Synopsis: Taya soars over Ondinium on metal wings. She is an icarus — a courier privileged to travel freely across the city’s sectors and mingle indiscriminately among its castes. But even she can’t outfly the web of terrorism, loyalty, murder, and intrigue that snares her after a daring mid-air rescue. Taya finds herself entangled with the Forlore brothers, scions of an upperclass family: handsome, brilliant Alister, who sits on the governing council and writes programs for the Great Engine; and awkward, sharp-tongued Cristof, who has exiled himself from his caste and repairs clocks in Ondinium’s lowest sector. Both hide dangerous secrets, in this city that beats to the ticking of a clockwork heart…

What I liked: What first attached me to this book was the cover and then the back cover’s synopsis. I love steampunk and this book seemed to promise a good dose of that.
The story was interesting, it had some cool ideas; like Taya’s clockwork wings and the way the city’s society worked. It was interesting how computers and steampunk were combined.
Pagliassotti does a good job of assuming her audience is not dumb, her tone is not condescending or overly explanatory.

What I Didn’t Like: The first page was a bit overwhelming: there was a lot of information about the society and names given all at once. Once it plunged into the action scene it became interesting.

The book is aimed at a teen and YA audience: I found it in the teen section and the story is very much geared towards what that age group would be interested in; however, the main character is mentioned as being about thirty years old. That doesn’t have to be a big deal, in fact, it can be an opportunity to create a role model for younger readers. However, I took issue with the opportunity Pagliassotti missed; she has Taya and Alister’s intentions toward each other as being completely recreational and not at all serious. Pointless flirting is portrayed as fun and harmless, and Taya considers sleeping with Alister with clear indications of no commitment. It bothers me that Pagliassotti portrays these ideas to teens who are looking around for an indication of what relationships should be like. Her message is: commitment-free, sexual relationships can be fun and don’t really mean anything. That kind of thinking can be damaging.

There is a whole lot of blushing going on in the book. Taya blushes when she wakes up, blushes when she eats, blushes when she walks, blushes when talking to both the love interests, and blushes when anything important happens. Alister also joins in on the blush-fest. I might be exaggerating a little bit, but only a little bit…

At one point the story lulled and seemed to promise the end, only to have a whole other story line appear and the story start up again. In the meantime, I got bored.

The Verdict: One only needs to see the difference between the amount of “What I liked” in comparison to “what I didn’t like” to know the answer to that. I was disappointed. Though the story was okay, the morals sucked and, in the end, I got rid of the book.

Where have I been?
I’m not entirely sure. See, I’ve been working and editing… and… well that’s all I can remember O_O Oh! Yes! I’ve also been reading!

I started a fantasy book that I decided 3/4’s of the way through – sucked. So, while I was looking for a birthday present for my husband at Chapters the other day (where else would I look?), I glanced around for a book to read. To my dismay, all I saw were…. fairy, vampire and werewolf books. *Sigh* I think my generation doesn’t have good taste in books. Not that I have anything against paranormal books, but the obsession that goes along with them doesn’t sit well with me.
Then! I remembered… “What was that book…? That one I read about on the author’s blog…?… Ah-ha!”

And that, my friends, is how I bought “Incarnate” by Jodi Meadows.

 Synopsis:
Ana is the first “newsoul” to be born in Range. For thousands of years people have lived, died, and been born again while keeping the memories from their previous lives. Ana, however, replaced someone. She was never supposed to be born. Her mother hates her and many are afraid there will be more like her that will replace old souls.
At 18 she travels to Heart, the city where most of the population of Range lives. Along the way she is rescued from drowning by Sam, a music composer. His body is around the same ages as hers but he has lived and died hundreds of times.
He watches out for her and takes her to Heart with him. There, Ana searches for the reason for her existence.
The counsel, however, isn’t as eager as Sam is to receive her and she is subjected to their rules. They claim it is for her safety and benefit. But she asks too many questions about things others think she shouldn’t. She finds herself in danger of being killed. Ana and Sam form a strong attachment through music which quickly becomes much more.

What I liked:
It was unique. I’d never read a fantasy book about reincarnation before. The book kept me engaged all the way through.
I liked that Ana accepted help from Sam. Most female characters tend to try to be too tough and it’s hard for me to relate to them when I am frustrated with them every time they get into a conversation with their romantic interest. Ana, however, had a nice balance of independence while still relying on others. Her character development was well paced.
The imagery in the book was also quite good. Imagery is something that I have always found hard to write but Jodi Meadows had enough description to give me a vivid picture in my head without overwhelming with details.
The book is well written.

What I Didn’t Like:
I appreciated the idea that a soul isn’t defined by it’s gender but I wasn’t a fan of the idea that people’s souls were reincarnated into both male and female bodies, depending on the life-time.
Sam and Ana make some suggestive comments to each other near in the latter half of the book. In my opinion, books for teens have far too much of that these days. “Intimate” scenes are uncalled for, especially in books for teen girls (I ought to know, I’m still one myself). I prefer to read and suggest a book to friends without being uncomfortable about parts in it. I returned “The Graceling” by Kristin Cashore to Chapters for that very reason and ranted to my friends about how annoyed I was.

Verdict:
Over-all, I liked “Incarnate” and look forward to the sequel!