Incarnate (Newsoul #1)

Incarnate (Newsoul #1)

By Jodi Meadows

Published January 31st, 2012 by Katherine Tegen Books

374 pages

4 stars - It was great and interesting.

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.


Incarnate was a very interesting book.  I really liked the whole story and Jodi's views of reincarnation.  The characters were great and I felt like I could feel for Ana or Sam.  

For five thousand years the people of Heart have died and come back in new bodies but with the same mind.  They have been reincarnated.  But one year all that changes.  When one of the women from Heart dies, she doesn't come back.  Instead Ana replaces her being the first Newsoul.  As you can imagine things are difficult for Ana as she grows.  No one knows why Ana was born instead of the other women being reincarnated and worst of all Ana's mom hates her.  So for 18 years Ana grows up in a cottage with only her mom.  She has been cut off from the community of Heart so as not to remind everyone of what happened years ago.  Ana's father left before she was born and her mom is mean to her daily.  So on Ana's 18th birthday, she decides to leave and her mother doesn't object.  So Ana is off to find Heart and the reason for why she was born.  But in the area of Range there are creatures besides the animals we see every day.  Dragons and sylphs are dangers of their every day lives.  Along Ana's journey to the city she meets Sam, an 18 year old boy who is willing to help her even though she isn't like everyone else.  But once they get to the city Ana finds out that not everyone is as kind as Sam.  And there is even someone out to get her.  Plus there are attacks on the city and everyone is wondering what is going on.  Who can she trust and is it worth falling in love with Sam?  

I really love how Jodi was able to make you feel for the characters.  Like how I felt bad for Ana because in the beginning she isn't sure who to trust and what to do.  She still fears her mother and kind of acts like a frightened deer.  But I love how she is able to grow and realize that not everyone is mean or untrustworthy.  Sam and a few of his friends help her realize this of course.  Sam is very patient and kind in this book and an overall good friend.  He helps Ana when she can't help herself and I really did like his character.

So overall the story was pretty good.  At times it did feel like a little more could have gone on and maybe it could have been a bit longer but for the first book in the series is was great.  I really do want to know what happens next for Ana and Sam.  Luckily the second book is coming out next year.  Incarnate was a good book filled with fantasy, romance, action and suspense.  It made you think about reincarnation and the characters lives.  The author had you guessing at parts only to find out you were wrong.  Check it out and see what you think! 

Vanessa