The Hollow Book Tours Presents: Incarnate

 Title:  Incarnate
(New Soul #1)
Author:  Jodi Meadows
Format:  Ebook
Length:  384 pages
Publisher:  Harper Teen
Rating:  5 Stars
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.   -Goodreads





If Not Who You Were...Who Are You?
"What is a soul, but a consciousness born and born again? With the rise of new technology, we know souls can be measured as a series of vibrations, which Soul Tellers map out on machines. Each sequence is unique. Each sequence is the same as it was in its previous incarnation, no matter how different the body may be. I have been reborn a hundred times, and I remember every generation. Souls are sentience, an essence born into a new body when the old one dies. There have always been a million souls, but now we’re a million minus one. Five years ago, the temple flashed dark on the night Ciana died. This evening, when Li gave birth to our daughter, we expected Ciana’s reincarnation. Instead, truths on which we’d built society were irrevocably made uncertain. Soul Tellers took the newborn’s hand and pressed it on the soul-scanner, and the vibration sequence searched for a match in the database. There was no match, which means this soul has never been born before."   -Incarnate

Imagine a world where "finding one's self" is not necessary because you already know who you are.  Yes, you heard right.  You know yourself...likes, dislikes, strengths, and faults because you have had thousands of years to discover them.  
This is the way of life for the people of  "The Range" and the city of Heart since the beginning of time.  Until the night that Ciana becomes Ana, and the lives of all are changed forever.
Readers will find themselves transfixed by Ana's story from the first page of this wonderful read.  The injustice of her plight as a "nosoul" and the hardships that she has to endure as a result will tug heartstrings and allow you to understand Ana's self deprecating nature.  In Ana we meet a character who has suffered great abuse and alienation because of a difference over which she had no control.
To make matters worse, she is then released into a world of hostile climate, terrain, creatures, and people for which she is completely unprepared. 
  
Sam...
  Though it is true that Sam saves Ana's life in the early part of the story, he is NOT the "white knight."
She gets to save him right back, and it is this interplay between the two of them that makes their relationship and the book so engrossing.
Sam serves as the catalyst for all of Ana's transformations throughout the story's course.  While at the same time proving to be a very complex character in his own right.  He is allowed to be the mature but not perfected person that one would expect, without being closed minded or jaded.

Their World
Jodie Meadows creates a wonderful world within this book.  It is a veritable hodgepodge of high-tech, fantasy, and old world aspects.  It is this versatility that allows the reader to fully experience some of the more outlandish concepts of the tale, while at the same time, finding relatability  in some of the more mundane.

What's It All About?
This story is one about acceptance.  It stands to reason that if one cannot accept what is different or unique in others, one cannot accept the same in one's self.  The result being self hatred, narrow-mindedness, and unwillingness to grow or change.  Where there is no growth or change, there is no life.  Where there is no growth or change there is no love.  
If you live one life or a thousand, you must always do so with love...for love is the only thing that is truly INCARNATE.



This review was brought to you 
by

Just Sittin' Here Waitin' on Wednesday #9

This wonderful meme is based on the one started by Breaking the Spine 

My house has become book central as of late,
but there is still one treasure that has escaped my 
clutches!

Title:  The Selection
(The Selection #1)
Author:  Kiera Cass
Publisher:  Harper Teen
Release Date:  April 24th, 2012

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in the palace and compete for the heart of the gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself- and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.   -Goodreads


WTF Did I Miss? NEW Mystery and Thriller Reviews: "The Boy in the Suitcase" Carried Me Away

  Because my beloved Blogger  only archives posts that appear on my main page; my dear readers may miss the yummy bits that I post on other pages.  In an effort to prevent such travesties and because I really, really, LOVE you.  I have created WTF Did I Miss?

This week's offering:

Title:  The Boy In the Suitcase
Author:  Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friss
 Narrator:  Katherine Kellgren
Format:  Audiobook
Length:  8hrs 41min.
Publishers:  AudioGo
Rating 5 Stars

  Nina Borg, a Red Cross nurse, wife, and mother of two, is a compulsive do-gooder who can't say no when someone asks for help—even when she knows better. When her estranged friend Karin leaves her a key to a public locker in the Copenhagen train station, Nina gets suckered into her most dangerous project yet. Inside the locker is a suitcase, and inside the suitcase is a three-year-old boy: naked and drugged, but alive.

