Review: Incarnate

Incarnate by Jodi Meadows
Katherine Tegen Books
Release date: January 31, 2012
Pages: 384

Format: Hardcover

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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?

After all the good things I'd heard about Incarnate, I was expecting an amazing sci-fi/fantasy book. When I first started reading it, I loved it. . . . But I got bored really quickly, and it was a struggle to read the rest of the book. I finished it, because I wanted to know why Ana, a new soul, was born, and because I find the idea of reincarnation fascinating. Incarnate didn't deliver, though.

My biggest problem with the book was Ana. I really wanted to like her. I liked how passionate she was about music, and I like how music played a huge part of the book. What really got to me was how much Ana complained about people not understanding her or not liking her because she was a new soul. It got really old after a while, to the point where I just wanted to tell her to shut up and get on with the story.

Toward the middle of the book, it got interesting again, but again, it didn't last long. Incarnate just didn't hold my interest throughout the entire book. My favorite part of it was actually the end--and no, not because it meant the book was over! I loved the ending because it was so incredibly satisfying. I wasn't sure how I wanted the book to end, and the way it ended was perfect for me. I don't want to give the ending away, but Meadows wrapped everything up in a way that satisfied by curiosity about Ana.

Incarnate is the first book in a series. I haven't decided yet if I'll read the rest of the series, partly because I was ultimately disappointed by Incarnate, but mostly because I think Incarnate could easily stand alone. I'd like to keep Ana's store a standalone for myself, and just imagine where life takes her next, so I don't know that I'll read the rest of the series.