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3.11 AVERAGE
3.11 AVERAGE
Review posted on Alexa Loves Books
It started with the hype - I started seeing blurbs, contests, features on the book all over the book blogging community. After reading the synopsis and noting that it involved (1) elemental magic (2) in Ireland, I knew I had to get my hands on it as soon as possible. I picked up a copy at Barnes and Noble during my lunch break, read the first three chapters and was hooked. I literally finished this book about an hour ago and I'm still not quite sure how to properly express how I feel about it.
This book is AMAZING. Seriously. There are so many things I love about it - the story, the legend/history, the settings, the characters. Everything wove itself together into a beautifully crafted tale that drew me in and got me so intensely absorbed that reaching the ending and rejoining the real world was like having a dash of cold water tossed into my face.
The story behind the Mark is fascinating. I can't wait to learn some more about the history and the legends behind it, because I feel like there's so much more ground to be covered. Every bit of it that was included in this book left me fascinated trying to piece it all together and understand it; it was almost like I was channeling Meg as I was reading!
I loved the characters as well - Megan, Adam, Rian, Aine, Fionn, Caitlin and Megan's dad. All of them were written with such clearly defined personalities that I felt like I was getting to know them quite well. My favorites though are Aine and Adam, the twins, and simply because I think they're spectacular.
The love story was a little quick for me, but I do recognize that it is possible for feelings to flare up into that level of intensity that fast. The chemistry between Adam and Megan and the intensity of their feelings left me breathless from squealing so much while I was reading. Adam is now one of my favorite characters ever and I can definitely see why Meg fell for him!
Leigh combines everything - the beautiful settings, the incredible lore, the quirky characters, the budding romance - into an interesting, exciting and spellbinding story. I cannot wait to read more from her -- especially the next book for this series, tentatively titled Dawn of the Knights.
It started with the hype - I started seeing blurbs, contests, features on the book all over the book blogging community. After reading the synopsis and noting that it involved (1) elemental magic (2) in Ireland, I knew I had to get my hands on it as soon as possible. I picked up a copy at Barnes and Noble during my lunch break, read the first three chapters and was hooked. I literally finished this book about an hour ago and I'm still not quite sure how to properly express how I feel about it.
This book is AMAZING. Seriously. There are so many things I love about it - the story, the legend/history, the settings, the characters. Everything wove itself together into a beautifully crafted tale that drew me in and got me so intensely absorbed that reaching the ending and rejoining the real world was like having a dash of cold water tossed into my face.
The story behind the Mark is fascinating. I can't wait to learn some more about the history and the legends behind it, because I feel like there's so much more ground to be covered. Every bit of it that was included in this book left me fascinated trying to piece it all together and understand it; it was almost like I was channeling Meg as I was reading!
I loved the characters as well - Megan, Adam, Rian, Aine, Fionn, Caitlin and Megan's dad. All of them were written with such clearly defined personalities that I felt like I was getting to know them quite well. My favorites though are Aine and Adam, the twins, and simply because I think they're spectacular.
The love story was a little quick for me, but I do recognize that it is possible for feelings to flare up into that level of intensity that fast. The chemistry between Adam and Megan and the intensity of their feelings left me breathless from squealing so much while I was reading. Adam is now one of my favorite characters ever and I can definitely see why Meg fell for him!
Leigh combines everything - the beautiful settings, the incredible lore, the quirky characters, the budding romance - into an interesting, exciting and spellbinding story. I cannot wait to read more from her -- especially the next book for this series, tentatively titled Dawn of the Knights.
Guys... I'm really getting sick of these female MCs that only think about their male love interest and basically nothing else.. It's getting really. really. old.
I was pretty excited about this book. I absolutely love Ireland, so I was looking forward to reading a book set in it, but I was also a bit nervous, because of this line in the synopsis: "she is instantly drawn to darkly handsome Adam DeRÍs." I mean, I know that's kind of the thing with these type of books, the 'instant love' but this... this was too much. It was like, the minute Megan and Adam got together, they refused to think of even the thought that they might be separated. It was one of those "I can't live without you, even though I've only known you for two weeks" and I just got really tired of it, really quickly.
