Incarnate by Jodi Meadows, A She Said/She Said Review

Hi, Amethyst here. I'm taking lead for this round of She Said/She Said. Why? 'Cause I finished the book first, s'why. In fact, I finished Jodi Meadows's debut novel Incarnate about forty-five minutes ago. I purchased it yesterday, and to be fair, I did have a 70-page head start before I began reading last evening.

I'd say it's a fifty-fifty split as to how I'm finished with Incarnate; fifty per cent, I'm kind of a sprinter when I read, so if I like a book, I tend to like it in fast forward, and secondly, Jodi's novel accomplishes earning both the descriptions "light" and "full. On the one hand, Jodi has an almost unconscious stream-of-conscious (say that five times fast) charm. Knowing her outside of the author/reviewer format, I can tell you, Jodi's bouncy enthusiasm and kitten-like perplexity shine right through, even in main character Ana's most wrought moments. On the other hand, I never got the feeling Jodi didn't respect the gravity of the sometimes monstrous events taking place in Ana's life, and her world. Even with the subtle touch uncertanties were uncertain, fears were fearful, and warm fuzzies were dandelions poofs at the height of summer.

What did I like best? The Almosts. The almost kisses. The almost weepings. The questions almost answered. I love the way Jodi managed to make me (metaphorically) lean forward so far out of my seat I ALMOST fell out of it, and yet, never once did I actually face plant into the carpet. There was that subtle grace again, the grace of almost.

What didn't I like? Yes, as much as I enjoyed Incarnate, I do have one or two gripes. First of all, the math of things was confusing. I'm no stranger to math confusing me, but even I generally get the gist within real applications such as generations and ages. Even for a necessarily convoluted (and very cool) concept, the numbers seemed to contradict each other more than they lined up. Maybe because I was reading too fast? I wanted a clearer explanation of the term "quindec" than what I gleaned from context clues. Also, early on in the book I was under the impression people had only been around for about a thousand years, but later it's stated they'd been living and turning through the revolving door of reincarnation for at least five millenia, not one. Trying to get the two things to agree in my head was a bit of a draw out.

My other gripe is a lack of Author Photo. Jodi's really cute. The world deserves to get to Awwww over the cute that is Jodi Meadows.

Last but not least, it should be mentioned, I read a copy of Incarnate I purchased, so it was as polished as need be. Michelle, lucky early bird, was blessed to have been granted an e-ARC, compliments of NetGalley. This means her copy may have been slightly different than mine, and therefor might (or might not!) reflect in her review (which I have not yet seen).

I bought the book, so I think that's a pretty clear Buy, right?

Clockwork Prince

Somewhere in my brain, I'd already reviewed Clockwork Prince, the second book in Cassandra Clare's THE INFERNAL DEVICES (prequel series to Clare's hugely popular THE IMMORTAL INSTRUMENTS series), but maybe I just dreamed that, or maybe my brain referred to me mentioning the absolute hot-boyness of cover character James "Jem" Carstairs . . . because I would definitely have mentioned it, trust me.

But I guess, I didn't, and far be if from me to argue with the Libri Ago archives.  So! On with the review!

Needless to say, I bought the book. I'd have bought the book if I hated it, just for that cover, and buying it story-unread is next to the same thing, there's proof.

However, I did enjoy the story, though as is often the case, it took me a little while to get over my personal distaste regarding Clare's style of narrative. I generally love her dialogue, but many a narrative sentence is mentally tightened, de-passive-voiced, or unrepetitivized (yes, I'm making up words; I'm allowed) whilst I read. Also, as seems par for the course with a Clare book, the things I loved, I loved, but the things I disliked, I really disliked, so for the sake of keeping things straight, I'll divide the two.

Loved:

*Will's vulnerability and subsequent hope. In the beginning, we only know Will's main goal in life seems to make himself appear utterly unlikable, forget lovable. We find out why, and we also find out that even though Will is forced to play the game with certain parameters, he's by no means given up changing things.

*Jem's fragility, backed by optimism. The boy is dying, and yet, he keeps himself open to the happiness to be had in his short life. Of course, the fact that Jem is so very good makes me suspect him of every foul betrayal in the world, but we'll see. Maybe Clare will cut us a break.

*The revelation that husband and wife actually love one another very much, and have been victims of miscomunications.

