Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - Carve the Mark: Free Chapter First Look

I found the book only really got intresting/better towards the end so I hope the 2nd book will be a bit better i did first notice the 2nd book at the library then realised its a duology so i of course then read this one first. The 2nd book just seemed a bit more interesting so im hoping it'll be better. The writing in the beginning also just seemed a bit off?
Overall i wouldn't say it's a bad book just got a bit boring at times and felt a bit slow.
Also possible spoiler but not really <in the description of the book they say that they are enemies and somewhere in the book say akos and cyra hate each other but there were never any signs of that and I never felt like they were enemies or hate each other which didnt bother i just found it weird that they said they were enemies and wrote they hate each other when they very much did not?>

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esterslibrary's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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marareading's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Reading this again was as good as the first time. I love this book. The building of the worlds, wars, and characters. The gifts, dueling families and faith. the characters have so much depth. the world has so much depth and scenery built in. I love the development and twists.

Akos and Cyra are my ultimate enemies to lovers. Having fates given from birth that cannot be changed, and families at odds from across the divide they are told they cannot change. Definitely worth the read, and re-read.

The two sides of this war are so divided by pride and and blinded by what they think they know of the other. One thinking the other is brutal and intense. One thinking the other is weak. While that not being the case. Assuming the other side is a monolith... Having a power to every person and a date that can't be changed on top of that. It is a great read when I put in into perspective of culture, assumptions of humans, and how much we trust in politics & traditions.

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megannoelle's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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camigy's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

i picked up this book with no expectations whatsoever and i think that ended up working in my favor. The world building is actually cool, i really like the idea of everyone having a current-gift and it being a reflection of who they are and the life that they lived. Also i rly loved when they traveled to different planets and the idea that a galaxy works kinda like the world where each planet functions kinda like a country and they have laws and bla bla.

Plot-wise it was kinda slow, there was a lot of walking around and showing Akos this new world, which fine whatever show us more about the world, but also something should be happening in the background, right? Then shit starts happening and all i kept thinking was "i've read this before" every single "take down the government" novel is the same as this one, but the world kinda made up for it for me

The characters were fine ig, there's nothing really special about them and i wasn't especially attached, but they were likable, Cyra was one of the very few narrators that didn't annoy the hell out of me half way through the book, Akos was kinda bland and every side character wasn't rly developed so they were j ok

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