Reviews

Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

bluespringheart's review against another edition

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5.0

Inhalt:
Ana ist das Mädchen mit der reinen, neuen Seele. Und das macht sie zur Außenseiterin. Denn jeder in ihrer Welt wurde mehrmals wiedergeboren und kann sich an seine vorherigen Leben erinnern. Doch als Ana geboren wurde, passierte etwas Ungewöhnliches: Eine Seele musste für sie sterben. Weil jeder dies als schlechtes Omen deutet, will niemand etwas mit ihr zu tun haben, niemand außer Sam. Doch plötzlich greifen schreckliche Wesen an. Trägt Ana tatsächlich die Schuld daran? Sie wird es herausfinden müssen, wenn sie in dieser Welt überleben will ...

Cover:
Das Cover ist sehr hübsch, aber natürlich keine Vergleich mit dem Original. Bin zwar nicht der riesen rosa Fan aber hier gefällt mir das sehr gut. Es wirkt insgesamt sehr harmonisch. Den deutschen Titel finde ich sehr passend gewählt, er spiegelt wirklich den Inhalt des Buches wieder.

Meine Meinung:
Ich kann nicht so gut einordnen ob es sich hier um Hight Fantasy oder eine Dystopie handelt, bin beim Suchen nach Dystopien auch öfters auf dieses Buch gestoßen, aber für mich ist es, trotz Dystopie (naja eher SiFi) Elementen, eher High Fantasy.
Die Story ist total originell und was das wichtigste ist vollkommen Klischee frei. Dazu kommt noch der sehr schöne Schreibstill der Autorin, auch ist das Buch ein wenig philosophisch angehaucht und das hat mir ebenfalls sehr gut gefallen.
Die Welt die, die Autorin hier geschaffen hat ist wunderschön und total faszinierend. Gut finde ich, dass die Autorin sich nicht in Beschreibungen verliert sondern auch vieles der Fantasy überlässt. Ein bisschen hat mich aber gestört, dass das Aussehen der Charaktere nie näher beschrieben wurde, aber ich glaub das lang auch daran dass die Autorin den Focus auf die Seelen, also auf den Charakter einer Person, legen wollte. Die Namen sind praktisch geschlechtslos, es wird auch sonst nicht wirklich Aufmerksamkeit auf das Geschlecht einer Person gelegt, im Vordergrund stand immer der Charakter, und das hat mir sehr gut gefallen.
Sehr interessant fand ich es wie die Wiedergeburten beschrieben wurde, die Autorin hat eine sehr gute Balance zwischen Ernst und Humor zu finden um dem Leser diese vielen Leben und Tote nahzubringen. Man hat sehr gut gemerkt, dass ewiges Leben nicht wirklich ein Segen ist (auch wenn hier die Leute die man liebt auch immer wiedergeboren werden) und zu Last werden kann, welche Probleme es mit sich bringt und das man teilweise nach so vielen Leben auch abstumpft und gleichgültig wird.
Ana ist eine wunderbare Protagonistin, man leidet richtig mit ihr mit. Es ist herzzerreißend wie sie sich selbst sieht, aber nicht auf eine nervige Art und Weise, so wie sie aufgewachsen ist und was man ihr von klein auf eingeredet hat kann man gar nicht anders, als so zu denken wie sie es tut. Trotzdem verliert sie sich nicht im Selbstmitleid. Ich mochte ihre Entwicklung sehr gerne, sie hatte mit viel zu kämpfen und ihre Unsicherheiten haben sich nicht einfach von jetzt auf gleich aufgelöst. Diese Entwicklung fand ich sehr reallistich, Vertrauen und Liebe muss man auch lerne so wie sie aufgewachsen ist, hat sie es nie miterlebt wie es sich anfühlt geliebt zu werden oder einem anderen Menschen zu vertrauen. Deshalb fand ich es sehr gut, dass sie nicht gleich mit Sam zusammen gekommen ist, auch verzichtet die Autroin auf Kitsch und unötig überzogene Liebesbekundungen, denn wenn nach gefühlten 5 min schon von großen Gefühlen gesprochen wird könnte ich kotzen, hier bleibt alles im richtigen Maß. Insgesamt war der Beziehungsaufbau der beiden sehr schön gestaltet, sie brauchen und helfen einander und die Gefühle entwickeln sich langsam.
Sam mochte ich auch von Anfang an sehr gerne, er hebt sich auch vom üblichen "love interest" ab. Er wird nicht als Übermensch dargestellt, weder in Bezug auf Charakter und Fähigkeiten, noch beim Aufsehen. Ich fand sehr süß wie er sich um Ana gekümmert hat. Er ist eher ein nachdenklicher Charakter aber ohne dieses extreme "gequälte Seele" Ding.
Neben den beiden gibt es auch noch viele interessante und liebenswerte Nebencharaktere, diese hätte die Autorin noch eine Spur mehr einbringen können.
Zum Ende hin fand ich persönlich ein paar Kapitel ein bisschen langatmig, das hätte man abkürzen und ein mehr Tempo reinbringen können, aber das ist Geschmackssache also sehe ich das jetzt nicht als riesen Kritikpunkt.
Das Ende selbst bleibt offen aber ohne Cliffhanger. Ich bin schon sehr gespannt wie es in Teil zwei weitergehen wird.

