A review by pollyroth
Incarnate by Jodi Meadows
1.0
1.5 stars
So after reading the goodreads synopsis, it seemed this book held promise. A world different from ours, romance, and a soul searching protagonist. And based off this synopsis, I thought Ana would actually, oh I don't know, look for clues about why she's the first new soul? That seems logical right? I thought so too.
The real summary should be: Ana is a newsoul; the first in five thousand years. Finally free from her traumatizing mother Li, Ana sets out on her own to discover why she is what she is. But then she meets Sam, and suddenly her priorities change. Now all she wants is to be taken care of by this alluring, five thousand year old in a eighteen year old's body.
Much different, right?
So for the first tenish pages, Ana reminded me of Juliette from Shatter Me . I mean, her parents cause extreme traumatic feelings and she was different from everyone else, marked as an unnatural being. But after those ten pages, Ana goes from a strong, finally independent woman to a sniveling wimp who needs someone to take care of her burns and kiss them to make them better. I honestly don't get how someone cannot manage a 5 day walk when their hands are burned! So within the first twenty pages, I already hated Ana.
My next problem was lack of explanation. What exactly are sylphs? Why are there dragons? Are they on Earth? How technologically advanced is this civilization? And so many more. Ana asks so many freaking questions, but none of them build any depth to how this world came to be.
The romance in this book was so forced it is unbearable. Ana really only likes Sam because he's nice to her. And what she doesn't consider is that even though he has a teenagers body, Sam is five thousand years old! Would she love him if he looked like that? Um..ya, no! And then Sam's side makes it seem like he's in love with a little kid. He treats her like a little kid and never truly treats her as an equal. In fact, he uses her in a way. He uses her physical attraction to him as a way to make her forgive and forget all the lying and sneaking behind her back. And Ana never for a second doubts that he actually cares for her when all evidence points otherwise. Sam never apologizes to her and all Ana does is apologize.
One more thing that adds confusion to the book is Ana's upbringing. Because Liv lied so often, most facts she originally gave us were wrong. So basically everything she says after halfway through the book contradicts what she said before.
The only reason I finished this book is because I paid for it and felt obligated to. There was nothing about this book I liked, and feel like I wasted my time.
So after reading the goodreads synopsis, it seemed this book held promise. A world different from ours, romance, and a soul searching protagonist. And based off this synopsis, I thought Ana would actually, oh I don't know, look for clues about why she's the first new soul? That seems logical right? I thought so too.
The real summary should be: Ana is a newsoul; the first in five thousand years. Finally free from her traumatizing mother Li, Ana sets out on her own to discover why she is what she is. But then she meets Sam, and suddenly her priorities change. Now all she wants is to be taken care of by this alluring, five thousand year old in a eighteen year old's body.
Much different, right?
So for the first tenish pages, Ana reminded me of Juliette from Shatter Me . I mean, her parents cause extreme traumatic feelings and she was different from everyone else, marked as an unnatural being. But after those ten pages, Ana goes from a strong, finally independent woman to a sniveling wimp who needs someone to take care of her burns and kiss them to make them better. I honestly don't get how someone cannot manage a 5 day walk when their hands are burned! So within the first twenty pages, I already hated Ana.
My next problem was lack of explanation. What exactly are sylphs? Why are there dragons? Are they on Earth? How technologically advanced is this civilization? And so many more. Ana asks so many freaking questions, but none of them build any depth to how this world came to be.
The romance in this book was so forced it is unbearable. Ana really only likes Sam because he's nice to her. And what she doesn't consider is that even though he has a teenagers body, Sam is five thousand years old! Would she love him if he looked like that? Um..ya, no! And then Sam's side makes it seem like he's in love with a little kid. He treats her like a little kid and never truly treats her as an equal. In fact, he uses her in a way. He uses her physical attraction to him as a way to make her forgive and forget all the lying and sneaking behind her back. And Ana never for a second doubts that he actually cares for her when all evidence points otherwise. Sam never apologizes to her and all Ana does is apologize.
One more thing that adds confusion to the book is Ana's upbringing. Because Liv lied so often, most facts she originally gave us were wrong. So basically everything she says after halfway through the book contradicts what she said before.
The only reason I finished this book is because I paid for it and felt obligated to. There was nothing about this book I liked, and feel like I wasted my time.