Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

Incarnate
Jodi Meadows
Publisher: HarperCollins
Released: January 31, 2012
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 384
Source: Netgalley
Series: Newsoul #1

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?

I am going to be completely honest and admit I was kinda "meh" about starting this book. The cover is pretty and people seem to like it, but I'm a contemporary girl at heart. Dystopians scare me. However, I can be a bit overzealous when requesting titles from Netgalley, and being approved makes me responsible for reading and reviewing it. So can I just say, YAY for having no self control!

Incarnate begins with Ana leaving for the city of Heart. The reader is briefly informed of the world Ana lives in and her situation, but it is vague enough that I was intrigued from the very beginning. Ana is completely ill-equipped to find her way to the city, but she is luckily rescued by Sam who becomes her only friend. Sam helps Ana get to Heart, and takes on the responsibility of "teaching" her what the counsel deems necessary.
As Ana searches for answers regarding her existence, weird things begin happening, and it becomes clear that not everyone is in support of her new presence.

This book is yet another example of a great debut. I love the idea of reincarnation Jodi Meadows takes and twists into a dystopian world with dragons and tons of mystery. I love the butterfly on the cover and all that it represents within the pages of this novel. I love being blown away by the world building and the wonderfully frustrating cliffhangers of the last few chapters. I love reading a book and feeling like I had an actual experience - not just a few hours holding an inanimate object. I love Ana, almost as much as I love Sam, and I cannot wait until next winter when I can find out more about Ana's world and her place in it.

FTC: I received an eARC of this novel from HarperCollins via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Waiting on Wednesday (34)

Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It features upcoming releases we can't wait to get our hands on.

This week's pick is...

Life Is But a Dream
Brian James
Coming March 27, 2012 - Preorder it below
Indiebound| Amazon | BN

I haven't read many books about mental illness in the world of YA, so I'm really interested in James's upcoming release. I really hope it lives up to its possibility.

My Awesome/Awful Popularity Plan

My Awesome Awful Popularity Plan
Seth Rudetsky
Publisher: Random House
Released: January 24, 2012
Genre: Contemporary
Pages: 288
Source: Cavalier House Books

Justin has two goals for sophomore year: to date Chuck, the hottest boy in school, and to become the king of Cool U, the table in the cafeteria where the "in" crowd sits.

Unfortunately, he has the wrong look (short, plump, Brillo-pad curls), he has the wrong interests (Broadway, chorus, violin), and he has the wrong friends (Spencer, into Eastern religions, and Mary Ann, who doesn't shave her armpits). And Chuck? Well, he's not gay; he's dating Becky, a girl in chorus with whom Justin is friendly

But Justin is determined.

In detention one day (because he saw Chuck get it first), Justin comes up with a perfect plan: to allow Becky to continue dating Chuck, whom Becky's dad hates. They will pretend that Becky is dating Justin, whom Becky's dad loves. And when Becky and Justin go out on a fake date, Chuck will meet up with them for a real date with Becky. Chuck's bound to find Justin irresistable, right? What could go wrong?

Justin Goldblatt is tired of being the overweight, gay kid sitting at the loser table. So he contrives this less-than-believable plan to switch things up and become popular. Of course, this plan also involves sharing his first kiss with the high school quarterback who happens to prefer kissing girls.

The writing really keeps me from loving this novel. It switches tenses, which becomes confusing, and I feel like some of the transitions to and from flashbacks are forced. These things make the prose somewhat choppy, and I wish these things could be smoothed out. That said, I think the subject matter is important enough for me to overlook the less-than-stellar writing.

In a world where it isn't always okay to be different, Rudetsky's novel shows teens that staying true to themselves is really the most important thing there is. There is obviously the LGBT issue (of which I am a huge supporter), but there's also the struggle Becky goes through, which makes this novel empathetic to all teens - not just gay ones. It is a cute story with a good message, I just find it lacks in the execution.

FTC: I received an ARC of this novel from Random House via Cavalier House Books in exchange for an honest review.

In My Bag (40)

In My Bag is my version of the weekly meme, In My Mailbox. IMM was started by Kristi over at The Story Siren, and it explores the contents of my mailbox or shopping bag on a weekly basis.

For review:

Gilt by Katherine Longshore

Keep Holding On by Susane Colasanti

Keeping the Castle by Patrice Kindl

My Life in Black and White by Natasha Friend

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

No Safety in Numbers by Dayna Lorentz

Small Damages by Beth Kephart

The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges

The Summer My Life Began by Shannon Greenland

The Waiting Sky by Lara Zielin

Tokyo Heist by Diana Renn

Zoe Letting Go by Nora Price

I also received some signed swag from Holly Cupala as a part of the Don't Breathe a Word Street Team. Look for a giveaway soon!

