Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
I hate rereading books from the past for one reason. I’m scared it will change my whole opinion on it. This book used to be one of my favorites when I was younger. Now after rereading it for the first time, I found it a little boring from time to time.
The book and the concept overall are very interesting and original. It sometimes gave me the vibes of Shatter Me or The 100.
I really like the characters and I love the names, especially Cyra’s, she was strong from the very beginning but even so her character develops well. From being locked and used she went to stating her opinion and standing up for peace.
Even tho I was obsessed with this book a few years ago, I do think that it lacks something but I’m not sure what exactly it is. The book starts off slow but with unexpected events. However there is more action towards the end and that keeps the reader awake.
The book and the concept overall are very interesting and original. It sometimes gave me the vibes of Shatter Me or The 100.
I really like the characters and I love the names, especially Cyra’s, she was strong from the very beginning but even so her character develops well. From being locked and used she went to stating her opinion and standing up for peace.
Even tho I was obsessed with this book a few years ago, I do think that it lacks something but I’m not sure what exactly it is. The book starts off slow but with unexpected events. However there is more action towards the end and that keeps the reader awake.
I never thought Roth could come with a book feeling even more powerfull than any of the divergent series... but she did. She amazed me with her world (well galaxy-) building. The new languages she actually made part of her story and... well... just the phenomenom of The Current and all it's manifestations. I love the idea of currentgifts, which bring out the worst or best in a person, and the fact that The Current is felt by every living being (sort of). I do hope the story part of the second book will be fulfilling, now that the playing field has been layd out so properly. At least Roth did an awesome job in making me want to read more of this story!
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I very rarely give such a low star rating but goodness me this was a struggle. The writing was jumpy (slow in parts that should have been fast and sped up over important parts), the world building was poor and confusing, the tense jumping from first person to third person depending on which character we were following just made the whole thing seem disjointed, and the characters and plot just weren't engaging (insta-love trope MUST DIE). I actually didn't finish the last 80 or so pages because I honestly just gave up. The only part of this story I enjoyed was Cyra, who I felt had the potential to be amazing but just wasn't given a chance to be. Divergent for me was a similar experience so I doubt I'll be giving Veronica Roth another chance. So disappointed.
This one didn't have the same fast pace to it as the Divergent series, but the slower start allowed for deeper character developments and the evolution of a more complex story. That's my opinion, at least. Certain plot points were predictable, but I'm left looking forward to the second installment. I really liked the world created here and I'm invested in the characters. I'd say all that warrants 4 stars.
Storyline was good, but the character names took away from the story. The first 70 pages were hard to follow because of all of the odd character names.
I really liked this story. I have read the reviews that express outrage over things such as:
PERCEIVED
Racial stereotyping and cultural misappropriations.
Unflagged trigger warnings.
And a romanticized depiction of chronic pain
and I disagree. Sometimes people see certain negative tropes in EVERYTHING.
PERCEIVED
Racial stereotyping and cultural misappropriations.
Unflagged trigger warnings.
And a romanticized depiction of chronic pain
and I disagree. Sometimes people see certain negative tropes in EVERYTHING.
I was hoping to see an evolution in Roth's writing, but the writing style in this book is quite similar to Divergent. The book was quite slow with it having action a couple of times. I was expecting more out of this book but I felt as though the world was not built up enough and I was confused as to what the plot was multiple times. I probably won't continue on in the series.
By the same author as Divergent - which is a very high recommendation as far as I'm concerned - but a new book, new series.
In Carve the Mark, two cultures existing on a planet (in a different solar system than ours, and hence a much different world) are diametrically opposed to each other. Tensions are high between the two, and although they're not in all-out war, that feels like a distinct possibility. Complicating matters, the solar system has a limited number of people who are oracles - they can see visions of the future, some of which are considered unalterable, and deemed to be "fates". Other visions they see are possible futures, and may be changed by actions. On the surface of this, there is a strong theme running of the idea of fate, and how much free-will we have to control our own destiny. Beyond that though, the plot thickens, and indeed gets fairly muddy.
I found this book much harder to get into than I did Divergent. Partially I think this is because there's more worldbuilding that had to occur, whereas Divergent, being dystopian, was easier to imagine... as a not-so-distant possible future for our own society. This on the other hand, while somewhat futuristic (being based in times of space travel, but on different solar systems...) was at once immediately foreign. I like sci-fi in general, but something about this particular book seems hard to grasp.
