My Thoughts on Incarnate by Jodi Meadows + Winner

Incarnate
Author: Jodi Meadows web | twitter | fb
Series: Newsoul #1
Pages: 374
Publication: January 2012; Katherine Tegen Books
Source: Bought
Cover Love: ♥♥♥♥♥

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.

It took me a longgggg time to finish Incarnate. Initially, I was blazing through the pages. I was very intrigued by Sam's character; because his soul has reincarnated for 5000 years, he's quite mature for his age whereas Ana, a newsoul, acted more like an 18 year old would. But as I got to closer to the middle of the book, the story (or lack there of) took a nose dive and my attention drifted to other things: t.v., cleaning out my drawers, playing thumbs wars...

So, why didn't I like this book?

This is really the only analogy I could come up with for my experience with this book:

Let's say, you went to your favorite breakfast place. You look at the menu. Those pictures look yummy don't they? So you order. A five-star breakfast. The works. Buttermilk pancakes. Smoked sausage. Eggs. Home fries. You're dying to eat this meal. The smell from the kitchen is making your mouth water. The waitress finally brings your plate. And it's filled with nothing but:

And that sums up what my reading experience with Incarnate was like.

First off, there was no story. I'm sure the author planned to have one somewhere in the 374 pages I read, but it never really happened. Ana is kicked out of her house by her abusive mother to wander the cold winter woods in search of Heart, the place she was born and hopes to find answers as to why she was born and not the reincarnated soul of Ciana, the girl she replaced. In the woods she's flees an attack from a slyph and is saved from drowning waters from Sam. Sam nurses her back to good health and guides her to Heart.

That's pretty much where the story ends. Because the rest of the book is Ana more interested in fawning over Sam, becoming his little protege and making a dress for a masquerade ball. She doesn't devote much time to finding out why she was born (even though she whines that she's dying to know this information). But she doesn't really have to find out, does she? Because that info is conveniently waiting in the last 30 pages. If you can even what I read an answer. To me, there was no real explanation to who she is and what significance she holds. You may come across this book listed in a dystopian genre section but it's more like a lame attempt at a fantasy. Sure, there's dragons and slyph (wtf) and centaurs (they're mentioned but one never appears) but this book really fell short. It's more romance fueled than fantasy (or dystopian) focused.

And how about that romance? Well, after Ana and Sam fell all insta-love for each other, their time together was a big syrupy-sweet nonsense. In almost every scenario, Ana acted over-dramatic and Sam just ate that crap up. I couldn't stand them. Their scenes together felt like they were plucked from a bad soap opera and then written in drugstore romance format.

Sorry to say it, but I did not like this book. No story. Blah characters. And a romance that could give corn syrup a cavity. If you're used to reading books like this, then you will love it. If not, best if you find another book to read.

Cover Story: Loved it! They duped me with that gorgeous cover!

And the winner of Incarnate is:

#32 - Ivy

Congratulations!

(winner has been notified)