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INCARNATE is one of those books that you really look forward to. It has that beautiful cover and compelling summary that makes you feel like you just gotta get your hands on it. But when you do, it all falls flat. And makes you wonder if you really did just read the book that the summary was written for. I finished INCARNATE and I just feel like… like something’s missing. Or maybe it was never there.

Honestly, I don’t think that the first third of the book was necessary. Incarnate’s beginning dives right in… and not in a good way. We aren’t really introduced to any characters other than Sam and Li, nor are we really shown the world Ana lives in. We aren’t really told anything at all, actually, save for the fact that Ana’s a Newsoul and Li hates her. The beginning leads you ’round and ’round in circles. The first time I read Incarnate, I actually skipped to a little before the halfway point, and didn’t feel like I missed anything. The second time, when I read through it again before reviewing, I struggled through the beginning and discovered that, well, I really didn’t miss anything the first time around.

The romance (if you would call it that) was also a huge downside to me. I found it hard to put up with Ana’s constant paranoid rambling. She’s always too slow to catch Sam’s reaction and/or facial expressions, or is way too suspicious of him one moment… and them promptly forgets what she was suspicious of him over a few moments later. Sam was incredibly patient and kind to her, though, and you’ve got to give the guy some credit for that. However, I found it a little awkward for Ana to be wearing clothes Sam wore when he was a girl in his past lives. And, while he was extremely kind and patient, there just wasn’t any spark between them – no chemistry. They had as much chemistry as a teenager and her grandparents, which is to say, none at all. There’s a forced illusion of sexual tension, and, judging from all the awkward almost-kissing scenes, I guess the author was trying to create some sort of chemistry between them. But there just wasn’t any genuine sparks.

Stef was my favorite character by far. She was so bubbly and sweet – full of energy and could actually make someone smile whereas everyone else seemed way too clueless and naive for a normal person (Anna), down right evil and nasty (Li), monotone and lifeless (most Council members), paranoid (pretty much everyone), or too somber and serious *cough cough Sam cough cough.*

I thought this was a book on reincarnated souls, dragons, sylphs, other mythical creatures. But where did all the dragons go? The sylphs? And what about the people that don’t live in Heart? I think I recall one of the characters talking about how dangerous it was to live in Heart because of all the mythical creatures living in the woods around it. If Heart was dangerous, then some people would opt to live outside of Heart as to avoid the danger, right? So where’d they all go? What happened to them? We aren’t really told much about Heart, or Ana’s world of reincarnated souls. About 80% of this book was about Sam and Ana (their awkward near-kissing scenes, music, piano, and that butterfly metaphor).

Gah, the butterfly metaphor. I’ve cooed over the cover. It’s gorgeous, with all the different hues of pink and blue, the model, and that delicate butterfly mask. Okay, so there’s a butterfly mask on the cover – got it. It’s only natural to assume that there’s going to be some reference to the cover in the book. But I didn’t expect the butterfly metaphor to be everywhere. Literally everywhere. I thought it was clever the first few times around, but after it was repeated over and over and over, and especially when she put on the dress, the repetition didn’t seem so clever or nice anymore; just annoying.

And not only were there unnecessary metaphor repetitions, but pretty much most of the explanation and descriptions were unnecessary. Ask me to describe any of the characters (even Sam), and I don’t think I can. Well, I can describe Ana based off of the cover, but not from the descriptions within the actual book. However, I can describe in great detail Ana’s dress, Sam’s kitchen, the burnt music sheet, Sam’s cup of coffee, Stef’s shoes, and other things that I felt to be unnecessary.

And where did the ending go? Did I miss it? I couldn’t have gone through almost 400 pages just for that. So Sam and Ana finally confessed their feelings for each other. Great. Ana and Li’s problem is settled. Awesome. But I was under the impression (or, at least the summary gave me the impression) that this was about Ana finding out whether she’d be reincarnated or not, and why she’s a Nosoul. That. Can’t. Be. The. Answer. Someone please tell me I didn’t go through almost 400 pages just to have it end like that. No. No. No.

Frankly, INCARNATE was one huge disappointment for me. This book was about 80% Sam and Ana awkwardness, 8% unnecessary things, and 12% actual plot. No joke.

