REVIEW

Inkarna

By Nerine Dorman

~ Supernatural, Mythology, Horror, Occult, Reincarnation~

Paperback, First, 297 pages
Published June 15th 2012 by Dark Continents Publishing

* * * * * out of five stars


The Blurb (via Goodreads)

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Ashton Kennedy wasn't a nice guy. He cheated on his girlfriend, knocked up a powerful drug lord's sister, and abused vast quantities of illegal narcotic substances. Whoever ran him over with a big shiny SUV was doing the world a favour. His very male, tattooed body is the last place Elizabeth Rae Perry--a member of an ancient Egyptian cult--expected to reincarnate iAshton Kennedy wasn't a nice guy. He cheated on his girlfriend, knocked up a powerful drug lord's sister, and abused vast quantities of illegal narcotic substances. Whoever ran him over with a big shiny SUV was doing the world a favour. His very male, tattooed body is the last place Elizabeth Rae Perry--a member of an ancient Egyptian cult--expected to reincarnate in, instead of the three-year-old girl she'd been promised.

Not only must she now come to terms with her new existence in the body of a disagreeable man, and clean up the mess he made of his life, she also has to unravel the mystery of why House Adamastor's chapter house is standing empty and find a way to protect a dangerous secret she had no idea she was supposed to keep. As if fate couldn’t deal her another blow, she has also attracted the attention of a malicious and potentially dangerous ghost. And to top it all off, she must deal with the consequences of finding love in a most unexpected place.


My Review

Wow.

This was a total shot in the dark; take a risk read. I have just joined NetGalley and was looking through the catalogue. Inkarna had an interesting looking cover and said “read now” ... So I did!

The opening line reads:

“ Tomorrow will be the first time that I die...“

Result? Hooked.

I started reading this with no background knowledge of book or author. I didn’t read the blurb and I didn’t allow myself to read any other reviews. This was just me and how the book made me feel whilst reading it.

There are many strands to the story. The obvious journey to discover why Lizzie hasn’t woken up in the body of the girl that was originally planned, the angry ghost of Ash (wouldn’t you be slightly ticked if someone was in your body?) The romance between Ash (Lizzy) and Marlise and add to that the background of Egyptian mythology and an inscription that could see souls severed and lost forever, well, then you have a wonderful concoction for a story that sits with you long after you have finished the last page!

Initially, it took me a little while to find my footing within the story. The language and style of voice made me feel that I might not be able to find my pace etc, but as I slowly started to understand what was going on the voice became easier to accept. Thanks to Nerine Dorman’s clear and informative writing, this only took a couple of pages and it turns out that the voice was very well suited to the character.

The ideas/concepts behind the story were very intriguing, and not something that I have come across. I am very interested in the idea of reincarnation but this story takes this concept a stage further with an 80 year old woman (Lizzy) being reincarnated in the body of a 21 year old man (Ash) ...By accident.

It turns out that Ash (who had inhabited the body before) was a bit of an unpleasant character to say the least and Lizzy has to face all that comes with her new body, including those who are not so happy to see the bloke walking around again. (Yikes)

The story was set in Africa, and I was unsure as how I was going to take this in as someone who has never been, but the author was excellent at setting up a scene, so I could visualise places; or at least have a sense of the terrain the characters were travelling in.

I very much enjoyed how Dorman develops Lizzy and her voice within Ash. She combines these characters slowly, and as a reader we observe how Lizzy takes on more of Ash’s behaviours and lingo.

I also found the relationship between Ash (Lizzy) and his girlfriend fascinating. Obviously, being a woman before and remembering this, Lizzy has to disentangle thought and emotion and follow her heart.

I thought the author moved very well between characters – with a balanced use of speech and description. If I was to be at all critical of this, it would be to say there were a few moments where I was wishing the story along a little quicker, but I genuinely feel this was probably more down to my impatience and the need to find out what happened next.

And I can honestly say that the ending felt very satisfying; it left me wondering if the author will consider a sequel to the story.

If you like mythology, the supernatural and something that offers something different, then Inkarna will blow you away with its cast of fleshed out characters and a rollercoaster of story.