Review of Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

Title/Author: Incarnate (Newsoul #1) by Jodi Meadows
Publisher/Date published: Katherine Tegen Books, January 31st 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: "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?"

I'm always a bit wary when a book has been so hyped as this one is. Sometimes you find yourself disappointed, but that absolutely wasn't the case here! I really, REALLY enjoyed Incarnate and it definitely lives up to the pretty cover and I love that it actually has to do with the story instead of just being beautiful!

I thought the whole concept of the same souls being reincarnated over and over again for the past 5000 years was SO interesting! I mean, it's weird right, knowing you're going to die but being sure you're going to come back in a couple of years. I would love it if you knew, cause then I could totally justify all the book buying: in 5000 years I can definitely read them all! And I can absolutely understand people being scared when they come across someone who has 'replaced' one of their own.

And the thing is, while I can understand insecurity and confusion, it was still really lousy how they treated Ana. Especially Li, her 'mother'. Seriously, that woman doesn't deserve the title. The only thing she did was give birth to Ana and then continue to make her life miserable. One thing that slightly bothered me: the fact that Ana's mother Li seemed a bit two-dimensional in her awfulness towards Ana. I would have liked to have learned more about her character to understand where it was coming from.

But then there's Sam, and Sam is a wonderful guy. Sam has music in his heart and is gentle and I loved that even though he's freakin 5000 years old, he's also very much a teenage boy when Ana meets him. There were moments when I was frustrated and wanted to scream KISS HER ALREADY!! But other than that I loved Sam.

And Ana, Ana is not the easiest person out there. She's majorly defensive and impulsive and sometimes I had a hard time keeping up with her feelings and mood swings but I loved her. I loved the contrast between her and the rest of the population. She felt everything more intense I think and I was always right there in the moment with her.
Also, I LOVED that both Ana and Sam had such a strong reaction to music! I am that girl who has a memory and feeling associated with pretty much every song I know and though I'm not a musician I could so relate to their passion!

I think what I loved most about it is that I was RIGHT THERE with Ana the whole time. I was just as in the dark about everything as she was and I felt happiness, betrayal, attraction, wariness along with her and it was amazing! And I cried! It's been SO LONG since I cried over a book! LOVED IT!

This was a stunning debut and I'm already pining for the sequel!

My rating: 5 stars