The idea of dragons, sylphs, and reincarnated souls is interesting, and one I’m sure people would love to read about. However, when dragged down and diluted with excess words, unnecessary and awkward moments, bland characters that lacked proper characterization, and a poor ending that doesn’t do a thing to redeem the sluggish beginning, the idea isn’t enough to support the whole book. I fell in love with INCARNATE’s premise. But the written story itself wasn’t as impressive or interesting.

And the beautiful cover strikes again.

Honestly, I was a bit disappointed with this book. I'm not saying it's bad (because it wasn't) but it definitely wasn't as good as I thought it'd be.

The characters weren't, I guess you could say, stable. It's like they all had multiple personalities. I don't know, it might just be because most of the characters are super old, so they have various personalities.

Also, Ana needs to calm down and think. She doesn't think at all before she acts. She acts first, then later realizes how stupid that decision was.

And Sam is really confusing, too. He's extremely moody. Again, I suspect it's the five-thousand-year-old issue.

The plot itself isn't that great either. There are things that I personally think could have definitely been better. The pacing was a bit slow at parts, too.

Okay, now that I'm done being Negative Nelly, let's go to the good points of the book.

First of all, the author did a really good job on describing the temple and it's white walls. Usually, I have a bit of a struggle imagining a setting from a description, but it's really easy for me to imagine how the temple would look like. And I think the temple is supposed to be slightly freaky, and to me, it definitely is.

Also, when Ana goes into the temple, it's so confusing and creepy. Jodi Meadows did really well writing that part of the story.

Another part of the story that I like is Ana and her traitor mouth. It's so funny! She just blurts out things, and then blames her mouth, accusing it for betraying her. It cracks me up.

My favorite part of the book is the rededication masquerade. It's sounds so crazy fun! Everyone is dressed up in costumes and having a blast! And it's so sweet that two people would want to stay together even after being reincarnated for thousands of years.

The book kind of cuts off at the end, but I think that is a really good thing for this book. Because she just left off with a million things unexplained, even though I didn't love the book, that makes me curious and leaves me wanting explanations. So I end up wanting to read the next book.

It's a bit weird, the whole idea of being reincarnated over and over and over yet still keeping all your memories. What's even weirder is that sometimes, you're a girl, but sometimes you're a guy. And someone might be your best friend in one lifetime, and then become your parent in another. And someone could hold
a grudge against you for several lifetimes. Not good.

Incarnate certainly wasn't the best, but it was readable.

--HWA SUN

This was a book that I just could not focus on.

Imagine. God, I had to skip the first ten or so pages until I chanced upon a remotely exciting character, Sam. Yet, here comes another boring male lead who heroically saves a girl, falls in love, performs kind deeds out of no reason, lies then does some hasty actions to cover up. Oh, and it turns out that he never really lied and everything ends up as a happily-ever-after.

No mind-blowing plot, no in-depth characters, no wondrous world-building. It's all the more sad as Incarnate was one that I saw with lots of potential.

What a new and brilliant concept of a city of reincarnated souls!

The first two pages illustrated to me a resplendent setting full of possibilities. And it went downhill.

Jodi Meadows should have focused more on the world-building. Because, she had me confused as to what world it was.

Vehicles with dragons. Heat detectors with centaurs. Machines with cottages.

It could have come off as a fantastic piece if well-executed, but it was not.

I had to skip chunks in between to arrive at the scene when Li (the mother of Ana) takes her away from Sam, and then jump to a dragon war, then go all the way to the end when Sam talks about playing the piano with Ana.

I wanted to crack my head open. What's this thing about love nowadays?

We read YA fiction because they open up a horizon of prose that can be painfully alluring, beautifully inspiring, meticulously crafted and light and free and brimming with youth at the same time. We can accept love wild and uncontrolled, we can accept love shallow and instant, we can accept love beyond all sensibility and reason, but we cannot accept love that has no meaning and essence.

Give me a book that has more than just a simple-minded romance, give me a book with a setting and a tale that challenges our imagination and brims our capacity to love.

I would still give Incarnate a chance. It might just turn out into something more.

This book has such a unique premise and raises such interesting questions such as, "How can anybody live if nobody can die? (@lord_voldemort7)" but I feel like they're never really explored. A good portion of this book is based around Ana and her relationship with Sam. I liked Ana and Sam a lot and it would have been great if it was the side story. However, it's not and it's much of the driving point of the story until the end, where plot finally moves forward. Their relationship is based on misunderstandings and one of those pesky moral dilemmas. I enjoyed them friends but as something more, I wasn't as interested because I felt like the age gap was dominant. Although they are physically the same age, Sam has lived longer so he takes on the role of the mentor for Ana and that emotional disconnect was jarring for me.

