Review: Asunder by Jodi Meadows

Author:  Jodi Meadows
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Page Count: 406 pages, Hardcover
Date Published: January 29th 2013
Find it on Goodreads: Asunder
Source: This book was a surprise gift from my mum! Thanks mum!

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.
In this second book in the Newsoul trilogy, Ana discovers the truth about reincarnation and will have to find a way to embrace love and make her young life meaningful. Once again, Jodi Meadows explores the extraordinary beauty and shadowed depths of the soul in a story equal parts epic romance and captivating fantasy

Asunder by Jodi Meadows, ladies and gentlemen, is an awesome, nay, an incredible sequel. I've been in a terrible reading slump lately, as well as having the horrid writer's block. For a while now, this book has been the only one on my mind. It's the only book I wanted to read; everything else turned me off for some reason. I expressed this frustration to my mum and the next day she surprised me by taking me to Chapters and telling me to go find Asunder.... I won't lie, I almost cried when I found it. 

Nothing has been inspiring me lately. Absolutely nothing. But for some reason, I couldn't get this book off of my mind. It was just... constantly there. So after saying thank you multiple times, we got in the car and I started reading. It took me almost a week to finish, but it. was. amazing.

Jodi Meadows' writing style astonishes me. She has a flair for words that I love, keeping me entranced the entire way through the novel. Ana's story is absolutely one of the most original concepts I've ever read. The world Jodi created is wondrous and sad and there are so many meaningful lessons and thoughts that are embedded in her words that made me think for a long time after I closed the book.  I constantly wish that schools would take modern YA literature more seriously, because I think to read a series like New Soul in school would bring up so many interesting discussions and different opinions.

Ana's struggle with her ability to love as a new soul and her dilemmas with Sam made my heart ache so much that it hurts just thinking about it. Ana is such a complex character, so strong and kick-ass, but at the same time, she's still flawed and I appreciate that Meadows was able to create a character that wasn't perfect. I think authors sometimes forget that their characters are people we as the readers may want to relate to and then make them indestructible and perfect, however Meadows created characters that, while they lived in a separate world than ours, it was easy to understand them and even empathize with them. 

I was also very impressed with the world building, as Ana and Sam learned long-hidden secrets about the city of Heart and the rest of Range. There was a lot more about the sylph, who I must say are pretty scary creatures, and we learned a lot about why the people of Heart reincarnate. It was so neat, learning more and more about this fascinating world. 

Asunder was an absolutely incredible sequel to an already incredible first novel. I don't know if it was better than Incarnate, but I believe it to be just as good. I'd highly, highly recommend this series of fantasy books to anyone who is open to a new world and new ideas. 

Happy reading!
~Kristy