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eleni133's review against another edition
2.0
1.5/5
This book has managed to do many impossible things:
1) To one-dimension and beyond...not
Dragon marked has created not three-dimensional characters who are engaging, intuitive and make you envious of their personality traits to the point you can almost feel their presence with every page turned; not two-dimensional characters who are transparent in their desires, opinion and individuality. No, Dragon Marked has created the rare and abhorred one-dimensional character. What is this, you ask? A character who is not only transparent, but somehow, despite their age in adulthood, possesses no logical thought process and intellect to even conceive realistic ideas. They are twelve years old trapped in adults bodies, basically prancing around singing la lala la la as they mess everything up.
2) The hills are alive, with the sound of snowflakes (*cue background instrumental music)
As much as I've read it, the special snowflake syndrome that was taken authors (and held them against their will), doesn't bother me that much. But does this book have one special snowflake? No. Two? N0. Goddamn 4 at least (I lost count so there's probably more). Why would an author want to do this? Its like Jaymin Eve waved her fairy godmother wand and said, "You get the be a special snowflake, oh and you, and you. And let's not forget you."
There is one snowflake that stands above them all and that is Jessa. Apart from the rare one or two good moments she's the embodiment of the one-dimension. Tries to be badass and funny and rebellious...ends up turning me into a resentful old hag from her immaturity, lack of (working) mind, and suicidal ideas that don't make sense AT ALL.
Case and point:
SNOWFLAKE 1: Okay, we've saved who we wanted to from this maximum security prison that houses the worst perpetrators of all of the supernatural races. Let's all take a deep breathe and get out of this prison.
JESSA: But there are dozens more that we haven't saved.
SNOWFLAKE 2: It's not realistic. We'll get caught and further jeopardize the person we just saved.
JESSA: I don't care. I'm Jessa, and I want to save them all.
SNOWFLAKE 1: Fine, we'll come back for them when we have a new plan. You have my word.
(as everyone is getting the hell out of that prison, Jessa decides to stay back and seeks to somehow, with that genius mind of hers, save the dozens of prisoners. Without a plan. Without weapons. And, evidently, without a brain)
5 seconds later...gets caught.
JESSA: Shit, someone save me, someone save me...
I could talk about this book all day. Bottom line, the plot was much better compared to the characters, but that isn't saying much.
All I can say is that Jessa and her posse of snowflakes are lucky their world is survival of the strongest, because if it was survival of the smartest all but few would perish.
This book has managed to do many impossible things:
1) To one-dimension and beyond...not
Dragon marked has created not three-dimensional characters who are engaging, intuitive and make you envious of their personality traits to the point you can almost feel their presence with every page turned; not two-dimensional characters who are transparent in their desires, opinion and individuality. No, Dragon Marked has created the rare and abhorred one-dimensional character. What is this, you ask? A character who is not only transparent, but somehow, despite their age in adulthood, possesses no logical thought process and intellect to even conceive realistic ideas. They are twelve years old trapped in adults bodies, basically prancing around singing la lala la la as they mess everything up.
2) The hills are alive, with the sound of snowflakes (*cue background instrumental music)
As much as I've read it, the special snowflake syndrome that was taken authors (and held them against their will), doesn't bother me that much. But does this book have one special snowflake? No. Two? N0. Goddamn 4 at least (I lost count so there's probably more). Why would an author want to do this? Its like Jaymin Eve waved her fairy godmother wand and said, "You get the be a special snowflake, oh and you, and you. And let's not forget you."
There is one snowflake that stands above them all and that is Jessa. Apart from the rare one or two good moments she's the embodiment of the one-dimension. Tries to be badass and funny and rebellious...ends up turning me into a resentful old hag from her immaturity, lack of (working) mind, and suicidal ideas that don't make sense AT ALL.
Case and point:
SNOWFLAKE 1: Okay, we've saved who we wanted to from this maximum security prison that houses the worst perpetrators of all of the supernatural races. Let's all take a deep breathe and get out of this prison.
JESSA: But there are dozens more that we haven't saved.
SNOWFLAKE 2: It's not realistic. We'll get caught and further jeopardize the person we just saved.
JESSA: I don't care. I'm Jessa, and I want to save them all.
SNOWFLAKE 1: Fine, we'll come back for them when we have a new plan. You have my word.
(as everyone is getting the hell out of that prison, Jessa decides to stay back and seeks to somehow, with that genius mind of hers, save the dozens of prisoners. Without a plan. Without weapons. And, evidently, without a brain)
5 seconds later...gets caught.
JESSA: Shit, someone save me, someone save me...
I could talk about this book all day. Bottom line, the plot was much better compared to the characters, but that isn't saying much.