Ana was the strongest part of the story for me, she's been berated and so unloved her whole life that it broke my heart within the first pages. Her mother felt more like one of those wicked stepmothers in fairy tales to me because of the lack of maternal instinct. I still can't wrap my mind around that Li was her biological mother. I just wanted to hug Ana and assure her she is a great person and worth living for. The isolation Ana felt is so immense, she is literally alone and new in her world because everyone else has been living forever and known each other. Can you imagine that crippling loneliness with the ostracization from society on top of that? I enjoyed seeing her progression from being suspicious and guarded (with good reason!) to be more open and sure of herself. Much of that can be attributed to Sam, which I really appreciate him for. I'm still not sure why he was so nice to her (like Ana, I was suspicious but no ulterior motives were revealed so it can be assumed he's just really a Good Person) but he gave her what she never had: love.

I'm interested to see where this series takes off because I think it's a pretty good start. The characters and the settings are set up in this so I hope to see more of the plot and questions explored in the next one. Incarnate is a book that I think is worth trying out!

Incarnate is a refreshing utopian-romance in the sea of dystopians, one whose words match the pretty cover, and will leave you wishing for a time machine to go into the future for the sequels. But in the meantime, I will be rereading the masquerade scene, thankyouverymuch. FAVORITE EVER!

So I’ve heard good and bad things about Incarnate, to the point where I was terrified to read it. I really wanted to like it! JUST LOOK AT THAT COVER. It begs to be a likeable book! And for me, it was. I think what a lot of people didn’t realize was it wasn’t just a story of Ana learning why she is a “nosoul” as Li calls her, but is also a story of Ana feeling emotions—falling in love—when Li says nosouls don’t have emotions. Those people hadn’t realized it was a romance story and expected so much more out of Incarnate.

Meadows’ prose is delicate and subtle. I loved it. I had an image of Range in my head as soon as I read the first paragraph, and it only grew from there. The worldbuilding is amazing. The subtlety of it is, too. Ana doesn’t ask questions, or even a simple “Huh?” when she doesn’t understand. No info-dumps. Just a relief and an amazing break from books that do the info-dump so readers understand the world.

I hinted above about a masquerade scene. Oh, man. OH MAN. That scene killed me. I’m not alive anymore, just typing from the beyond. What happens after that scene… oh my lanta. It was scary and amazing. But, a little hint as to why I loved the masquerade scene: there’s kissing involved, but you already guessed that, didn’t you? I LOVE KISSING SCENES. And this one is hot, hot, hot. And did I mention hot?? *G*

Incarnate is full of twists and turns, and I loved every bit of it. There is a scene in the book that made me squeal out loud because I HADN’T realized it was coming and it was so, so amazing and I felt so happy for Ana. (if you’ve read it, it’s the scene where her and Sam are in his house in Heart and Ana’s uncovering everything downstairs.) And the ending; wow, that ending. Amazing and I hadn’t expected it.

This is a book you WANT to read. Put it on your wishlist and toss your schedule around when you get it, because once you dive in, there’s no turning back.

INCARNATE was brilliant. We’re introduced to a world full of fantasy like dragons, trolls, sylph’s and a city called Heart which actually has a pulse. Not to mention every person in Heart or the area surrounding Heart (which is called Range) is always reincarnated every time they die; lots of them are souls which have been around for thousands of years. Then we get Ana who is a nosoul or newsoul, depending on who you are/how you look at it. Ana was born to parents Li and Menehem and they were expecting their newly born daughter to be returning soul, Ciana but instead they got a soul which has never existed before.



This story had me hook, line and sinker all the way until the end. It’s another book (like UNDER THE NEVER SKY) where the romance is building throughout the book. The attraction is building and it isn’t sudden, which is so realistic. Obviously, since we didn’t get the romance until well over halfway through, that wasn’t what grabbed my attention. It was the story and the characters. Sam, who looks like an 18 year old man is really about 5,000 years old. His friends like Stef and Sine are all his age or even older, all have been both female and males in previous lives. It’s completely mind blowing to think about. I mean, imagine coming back in another body, one of the opposite sex, in about 70 years? Being born with the memories of your previous life, being born with the memory of how you died the previous life…of all your previous lives. Mind boggling.



