Third review for today, and one not about history. Instead, fantasy!
Customary warning: This is a reminder that these are my personal opinions. My thoughts and feelings are not your thoughts and feelings. I may not always be the target audience for a book; sometimes I am. If I do not like a book, that doesn’t mean you’ll dislike it. If I love a book or simply like a book, you may hate it. Take everything I say with this knowledge. If it sounds interesting to you despite what I’ve said, then go ahead and read it. You’ll only know you like something if you read it yourself.
That being said… Spoilers ahead.
Incarnate by Jodi Meadows
Synopsis From The Book
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, one of those souls vanished, and no one knows why.
When Ana travels to the capital city of Heart, its citizens treat her as a nosoul, suspicious and afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?
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?
Initial Thoughts Before Reading:
I have no expectations for this book. I did try to start it in the car a few days back when I was with my cousin. She’s six, and that made reading exceedingly difficult because she had no books of her own. The world and concept seem interesting, interesting enough to hold my interest to get this water torn copy. The cover art is also pretty, with wings. Wings are my way of saying “I’ll read it.”
Initial Thoughts After Reading:
It was a good book. There was a solid plot, history, culture, and world within the pages. My copy was water damaged, which kind of took me out of the experience no fault of the author. Otherwise in general, it was very solid.
Plot Overview:
Ana was born new in a world where souls are reincarnated. She has no past and suspects, no future. At eighteen, her mother sends her from the house to live on her own. On her journey she meets Sam, who saves her life. Surviving attacks, Dragons, making it to the council, and other incidents, Ana learns to love others and trust others. After a massive ball, Sam is taken from her and accused of plotting against her life. It is then that dragons attack once more sending the city of reincarnated souls into a war. She is confronted by her father, who reveals that all that die that night will not come back and that he caused it. Ana saves her friends and is unable to stop her father from dying when the cursed night is over.
What I Liked:
Ana; Everything about Ana in general, I was happy with. She was a flawed person, scared by her abuse, and timid as a result. I liked her. I liked how much she questioned and fought to learn more.
Sam; He is a famous musician: Dossam. I loved that he was ever changing and considered one of, if not the greatest, musician of their people. I liked how he supported Ana, and cared for her truly. In general, I really liked him.
Stef; The best character, side character. Sam’s best friend and Ana’s mentor. Stef is the genius inventor of their people, and trouble maker. Stef was a powerful female side character.
The other characters; Had reasonable goals, motivations, and personalities around that. Li, Ana’s mother, was afraid and thus treated Ana horribly. Ana’s father destroyed everything out of curiosity. In general, it was clear they were far more developed people than simply those traits.
World; I loved the idea of a world where everyone is consistently reincarnated. It added texture and relationship, while making Ana the forever outsider. I like the conflict it brings as well, when this system of 5,000 years, is lost.
What I Would Have Liked or Changed:
More on the souls; More on the other souls and their aspects in life and society. Sam is said to take on new projects and not finish them, but do souls have specific talents? It was never really clear.
A bit longer on the romance; Simply by making the time line a bit longer would have been good for me. It wasn’t super fast, but there was still time that could have been taken.
Time Taken To Read
1hr 25min
Rating: 4/5
Notable Quotes:
“Small, maybe. Definitely not insignificant… Everyone knows who you are.” – Sam to Ana
Marlena Marie 
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