Scan barcode
A review by ireadthebooks
Incarnate by Jodi Meadows
4.0
It’s not often that you read a book synopsis and think, “Huh … that’s new.” Incarnate provides a welcome breath of fresh air in the YA community, creating a unique world that contains elements of fantasy, science fiction, and romance. There are one million souls, and each time they die, the same souls are reincarnated. Because they’ve lived for thousands of years, these souls have made remarkable advancements in science, technology, architecture, etc. Think about how prolific someone like Ben Franklin could have been if instead of living for 84 years, he came back and just kept tinkering throughout multiple lives! That’s the world that Meadows has created. Yet there are also mythical creatures like dragons and slyphs, and the reincarnation is controlled by their (silent) deity, Janan, suggesting more fantastic themes.
Ana’s journey to self-discovery tugs at the readers’ heartstrings. She’s constantly addressing universal themes: “What is my purpose? Why am I here? Who put me here?” Everyone else has been alive for so long and when they’re reborn, they don’t need to relearn how to take care of themselves. (The babies are totally self-aware, as intelligent as the day they died and they don’t resort to crying to address their needs. WOW.) Ana is a newsoul, and her mother Li hated her too much to teach her anything useful, so Ana isn’t used to people treating her well or letting her touch their possessions freely. She meets Sam, and they travel to Heart where Ana hopes to use the library and find out why she was born instead of Ciana, the soul who died and didn’t come back. Sam likens Ana to a butterfly, a comparison that she takes to heart, and we get the lovely tie-in to the butterfly mask on the cover.
Sam: “Honestly? I think people aren’t sure it’s worth getting to know you. It would be like you deciding if it was worth befriending a butterfly, even though it wouldn’t be there in the morning.”
Ana: “I’ll be around my whole life,” I whispered, not quite under the breeze in the forest, the pounding of my heart, and the beating of my invisible and incorporeal wings. “That’s a long time to me.”
Characterization-wise, it’s easy to like Ana and want her to overcome all the obstacles she faces. It’s not her fault that she was incarnated instead of Ciana, yet people treat her as if her mere presence will infect them and cause them to not be incarnated too. I watched Ana treated poorly by Li and many citizens of Heart, and I wanted to shout, “Leave her alone! It’s not like she could help it!” Sam treats her like something precious and sacred. After Ana finds out that Sam is Dossam, the composer whose music was her only solace, she loves him even more. Their relationship developed rather quickly, and I would’ve enjoyed a slower pace, especially since Sam is over 5000 years old, but then again, everyone except Ana is old in spirit, so it’s not like she has better options. Ana is cautious about her relationship with Sam, and it was Sam’s instant infatuation with her that I found myself cautious of. I kept waiting to find out he was evil, or thinking he was going to betray her, just because he seemed too good to be true. I’m glad that Ana has someone who loves her and protects her in a world where people actively resent her very existence, but it would’ve been more powerful if the relationship had developed more slowly.
The book ended a bit abruptly. One minute they’re being attacked by dragons and the next it’s all over, Ana has some startling information about her incarnation and then we’re done. There’s very little discussion of what happened and the potential ramifications it will have, and I actually went back and reread the last few chapters to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. I’m eager to start the next book and see where Ana goes from here! Like I said before, reading something different and original was SO refreshing AND there’s no love triangle!
Ana’s journey to self-discovery tugs at the readers’ heartstrings. She’s constantly addressing universal themes: “What is my purpose? Why am I here? Who put me here?” Everyone else has been alive for so long and when they’re reborn, they don’t need to relearn how to take care of themselves. (The babies are totally self-aware, as intelligent as the day they died and they don’t resort to crying to address their needs. WOW.) Ana is a newsoul, and her mother Li hated her too much to teach her anything useful, so Ana isn’t used to people treating her well or letting her touch their possessions freely. She meets Sam, and they travel to Heart where Ana hopes to use the library and find out why she was born instead of Ciana, the soul who died and didn’t come back. Sam likens Ana to a butterfly, a comparison that she takes to heart, and we get the lovely tie-in to the butterfly mask on the cover.
Sam: “Honestly? I think people aren’t sure it’s worth getting to know you. It would be like you deciding if it was worth befriending a butterfly, even though it wouldn’t be there in the morning.”
Ana: “I’ll be around my whole life,” I whispered, not quite under the breeze in the forest, the pounding of my heart, and the beating of my invisible and incorporeal wings. “That’s a long time to me.”
Characterization-wise, it’s easy to like Ana and want her to overcome all the obstacles she faces. It’s not her fault that she was incarnated instead of Ciana, yet people treat her as if her mere presence will infect them and cause them to not be incarnated too. I watched Ana treated poorly by Li and many citizens of Heart, and I wanted to shout, “Leave her alone! It’s not like she could help it!” Sam treats her like something precious and sacred. After Ana finds out that Sam is Dossam, the composer whose music was her only solace, she loves him even more. Their relationship developed rather quickly, and I would’ve enjoyed a slower pace, especially since Sam is over 5000 years old, but then again, everyone except Ana is old in spirit, so it’s not like she has better options. Ana is cautious about her relationship with Sam, and it was Sam’s instant infatuation with her that I found myself cautious of. I kept waiting to find out he was evil, or thinking he was going to betray her, just because he seemed too good to be true. I’m glad that Ana has someone who loves her and protects her in a world where people actively resent her very existence, but it would’ve been more powerful if the relationship had developed more slowly.
The book ended a bit abruptly. One minute they’re being attacked by dragons and the next it’s all over, Ana has some startling information about her incarnation and then we’re done.