What I absolutely love in a book is when the author gets you so involved in the story, so connected to the characters that when something bad happens, you want to retaliate. The characters are hurt but you’re also feeling their pain, or their anger. This is exactly how I felt reading this book. I even tweeted her at one point asking if she’d be alright with me stabbing a character in the eye with a knife. (Which she said she’s OK with fictional character stabbing lol) When you get that invested in a story you know you’re reading a great book.



I’ve read over 100 books this year and I’ve highly recommend a few books but I can say I have a top 5 list of books I’ve read this year. Books that you (as a reader, especially a YA reader) MUST read. I am so happy to say that INCARNATE has been added in that top 5. (I will post about that soon, so keep an eye out for that).



I am still gushing about this book and it’s been a few hours since I’ve finished reading it. It’s so good and I cannot wait for it to come out so I can get my hands on my own copy. I recommend this book to everyone. If you read, you need to read this. If you love YA, you better read this. Amazing. That’s really all there is too it. Simply amazing. I am certainly looking forward to more. I don’t think I could ever get too much of this world that Jodi Meadows has created. I want to move to Heart, be friends with all these oldsouls.

Take a second to gaze admiringly at that cover. I've been in love with that cover since the very first time I saw it. A stunning cover to accompany a stunning novel!?


In the beginning, I was slightly confused. There was a lot of worldbuilding that I didn't understand. But obviously since it was only, like, the first 10 pages I knew things would be explained. And then BAM! The awesomesauce kicked in. We begin to see what Ana is really like: tough, intelligent, a tad prickly, bitter. Right off the bat it is easy to sympathize with her - if not exactly love her - because of her horrible circumstances. I very easily related to Ana, and I think others will, too. She has the unwavering need to discover who she really is and where she came from. She needs to get away from her horrible mother who has abused her emotionally and physically for years. She wants to find someone that loves her and cares for her, even though she believes that it is impossible. I felt for this girl sooo much. Her evil mother has damaged her so harcore, calling her a nosoul and claiming that Ana is incapable of loving anything or anyone. Some people may get annoyed because she's really defensive, but can you blame her? She's been nothing but beat down her entire life! I really ended up liking Ana and rooting for her.


Then Sam came along. And OMG SAM. For me, it kind of felt like instalove, but then I realized it wasn't. Sam only saves Ana from a big, scary sylph because he thinks it is someone he knows. (Though, I'm pretty sure he would have done it if it was his mortal enemy, because that's just the kind of guy he is.) He then notices her combination of fear and determination and decides to help her. He's a seriously great guy, not like the normal brooding bad boy, though he does have some weird moments. But really, he's sweet and smart and a MUSICIAN. Drool-worthy, certainly.


The plot and premise and world created in Incarnate are all so original that I seriously just want to, like, jump for joy. Add to that the sylph and the dragons and ZOMG HOW AMAZING. I didn't really know what a sylph was before starting this book because I had never read a novel where they played such a prominent role, but quite frankly, they are CREEPY CREATURES. They're just floating shadow creatures that have a searing touch and are nearly unstoppable. And Ana has been attacked by them multiple times. You go girl!


And I can't overlook the most fabulous thing of all: the writing. Jodi Meadows wowed me. She sucked me into her world and allowed me to see through Ana's eyes. I could feel my heart racing along with Ana's. I understood her decisions, even if I didn't always agree. AND THE ENDING. :OOOO Let's just say we discover some really important things. But what I love most is that there is no stupid cliffhanger that simultaneously annoys and intrigues you. Meadows leaves us with a satisfactory ending that will allow us to breathe easily while waiting for the next installment.


All in all, you need to read this book. Whether you're a fan of fantasy, dystopia, sci-fi, or any other genre in the world. You need to read this. Jodi Meadows is sweeping into debut authorhood with a resounding BANG.