Is the boy a victim of child trafficking? Can he be turned over to authorities, or will they only return him to whoever sold him? When Karin is discovered brutally murdered, Nina realizes that her life and the boy's are in jeopardy, too. In an increasingly desperate trek across Denmark, Nina tries to figure out who the boy is, where he belongs, and who exactly is trying to hunt him down.   -Goodreads



This is one of the few books which defies conventional categorization; while still managing to present a flawless work.  It may appear to be a thriller at first glance, but the further one reads into the story the more elements such as mystery and even contemporary drama become apparent.
  
This story is very dark and gritty, but the things that make this a fact are not as straight forward as one would think.  Though the foremost story-line concern the questions which surround the boy in the suitcase and the reasoning behind his being there; it is only when the reader is introduced to the lives of the adult characters and allowed to open the closets that contains their hopes, dreams, regrets, and transgressions that the truly monstrous moments of the tale are experienced.
Nina, Jan, and Karin all seem to suffer from the biggest case of "good intentions paving the road to hell" ever.
Jan can't save himself for trying to save his family, Nina can't save her family for trying to save the world, and poor Karin should "just say no tho the entire affair."
Sigita provides the story's heart.  Her fight to against all obstacles in the search for her son provides the light at the end of the tunnel for a story which would otherwise prove too heart wrenching to read  

Jucas and Barbara, linking these two together seems unfair to Barbara because she is "standing by her man," but when you man is as moronic violent, and opportunistic as
Jucas; the term "guilt by association" more than applies
Anne who spends the majority of the story being patronized and lied to by her husband stands as proof that "it's the quiet ones that you gotta watch."

If you like thought provoking, edge of your seat thrills with a heart this is the read for you!


Audiobook Review 

Katherine Kellgren's performance made this book a true joy to experience.  The ease with which she transitioned from accent to accent, male to female, narrator to character made the story flow beautifully and brought everyone to life. 

Lookie What I Got:))))))

I would like to thank Nereydah@Book Obsessed
for nominating me for this wonderful award.
She said that there were a few rules that went along with the award
and threatened to raid my bookcases if I didn't tell you...

Da Rules!

1. In a post on your blog, nominate 15 fellow bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award.(15 isn’t mandatory, but it’s a nice gesture. Try and pick at least 5 )  I did 5!
2. In the same post, add the Versatile Blogger Award.
3. In the same post, thank the blogger who nominated you in a post with a link back to their blog.
4. In the same post, share 7 completely random pieces of information about yourself.
5. In the same post, include this set of rules.
6. Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each of their blogs.


Randomness

1.  I write all my reviews with a 5 pound Chihuahua in my lap.
2.  I often lose my phone in the couch.
3.  I do all of my best thinking while in bubbles.
4.  I can't sleep when my feet are uncovered.
5.  I love bacon!
6.  My daughters provide me with all of my comic relief.
7.  My spirit animal is the turtle.



And the winners are:









In My Mailbox #5

In My Mailbox is a lovely MEME
from the coolest blog on the planet!
Here we go...
ARC's


Title:  Trafficked
Author:  Kim Purcell
Source:  Author

 Title:  Loss
(Riders of the Apocalypse, Book #3)
Author:  Jackie Morse Kessler
Source:  Publisher supplied Netgalley Link


Title:  An Affair With Mr. Kennedy
Author:  Jillian Stone
Source:  Pocket Romance Publishing


Title:  If Walls Could Talk
(An Intimate History of the Home)
Author:  Lucy Worsley
Source:  Netgalley


Ebooks/Kindles


Steampunk!
(An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories)
Authors: Various
Source:  Orange County Public Library Digital Collection

 
Title:  Dancergirl
Author:  Carol M. Tanzman
Source:  Orange County Public Library Digital Collection


Title:  XVI
Author:  Julia Karr
Source:  Amazon Purchase



Audiobooks
 Title:  Shatter Me
Author:  Tahereh Mafi
Source:  Orange County Public Library Digital Collection




 *Please support your local library*

Where else can you get free books

legally without having to sleep
with the publishers?







 

Can You Wait for XVI?