(I guess you could I say I don't really believe in that sort of thing)
I really wish I could say that I came out of this book pleased and ready to read the next one, but I found it to be so generic, with nothing much to it except a bunch of lore that seemed jumbled up together with not a lot of order and a love story that I've seen a hundred times. I ended up skimming most of the ending, as I found it to be fairly tedious and predictable. Sadly, this one wasn't a huge thumbs up for me.
I think I've read this book before, though it was under a different name and instead of people who possessed the powers of the four elements, they were vegetarian vampires...
The first half of this book is pretty much exactly the same as Twilight. Megan has just moved to a new town, and is left speechless after first laying eyes on Adam DeRis. He, continuing in the Twilight theme, is arrogant and standoffish, sticking to his siblings while at school, and of course, is devastatingly handsome. The only difference is that he also seems flustered by Megan's presence, running into a door frame on his way out of class after catching her eye. His family has a notorious history within town, and the weird things that seem to happen when they're around do nothing to dispel the rumours.
After being in town a couple week, Megan has a boating accident and Adam is able to jump in and save her life, much like when Edward saved Bella from being crushed by a car. As in Twilight where Edward accompanies Bella to the hospital, and waits to speak with her once she is released, Adam is waiting for Megan when she emerges from her room.
Later, on her way to a Halloween party, Megan is harassed by two drunk guys from her school. Before anything can really happen, a gust of wind picks up the two boys and throws them away from Megan. All of a sudden, Adam is there asking if she is ok. Sounds an awful lot like when Bella was saved by Edward from a group of men with sinister intentions. When they do make it to the party, Adam tells Megan that he hasn't been able to stop thinking about her since the moment he first laid eyes on her. He tells her that he was warned to stay away from her, but that he isn't strong enough (an exact quote from Edward, if memory serves) and that he feels like their destinies are inexplicably linked.
And the last thing I will point out is that like in Twilight, where Alice warms to Bella while Rosalie gives her the cold shoulder, in Carrier of the Mark, Adam's twin Aine warms to Megan while his older brother Rian is quite upset with her presence.
The explanation of the Order and the history of the Mark, while interesting in concept, was laid out in one info-dumped chapter. I had to re-read it a few times, and I still don't think I fully understand the mythology. Maybe if it had been shown instead of told to me I would have made more sense of it. This left absolutely no no room for suspense, as the most important details were given in one long-winded speech from Fionn. Any remaining details that surfaced seemed to be a weak attempt at causing conflict, so we wouldn't get bored.
One of these conflicts was the Order's complete rejection of Megan and Adam's relationship, as it had "apocalyptic" consequences. Unfortunately, I couldn’t care less about whether or not Adam and Megan are able to be together, as there was absolutely NO development of their love story. Their elements spoke to each other, and therefore they were destined. Shortly before the Order's condemnation of their relationship, Megan mentions that they had only been dating for two weeks and that she barely knew Adam. But then when faced with the possibility of separation from him, she exclaims:
And a couple pages later...
Ugh. You know someone for two weeks and all of a sudden you can't live without them? Give me a break.
On a side note, how many times does it have to be mentioned that she was putting on her red converses?
The first half of this book is pretty much exactly the same as Twilight. Megan has just moved to a new town, and is left speechless after first laying eyes on Adam DeRis. He, continuing in the Twilight theme, is arrogant and standoffish, sticking to his siblings while at school, and of course, is devastatingly handsome. The only difference is that he also seems flustered by Megan's presence, running into a door frame on his way out of class after catching her eye. His family has a notorious history within town, and the weird things that seem to happen when they're around do nothing to dispel the rumours.
After being in town a couple week, Megan has a boating accident and Adam is able to jump in and save her life, much like when Edward saved Bella from being crushed by a car. As in Twilight where Edward accompanies Bella to the hospital, and waits to speak with her once she is released, Adam is waiting for Megan when she emerges from her room.
