Originally I was going to wait until I finished the entire trilogy, but I don't own Infinite yet and after reading Asunder I just have to tell everyone how AMAZING these books are. This is now my 3rd Dystopian trilogy and I'm officially in love. There's a lot that goes into creating a new world and society and this is by far the most symbolic and thought provoking trilogy.
Incarnate I originally gave 4 stars and to be honest by the end of the trilogy I will probably change it to 5, I've realized now that the first book is just the starting point while I'm used to stand alones or companion novels which give you the full story in one (no room for confusion) rather than collecting your full idea and impression of a book based on the trilogy. Because I removed one star because I originally found the love story kind of irritating and Ana's constant mistrust of everyones words, thinking they mean to insult her. But in a trilogy you really have to look at the big picture throughout the series and realize what her life is really like and how it grows throughout the books.
Speaking of pictures...HOLY SH*T these books are beautiful!! It's so beautifully symbolic and ahh just so beautiful!!
So in summary these books are about a world where the same million people have been repeatedly incarnated for the past 5 thousand years because of Janan (God). He created a way of life for them where they die and will come back no matter what, weather man or woman they will return with the same knowledge of their past lives. Until Ciana dies, the temple in the centre of their city Heart which is supposedly the house of Janan (GOD). So when Li and Meneham give birth to a baby girl everyone is ready to welcome Ciana back, but they get Ana, a new soul.
With fear of more new souls and what Ana's future will bring them, they banish her from heart to live with her Mother Li who proceeds to torture and destroy Ana's idea of herself. She sees herself as a nosoul, incapable of love, happiness, or any human emotion, virtually inconsequential and a huge mistake.
So on her 18th birthday she sets out to find her roots and what happened to Ciana. To do this she has to travel all the way back to Heart, avoiding monsters like bears, dragons, centaurs, and worst of all sylpth.
Never having trusted her mother, she should have known better than to trust the compass Li had given her as it takes her into sylpth territory, in an attempt to escape the sylpth Ana jumps from a cliff into the icy water below.
After nearly drowning, Ana awakes to strong warm arms wrapped around her. Sam. Thinking this is someone he already knows from past lives he had no idea that this is the newsoul. Sam helped save Ana, and though she is shunned by most people he knows, he grows very interested in Ana. As they journey though the forest together they run into sypth again, this time it is Ana who saves him, burning herself very badly as she captured the burning sylpth in its egg. For the next few weeks he nurses Ana back to health. Knowing now that Li had told her that severe burns from a sylpth will slowly kill you, though false Ana still in her own mind gave up her life to save his from being killed by the sylpth.
Throughout the weeks they spent together they learned a lot about one another, Sam would read to her -as she could not turn the pages on her own- and tell her all about himself and his past. Ana aswell shares some of herself, with only 18 years to his 5000 there isn't much for her to talk about. But she shares that she has a love for music, and had been listening to the famous musician Dossam since she was young.
Now that Ana has healed mostly, they are on there journey back to Heart. This causes a lot of problems, barely able to get into the city without Sam's help and council meetings threatening to banish her from the city if she doesn't do everything they say. Now living in Heart with Sam, learning new things and studying her existence and others she begins asking questions to those who are welcoming to her anyway.
After a series of attacks by dragons on Heart, those who don't trust Ana blame her for it. But when Templedark comes again, as it did the night Ciana died, the city is erupted into chaos. Dragons and Sylpth released into the city, while it is not Ana's fault, it is her Father Manaham who created templedark in order to release more newsouls and destroy oldsouls forever. All this effort just to overthrow Janan (God) and show that he is not invincible.
Ana warns as many as possible that if they die tonight they won't come back, many old souls are still lost and have become darksouls. While new souls are sure to come.
Ana on the other hand is just happy to find Sam and her friends alive.
This leads to Asunder..
After templedark things get worse for Ana, people can't rage against Menaham as he died after templedark, so they turn against her. But with the knowledge Ana collected during Templedark about Janan, herself, and he father, she wants to know more. Following his journals with Sam by her side, they travel to Menehams lab outside of Heart to discover what caused Templedark. Learning how to make the chemicals to do it again, they realize the connection between Sylpth and the tests Meneham performed. As well as Sylpth's love for music. As they would crowd the lab singing a song Ana had played for them.
Upon there return to Heart weeks later for a birthing ceremony, another newsoul is brought to the world. Bringing upon more hatred and riots against this baby, and Ana. Bombs are set off in homes of pregnant women in an effort to kill anymore newsouls before they arrive. Ana sets out to defend herself and the 2 newsouls who are unable to fend for themselves. Going up against a deranged councilor who warships Janan, and another activist and his followers proves difficult as they turn the city against her and her friends. As Ana learns the truth of Janan and what he does to the newsouls (eating them and releasing them as sylpth) Ana and 2 friends are locked in the "empty and doorless" temple. Being inside the temple allows the 2 friends who are old souls trapped in there with her to remember what Janan tries to prevent everyone from remembering - how they got here, and why they are reincarnated. With this knowledge, Cris sacrifices himself in order to overrule Janan's temple and create an escape for Ana and Stef. Now out of the temple, they're informed that the rioters who trapped her and her friends in the temple are in prison.
Still reeling from all that she learned in the temple and of what's to come in the Year of Souls Ana fears for all, especially herself, knowing she will never be reincarnated. But now, back in Sam's arms she knows what she has to do. As she is banished from Heart, Sam follows her, revealing that he had started the chemical process that Meneham created in order to overthrow Janan's control.
NOW I NEED INFINITE!
I really hope everyone reads these books because it's such a creative world Jodi Meadows has created and it really makes you think about society and beliefs and fears and life after death.
I absolutely loved every second of these books and cannot wait to read the third and final book.
Thanks for reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment