Review – Infinite (Incarnate, Book 3) by Jodi Meadows (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 432 pages
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Release Date: January 28, 2014
ISBN-13: 978-0062060815
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd book in the Incarnate series
Source: Gift for Xmas
Rating: 4/5 stars
This is the third and final book in the Incarnate series. I enjoyed the way everything was wrapped up and think fans of the series will be pretty pleased with how the series ends. I felt like the very end was a bit rushed, but other than that I enjoyed how the world was expanded some.
The Year of Souls is beginning and the caldera in Range is threatening to erupt. Janan is set to ascend on Soul Night and Ana knows that if they don’t stop him the city of Heart will not survive. Ana convinces her closest friends and the other New Souls of Heart to leave Heart and try to find new allies to stop Janan’s ascension.
This was a nice wrap up to this series. While I didn’t like it as much as the first and second books in the series, I still thought it did a good job of wrapping things up. The pacing was a bit inconsistent at times. I thought the beginning was a bit slow, then as they traveled it felt a bit rushed, then slowed again in the second half, then the ending felt a bit rushed as well.
Ana is armed by the knowledge she learned in Janan’s Tower and knows the cost of reincarnation. Now she has to decide whether or not to tell her companions, especially Sam. She also knows that even though they don’t remember it now they accepted that cost at the time. She knows how much this will devastate her friends and is afraid what they will choose, eternal reincarnation or a life that you can only live once.
Ana makes some mistakes in this book, the biggest one is not being honest with her friends. However, she has also grown a ton as a character throughout the series. She has a new found confidence and the determination to do things no one ever thought was possible before.
Sam was a bit irritating in this book. He gets angry at Ana because of her secrets early on. He was not understanding, just bitter and it wasn’t much fun to read about. Honestly this book made me like Sam a lot less. He basically is making Ana suffer for his mistakes for a large portion of the book.
All of Ana’s other friends are just as interesting and engaging as in the previous books. None of them really stood out as being super engaging, but they did have some depth to them.
My favorite parts were where our characters met with some of the other magical creatures in this world, mainly centaurs, dragons, and phoenixs. We learn a lot more about the Shades and the Dragons both. There are some pretty awesome scenes between Ana and the Centaurs and Ana and the Dragons. This added a lot to the book for me. We also learn the history behind why Janan was originally locked in his tower and what the Phoenix has to do with it all. Still by the end of the series I was left wanting to know more behind the why and how of how this world came to be how it is in this series.
The book is well written and flows well. Things are tied up nicely, but I felt like it was a bit rushed…so much happens right at the end of the book. I did enjoy the ending I just wish it had been paced a bit better.
Overall it was a good wrap-up to the series and I think fans of the series will enjoy it. The characters are engaging but not awe inspiring, however I really love this world and loved that we got to spend more time learning about the non-human creatures in it. I also enjoyed the themes of reincarnation and the toll this takes on a society. Recommended to those who enjoy YA fantasy with dystopian overtones to it.
This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Series Reading Challenge
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– 100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge
