Mini Reviews: Incarnate by Jodi Meadows and The Stone in Meadow by Karleen Bradford

From Goodreads: 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. 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 afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame? 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 Rating: 2.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: Incarnate by Jodi Meadows was a book that I thought started off well but ultimately disappointed me in the end. The novel begins with eighteen-year-old Ana finally leaving her home and abusive mother to figure out why she, a Newsoul, was born and how she fits into a world where everybody else but her has been reincarnated over and over again. The world Meadows created was initially fascinating to me, with reincarnation, dragons and sylphs. It later started to feel weak though because it didn’t really seem to have any rules behind it. Things just existed or happened that would simply leave me with more questions.

In terms of the characters, I liked how patient and gentle Sam was with Ana when her past made it hard for her to trust him. However, neither Sam nor Ana stood out in my mind; and when their romance became the focal point of the majority of the book, it distracted Ana from her quest and in my opinion, caused the worldbuilding to suffer as a result. Also, I found the romance to be a little strange because Sam has been a girl in the past and it’s kind of weird to be wearing a girl’s clothes and know that they belong to the guy you’re interested in or be jealous of that guy because he filled out those clothes better than you. 

Incarnate was released in January 2012 by Katherine Tegen Books.

In exchange for an honest review, this ARC was received from the publisher (HarperCollins) for free via NetGalley.

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From Back Cover: The large, black stone in the meadow in Cornwall held a strange, hypnotic fascination for Jenifer. One day she found out why. Was it just a dream? Or could the stone really transport her back in time - a hundred years ... a thousand years ...? If it were a dream, it was so vivid Jenifer knew that as long as she lived she would never forget Perran, that small boy from the past who had shared her adventure. And Fedelm - the Druid priestess who was the image of Jenifer, and who was so frightened of her. But, above all, she would remember Bron, with his blue eyes and flaming hair, who would remain forever her first love. 

My Rating: 2.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: Karleen Bradford’s The Stone in the Meadow was a short book that took me a really, really long time to read because I kept putting it down to read other books in between. As was the case with Bradford’s The Other Elizabeth, I thought the amount of historical detail in the novel was great but had a difficult time caring about the characters or getting invested in the story. Furthermore, I found the depiction of Bron as being Jenifer’s first love in the synopsis to be misleading because a) Jenifer is only thirteen and b) the two speak different languages and therefore don’t understand each other. First crush, maybe; but saying he’s her first love is taking it a little too far.

The Stone in the Meadow was released by Starburst Digital Rights International Inc. in September 2011. 

In exchange for an honest review, this book was received from the publisher.

original image from thegate.ca

Mini Reviews: The Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellison and The Other Elizabeth by Kathleen Bradford

From Goodreads: Penelope (Lo) Marin has always loved to collect beautiful things. Her dad's consulting job means she's grown up moving from one rundown city to the next, and she's learned to cope by collecting (sometimes even stealing) quirky trinkets and souvenirs in each new place - possessions that allow her to feel at least some semblance of home. But in the year since her brother Oren's death, Lo's hoarding has blossomed into a full-blown, potentially dangerous obsession. She discovers a beautiful, antique butterfly pendant during a routine scour at a weekend flea market, and recognizes it as having been stolen from the home of a recently murdered girl known only as "Sapphire" - a girl just a few years older than Lo. As usual when Lo begins to obsess over something, she can't get the murder out of her mind. As she attempts to piece together the mysterious "butterfly clues," with the unlikely help of a street artist named Flynt, Lo quickly finds herself caught up in a seedy, violent underworld much closer to home than she ever imagined - a world, she'll ultimately discover, that could hold the key to her brother's tragic death. 

My Rating: 3 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: As a murder mystery, I thought The Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellison was rather predictable and far-fetched. Lo stumbling upon clues that the police miss; Lo disguising herself to appear older so that she can try to get hired at Tens, a strip club, in order to talk to the other strippers about Sapphire; the connection between Bird and Oren … all of it was just hard to believe.

The Butterfly Clues does a much better job of capturing the thoughts and behaviours of someone with OCD. Lo’s disorder begins at a young age and has gotten much worse since Oren’s death – to the point where she’s now also a kleptomaniac and hoarder. This information is shown in such a natural way that you come to accept it as part of Lo’s personality. As a reader, you can see how severe Lo’s disorder is; yet through Lo’s eyes, it’s just who she is.    

The Butterfly Clues was released in February 2012 by Egmont USA. 

In exchange for an honest review, this ARC was received from the publisher (EgmontUSA) for free via NetGalley.
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From Back Cover: It was a lovely day in June. Elizabeth was enjoying a visit to Upper Canada Village with her Grade Seven class when a strange compulsion urged her toward Cook 's Tavern. Curious, she walked into the old building, and stepped into the past. A fire burns in the fireplace ... men in buckskins sit around the tables ... she is wearing a long dress of grey homespun ... "Why, it's young Elizabeth Frobisher," said one of the men. "But I'm not," Elizabeth wanted to say, "I'm not Elizabeth Frobisher! I'm Elizabeth Duncan!" 

My Rating: 2.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: With its attention to historical detail, The Other Elizabeth by Karleen Bradford takes you back to October 1813, just as the Canadians are about to engage in war against the Americans in the Battle of Crysler’s Farm. Although I love historical fiction, The Other Elizabeth seemed really dry because before Elizabeth goes home, there was very little action and just a lot of day-to-day stuff so you got an accurate feel for how the pioneers lived. As well, there was no explanation for why Elizabeth travels back into the past when she enters Cook’s Tavern or why she soon enough starts acting like Elizabeth Frobisher and forgets her life as Elizabeth Duncan. I normally love MG books, but The Other Elizabeth, sadly, wasn’t for me. 

The Other Elizabeth was released by Starburst Digital Rights International Inc. in September 2011.

In exchange for an honest review, this book was received from the publisher.

original image from thegate.ca