Later, on her way to a Halloween party, Megan is harassed by two drunk guys from her school. Before anything can really happen, a gust of wind picks up the two boys and throws them away from Megan. All of a sudden, Adam is there asking if she is ok. Sounds an awful lot like when Bella was saved by Edward from a group of men with sinister intentions. When they do make it to the party, Adam tells Megan that he hasn't been able to stop thinking about her since the moment he first laid eyes on her. He tells her that he was warned to stay away from her, but that he isn't strong enough (an exact quote from Edward, if memory serves) and that he feels like their destinies are inexplicably linked.
And the last thing I will point out is that like in Twilight, where Alice warms to Bella while Rosalie gives her the cold shoulder, in Carrier of the Mark, Adam's twin Aine warms to Megan while his older brother Rian is quite upset with her presence.
The explanation of the Order and the history of the Mark, while interesting in concept, was laid out in one info-dumped chapter. I had to re-read it a few times, and I still don't think I fully understand the mythology. Maybe if it had been shown instead of told to me I would have made more sense of it. This left absolutely no no room for suspense, as the most important details were given in one long-winded speech from Fionn. Any remaining details that surfaced seemed to be a weak attempt at causing conflict, so we wouldn't get bored.
One of these conflicts was the Order's complete rejection of Megan and Adam's relationship, as it had "apocalyptic" consequences. Unfortunately, I couldn’t care less about whether or not Adam and Megan are able to be together, as there was absolutely NO development of their love story. Their elements spoke to each other, and therefore they were destined. Shortly before the Order's condemnation of their relationship, Megan mentions that they had only been dating for two weeks and that she barely knew Adam. But then when faced with the possibility of separation from him, she exclaims:
There has to be a way I can keep the element and you too. How can I separate the two things that make me feel whole?
And a couple pages later...
Everything else paled in significance. I could not live without him. As much as it upset me to hurt the others, it was nothing compared to the stabbing pain I felt when I thought of being parted from him.
Ugh. You know someone for two weeks and all of a sudden you can't live without them? Give me a break.
On a side note, how many times does it have to be mentioned that she was putting on her red converses?
Review to come. I need to really think about this one. So much potential, but it ended up going slightly wrong. :(
With success comes the danger of copycats. In books, as in life, if something works very well for one person, someone else is bound to try to imitate that same success. Unfortunately, the axiom “imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery” does not apply to books. No one wants to read the same essential story, no matter how many details are altered in some way. There have been so many rehashing of the Twilight series that one can quickly lose count of all those hoping to recreate the Stephenie Meyer success story. Some of these have been surprisingly well-written and successful in their own right. Unfortunately, Leigh Fallon’s Carrier of the Mark does not fall into this category.
In spite of the extreme similarities to the Twilight saga, there are two major things wrong with Carrier of the Mark. The first of these is the myth behind the story. Paranormal stories succeed because the myths around which these stories revolve are well-known and have withstood the test of time. Werewolves, zombies, witches, fae, and even the ubiquitous vampires are commonly known, even if the details behind the myths differ region to region or even person to person. In Carrier of the Mark, Ms. Fallon goes out on a limb and creates her own myth. While she should be applauded for her creativity, her myth is just plain confusing. There is no frame of reference or familiarity for the reader to understand just what Megan and the rest of her characters are facing. This is due, in large part, to the second fundamental issue with Carrier of the Mark – the writing.
Had Ms. Fallon been a stronger writer, the myth would simply make more sense. Key elements of the story would not remain unexplained throughout the majority of the novel, and the reader might actually care about Megan’s fate. Instead, the characters are insipid, flat, and essentially caricatures of other similar characters in other similar novels. The pacing of the novel is uneven at best. Megan goes from being an unknown new kid to drawing attention to falling in love with Adam within a few short pages, while the big climax is anything but suspenseful. Many questions remain unanswered, even some of the most basic ones that really should have had resolution. The result is a lackluster story in which the reader has no real affinity for or empathy with the main characters and spends a large majority of the novel just trying to figure out what the major conflict is.
