Becky's View: Asunder by Jodi Meadows

Asunder by Jodi Meadows
♦publisher: HarperTeen
♦release date: January 29, 2013
♦hardcover, 416 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦series: Newsoul,book 2
  review of book 1, Incarnate
♦source: from publisher for honest review

DARKSOULS
Ana has always been the only one. Asunder. Apart. But after Templedark, when many residents of Heart were lost forever, some hold Ana responsible for the darksouls–and the newsouls who may be born in their place.

SHADOWS
Many are afraid of Ana’s presence, a constant reminder of unstoppable changes and the unknown. When sylph begin behaving differently toward her and people turn violent, Ana must learn to stand up not only for herself but for those who cannot stand up for themselves.

LOVE
Ana was told that nosouls can’t love. But newsouls? More than anything, she wants to live and love as an equal among the citizens of Heart, but even when Sam professes his deepest feelings, it seems impossible to overcome a lifetime of rejection.

Warning! Review may have slight spoilers for Incarnate, book 1---if you haven't started the series yet, stop here.

Review:  Last year, I went into Jodi Meadows’ debut, Incarnate, not knowing what expect except for a book about incarnated souls.  I came away completely blown away by the wonder and fantasy that she filled the pages with.  It quickly achieved a spot in my top reads of the year.  So you can imagine my anticipation of Asunder!  While I found Asunder not quite as good as Incarnate, it definitely did not disappoint.

Asunder picks up right where Incarnate left off.  The people of heart are recovering from the horrible dragon attacks on the city, when the temple went dark and several souls were permanently lost after 5,000 years of being reincarnated.  It’s a day they now know as Templedark.  While they grieve, there is still growing wariness toward Ana as a newsoul, despite the fact that she saved so many lives during the attacks.  Things are getting worse; the brutish Merton is doing everything he can to rally the people of Heart against her, and suspicion grows as Ana discovers a strange connection to the sylph.  When another newsoul is born, things escalate into violence, and Ana is determined to become the defending voice and protector of all the newsouls.  Her character really grows in strength in this sequel, but she you can see the lasting effects of being raised by a heartless mother has had on her. It gives her a great complexity and vulnerability.  We get to see a different, very vulnerable side to Sam, too, in both the romance between them and in the ways he pays for protecting Ana.

I did feel like there were a few slow moments here and there, and I felt like the dilemma with Ana against the people was growing a little monotonous, like ground that had been covered in the last book, and then even more in this book.  There is a new mystery surrounding the sylphs and what they really are that was definitely intriguing, though not altogether hard to guess, but it was compelling watching the characters come to the conclusion.  

One thing new to this book was the gruesomeness of some the descriptions.  There are a few scenes that I literally had to stop reading for a moment because they completely turned my stomach.  We also get to meet a few new characters, some good, some bad, and some that remain a mystery until the very end.  There were definitely some gripping moments that will catapult this story into it's finale.

A great follow up to Incarnate, this series will definitely be one that I follow until the very end!

Find Jodi Meadows online:  Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Purchase Asunder:  Amazon  •  BN.com  •  Bookdepository  •  Indiebound