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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
Read this review and more on me blog.
I received a free copy of Marked for my honest opinion.
If only i had read Marked 3 - 4 years ago when i was in my paranormal phase of reading.
Marked is the first book in the Soulseer Chronicles. Lucky is able to see ghosts, and Kayla, Lucky's best friend, happens to be one.
Lucky manages to get involved in the political side of the Underlands, a place that she has never visited before and chaos ensues.
Personally, i did not enjoy Marked as i no longer seem to enjoy the paranormal genre; but that does not mean that it was a bad book. If you do enjoy paranormal books, then chances are that you will love Marked.
Marked contains content not suitable for younger readers.
I received a free copy of Marked for my honest opinion.
If only i had read Marked 3 - 4 years ago when i was in my paranormal phase of reading.
Marked is the first book in the Soulseer Chronicles. Lucky is able to see ghosts, and Kayla, Lucky's best friend, happens to be one.
Lucky manages to get involved in the political side of the Underlands, a place that she has never visited before and chaos ensues.
Personally, i did not enjoy Marked as i no longer seem to enjoy the paranormal genre; but that does not mean that it was a bad book. If you do enjoy paranormal books, then chances are that you will love Marked.
Marked contains content not suitable for younger readers.
Read this review and more on my blog, uncovered-books.
I received a free copy of Marked in exchange for my honest opinion.
If only i had read Marked 3 - 4 years ago when i was in my paranormal phase of reading.
Marked is the first book in the Soulseer Chronicles. Lucky is able to see ghosts, and Kayla, Lucky's best friend, happens to be one.
Lucky manages to get involved in the political side of the Underlands, a place that she has never visited before and chaos ensues.
Personally, i did not enjoy Marked as i no longer seem to enjoy the paranormal genre; but that does not mean that it was a bad book. If you do enjoy paranormal books, then chances are that you will love Marked.
Marked contains content not suitable for younger readers.
I received a free copy of Marked in exchange for my honest opinion.
If only i had read Marked 3 - 4 years ago when i was in my paranormal phase of reading.
Marked is the first book in the Soulseer Chronicles. Lucky is able to see ghosts, and Kayla, Lucky's best friend, happens to be one.
Lucky manages to get involved in the political side of the Underlands, a place that she has never visited before and chaos ensues.
Personally, i did not enjoy Marked as i no longer seem to enjoy the paranormal genre; but that does not mean that it was a bad book. If you do enjoy paranormal books, then chances are that you will love Marked.
Marked contains content not suitable for younger readers.
This book is the first by Debut author Sue Tingey this book was pretty darn great. It had everything you needed. Moments of laughter, sadness, betrayal. I have never read a book about ghosts and demons in this way but there is a first time for everything. Really great descriptive writing as I love it when I get to imagine a world different from the one we live in. I liked Kayla and Lucky friendship, made me with I had a friend like that all the time. I also liked James although I thought the names givne to the some of the demons were pretty corny to childish, I mean Shenanigans and kerfuffle and jinx??? C’mon….. I had to keep checking if this book was for the right age group. And I wasn’t wrong because there were always the implication of Lucky having a 3 way. I don’t get 3 way’s, why include it. It would have been great if she had a healthy relationship with James. I kept rooting for him. (sorry I don’t usually include spilers!)
This was an interesting start to the series, it would be awesome to see how the rest of the story unfolds in the next book in the series. My only plea to the author is to please not make use wait too long for it.
This was an interesting start to the series, it would be awesome to see how the rest of the story unfolds in the next book in the series. My only plea to the author is to please not make use wait too long for it.
The Review Was Originally Posted Here: http://thefictionalhangout.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/the-soulseer-chronicles-1-marked-by-sue.html.
With no family and very few friends, Lucky’s psychic ability has always made her an outcast. The only person she can rely on is Kayla, the ghost girl who has been with her since she was born.
But Kayla is not all that she appears.
And when Lucky is visited by a demonic assassin with a message for her friend, she finds herself dragged into the Underlands – and the political fight for the daemon king’s throne.
Lucky, trapped in the daemon world, is determined to find her way home… until she finds herself caught between the charms of the Guardian Jamie, the charismatic Daemon of Death Jinx – and the lure of finding out who she really is.
Reading a Jo Fletcher-published book is always something that I’m going to look forward to because you know that most of the time, you’ll get something good and Sue Tingey’s confident debut is an example of that, with the first novel in the Soulseer Chronicles being a very well written offering that should be worth a look for fans looking to read something that focuses on a world parallel to our own, with a great urban fantasy feel that’s richly developed.
