Incarnate

by Jodie Meadows

Published by HarperCollins

Available January 31,2012

synopsis (from Goodreads)

NEWSOUL 

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. 

NOSOUL 

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 suspicious and 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

What happens when everyone you know has been reincarnated over and over and retains memories of their previous lives?  Now imagine that you are a 'new soul', a person who's soul is a new life. You haven't lived before.  You have millenia of 'catchup' to do.  This happens to Ana, the main character of INCARNATE. She is born into the family of Li and Menhem. She was supposed to be the reincarnation of Ciana but something went wrong and Ciana is no more, instead Ana is alive. 

 The character of Ana took some getting used to, she was cynical, defensive and very angry.  When you read the book and understand her upbringing, you'll understand her anger.  I, myself, was angry with not only her mother, Li, but everyone in the city of Heart who gave her a difficult time about being a 'new soul'. 

The relatioship between Ana and Sam was somewhat difficult to accept.  I kept thinking of Sam as a patient, much older, teacher, rather than a romantic interest. 

Now onto the fun stuff, DRAGONS, SYLPH (creatures who can burn you with a mere touch). So many fantasy creatures!  How wonderful.

I really enjoyed this book.  I'm not certain I would want to live in a society where all my foibles and fears are known by everyone. All my mistakes are remembered from life to life.  Works ok for Sam and the others in the book. 

I am anxiouslly awaiting the next installment of this series.