To be fair, Ms. Fallon deserves credit for trying something new. Unfortunately, it did not live up to its potential. Instead, Carrier of the Mark is a hint that the Young Adult market has truly become supersaturated with Twilight-esque novels and that there is a clear need for something more original and better written.
In spite of the extreme similarities to the Twilight saga, there are two major things wrong with Carrier of the Mark. The first of these is the myth behind the story. Paranormal stories succeed because the myths around which these stories revolve are well-known and have withstood the test of time. Werewolves, zombies, witches, fae, and even the ubiquitous vampires are commonly known, even if the details behind the myths differ region to region or even person to person. In Carrier of the Mark, Ms. Fallon goes out on a limb and creates her own myth. While she should be applauded for her creativity, her myth is just plain confusing. There is no frame of reference or familiarity for the reader to understand just what Megan and the rest of her characters are facing. This is due, in large part, to the second fundamental issue with Carrier of the Mark – the writing.
Had Ms. Fallon been a stronger writer, the myth would simply make more sense. Key elements of the story would not remain unexplained throughout the majority of the novel, and the reader might actually care about Megan’s fate. Instead, the characters are insipid, flat, and essentially caricatures of other similar characters in other similar novels. The pacing of the novel is uneven at best. Megan goes from being an unknown new kid to drawing attention to falling in love with Adam within a few short pages, while the big climax is anything but suspenseful. Many questions remain unanswered, even some of the most basic ones that really should have had resolution. The result is a lackluster story in which the reader has no real affinity for or empathy with the main characters and spends a large majority of the novel just trying to figure out what the major conflict is.
To be fair, Ms. Fallon deserves credit for trying something new. Unfortunately, it did not live up to its potential. Instead, Carrier of the Mark is a hint that the Young Adult market has truly become supersaturated with Twilight-esque novels and that there is a clear need for something more original and better written.
I really wanted to love this book with its Irish setting, colloquial dialogue, and mythical lore. Unfortunately, there were too many long passages of explaining a complicated, demanding fate of the four elements made man who needed to join to align (and save) the world. Megan went back and forth too much between an independent minded character to one too whiny and weak towards her boyfriend and men dictating her fate. Her boyfriend and his family came off as controlling and stalking her instead of protecting. In response, her blind devotion to him as "her reason for living" and someone willing to give up her powers for made me lose respect for her. Instead of weaving in the lore with regular teen life, it felt awkwardly juxtaposed so the jump between them in the story was jarring to read. I enjoyed the audiobook for its Irish accents, but ultimately the plot and characters were weak and unbelievable.
It head a good idea, but everything was too rushed and the characters felt underdeveloped.
I've been thinking about how I have wanted to write this review for a while, but now I think I finally know how.
I think it's amazing how Leigh Fallon was found on Inkpop -- a website to share writing with users -- and turned into a published author. But I think that's her problem. I've been a user on Quizilla, which is similar to Inkpop. And Fallon's writing is just like any other user out there -- a little immature. Not in the voice, but in the writing. I think Fallon needs to work on her writing. She has the basics down, now she just needs to work and practice a little bit more. Here's the problem I have with Carrier Of The Mark: It's boring. It's cliche. It's like every other story on writing websites out there. As a matter of fact, it's exactly like Twilight but with a little bit of changes.
Main problems:
1.)Instant love: Meghan falls instantly in love with Adam. She has only dated him for a week or two when she realizes that she cannot possibly go on with out him, and that'd she'd give up her powers to be with him. ..... I'm sorry, Leigh Fallon, but are you kidding me? I'm getting so tired of authors using instant love. I need to see the growth between two people and how their bond develops and makes them love each other. I just don't want a "I feel this weird feeling whenever I look at him and I just can't look away from him. He's mysterious and I'm so attracted to him" love.