Marked follows the journey of Lucky, a psychic whose ability to see ghosts has always made her an outcast, with no family and few friends to speak of. The only person who she can rely on is Kayla, the ghost girl who has followed her around since she was born, but even Kayla, is not quite who she appears, and when Lucky finds herself visited by a daemonic assassin with a message for her friend, she finds herself pulled into the political battle for the Underlands and the fight for the daemon king’s throne, even if she, at the same time, is doing everything to try and get back home.
The characters are intriguing and whilst there is a romance subplot it is handled well and never slows the story down. As well as Lucky and Kayla we also find out that Lucky soon gets caught between the Guardian Jamie and the charismatic Daemon of Death Jinx, who are the other two characters involved in a love triangle with Lucky, but it never really feels as though we’ve ‘been there, done that’ before, with Tingey writing well enough to avoid the clichés and resolve the romance plot well whilst at the same time, moving the story along nicely. The supporting cast of Mr Kerfuffle and Mr Shenanigans are nice additions to the book as well as bodyguards, and any Neil Gaiman fan should feel right at home with the style of this book, as it’s smartly and compellingly written with some confident prose.
The world that we are introduced to combines Heaven and Hell into one place and is a fascinating approach to Urban Fantasy which keeps the fresh feel of the novel rather than it being again, the same old story that we've seen countless of times before. It’s different and blends the modern-day British setting with the parallel world very well indeed, not falling into the trap of having all demons evil and all angels good, blurring the lines between the two factions wonderfully well.
The character interactions and the relationship between Lucky and Kayla is pretty great throughout the whole novel and we get some nice, well rounded characters here that work. When combined with the extremely well paced first offering and richly developed world, Sue Tingey’s Marked a fascinating opener to what should be an excellent trilogy. It’s currently available to buy in the UK although (according to Amazon.com) it won’t be available in the USA until October 6, and is something that you should certainly consider picking up when you can.
VERDICT: 8/10
With no family and very few friends, Lucky’s psychic ability has always made her an outcast. The only person she can rely on is Kayla, the ghost girl who has been with her since she was born.
But Kayla is not all that she appears.
And when Lucky is visited by a demonic assassin with a message for her friend, she finds herself dragged into the Underlands – and the political fight for the daemon king’s throne.
Lucky, trapped in the daemon world, is determined to find her way home… until she finds herself caught between the charms of the Guardian Jamie, the charismatic Daemon of Death Jinx – and the lure of finding out who she really is.
Reading a Jo Fletcher-published book is always something that I’m going to look forward to because you know that most of the time, you’ll get something good and Sue Tingey’s confident debut is an example of that, with the first novel in the Soulseer Chronicles being a very well written offering that should be worth a look for fans looking to read something that focuses on a world parallel to our own, with a great urban fantasy feel that’s richly developed.
Marked follows the journey of Lucky, a psychic whose ability to see ghosts has always made her an outcast, with no family and few friends to speak of. The only person who she can rely on is Kayla, the ghost girl who has followed her around since she was born, but even Kayla, is not quite who she appears, and when Lucky finds herself visited by a daemonic assassin with a message for her friend, she finds herself pulled into the political battle for the Underlands and the fight for the daemon king’s throne, even if she, at the same time, is doing everything to try and get back home.
The characters are intriguing and whilst there is a romance subplot it is handled well and never slows the story down. As well as Lucky and Kayla we also find out that Lucky soon gets caught between the Guardian Jamie and the charismatic Daemon of Death Jinx, who are the other two characters involved in a love triangle with Lucky, but it never really feels as though we’ve ‘been there, done that’ before, with Tingey writing well enough to avoid the clichés and resolve the romance plot well whilst at the same time, moving the story along nicely. The supporting cast of Mr Kerfuffle and Mr Shenanigans are nice additions to the book as well as bodyguards, and any Neil Gaiman fan should feel right at home with the style of this book, as it’s smartly and compellingly written with some confident prose.
The world that we are introduced to combines Heaven and Hell into one place and is a fascinating approach to Urban Fantasy which keeps the fresh feel of the novel rather than it being again, the same old story that we've seen countless of times before. It’s different and blends the modern-day British setting with the parallel world very well indeed, not falling into the trap of having all demons evil and all angels good, blurring the lines between the two factions wonderfully well.
The character interactions and the relationship between Lucky and Kayla is pretty great throughout the whole novel and we get some nice, well rounded characters here that work. When combined with the extremely well paced first offering and richly developed world, Sue Tingey’s Marked a fascinating opener to what should be an excellent trilogy. It’s currently available to buy in the UK although (according to Amazon.com) it won’t be available in the USA until October 6, and is something that you should certainly consider picking up when you can.
