{Book Review}: Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

Title: Incarnate
Author: Jodi Meadows Website | Twitter
Stand Alone or Series: Incarnate, #1
Genre: YA Fantasy/Dystopian
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books  (January 31st 2012) 
Hardcover: 374 pages
ISBN:  9780062060754 
Source: NetGalley
Available On: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | TheBookDepository | Kindle | Nook

Description from GoodReads:

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?
Jodi Meadows expertly weaves soul-deep romance, fantasy, and danger into an extraordinary tale of new life.

My Review

First Impressions: The cover is beautiful. The idea of reincarnation and soul-mates are common among YA novels so I was hoping that this story stood out among the rest.


Plot & Characters: At first like most post-apocolyptic stories the setting is a bit hard to understand. In Ana's world a predermined number of souls where born and are reborn again and again into different bodies and retain all of  their memories. Which leads to 5,000 year old souls living and crating a community together. 


The problem arises with the birth of Ana. She is a new soul that has replaced one of the old souls. Ana is raised in a world of ancients with no place where she belongs, that is until she meets Sam.


I really enjoyed this story. The connection and relationship between Ana and Sam was great. I really believed their relationship. The other characters such as Sam's friends and Ana's mother where fun to read about. Great character development in this story. The setting was also well developed their community, the rules they lived with, what they believed in. It is all explained so as to bring the reader into Ana's world so they too can feel like a new soul learning everything.


Final Thoughts: if you are looking for a fantasy/dystopian/romance/good book then you should give Incarnate a try. 


Buy, Borrow or Skip: Buy! Great story and beautiful cover. A great addition to any library.


My Rating:

Book Trailer:

{Review}: ARC Vanish by Sophie Jordan

Title: Vanish
Author: Sophie Jordan
Genre: YA Fiction/Fantasy
Publisher: HarperCollins (Sept 06, 2011)
Hardcover: 304 pages
ISBN: 9780061935107
Source: NetGalley*
Pre-Order on: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | TheBookDepository

My Rating: 4/5

Description from GoodReads:

To save the life of the boy she loves, Jacinda did the unthinkable: She betrayed the most closely-guarded secret of her kind. Now she must return to the protection of her pride knowing she might never see Will again—and worse, that because his mind has been shaded, Will’s memories of that fateful night and why she had to flee are gone.
Back home, Jacinda is greeted with hostility and must work to prove her loyalty for both her sake and her family’s. Among the few who will even talk to her are Cassian, the pride’s heir apparent who has always wanted her, and her sister, Tamra, who has been forever changed by a twist of fate. Jacinda knows that she should forget Will and move on—that if he managed to remember and keep his promise to find her, it would only endanger them both. Yet she clings to the hope that someday they will be together again. When the chance arrives to follow her heart, will she risk everything for love?
In bestselling author Sophie Jordan’s dramatic follow-up to Firelight, forbidden love burns brighter than ever.

My Review:


Vanish begins where Firelight left off. Jacinda returns to the pride after revealing her pride's secret. When Jacinda and her family returns they are treated as betrayers and are once again have to follow the commands of Severin. Jacinda must decide whether she wants to be accepted once again with her pride and bond with Cassian or forget about the pride and find Will.

If you loved Firelight, Vanish will not disappoint. We learn more about Cassian and his real emotions and motivations. I am seriously confused about whether I want her to be with Cassian or Will and it's strange because I usually just go for the dangerous choice but Cassian just grew on me. Hopefully, the third book will help me and Jacinda (Of course!) decide.

In Vanish we get to see more of the inner workings of the pride. Nidia's veil is lifted for the reader and we get to meet new interesting character of Jacinda's pride. We also get to learn more about other characters such as Jacinda's sister and how she is taking returning to the pride that once rejected her. Sophie Jordan does a magnificent job in developing her characters because i felt like at the end of this book I had a better idea of their intentions and motivations.

The only things that I did expect that did not happen was Jacinda taping into her fire breather and showing us her power and strength but I can see that happening in the third. The ending was a bit of a foreseeable cliffhanger. I can't wait to see what happens in the third installment.

*Cover Bonus* I could not do a review without saying that I absolutely love the cover of Vanish. I love when the covers of series compliment each other and this series does a great job. I love the contrast of Fire and Ice between the two. We just have to wait and see what amazing cover they come up for the next one. 




*Disclosure: This e-ARC was provided by the publisher (HarperCollins Publishing via NetGalley) for free in exchange for an honest review.