What'd you guys get this week?

John Green Recap

Ask me why it's been so hard to type up this recap post.

Because I still can't believe it freaking happened.

You'd swear I had a near-death experience recently with the way I've been reflecting on how my life has changed since I began blogging. I started this whole thing on a whim, concentrating on a new-to-me genre, all while I should have been spending my time doing fifty bajilliony more important things. I could really use a newer vehicle and a fatter savings account, but instead I have spent more money than I'd care to admit on hardcovers, shipping contest prizes, and an indulgent trip to New York. It all seems like I've been very irresponsible.

Ask me if I'd change it.

Absolutely not.

You see, back when I started blogging, before the ARCs and the galleys, I took recommendations from a few trusted bloggers and went to the library. I read YA "classics" like Speak and the Jessica Darling series, and then I heard about this guy named John Green. So I picked up his books, and I fell in love. With each new release and each reread, I fall in love all over again. I feel like I owe so much to those first few books I read, especially John's.

After a few missed attempts, I finally got to meet John this past Wednesday. Hearing him read from The Fault in Our Stars, having him answer one of my very own questions, and even hearing him "sing" with his brother Hank were very surreal moments for me. I am so incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to meet John. I wish I could convey my appreciation for who he is, what he does, and how he makes me feel all of the things. Also, I couldn't be happier about finally having this:

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Everneath
Brodi Ashton
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Released: January 24, 2012
Genre: Paranormal
Pages: 384
Source: Netgalley

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever.

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she's forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's...

I have to admit, I requested this title from Netgalley solely for my love of its cover. I knew nothing about it, other than the fact that the entire blogging community had been lusting over it for months. I'm actually glad I didn't take the time to read the synopsis because I may have passed it up due to my overall distrust of the paranormal genre.

Everneath begins with Nikki regaining consciousness just after the Feed. It is unclear exactly who she is or where she is, but Ashton does an amazing job of throwing the reader into the story and planting the urge to know more. Throughout the entire story, Nikki is discovering things about herself and the world of the Everneath with the reader - making her a deeply empathetic character from the start. Her struggle with fixing what is left of her old life, all the while knowing she is only to leave again, is painfully evident. For a person lacking emotion, Nikki has the ability to make the reader feel all the things she can't.

Without giving too much away, one of my favorite aspects of this novel is its tie to Greek mythology, one myth in particular being one of my favorites. If this is to be a new trend in the paranormal genre, I must say I can't wait to see what other authors will do with it. That said, of the few I've read, Ashton certainly wrote the best. The story is solid, the characters are well fleshed, and holy cliffhanger ending! I swear this reviewing thing has its setbacks. I can't imagine having to wait over a year to find out what happens next.

Overall, Everneath was a very ambitious debut novel, and Brodi Ashton nailed it. As I said before, I've been very leery of  paranormal as of late, but with new titles like this one, it gives me hope for the future of the genre.

Maybe We Should See Other People... (1)

Ever start a book you were really looking forward to reading and it just...didn't live up to your expectations? I, personally, hate that. Your first instinct is to blame it all on the book. But then you think about it, and it's not really the book's fault. So then you start to wonder if there's something wrong with you. Surely you must be missing something because this person loved it and it won that award. Again, I hate that feeling. And so this feature, Maybe We Should See Other People, was born. Because you know, every book deserves a chance, and I'm sure there's someone else out there who will love it - maybe even a future me.

Stolen
Lucy Christopher
May 4, 2009

Raves:
Forever Young Adult
Makeshift Bookmark
Frenetic Reader

The subject matter alone left me a bit reluctant to begin, but Stolen was a Printz honor book, for crying out loud. It was supposed to be amazing, and I couldn't let an uncomfortable storyline get in my way. Unfortunately though, regardless of the plot, it was the format that forced me to shelf it. Without chapters or defined pauses, I just couldn't get into it. This was a case where it was definitely me, not the book. I am a sporadic reader who likes to read a chapter or two at a time, and without clear stopping points, I couldn't continue. I'd love to give it another try when I have a day to devote to it without distractions, but it just hasn't happened yet.

Did you read Stolen? If so, what did you think? Has there been another well-received book you couldn't get into? Leave answers in the comments!