love, dragons, supernatural, utopias

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 374 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen: Katherine Tegan

Summary/ product description: “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?
Jodi Meadows expertly weaves soul-deep romance, fantasy, and danger into an extraordinary tale of new life.”

My Rating: êêêêê

My Review: This was probably the most creative mix of sci-fi and fantasy I’ve ever read. I so happy I finally read this book. It reminded me of Crewel by Gennifer Albin in some ways. I kept wondering if the rage was some synthetic world like the Matrix. I thought this book was dystopian, and in some ways it is. I guess it’s just a unique fantasy with reincarnation. I wonder what’s going to be discovered in the next few books. I really enjoyed the romance between Ana and Sam. The piano scenes made me think of Twilight. And I knew who Sam really was right away. It was pretty obvious.

I felt bad for Ana. Everybody treated her like she was helpless, or they didn’t know that she didn’t know certain things. The people who’ve been reincarnated over and over never had to teach children how to do stuff because they had already learned stuff in a past life. Ana is smart of enough to learn things on her own. She’s a very fast learner and eager to discover. She’s a new pair of eyes, a new opinion. She changes everything by the fact that she exists.

It’s a really interesting idea. This book has a lot of philosophic themes in it. The idea of a world of people who’ve been around for thousands of years. The fact that you’re so young and have only this life makes you different and unique. The only thing I found weird was that they kept getting reincarnated in different bodies.  Male or female. Sam have been a woman in a past life is very odd.

I like the fantasy world in this book. I like how they have technology. Apparently over 5,000 years they’re discovered all these things. They started off primitive, and are now more advanced than us. I just seems so strange. It made me feel like this world was a program. This world of empty houses and dangerous creatures was there waiting for them, and then they built it over 5,000 years. They’ve lived so many lives. Almost like they are players in a game/program. Each time they die, they come back in a different body. The sylphs and dragons are a nice touch.

Cover Art Review: This is probably my favorite cover image this year. It’s so neon bright. It glows! The red and the blue. The butterfly mask. I love it. It’s perfect. I wish it was on metallic or opalescent paper stock, though.

 

~Haley G