Incarnate (Newsoul, #1) in And So It Begins Reading Challenge

Apr 27, 2012 Paula Phillips rated it really liked it

As I've said plenty of times before , I am unfortunately a cover whore :P , I am obsessed with covers of books -the prettier the better and I guarantee unless I really know the author's books , I will only pick up the book due to the cover. Incarnate was a bit of both as I had heard the book circulating around in reviews and the cover is amazing. It holds an almost Prism look , the look when the sun reflects a diamond or a piece of glass.
It seems that the theme of books have moved from the supe As I've said plenty of times before , I am unfortunately a cover whore :P , I am obsessed with covers of books -the prettier the better and I guarantee unless I really know the author's books , I will only pick up the book due to the cover. Incarnate was a bit of both as I had heard the book circulating around in reviews and the cover is amazing. It holds an almost Prism look , the look when the sun reflects a diamond or a piece of glass.
It seems that the theme of books have moved from the supernatural life of Vampires and Werewolves after the major popularity of Twilight to the world of Dystopian fiction after the popularity of The Hunger Games.
Incarnate to me , had it's good points as well as it's bad as Incarnate tells the tale of a society in which the characters are reincarnated , all have died and been reborn in another one's body. It normally works that when someone dies , a baby is born shortly after with the deceased person's soul inside . The story starts 23years ago when a lady by the name of Ciana died , the town waited for her to be rebirthed and 18yrs ago Ana is born - everyone expects Ciana's soul to be within her but it's later discovered that Ana is a newsoul - one that has never been re-incarnated, she is the only one of her kind. Hidden away from the world and punished for being who she is , on her 18th birthday sets out to discover why this happened and what makes her -her . Along the journey, she mets Sam - a reincarnated soul and soon the pair of them connect and Sam takes her under his wing but somebody is trying to rid the world of Ana and is setting up Sam - her only true friend. Can Sam truly fall in love with Ana - a newsoul or is it true that the re-incarnated souls have long lasting soulmates ?
Incarnate reminded me of the film Aeon Flux starring Charlize Theron with the rebirthing of souls and there is a masquerade ball scene in the novel which reminds me of Drew Barrymore's movie "Ever After" A Cinderella Story.
The downside of this novel to me was that the author chucked in the midst of the story , a dragon attack which I think could have been left out as it really did not flow with the story.
In saying that though, I do look forward to reading Book #2 of Incarnate and to see where the tale of Sam and Ana ends up. ...more

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Jun 27, 2011 Darlene rated it it was amazing

Shelves: for-review, galley, arc, 2012-debut-author-challenge

I received this e-ARC for review from the publisher through NetGalley. I did not receive any compensation for my review, and the views expressed herein are my own.

Range is an exciting fantasy world with dragons, sylph, and reincarnated souls!

For millennia, the inhabitants of Range have been reincarnated over and over again by Janan who is revered as a god. When a child is born, its palm is pressed on the Soul Scanner so that the Soul Tellers can determine whose soul has been reincarnated. Souls I received this e-ARC for review from the publisher through NetGalley. I did not receive any compensation for my review, and the views expressed herein are my own.

Range is an exciting fantasy world with dragons, sylph, and reincarnated souls!

For millennia, the inhabitants of Range have been reincarnated over and over again by Janan who is revered as a god. When a child is born, its palm is pressed on the Soul Scanner so that the Soul Tellers can determine whose soul has been reincarnated. Souls can be measured as a series of vibrations, and the unique sequence remains throughout the soul’s lifetime no matter how many times it has been reincarnated. There comes a day when a baby girl is born and, when she is scanned, no data is available. Everyone was expecting the babe to be the reincarnation of Ciana, but she is not. Who is this child, and where did she come from?

The child is dubbed “nosoul,” a derogatory name because she has no known soul and was not the reincarnation of anyone that is known. The kinder folks refer to her as “new soul” because her soul is new rather than believing that she has no soul. They call her Ana, and her name is taken from Ciana whose soul she replaced.