VERDICT: 8/10
Marked by Sue Tingey was listed on Amazon and I was interested in it because it sounded interesting, but I was going to see if I could get a copy at the library since it was a debut book, and I wasn’t really sure I wanted to buy it. When it was offered on NetGalley, I was lucky enough to get a copy. I am so very glad I was offered it! Descriptions on books lately have been bothering me because they either reveal way too much, or the description doesn’t describe the book very well, and I think the description on this book doesn’t do it justice. This book was so much more! It is a wonderful urban fantasy/fantasy book with great characters, wonderful world-building, and an interesting plot. I was engrossed from the beginning to the end. Was it perfect? No, very rarely does that happen. Sometimes Lucky was TSTL, and sometime it dragged a little. But I am not looking for perfect, I am looking for something that keeps me interested from beginning to end, which this book did. I am very much looking forward to the next in this series, and I am disappointed it’ll probably take a year. Go get it! It is wonderful!
Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Publishing for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Publishing for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book from Net Galley in exchange for a fair review.
I tried twice.
Tingey came up with a potentially interesting premise (won't give details because too spoiler-y) but it all went off the rails. I kept hoping that the book could have been much more than it was. The piling up the tropes just became too much for me to overcome. The love triangle was it for me. Just no more...
I was also annoyed this book was less paranormal mystery (which is how it was blurbed on Net Galley) than paranormal romance, which isn't my thing unless very well written. (Let's face it, there aren't many Ilona Andrews-quality writers in that genre...) I usually don't review books I don't finish, but the mislabeled genre issue bothers me.
I tried twice.
Tingey came up with a potentially interesting premise (won't give details because too spoiler-y) but it all went off the rails. I kept hoping that the book could have been much more than it was. The piling up the tropes just became too much for me to overcome. The love triangle was it for me. Just no more...
I was also annoyed this book was less paranormal mystery (which is how it was blurbed on Net Galley) than paranormal romance, which isn't my thing unless very well written. (Let's face it, there aren't many Ilona Andrews-quality writers in that genre...) I usually don't review books I don't finish, but the mislabeled genre issue bothers me.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have been excited about this book since last year’s World Science Fiction Convention, or Loncon3. There, I got a little booklet with the first chapter of the book and I read it that very evening, hooked from the start. I had to wait almost a year to get to read the rest of the book. It was just as great as that first chapter promised.
‘Marked’ starts out as a tale about a young woman who can see ghosts. She leads an isolated life because of that and even her best friend is a ghost who has been by her side since she was young. Don’t be fooled though, there is so much more to the book than you’d think at first.
Lucky, the main character is visited by a demonic assassin who wants her to pass along a message to her best friend, Kayla. Kayla starts acting weird, not wanting to explain and to make matters even more complicated, a young guy called Jamie turns up at her doorstep, begging for her help. Lucky soon suspects something is terribly wrong and that the others are keeping things from her. When the whole truth finally surfaces Lucky’s world is turned upside down and she finds herself whisked away to a parallel world that’s both incredibly beautiful and different, but also quite frightening. At the Daemon King’s court she’s forced to watch his bloodthirsty games while trying to stay alive herself.
‘Marked’ was a fascinating and entertaining read. When Lucky was transported to the parallel Daemon world, I was reminded of how I felt watching Alice in Wonderland for the first time. This magical place full of new, wonderful and scary things, where nothing is as we’re used to. It is a journey of discovery for Lucky and for us.
I loved the characters in this book. Lucky is a strong female protagonist with a will of her own, braving everything admirable. I liked how she reacted to the whole situation quite how I imagine I would react, with wonder but also fear and reluctance.
Her bodyguards are 4 refreshingly different antagonists: the handsome and honourable Jamie, the seductive and cheeky Jinx and the two loyal demons Mr Kerfuffle and Mr Shenanigans. They each coloured the story in their own way, giving it some lightness, some romance, some fierce loyalty and some crackling sexual tension.
Parallel worlds in the Fantasy genre always ask for some well written worldbuilding. I absolutely love parallel worlds and was curious to find out about this one. Sue Tingey chose to make her world very different from ours in almost every aspect. Not only have the inhabitants, or Daemons, a different appearance, they also have different standards and habits. Creatures like Lucky’s Drakon, Pyrites, populate this Daemon world, dragons who can be as big as a house and fly you around or shrink to the size of a cat and sleep next to your pillow. I almost wish they were real, so I can have one! The world itself is also different in appearance, with the fairly standard multiple moons/suns, but also unusual colours and sights. Needless to say I was enthralled.
