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Carve the Mark (Carve the Mark, #1)

Veronica Roth

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May 07, 2016 karen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: why-yes-i-ya, free-from-work

oooh, goodreads choice awards semifinalist for best YA fantasy! what will happen?

i'm going to review this without giving too much away, which seems to be the publisher's desire, since this is the first time i have ever gotten an arc that had this

across every single page.

text blurred so no one yells at me.

DON'T YELL AT ME!

i am someone who liked the divergent trilogy. i even sort of liked those four stories: Four: A Divergent Story Collection.

but i am SO SO pleased that roth has diverged (h ...more

372 likes · Like · see review

Feb 09, 2017 Kate rated it really liked it

Shelves: age-ya, fantasy, 2017

Akos and his brother Eijeh are ripped from their peaceful country by the invading Shotet and held captive for years, all because the ruler fears his fate. Akos knows his fate will be to die in service to the Shotet royal family, so he accepts when he is forced into service to the ruler's younger sister, Cyra. Both of them have currentgifts - Cyra's gift is to cause pain and death through her touch, although carrying this gift means she is in constant pain herself; and Akos has the ability to sto Akos and his brother Eijeh are ripped from their peaceful country by the invading Shotet and held captive for years, all because the ruler fears his fate. Akos knows his fate will be to die in service to the Shotet royal family, so he accepts when he is forced into service to the ruler's younger sister, Cyra. Both of them have currentgifts - Cyra's gift is to cause pain and death through her touch, although carrying this gift means she is in constant pain herself; and Akos has the ability to stop others' currentgift, and so his touch can grant Cyra relief. As time passes, Cyra and Akos develop an uneasy alliance, and together they will challenge their fates.

I have to say, in the first few chapters I didn't think I would be able to get through this book. These chapters are told in 3rd person, from Akos's perspective, and are filled with so many new words and characters and world-building that I nearly gave up. Then I got to Cyra's perspective, which is told in first person, and almost instantly I liked the book better. I'm not sure if it was the first person narration, or that I understood Cyra's struggles and voice better. Thank god, because I did end up really enjoying this!

Cyra and her brother had a very Daenerys/Viserys sort of relationship, where he's the ruler but he uses her to gain his power. I liked how her constant pain made her a little mean and how Akos responded to it and grew to like her through that. Somehow this did not happen in a way that felt like Stockholm Syndrome, not at all. Mostly because Cyra begins to see what her brother is doing and joins a rebellion against him. The unfolding of Cyra and Akos's relationship is the best part of the book, although this is mostly about the political intrigue and rebellion. The ending leaves a lot of loose ends (apparently, I'm only seeing this now - it's the first in a series, so I guess that explains why). I was going to say there were SO many loose ends that it felt almost like the book had gotten too long and the author couldn't quite wrap them all up by the end, which is of course ridiculous because I'm sure Veronica Roth could write a 1,000 page book if she wanted and it would become a bestseller. So, don't expect for all your questions to be answered by the end of this. Guess I'll be waiting a year (or more) for the next book! ...more

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