2.)INFO DUMP: There were pages upon pages of information just dumped into the story. And Meghan's little "Why's" and "What's" and "How Come's" didn't break it up well enough. I started to get bored after all this information and was actually just skimming these pages.
3.) Meghan's acceptance of her powers: there was no conflict of this. Meghan learns about her powers and automatically accepts them. If I was Meghan, I would have taken time to get over the fact that I was not a normal girl anymore.
4.) The ending: The ending was like a normal quizilla/inkpop/writing website ending. Meghan ends up getting kidnapped by A Really Bad Guy and then she gets saved by Her One True Love of 3 Weeks. -Insert yawn here-.
5.) The cliche-ness: everything was cliche. Meghan is the new girl at school, her dad takes care of her because her mom died, she finds a new group of friends, she's attracted to the hot boy that everyone loves, the hot boy is mysterious, he and his family have powers that they coincidentally share with Meghan, etc etc etc. Not to mention the many similarities that Carrier of The Mark has with Twilight. This book was kind of like a Twilight rip-off.
The only redeeming quality about this story was the originality of Meghan and Adam's family's powers, because I haven't read stories on powers like those.
All in all, I did not like this story and I will not be reading the other 2 books in this trilogy. The only reason I suffered through this one was to see if it would have improved by the end, but unfortunately for me, it didn't.
I think it's amazing how Leigh Fallon was found on Inkpop -- a website to share writing with users -- and turned into a published author. But I think that's her problem. I've been a user on Quizilla, which is similar to Inkpop. And Fallon's writing is just like any other user out there -- a little immature. Not in the voice, but in the writing. I think Fallon needs to work on her writing. She has the basics down, now she just needs to work and practice a little bit more. Here's the problem I have with Carrier Of The Mark: It's boring. It's cliche. It's like every other story on writing websites out there. As a matter of fact, it's exactly like Twilight but with a little bit of changes.
Main problems:
1.)Instant love: Meghan falls instantly in love with Adam. She has only dated him for a week or two when she realizes that she cannot possibly go on with out him, and that'd she'd give up her powers to be with him. ..... I'm sorry, Leigh Fallon, but are you kidding me? I'm getting so tired of authors using instant love. I need to see the growth between two people and how their bond develops and makes them love each other. I just don't want a "I feel this weird feeling whenever I look at him and I just can't look away from him. He's mysterious and I'm so attracted to him" love.
2.)INFO DUMP: There were pages upon pages of information just dumped into the story. And Meghan's little "Why's" and "What's" and "How Come's" didn't break it up well enough. I started to get bored after all this information and was actually just skimming these pages.
3.) Meghan's acceptance of her powers: there was no conflict of this. Meghan learns about her powers and automatically accepts them. If I was Meghan, I would have taken time to get over the fact that I was not a normal girl anymore.
4.) The ending: The ending was like a normal quizilla/inkpop/writing website ending. Meghan ends up getting kidnapped by A Really Bad Guy and then she gets saved by Her One True Love of 3 Weeks. -Insert yawn here-.
5.) The cliche-ness: everything was cliche. Meghan is the new girl at school, her dad takes care of her because her mom died, she finds a new group of friends, she's attracted to the hot boy that everyone loves, the hot boy is mysterious, he and his family have powers that they coincidentally share with Meghan, etc etc etc. Not to mention the many similarities that Carrier of The Mark has with Twilight. This book was kind of like a Twilight rip-off.
The only redeeming quality about this story was the originality of Meghan and Adam's family's powers, because I haven't read stories on powers like those.
All in all, I did not like this story and I will not be reading the other 2 books in this trilogy. The only reason I suffered through this one was to see if it would have improved by the end, but unfortunately for me, it didn't.
I did not like this book at all. First of all, in my opinion, the two main characters ended up together too fast and to tell the truth this was a boring story. there was nothing new or fresh. it reminded me of twilight with the whole family thing and all. so yeah i did NOT like this book.