Incarnate (Book Review)

Isn't the cover just beautiful???

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?

It seems that many YA novels have been following a pattern lately. There’s a weak-willed female character that doesn’t know much of anything(for whatever reason), meets the boy(or two) of her dreams, then comes a big fight scene and one way of another she ends up with the boy of her dreams. In all, the plot is pretty expectable. I hoped that Incarnate wouldn’t be one of those stories. Luckily enough for me, it wasn’t.

The very premise of the novel is unique. I can’t even say how many novels I’ve read where the female character is reincarnated each life in a world were most people aren’t. I love how the author put a completely different spin on the idea, making an idea that has begun to seem cliche, fresh. I’m so used to novels with a female MC that is different in a beneficial way. Ana’s difference has been her weakness all along. 

I admit that Ana is not the most likeable character at times. She can be overly needy, accusing, and possessing a “woe is me” attitude, but in the end, her faults make her all the more likeable. Not even counting the plot, idea, well fleshed out supporting characters, and writing that can all combine to make a really great YA novel. Don’t even remind me to read the next on. Already on my “to-read” list in Goodreads.

4 points of 5