This book was interesting. It’s a highly original story about people that never die. Well, except Ana. She’s a new soul. Because she is not five thousand years old like most inhabitants of Heart, she is stereotyped and treated like an outcast. Unwanted, even by her own mother. Li (mom) was downright despicable. I couldn’t stand that character, and I’m thankful she didn’t have a huge role in the story.
I’ve heard great things about this book. Many bloggers are rating it as one of their favorite reads. I’m not sure I feel that way. I enjoyed the story because it was original, but there were some things that annoyed me. For instance, Sam drove me nuts for about 2/3 of the books. He was smothering. Maybe it’s because I’m so independent myself that I have a hard time imagining how anyone could want a guy doting on their every move. It drove me insane, but I tolerated it because I could see why Ana needed someone like Sam. By the end of the book though, the growing romance between the two fully developed. Instead of seeming like a smothering person, you could tell that Sam needed Ana as much as she needed him. I liked the two of them as an item once they each figured this out.
Ana was a pretty enjoyable character. She came across as needy at times, but also very head strong. She was cynical of people and her surroundings. I liked how determined she was once she set her mind to something. By the end of the book she had grown a lot. You could tell that there was an inner strength developing that would show more in the books to come. I’m interested to see what she’s like in the next book.
I also enjoyed some of the other characters. The shadow creatures that could burn people to death with their touch were terrifying. I couldn’t imagine living in a world where Sylph roamed freely, waiting to devour you. Then there is the city of Heart itself—a city with a living heartbeat. Freaky. There is this god-like figure, Janan, which lives within the tower at Heart’s center. Janan is the one that gives the people souls and the ability to be reincarnated, as long as the people worship him. You never learn if Janan is good or bad, but Ana doesn’t get the warm fuzzies from him. Neither did I, for that matter. I have a feeling that this mystical being isn’t all that he’s made out to be. After all, why would dragons want to destroy the tower where his soul lives if he was an all-powerful “good guy?” The end of the book leaves things kind of open, but I am certain that Janan, the wall with the heartbeat, and psychotic Meuric (another bad guy) will return. I also predict that Ana is going to be a kick-butt character as her story continues. She was left with her father’s scientific journals (and secrets), and she seems like the type to use that information to her advantage.

First Impressions: When I first came upon this book from Goodreads, I immediately was drawn to the cover. Talk about having some major cover love! HarperTeen books always have the most gorgeous covers on their books. When I read the book synopsis, I got even more excited. It sounded kind of dystopian, which is right up my alley. But, it also had this science fiction aspect with a twinge of fantasy. All of the good stuff rolled into one and this book went into the top of my To-Read pile. There was no way I was going to make this one wait!

Plot & Style of Writing: I’m having a hard time coming up with anything other than that I loved this book! Thinking back on the first 50 pages, all that is coming to mind is that I couldn’t put it back down. I literally sat down for hours until I finished this book. This debut author has delivered an outstanding novel that I believe everyone is going to talking about very soon. I knew that I would love this book, but after reading a few not so very good books lately, I didn’t want to set myself up for disappointment. This book didn’t disappoint me in the least.

Why did I love this book so much? Firstly, the writing. Jodi Meadows has a gift for world building that very few authors have. She puts a ton of emotion into her writing. It really shows just how much time she must have spent writing this novel. Either she has a natural talent, or she has had some great teachers to help her along the way. Either way, her writing is truly spot-on and I couldn’t find anything I didn’t like about her style.

As for the plot, I’ve never seen an author have the ability to blend so many different themes and genres together in a single book. Talk about having something for everyone! Jodi creates the perfect blend of science fiction with a realistic twist and fantasy. This is a huge reason why this book is so delicious! It’s like taking all of these genres, putting them into a blender, and viola! You have this book! You can even find some romance thrown in the mix. Like I said, there is something for everyone!

When it comes to characters and romance, I’ve been a little put-off by romance in young adult novels recently. I’m not sure why but in every book I have read, it seems like it is always the same when it comes to romance between two characters. It can get boring. But, needless to say, I loved the romantic elements in this book. Sam is an ADORABLE character who I completely swooned over throughout the entire book. There was the perfect amount of tension between Sam and Ana and it was really cool to see how their relationship progressed in the story. I can’t wait to see where the author takes their relationship next.

My Final Thoughts: I knew I was going to love this book, and I did absolutely, love this book! It had everything I could possibly want in a good book and I can’t find one negative thing to say about it. I highly, highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys young adult novels. I have a feeling that I’ve already read my favorite new book release of 2012, and this is it!

Jodi Meadows can write! From the first chapter, she had me hooked. Ana is a lovely, damaged, courageous girl and I was rooting for to find her happily ever after. Sam is an incredible guy, and the chemistry they had together is both sweet and explosive. There are dragons! Sylph! Fire! Traitors! Hot kisses!

But best of all, there's the message that every single life has meaning and importance. I can't recommend this book enough.