Fazit:
Originalität: 5 Sterne
Schreibweise: 4,5 Sterne
Charaktere: 5 Sterne
Spannung: 4 Sterne
Emotionale Tiefe: 5 Sterne
Humor: 4 Sterne

Hab von dem Buch eigentlich etwas ganz anderes erwartet obwohl ich keine wirklichen Vorstellungen zum Inhalt hatte. Es hat mich auf jeden Fall positiv überrascht. Die Story ist sehr originell und was das wichtigste ist weitestgehend frei von Klischees. Ich kann nur jedem empfehlen dem Buch eine Chance zu geben.

emsbookshelf's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

brinasbooks's review against another edition

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4.0

Overall, I was pleased with this book. It was easy to read and it's short so it didn't take long to read. As a main character, I wasn't all that attached to Ana. I could tell that she was intelligent, but the way she was written.. I think that she is portrayed as weak and clingy, honestly. She taught herself how to read, for crying out loud. I understand that she is scarred by Li's treatment of her, but she is so indecisive. There are some parts of the story where I thought, wow this chick is smart. And then she goes and changes her mind about Sam- again. She kind of reminds me of America (from the selection series) that way. So if you liked the Selection, I would definitely give this a try.
Also, I thought that her relationship with Sam seemed forced. I don't know if it was the writing, or Ana, or just me, but I didn't feel a real connection between them.
With that said, there were plenty of bright spots. The plot was fast-paced and action packed. So many things happened in this book, but I never felt overwhelmed- has that ever happened to you? Maybe not. I liked the details and description, especially the walls and the heartbeat. Although I thought they were going to have something to do with the [><><><><><><>]. Haha you thought I was going to spoil you. JK! I am really intrigued by the idea of rebirth, because I do believe in reincarnation. This book delves into some seriously spiritual stuff but makes it a lot lighter than it could have been, which is nice. I don't think this book would have been as good if it had been dark and ominous. I do believe that this was worth the read, and I think I am going to go straight into Asunder (although The Winner's Crime comes out tomorrow so I may not finish it).
BONUS: You should all go buy Fall Out Boy's new album. It's the bomb.com

hailstorm9's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5/5*

Review to come...

clar2d2's review against another edition

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2.0

I have many conflicting feelings about this book.

There were aspects of it I really enjoyed, as well as aspects of it I ABSOLUTELY HATED. At the same time though, it's hard for me to say whether I liked this book overall or not. It's more of a 2.5/5 star book than a 2/5 or 3/5 star one.

Ana was probably the most naive and angsty character I've ever read of. While it made sense due to her circumstances, that doesn't change the fact that it annoyed the heck out of me.

Also, while I did expect romance going into this, I didn't enjoy the romance, and definitely felt that it overshadowed the plot and the world - which is a shame, considering that I loved the aspects of the world that was introduced to us. There simply wasn't enough of it because of the romance.

I did, however, like that religion played a role in this society, and, after I finished reading it, I could now consider myself to be pretty intrigued - intrigued enough to not completely rule out the possibility of reading the next book.

Conflicting feelings all around. D:

kaylana's review

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2.0

The premise behind this series is so promising. But Meadows just sent all that down crapper. I feel like she really, really, really wanted to write a romance but tweak it and thus the world of Incarnate was born. There's hardly any world-building on a world that could be sooooo fascinating. Nope. It's all about falling in love with a boy! A boy!!! Her main protagonist is boring. She hates herself and can't imagine anyone loving her. But said boy/man finds her fascinating so that's how she becomes so awesome! Yay to teh menz. The only way us womenz are complete. Gag. Boring romance.