Ana has a horrid upbringing and is both physically and mentally abused by her domineering mother, Li. When she turns 18 years old, Ana decides that she wants to travel to the city of Heart where it is her fervent hope that she will discover how and why she came to be and whether there is any chance that she will be reincarnated when she dies. Li tries to sabotage Ana’s quest by giving her a faulty compass, and Ana ends up wandering too deeply into the forests where the sylph roam. She tries to avoid a sylph attack by diving off a cliff into the freezing water below. She is rescued by Sam, who not only nurses her back to health but helps her to get to Heart. Once there, he receives permission from the Council to be appointed as Ana’s guardian.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure how much I would enjoy the story given that reincarnation is not consistent with my own beliefs. I am actually pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it! I loved Ana, and my heart just broke at the cruelty of Li and the residents of Heart. Ana and Sam have a lot of chemistry, and it was nice to see their relationship grow and change over time. Sam acts as a bit of an anchor for Ana, and she counts on him as she has counted on no one else in her life. I really enjoyed the snippets of Sam’s past lives, but it wasn’t nearly enough! I hope we learn more about him.

To be Ana, a stranger in a world where everyone has known each other for thousands of years, would be terribly frightening! I thought that Meadows did a great job in playing both sides: Not only could I relate to how Ana would feel in such a situation, but I also could empathize with the residents of Heart who were distrustful and wary of Ana’s existence. I think that only a skillful writer can accomplish such a feat!

I cannot wait to read the next book in the series, which is expected to be released in 2013 which is just way too far away! With the way this book ended, the next one promises to be exciting and tumultuous! There are a lot of unanswered questions and lots of possibilities to explore, and I am eager to see how this plays out.

And let’s not forget that gorgeous cover! That alone would suck me into buying the book.

MY RATING: 5 stars!! Loved it!! Thanks to both HarperCollins and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book! ...more

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Jul 21, 2011 Nicole rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arc, past-lives

Find more of my reviews on my blog, The Reader's Antidote

4.5/5

This novel just blew me away as a debut. I can't even begin to put this into a category besides YA and awesome!

I’m not sure what to say about this exactly. It’s not really a kind of book that you can put into a category. It seems dystopian as well as post-apocalyptic, but I can’t be sure if it’s just a completely different world from earth all together. And then there’s the whole reincarnation thing. To be honest, it made me think of Find more of my reviews on my blog, The Reader's Antidote

4.5/5

This novel just blew me away as a debut. I can't even begin to put this into a category besides YA and awesome!

I’m not sure what to say about this exactly. It’s not really a kind of book that you can put into a category. It seems dystopian as well as post-apocalyptic, but I can’t be sure if it’s just a completely different world from earth all together. And then there’s the whole reincarnation thing. To be honest, it made me think of The Host by Stephanie Meyer (though it feels like we’ll be getting the sequel to Incarnate before the second Host book comes out). All of these souls have been with each other for thousands of years. The only difference between this book and The Host is that these souls don’t travel from world to world. They remain on whatever planet it is. And it’s a planet filled with fantastical, evil monsters. And I don’t just mean the dragons and the burning, moaning sylphs.

Ana is the first newsoul, or as her horrible mother calls her, nosoul. Her mother has treated her like she’s worthless, because Ana is the first soul to replace an old soul, one named Ciana. And let’s just say the other souls aren’t too happy about that. Everyone has the same lifespan, but when they’re reborn they remember everything from their previous lives. Ana’s mother was meant to bear Ciana’s soul, but what she got was an entirely new soul. Ana’s mother lied to her, beat her, tricked her. So when Ana turns 18, she decides to leave home and her horrid mother for the main city called Heart.

When she nearly dies from drowning in a frozen lake after sylphs chase her, a young man named Sam saves her. Ana isn’t used to human contact, or anyone treating her more than a nothing nosoul. But Sam sees something in her, and he has some secrets of his own. I loved the romance between these two. There was so instalove, which was such a relief. That’s become a pet peeve of mine recently. It was slow and unsure, but it’s absolute magic when they finally get together. I read that scene over and over. They are perfect for each other, and I can’t wait to see where everything goes from here.

This world Meadows has created for her readers is so vivid and different from anything I’ve read in YA for a very long time. I’m still not sure what to think about the pulsing temple or why these souls are reincarnated. But I get the feeling Ana won’t be the only newsoul in Heart. If you’re looking for something completely different and vivid and heartbreaking, this book is for you. Besides, the cover is gorgeous! ...more

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