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grandduchessbartok's review
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
limemuffin's review against another edition
5.0
Very interesting the idea of the same souls being reincarnated over and over again. This is always an idea I'm in love with.
readinglush9's review against another edition
5.0
A beautiful love story that deals with mortality in the face of immortality. Also heavily favors music, which I thought was a great approach as the main character keeps track of noises more and more. Even the religious parts were interesting, which I thought would end up bothering me. Fantastic writing by Meadows that pulled me in so much I had to finish it almost as soon as I started it.
emerlea's review against another edition
5.0
LOVED it!!
Incarnate is a YA book about a young woman, Ana, who is the first "new soul" to be born in thousands of years. Everyone else continues to be reincarnated and have lived many lifetimes. Because Ana was born, another soul failed to be reincarnated. The story of Ana's journey is so well written that every time I opened the book, it was like stepping into the story. The plot roles out in a seamless manner and the character development is so natural.
Incarnate is a YA book about a young woman, Ana, who is the first "new soul" to be born in thousands of years. Everyone else continues to be reincarnated and have lived many lifetimes. Because Ana was born, another soul failed to be reincarnated. The story of Ana's journey is so well written that every time I opened the book, it was like stepping into the story. The plot roles out in a seamless manner and the character development is so natural.
eclaidley's review against another edition
2.0
I put Incarnate on hold months ago so when it finally became available, I couldn't remember anything about it - aside from the fact that it had a gorgeous cover, of course. So colour me surprise when I finish the book and realize that it actually isn't about butterfly people; instead, the world of Incarnate involves reincarnation, dragons, and sylphs.
Incarnate is a difficult book to review because it has a utopian setting so there aren't many bad-but-exciting events. As a result, the majority of the book is spent focusing on the relationship between Ana and Sam, most of which is spent dancing and playing music, instead of searching for clues about her existence as a Newsoul like the synopsis promised. Although it wasn't a case of instalove, this relationship certainly took over the entire plot and, since I don't know much about playing an instrument, these scenes were often skimmed over.
Instead of reading about Ana and Sam's relationship, I would have much rather learned about the world that they were inhabiting. Between the buildings that were already built and waiting for the first people, the fact that their reincarnations aren't always of the same gender, and the idea of Newsouls in general, there were a lot more questions than there were answers.
Ana, our protagonist, wasn't the easiest to like. She appeared weak and filled with self-loathing, which makes sense given the abuse she suffered. While I understood where she was coming from, her constant self-doubt and dislike it made her narrations hard to read. Her relationship with Sam (who I was indifferent about) is also very unhealthy - she finds her self-worth because of him, and is incredibly dependent on him for everything.
The saving grace of Incarnate was definitely the writing. Meadows' writing is melodic and beautiful, and the descriptions are very vivid.
Overall, I wasn't as impressed with Incarnate as I thought I would be. The idea of reincarnations was promising but poorly executed, mostly due to the prevalence of the romantic plot. I'll likely read the next book in the series though, if only to have some of my world-building questions answered.
Incarnate is a difficult book to review because it has a utopian setting so there aren't many bad-but-exciting events. As a result, the majority of the book is spent focusing on the relationship between Ana and Sam, most of which is spent dancing and playing music, instead of searching for clues about her existence as a Newsoul like the synopsis promised. Although it wasn't a case of instalove, this relationship certainly took over the entire plot and, since I don't know much about playing an instrument, these scenes were often skimmed over.
Instead of reading about Ana and Sam's relationship, I would have much rather learned about the world that they were inhabiting. Between the buildings that were already built and waiting for the first people, the fact that their reincarnations aren't always of the same gender, and the idea of Newsouls in general, there were a lot more questions than there were answers.
Ana, our protagonist, wasn't the easiest to like. She appeared weak and filled with self-loathing, which makes sense given the abuse she suffered. While I understood where she was coming from, her constant self-doubt and dislike it made her narrations hard to read. Her relationship with Sam (who I was indifferent about) is also very unhealthy - she finds her self-worth because of him, and is incredibly dependent on him for everything.
The saving grace of Incarnate was definitely the writing. Meadows' writing is melodic and beautiful, and the descriptions are very vivid.
Overall, I wasn't as impressed with Incarnate as I thought I would be. The idea of reincarnations was promising but poorly executed, mostly due to the prevalence of the romantic plot. I'll likely read the next book in the series though, if only to have some of my world-building questions answered.
lili_darknight's review against another edition
4.0
Kniha nebola to, čo som čakala - našťastie. Skvele som sa bavila a s výnimkou asi prvej tretiny som strany doslova hltala. A posledná tretina... takmer som si nechty obhrýzla. Dobré čítanie. :)
Dlhšia recenzia na blogu: http://lili-darknight.blogspot.sk/2015/01/nova-dusa-medzi-starymi.html
Dlhšia recenzia na blogu: http://lili-darknight.blogspot.sk/2015/01/nova-dusa-medzi-starymi.html
alexalovesbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Reviewed originally on Alexa Loves Books
I remember being incredibly nervous about reading Incarnate because of all the hype that had built up around it. But my worrying was incredibly uncalled for - I absolutely LOVED this debut novel. It definitely earns a spot as one of my favorite reads of 2012 so far!