Although told in the first person narrative viewpoint of Cyra, it also follows our male protagonist, Akos, tho his story is told in third person (limited). It's an interesting shift in perspective, though smooth enough that I didn't pick up on it immediately. They two perspectives start off as different stories, but of course become one in reasonably short order.
At the time I picked this book up, all the conditions were ripe for it. I've been playing a lot of the game "Stellaris", which takes place in space-travel times, and talks about settling on different planets, and politics are important there as well... all of which are also in this book. It should have been able to fit fairly seamlessly into my current themes, so to speak. Yet, I still had some difficulty with it, and at times it was a slog.... though at other times I was fairly riveted.
I've talked about readability in some of my more recent reviews, and I think that this one is largely affected by that. When I was actively reading the book, it kept me engaged enough that it was easier to keep going than to put it down. But the draw to pick it back up once I had stopped, that was largely missing, making this a slower read than it might otherwise have been. I wanted to know what happened, but at the same time, don't feel massively involved in the characters. The main characters themselves are okay - I like them, but I don't necessarily relate to either one of them - but the side characters are by and large not developed and thus hard to picture or get a firm grasp of. In all respects, there is something about this book that feels one step removed for me. As a reader, I don't feel in the thick of the action, but rather, one or two steps removed, and hence I'm somewhat passive in my feelings about what happens to them.... which isn't the best thing for a book, in my opinion.
Without any true spoilers, it's fair to say that the story in this book is not finished, and clearly continues in the next book. On the one hand, I'd like to read it, as I'm still interested in how the fates of the various characters play out. On the other hand though.... I'm not necessarily eagerly searching for it, either, because again.... not as heavily invested in the story or the characters as I had hoped.
In Carve the Mark, two cultures existing on a planet (in a different solar system than ours, and hence a much different world) are diametrically opposed to each other. Tensions are high between the two, and although they're not in all-out war, that feels like a distinct possibility. Complicating matters, the solar system has a limited number of people who are oracles - they can see visions of the future, some of which are considered unalterable, and deemed to be "fates". Other visions they see are possible futures, and may be changed by actions. On the surface of this, there is a strong theme running of the idea of fate, and how much free-will we have to control our own destiny. Beyond that though, the plot thickens, and indeed gets fairly muddy.
I found this book much harder to get into than I did Divergent. Partially I think this is because there's more worldbuilding that had to occur, whereas Divergent, being dystopian, was easier to imagine... as a not-so-distant possible future for our own society. This on the other hand, while somewhat futuristic (being based in times of space travel, but on different solar systems...) was at once immediately foreign. I like sci-fi in general, but something about this particular book seems hard to grasp.
Although told in the first person narrative viewpoint of Cyra, it also follows our male protagonist, Akos, tho his story is told in third person (limited). It's an interesting shift in perspective, though smooth enough that I didn't pick up on it immediately. They two perspectives start off as different stories, but of course become one in reasonably short order.
At the time I picked this book up, all the conditions were ripe for it. I've been playing a lot of the game "Stellaris", which takes place in space-travel times, and talks about settling on different planets, and politics are important there as well... all of which are also in this book. It should have been able to fit fairly seamlessly into my current themes, so to speak. Yet, I still had some difficulty with it, and at times it was a slog.... though at other times I was fairly riveted.
I've talked about readability in some of my more recent reviews, and I think that this one is largely affected by that. When I was actively reading the book, it kept me engaged enough that it was easier to keep going than to put it down. But the draw to pick it back up once I had stopped, that was largely missing, making this a slower read than it might otherwise have been. I wanted to know what happened, but at the same time, don't feel massively involved in the characters. The main characters themselves are okay - I like them, but I don't necessarily relate to either one of them - but the side characters are by and large not developed and thus hard to picture or get a firm grasp of. In all respects, there is something about this book that feels one step removed for me. As a reader, I don't feel in the thick of the action, but rather, one or two steps removed, and hence I'm somewhat passive in my feelings about what happens to them.... which isn't the best thing for a book, in my opinion.
Without any true spoilers, it's fair to say that the story in this book is not finished, and clearly continues in the next book. On the one hand, I'd like to read it, as I'm still interested in how the fates of the various characters play out. On the other hand though.... I'm not necessarily eagerly searching for it, either, because again.... not as heavily invested in the story or the characters as I had hoped.