Incarnate

Incarnate By: Jodi Meadows

Rating: Incredibly AWESOME

Age Group: 13+

Summary (from Amazon.com):

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? 

My Thoughts:  Oh my gosh, I LOVE THIS BOOK!  This book has all the things I love in it: fantasy, science fiction, romance, and reincarnation.  Guys, these are my favorite things that I think about to make me not feel so bad.  So, obviously, I adore the plot and I loved how the story progressed.  I totally did not guess the end, and I loved it!  Mrs. Meadows answers enough questions to satisfy my curiosity, while still leaving plenty of questions to be answered in the following books.  The world is very well crafted and believable, and so interesting!  I enjoyed learning about it with Ana.  Which brings me to Ana, who is spunky and smart and lovably defensive.  I think she grew a lot as a character during this story and I liked how she developed.  Considering how she grew up, I think it’s understandable that she would be so afraid of the world and I think that her reactions are realistic.  Now it’s Sam’s turn.  I kind of love the stuffing out of him.  He’s so very understanding and kind, but he still has a backbone.  He is also funny and very sweet, and I liked how he approached his relationship with Ana.  He is OLD, and his hesitation seems to stem from how conscious he is of his and Ana’s age difference.  Personally, I think the two of them have a lot of chemistry and I see nothing really wrong with their relationship.  Though I admit it brings up a lot of ethical questions, I think that adds to the complexity of the story.  Anyway, I really can’t wait to see where the story goes!  I highly recommend this book!

Book Recommendations:  Reincarnation By: Suzanne Weyn

The Girl in the Steel Corset

The Girl in the Steel Corset By: Kady Cross

Rating: Great

Age Group: 13+

Summary (from Amazon.com): In 1897 England, sixteen-year-old Finley Jayne has no one…except the "thing" inside her.

When a young lord tries to take advantage of Finley, she fights back. And wins. But no normal Victorian girl has a darker side that makes her capable of knocking out a full-grown man with one punch….

Only Griffin King sees the magical darkness inside her that says she's special, says she's one of them. The orphaned duke takes her in from the gaslit streets against the wishes of his band of misfits: Emily, who has her own special abilities and an unrequited love for Sam, who is part robot; and Jasper, an American cowboy with a shadowy secret.

Griffin's investigating a criminal called The Machinist, the mastermind behind several recent crimes by automatons. Finley thinks she can help—and finally be a part of something, finally fit in.

But The Machinist wants to tear Griff's little company of strays apart, and it isn't long before trust is tested on all sides. At least Finley knows whose side she's on—even if it seems no one believes her.

My Thoughts:  So this was a fantastic book.   You don’t find many steampunk novels out there, at least I don’t, and I think that it’s a really cool genre.  The thing I like best is the atmosphere, especially in this novel.  It’s just very unique and interesting, a melding of old and new ideas and mannerisms.  The setting was rich and well described.  The other thing I loved about this novel was the characters.  They were all very interesting and unique, and I especially loved their back stories.  Each character was complex, with a story of their own, ,and I loved find those stories out throughout the book.  Finley’s was especially interesting to me.  In this book there was a little romance, though mostly it was building up for the next book.  There were parts of this story that had links to classic stories from the industrial era, and I thought that was a nice touch.  And the science!  While I had trouble envisioning the technology of the world (to me, if it acts like a phone then it looks like a phone, no matter how it was described), I really liked the idea of Organites and rapid evolution (my biology centered mind geeked out a bit :P ).  It was believable in the context of the story and I love that in books.  I loved how the characters interacted and how the story resolved, and I especially can’t wait for the sequel.  This is a definite must read!