The Characters
While reading Incarnate, I found that I totally felt for Ana. It would be very difficult to live in a world where everyone has an immediate reaction or even prejudice against you simply because you were born. It is made fairly clear that Ana grew up feeling out of place, shunned and like she didn't even deserve to feel, enjoy or simply live. It hurt my heart because here was this intelligent, lovely and completely determined girl, who no one acknowledges (and she lives with a terrible parent, by the way). One of the best parts of the novel is watching Ana's transformation as she learns that what she feels should be respected, what she wants is valid and that she too places a role in the society, though it's still unclear what that role might be.
As for Sam, well, I LOVED him from the very first time he appears in the novel. How could you not love someone who is incredibly charming, intelligent, artistically inclined, noble and who manages to immediately accept Ana? I love how he never once treated her like she didn't belong or that she wasn't a valid person because of her circumstances of birth. His kindness, affection and the time and effort he spent on Ana, his demonstration of his respect for her wants, opinions and needs - those were all lovely to read about. Watching as he comes to really care for her is simply heartwarming. But more on that later.
The Story
This novel completely intrigued me from start to finish. I was never certain of what would happen next, and my curiosity was what had me flipping the pages as quickly as I could! It was always exciting to find out more about Ana and about Heart. I thought there was a great pace to the book, cleverly weaving together the quieter, sweeter moments with the intense, action-packed scenes.
I was totally enthralled as well by the combination of futuristic technology with the presence of creatures like sylph and dragons. Though it was definitely a clash between the stuff of science fiction and the paranormal creatures, I thought it was well done. After all, we don’t know anything about Heart that we don’t learn through Ana’s experience - I personally feel like anything could happen in that place.
The romance was lovely. It moved so, so slow that I was just (mentally) yelling at Sam to get a move on for a lot of the scenes between him and Ana. But the build-up and the end result just more than totally made sense and I now think it wouldn’t have worked any other way.
A quick aside before I give my recommendation - one of my favorite parts of the novel is the masquerade. It was definitely a big event, both in the city and in the novel as a whole, and I loved everything about it - from the descriptions of the festivities and costumes to what went down.
Personally, I say you should...
... definitely read this fantastic debut YA novel! It's got an incredible and quite unique story, as well as elements of romance, paranormal and science fiction. Jodi Meadows did a wonderful job and I cannot wait for the next book in the series!
(This was originally published on Alexa Loves Books)
I remember being incredibly nervous about reading Incarnate because of all the hype that had built up around it. But my worrying was incredibly uncalled for - I absolutely LOVED this debut novel. It definitely earns a spot as one of my favorite reads of 2012 so far!
The Characters
While reading Incarnate, I found that I totally felt for Ana. It would be very difficult to live in a world where everyone has an immediate reaction or even prejudice against you simply because you were born. It is made fairly clear that Ana grew up feeling out of place, shunned and like she didn't even deserve to feel, enjoy or simply live. It hurt my heart because here was this intelligent, lovely and completely determined girl, who no one acknowledges (and she lives with a terrible parent, by the way). One of the best parts of the novel is watching Ana's transformation as she learns that what she feels should be respected, what she wants is valid and that she too places a role in the society, though it's still unclear what that role might be.
As for Sam, well, I LOVED him from the very first time he appears in the novel. How could you not love someone who is incredibly charming, intelligent, artistically inclined, noble and who manages to immediately accept Ana? I love how he never once treated her like she didn't belong or that she wasn't a valid person because of her circumstances of birth. His kindness, affection and the time and effort he spent on Ana, his demonstration of his respect for her wants, opinions and needs - those were all lovely to read about. Watching as he comes to really care for her is simply heartwarming. But more on that later.
The Story
This novel completely intrigued me from start to finish. I was never certain of what would happen next, and my curiosity was what had me flipping the pages as quickly as I could! It was always exciting to find out more about Ana and about Heart. I thought there was a great pace to the book, cleverly weaving together the quieter, sweeter moments with the intense, action-packed scenes.
I was totally enthralled as well by the combination of futuristic technology with the presence of creatures like sylph and dragons. Though it was definitely a clash between the stuff of science fiction and the paranormal creatures, I thought it was well done. After all, we don’t know anything about Heart that we don’t learn through Ana’s experience - I personally feel like anything could happen in that place.
The romance was lovely. It moved so, so slow that I was just (mentally) yelling at Sam to get a move on for a lot of the scenes between him and Ana. But the build-up and the end result just more than totally made sense and I now think it wouldn’t have worked any other way.
A quick aside before I give my recommendation - one of my favorite parts of the novel is the masquerade. It was definitely a big event, both in the city and in the novel as a whole, and I loved everything about it - from the descriptions of the festivities and costumes to what went down.
Personally, I say you should...
... definitely read this fantastic debut YA novel! It's got an incredible and quite unique story, as well as elements of romance, paranormal and science fiction. Jodi Meadows did a wonderful job and I cannot wait for the next book in the series!
(This was originally published on Alexa Loves Books)
tdeshler's review against another edition
3.0
There was promise in the world created here, but in the end I had more questions than answers. I guess that is why this is a series. What's with the dragons anyway? Seems a bit gratuitous.