 Title:  XVI
Author:  Julia Karr
Format:  Kindle Edition
Length:  328 pages
Publisher:  Speak
Age Range:  Teen
Rating:  3 Stars

“In the year 2150, being a girl isn’t necessarily a good thing, especially when your sixteenth (read sex-teenth) birthday is fast approaching. That in itself would be enough to make anyone more than a little nuts, what with the tattoo and all – but Nina Oberon’s life has taken a definite turn for the worse. Her mother is brutally stabbed and left for dead. Before dying, she entrusts a secret book to Nina, telling her to deliver it to Nina’s father. But, first Nina has to find him; since for fifteen years he’s been officially dead. Complications arise when she rescues Sal, a mysterious, and ultra hot guy. He seems to like Nina, but also seems to know more about her father than he’s letting on. Then there’s that murderous ex-government agent who’s stalking her, and just happens to be her little sister’s dad.”


Friends...Before and After?
 This is a very difficult review to write due to the fact that overall this book is quite an enjoyable read.  The problem here  is that in order to get to the most enjoyable and well written parts of the story; readers must first muddle through unexplained acronyms, repetitively annoying one dimensional characters, and wayward plot lines.  Otherwise known as the first half of this book.

Though the main character of Nina Oberon is written to perfection.  It is her friend Sandy, and her "I'm  so sexy and stupid beyond measure, but wait I'm still a virgin.  Really!"  thing that makes one want to tear out every page on which her name appears.  If not her then Mike, the fat poor kid with the big mouth and no real prospects. (Aka friend #2) 

Derek (aka friend # 3) barely misses this list because he: manages to hook up with Wei, Nina's upper-tier friend and conspiracy partner, sings in a band, and has a brief and very awkward crush on Nina.
 
The thing to keep in mind here is that Sex Pot Jr., Mike, and Derek are all Nina's "poor" friends or pre- traumatic event.  The ones that she meets "post traumatic event" have a lot more money, a lot more drama and a lot more character. 
Wei and Sal (aka Bonnie and Clyde)

Wei is the cool girl who Nina relies on to help her discover her past and unravel several of the mysteries that make up the bulk of the work.  She is perfect in every way and a welcome relief from SANDY!

Sal is the cool but mysterious boy who Nina can't help but love.  He is the person that helps Nina to discover who she is in every sense of the word.  His relationship with her is the one that makes her complete.  Although all of his cloak and dagger in the beginning is nerve racking.

What's It All About?
Though the premise of this book would lead one to believe that it is modeled after 1984; the more that one reads into it, you come to realize that it is more a tale of one person's obsession, rage, manipulation, and quest for revenge with the "big brother" aspect as backdrop and one girl's search for self, love and friendship in adversity's wake.  The things that detracted from this story can all be chalked up to the news author's learning curve.  There is now a second book in this series and here's hoping that the errors of the first work will not be seen in the next.


Say No to SOPA and PIPA Now...Or Say NOTHING Later


"I am writing to you as a voter in your district. I urge you to vote "no" on cloture for S. 968, the PROTECT IP Act, on Jan. 24th. The PROTECT IP Act is dangerous, ineffective, and short-sighted. It does not deserve floor consideration.  I urge my representative to vote "no" on SOPA, the corresponding House bill.

Over coming days you'll be hearing from the many businesses, advocacy organizations, and ordinary Americans who oppose this legislation because of the myriad ways in which it will stifle free speech and innovation.  We hope you'll take our concerns to heart and oppose this legislation by voting "no" on cloture."



As the owner of copyrighted and trademarked material I fully understand the evils of piracy,
but to blindly impose the types of restrictions and punishments that these laws call for is 
INSANITY!
Sincerely,

What's Your Status...Can You Tell Me? #2

  
Zakiya from Butterfly Feet Walking on Life has a fantastic meme. In this meme you post your status of the books your reading this week, books you finished this week, books you're going to read next, and books you plan on buying this week. You can also post what reviews and memes you participated in for the week. 

I was so busy finishing "Incarnate" by Jodi Meadows last night 
that I totally forgot to post my meme.


Read

 
Title:  Incarnate
(New Soul #1)
Author:  Jodi Meadows


 
Title:  Damned
Author:  Chick Palahniuk

Title:  Six Weeks to Hehidah
Author:  Melissa Studdard


Reading

  Title:  Pure
Author:  Julianna Baggott
Progress:  4%

Title:  Fat Assassins
Author:  Marita Fowler
Progress:  65%