A strong and interesting debut that isn’t easily labelled within the genre, ‘Marked’ will please a diverse group of readers. Tingey succeeded in avoiding all the clichés that are usually interwoven with plots like these, and managed to keep a level of realism with her characters. I’m eagerly looking forward to the next book in the series (and secretely hoping there’s a lot more of Jinx in there ;-) )
‘Marked’ starts out as a tale about a young woman who can see ghosts. She leads an isolated life because of that and even her best friend is a ghost who has been by her side since she was young. Don’t be fooled though, there is so much more to the book than you’d think at first.
Lucky, the main character is visited by a demonic assassin who wants her to pass along a message to her best friend, Kayla. Kayla starts acting weird, not wanting to explain and to make matters even more complicated, a young guy called Jamie turns up at her doorstep, begging for her help. Lucky soon suspects something is terribly wrong and that the others are keeping things from her. When the whole truth finally surfaces Lucky’s world is turned upside down and she finds herself whisked away to a parallel world that’s both incredibly beautiful and different, but also quite frightening. At the Daemon King’s court she’s forced to watch his bloodthirsty games while trying to stay alive herself.
‘Marked’ was a fascinating and entertaining read. When Lucky was transported to the parallel Daemon world, I was reminded of how I felt watching Alice in Wonderland for the first time. This magical place full of new, wonderful and scary things, where nothing is as we’re used to. It is a journey of discovery for Lucky and for us.
I loved the characters in this book. Lucky is a strong female protagonist with a will of her own, braving everything admirable. I liked how she reacted to the whole situation quite how I imagine I would react, with wonder but also fear and reluctance.
Her bodyguards are 4 refreshingly different antagonists: the handsome and honourable Jamie, the seductive and cheeky Jinx and the two loyal demons Mr Kerfuffle and Mr Shenanigans. They each coloured the story in their own way, giving it some lightness, some romance, some fierce loyalty and some crackling sexual tension.
Parallel worlds in the Fantasy genre always ask for some well written worldbuilding. I absolutely love parallel worlds and was curious to find out about this one. Sue Tingey chose to make her world very different from ours in almost every aspect. Not only have the inhabitants, or Daemons, a different appearance, they also have different standards and habits. Creatures like Lucky’s Drakon, Pyrites, populate this Daemon world, dragons who can be as big as a house and fly you around or shrink to the size of a cat and sleep next to your pillow. I almost wish they were real, so I can have one! The world itself is also different in appearance, with the fairly standard multiple moons/suns, but also unusual colours and sights. Needless to say I was enthralled.
A strong and interesting debut that isn’t easily labelled within the genre, ‘Marked’ will please a diverse group of readers. Tingey succeeded in avoiding all the clichés that are usually interwoven with plots like these, and managed to keep a level of realism with her characters. I’m eagerly looking forward to the next book in the series (and secretely hoping there’s a lot more of Jinx in there ;-) )
medium-paced
ARC provided in exchange for honest review.
I absolutely loved this book!! I got so stuck into it that I read it in just a few hours. And when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about what might happen next... Right up my alley with all the mystical creatures humanised and the lead character being so relatable. Not only is the author wonderful, but she is also hilarious and capable of writing the story of a strong female lead who may need the guidance of her companions in the new world she comes to, but is still more than able to take care of herself and kick some ass when needed.
I love when characters are multidimensional from the beginning and progress throughout their stories. Miss Tingey made all of that happen and more. I did realise within the first couple of chapters that Kayla is not all that she appears, but that really becomes obvious near the end of the novel. There's always something that doesn't add up throughout the course of the story; too many coincidences that are obviously not coincidental. Then, when one problem is solved, another arises. And, of course, as the story ends, she has the decision of a lifetime to make...
Will definitely be reading book 2 of the Soulseer series! As a matter of fact, I just downloaded it...
I absolutely loved this book!! I got so stuck into it that I read it in just a few hours. And when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about what might happen next... Right up my alley with all the mystical creatures humanised and the lead character being so relatable. Not only is the author wonderful, but she is also hilarious and capable of writing the story of a strong female lead who may need the guidance of her companions in the new world she comes to, but is still more than able to take care of herself and kick some ass when needed.
I love when characters are multidimensional from the beginning and progress throughout their stories. Miss Tingey made all of that happen and more. I did realise within the first couple of chapters that Kayla is not all that she appears, but that really becomes obvious near the end of the novel. There's always something that doesn't add up throughout the course of the story; too many coincidences that are obviously not coincidental. Then, when one problem is solved, another arises. And, of course, as the story ends, she has the decision of a lifetime to make...
Will definitely be reading book 2 of the Soulseer series! As a matter of fact, I just downloaded it...