This could have been such a great series. A world where people live in an Utopian society, where souls are reincarnated. What are the ramifications of that? How did the world become like that? But we don't get anything hardly at all. It's very disappointing. But hey someone at the publishers picked a nice cover! Yay!

firesoulbird's review against another edition

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3.0

I found this book to be alright for the most part. However, Ana was pretty obnoxious since she constantly threw temper tantrums. Of course, that served to highlight how much younger she is than everyone, but it was still annoying. And then part of the ending made me roll my eyes and wonder if I'd been tricked into reading Divergent again:
Science/athiests are eeeeevill!!!

julesgou's review against another edition

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3.0

Alrightie. For some reason, I never came back to this series after reading the first book. Yet I gave it 4 stars? I'm been in the mood lately to finish series because I realized that I have started a whole bunch of them but never finished them. I recently read "The Orphan Queen" series and really enjoyed it so I wanted to go back to this one.

However, I think I see why I didn't enjoy this book as much. This book was very, very romance heavy. It was also a lot of character development. If you are looking for a fast paced book, I do not recommended this one. To be honest, nothing really happens. This one is a lot about Ana just learning about the city of Heart and herself. We don't really learn anything new about her and how she came to be.

I can also see why I didn't continue with the series because right now, I don't really care about any of the characters. However, because I enjoyed her other book, I'm hoping that the next couple books get better.

Rating after Re-Read: 3 Stars
Rating before Re-Read: 4 Stars (little bit confused on why I rated it 4 stars TBH...) (maybe I thought it was pretty good after just finishing it but then afterwards decided that it wasn't great)(or maybe my reading tastes have changed)
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New. Ana is the new soul in a world where everyone is reincarnated. Everyone else has had many lives spanning thousands of years. Some hate her, for stealing another's 'spot'. Others don't know what to think. But there are some who will help to try and answer the question that haunts her; who is she?

Reincarnation is always an interesting topic and it was nice to see that in this once, the reincarnated remember their past lives (although, there could be a slight downfall to that).

I really, really liked the contrast in between Ana and everyone else. You have Ana, who is trying to make something out of her life. She lets go of things that have happened to her in the past because this life may be all she gets. She appreciates the little things that she has because this may be it for her. Then you see how everyone is the Heart is about life. They are in no hurry and don't need to worry because they are coming back. Ana lives her life differently then the people of the heart. The differences in between Ana's way of life and the others were very pronounced in this book.

Music and Sam. That is what Ana lives for. Except, someone is trying to hurt her. Her questions aren't getting any answers. She is being hunted. Why? War with dragons and Sylphs. It seems as though the Heart is coming apart at the seams. The butterfly that is Ana has a connection to this but doesn't know what. We see Ana's smarts and her bravery. I am thanking Meadows for bringing a heroine that is smart with just enough obsessing over Sam.

A very unique tale that Meadows has woven. It made you think with the perfect balance of romance and mystery. The way of life in the Heart stays with you after you read it. Very interested to see what happens next with Ana!

thereadingfaery's review against another edition

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3.0

Actual rating: 3.5

arireavis's review against another edition

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3.0

2.5 Stars

Have you ever been soooooo excited about a book that you bought book 2 before even reading book 1? Have you ever been so sure that book 1 would be all types of awesome, so thought nothing of buying that 2nd book? I did and..... I was wrong.
I was so bored. Nothing happens until almost 70%. SEVENTY PERCENT!!!!!! Ok, let me go back to the beginning and rant, I mean explain, from there.
The world just seemes so weird. There are dragons, trolls, and centaurs, but they also had modern technology.
I couldn't seem to get past how the reincarnated people came back as different genders throughout their many lifetimes. That's just confusing. I'm getting poked, then the last lifetime I'm doing the sticking. Just weird.
Then freaking Ana just whined and whined and had no self esteem. I get that Li tore her down for years, but there's a point where you move on and tell Li and the crap she shoved down your throat to f*** off.
The romance....what romance?? Some hesitant kisses and paino playing? I demand more dammit.
Then when some action finally starts happening, you're getting whiplash trying to keep up with why and how Ana came about and what's happening and dragons and shadows that burn people attacking the city.
What I liked..... Any part with any type of action or mystery. But like I said, I already bought book 2 so guess who'll be continuing this series???? Yup, me.