*A certain warlock. 'Nuff said.

Disliked:

*Tessa's fickleness. I don't care if she's the heroine. I don't care of she's not entirely human, or if she's under a lot of pressure, or if yes, her choices of love interest are particularly amazing, I cannot buy her having the same intensity of feelings--especially physical--for both Will and Jem. Sometimes I felt as if I should see her being more drawn to Will, but it was a weakly written bit. I make no secret of it. I don't like Tessa, and I don't think she's a very well-developed character.

* Jessamine, but that's a no-brainer. How any girl could be that naive voluntarily . . . sheesh.

*Like I said, the narrative, which is sometimes wont to wander over hill and dale.

In general, the book definitely hit-it-off better with me than the first TID novel, and has accomplished garnering my interest in the conclusion, Clockwork Princess. I said of Angel, if you bought the other Clare books, buy this one out to complete your set. if you didn't, make use of you library card, and enjoy!

The Emperor's Knife

There's a crazy, swervy border between subtle and vague writing, and it takes quite a bit of education and error before one lands on the desired side of it. In my opinion, Mazarkis Williams has pulled it off with the novel, The Emperor's Knife. 


While I don't mean to imply Williams plays it safe throughout the book--many bold moves and slightly-uncomfortable moments are to be had--the story plays out as a clear starter installment without falling prey to thinness or complete translucence. Or in less fancy terms, even though you go in knowing this book is the beginning in a series, and everything has that clear "set up for what's next" feel, it's still incredibly satisfying. Like a really good appetizer, or a small cup of loaded potato soup, the world-building comes across rich, intriguing, and what losses are to be had strike at the heart, despite so little (comparatively) time to become connected to all the characters individually.

I hesitate to summarize the book as being a sort of The Girl of Fire and Thorns for boys, because A). GFT appeals to boys too, and is not girl-liked-exclusive, and I think the exact reverse of Knife: it might *trend* more toward a male reader, but it will still have great appeal for female readers.

All that being said, here's the skinny: Take a well-done bit of Prince of Persia (yes, the video game, and no, I don't mean the movie, which was pretty, but not much else), some of  Tamora Pierce's awesome everything-development, wrap it in a nice, warm, Piers Anthony Adept Series, and add a Juliet Marillier pillow, and you're rocking out a pretty crafty "prophesied overthrowing of a corrupt monarchy" story, set in desert-ish lands, with sentient glyphs, evil spirits, and a sheltered kid brother heir.

I was lucky enough to get my eyeballs on an eARC through Netgalley, but I'd--*thinks*--yeah, I'd endorse a Buy on this one.

Museum of Thieves

Lian Tanner's Museum of Thieves presents as a very good starter book for readers who have a new-found interestin  alternate universe sorts of books, and falls in with some very good company, such as Brandon Mull's new Beyonders series, and Du Prau's City of Ember (which, as is often the case, is better than the film based upong it, despite Soairse Ronan's great performance), and even to a lighter degree, Nix's Keys to the Kingdom series.

Living in a world where anything even remotely risky (dog germs, anyone?) is disallowed and removed, and children are--literally--chained to adults at all time to prevent accidents, Goldie ends up unfettered and recruited to become the fifth keeper at The Museum of Dunt. Only the phrase 'the museum' turns out to be interchangeable with 'building in which several actual realities exist, all of which are prone to shifting about and bulging at the seams when they get themselves in a snit".

A snit is exactly what the museum gets into when the ambitious Fugleman plots to  overthrow his sister, The Protectorate, for rule over the city of Jewel, and sends in his lackeys, The Blessed Guardians (who, incidently, are the tyrannical imperialists over all the chained children during regular business hours) to nail down all the rooms in the museum.

It's up to Goldie and the other Keepers (tall, smooth Sinew; grandmotherly gypsy-like Olga Cyavolga; hulking Herro Dan; and shape-shifting brizzlehound, Broo) to thwart the Fugleman and calm down the musuem enough that all of life's atrocities don't come spilling through the walls into Jewel, threatening life and limb of every being therein.  But can they do it without unleashing something just as bad, or worse?

I did happen to BUY this one, and at nine bucks for the paperback copy, I'm perfect content with that choice. I'll read the follow-up books, no doubt.