Incarnate by Jodi Meadows (Newsoul #1)

Genres: Young Adult, Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance
Publication Date: January 31st 2012
POV: Female - First-person, Past tense
My Rating: 2 out of 5

_______________

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 just have to start off by saying this book is so boring! Ana is the first person to be born in Range with a new soul. She is not a reincarnation. She is shunned and mistreated her whole life. When she turns 18 she leaves home and goes to the city of Heart, hoping to learn more about why she was born. She meets and falls in love with Sam. A musician who she has admired from afar her whole life. Since no one else wants her, Sam agrees to be her guardian and takes her in. And the two of them spend a lot of time together in the library and playing piano. That about sums up the whole book. Just lots of pointless walking and talking. And the romance started off so slow that I didn't even see it at first. I wasn't really sure what was going on because nothing was happening and I was confused by the lack of development.

Also, the concept of being reincarnated with your memories completely intact and keeping the same name would cause so many problems. They live as if its one long life, rather than separate lives. Its more like the Doctor and his regenerations than the traditional idea of reincarnation. Its just a horrible concept and I cant imagine how a society could survive like that. Your worse enemy could end up later being your mother. A lover could end up being your sibling. Jealousy carry over. Grudges lasting for generations. It would be chaos. Not to mention the fact that they are not always born as the same gender. They would all have to be gender neutral. Because if I were reborn as a man I would be so disappointed! Women are awesome.

There are just so many things about this book that I didn't like. I didn't even really like Ana that much. She was so bitter and always assumed the worst of people. Sam was amazing though. He treated her like an equal from the very beginning. I didn't like the setting. The fact that it was so ambiguous bugged me like an itch I couldn't scratch. It wasn't earth, but was it a futuristic planet or a fantasy world? There were centaurs and sylphs and dragons. But there were also phones and cars and laser guns. What?

There are exactly one million souls in Range that have been recycled over and over again for thousands of years, so they all feel like they know each other so well. And when people meet Ana for the first time, they know immediately that she is the Newsoul, because they have never met her before. But that is ridiculous! You cant remember one million people by name! I don't care how old you are! And it was never explained why Li hated Ana so much. Like beyond regular dislike. She seriously had it out for her and it didn't make sense. But the book left a lot hanging. It just ended and it felt like it didn't bring us anywhere or accomplish anything in the end. It didn't give us enough answers.

A lot of the issues I can admit are just my personal tastes, but not all. And maybe some of these things will be explained later on in the series, but I won't find out. I won't be continuing this series.

“He held on to me like I was a rock, the only thing keeping him from drifting out with the tide of dark memories. 

It was the first time I realized he needed me too.”