Friday, July 20, 2012

Incarnate - Jodi Meadows

Synopsis: 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. (from Goodreads)

I don't know, but I didn't have any expectations when I read this book. To be honest, I thought the cover was a little hokey and I'm always a little skeptical of fantasy worlds. There's so much fantasy out there that I love so the bar was set high. And Incarnate just set the bar higher. And now that I get the cover, it seems beautiful to me. Funny how that happens.

I DEVOURED this book!! This was the first book I read in a long time that made me want to call in sick to work so that I could just sit and read the whole darn thing in one sitting. It rocked my world, to say the least. I just loved the magical imagery of the world, and the religious undertones just made it seem more real. I usually scoff at religion, but I think the whole, reincarnation/life force/Jana?/mystical city motif gives more depth to the characters. They have this odd struggle of living in a utopian-type world and at the same time constantly being surrounded by the same people/souls. There's only about 5,000 souls that become reincarnated year after year for thousands of years. Just imagine if there's a certain someone you don't get along with who will be stuck with you in one form or another for the rest of eternity. Yikes! Ana experiences a serious grudge firsthand. 

I thought the concept of same souls, different bodies would be confusing, but Jodi Meadows seems to have a firm grip on her world that I never got "lost". Ana is new to everyone so her history is not complicated. Everyone else, on the other hand, have been reincarnated into different bodies ever since New souls were discontinued. In one life you're a woman and in another, a man. A soul who might inhabit the body of your mother in one life might just be a neighbor in a different one. It's so bizarre, but like I said, you're guided through the craziness of this world so seamlessly. As you see in the story, it brings a whole new meaning to "soul-mates".

What I really enjoyed about this book was the element of music that Jodi Meadows included. I mean, it's a book so you can't hear anything, obviously, but music is still soooo important to the story. It's what really ties Ana to Sam. They are one of the few couples in YA that really seem drawn to each other. I'm really convinced that they love each other, it's not just some I'm-drawn-to-you-for-no-particular-reason-but-I-love-you-anyway kind of romance. It's slow-building and heart-pounding and I'm dying to know what happens next!

Friday, July 20, 2012

Incarnate - Jodi Meadows

Synopsis: 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. (from Goodreads)

I don't know, but I didn't have any expectations when I read this book. To be honest, I thought the cover was a little hokey and I'm always a little skeptical of fantasy worlds. There's so much fantasy out there that I love so the bar was set high. And Incarnate just set the bar higher. And now that I get the cover, it seems beautiful to me. Funny how that happens.

I DEVOURED this book!! This was the first book I read in a long time that made me want to call in sick to work so that I could just sit and read the whole darn thing in one sitting. It rocked my world, to say the least. I just loved the magical imagery of the world, and the religious undertones just made it seem more real. I usually scoff at religion, but I think the whole, reincarnation/life force/Jana?/mystical city motif gives more depth to the characters. They have this odd struggle of living in a utopian-type world and at the same time constantly being surrounded by the same people/souls. There's only about 5,000 souls that become reincarnated year after year for thousands of years. Just imagine if there's a certain someone you don't get along with who will be stuck with you in one form or another for the rest of eternity. Yikes! Ana experiences a serious grudge firsthand. 

I thought the concept of same souls, different bodies would be confusing, but Jodi Meadows seems to have a firm grip on her world that I never got "lost". Ana is new to everyone so her history is not complicated. Everyone else, on the other hand, have been reincarnated into different bodies ever since New souls were discontinued. In one life you're a woman and in another, a man. A soul who might inhabit the body of your mother in one life might just be a neighbor in a different one. It's so bizarre, but like I said, you're guided through the craziness of this world so seamlessly. As you see in the story, it brings a whole new meaning to "soul-mates".

What I really enjoyed about this book was the element of music that Jodi Meadows included. I mean, it's a book so you can't hear anything, obviously, but music is still soooo important to the story. It's what really ties Ana to Sam. They are one of the few couples in YA that really seem drawn to each other. I'm really convinced that they love each other, it's not just some I'm-drawn-to-you-for-no-particular-reason-but-I-love-you-anyway kind of romance. It's slow-building and heart-pounding and I'm dying to know what happens next!