All I can say is that Jessa and her posse of snowflakes are lucky their world is survival of the strongest, because if it was survival of the smartest all but few would perish.
misskjm's review against another edition
5.0
This is a fantastic first book in the Dragon Marked series by Jaymin Eve and is the first book I've read of hers. It's been a fair while since I read proper urban fantasy, a genre I devoured in the past and this is a great way to return to it. This book is full of strong characters and great world-building. I'm looking forward to the next instalment.
rebeccathorne's review against another edition
3.0
I'm baffled by these reviews.
Spoilers ahead.
Let me start with something good. I couldn't put this book down. So in spite of everything below, keep that in mind. It wasn't a *good* read, but it had the addiction factor of Twilight, the Selection, etc, which is admirable. That's the only reason this book has 3 stars instead of 1 on my rating scale.
I also really, really loved the way Jessa categorized her wolf. The idea of her animal communicating with her through body language and growls, and how the animal simply comes to the forefront when she's ready to shift... that's a cool concept. I immensely enjoyed it.
Now, my problems with it.
Comma splices. Oh my GOD, the comma splices:
"'You need the community to help you, you need a pack.'"
"There was a small dark opening, I slithered up through the gap into the next space."
"Their patience had ended, it was time to go quietly."
"'We have a little time, find me tomorrow.'"
I could keep going. The author knows how to use semicolons, since she inserted them a few times, but she chooses to substitute them for commas more often than not. It's incredibly frustrating, not to mention seriously distracting. There's got to be at least 80 separate instances of them.
I'm sure this book hasn't been edited, which isn't surprising since I'm also fairly sure it's been self-published on Amazon. But honestly, if readers are going to dedicate our precious time for this book, it'd be nice to see that the author has invested just as much (if not much, much more) time into editing the story.
Then we arrive at the characters. Honestly, I hated all of them. Jessa was rude to everyone, and yet they worshiped her for it. The boys were possessive to the point of absurdity. It's possible to have protective characters without them (literally) tossing her around like a football. (How would that even HAPPEN??)
I could get behind the quadruplets, but adding a set of twins to the story seemed ridiculous to me. It doesn't seem to serve any point to the plot. Why not just make them sisters? For the, it'd be just as easy to mention they're more special than all the other . I mean, that's basically what's been happening the whole book anyway. Jessa's so special. Jessa's so powerful. Jessa's so great. It would have been better to mention WHY she's so special and powerful and great, rather than writing the off as being a twin.
Plus, Mischa drives me insane. She's SO weak. It's actually off-putting. She literally contributes nothing to the overall plot, and I don't understand why she's a character at all. I also can't fathom why Lienda, their (assumed) badass wolf shifter of a mother, doesn't take all that time in the "human" world to educate Mischa on self-defense. Lienda already knew they were running for their lives. They moved locations every few years. And she knew Mischa would be returning to the supernatural community eventually. So why why WHY wouldn't Lienda enroll Mischa in some karate classes or something? She literally set her beloved daughter up for failure by not teaching her anything, and it makes no sense to me.
Moving on. Let's talk about Louis, who literally wasn't even mentioned until page 97, and somehow became a love interest. To make it creepier, Louis made a big deal of reminding Jessa that he literally held her as a baby when he. This, keep in mind, was DURING their date. Because dating someone older than your parents isn't creepy at all. (Yes, I know supernaturals live to be 800+ years old. That doesn't change the fact that, while Jessa may not think anything of it, the readers of this book are NOT supernaturals. We live normal length lives, and I personally couldn't grasp the concept of dating someone so much older.)
(And yes, I did read the second book. I know. If that's the case, that we weren't expecting, and that did nothing for the overall plot.)
Also, I'd like to talk about the plot for a minute. What was even HAPPENING here? Find the prison, I know. But why? Because they were curious kids. Okay, fine. Then what about after the. Mission accomplished, right? The book should be over. But then there's another plot, and after that, another one. I couldn't keep track of the characters' goals, because they were always shifting!
To me, the greatest books have one, overarching plot. Subplots, for sure, weave in and out of each other, but I want to have one clear goal in mind. Establish a relationship with someone. Find the mystical object. Save your beloved. Jessa needed a goal. She needed to want something, rather than just reacting to everything that happened. I probably would have rooted for her more, as opposed to generally hoping she'd be killed at some point. >.>
To sum up, this book was basically fanfiction with original characters. Things happened that had no regard to what was established earlier, the characters had ridiculous relationships with each other, and a lot of this novel could be cut during a good editing session. It was like the author gave no regard for how a book should be structured, and instead just wrote whatever the hell she wanted. (Which is totally fine, don't get me wrong. I'd just prefer it not be published as a "finished" book. If it's fluff for the writer, best to keep it on her computer...)
Whew. Okay. So, despite all that, I still finished this book. I read the entire thing in like, two days, while working. It was addictive, and even though a lot of things didn't make sense, I still appreciated the world.
Honestly, if this author had bothered to rewrite this novel a few times before publishing it, it probably could have been a bestseller. As of now, though, I just thought it was unpolished and unbelievable. I was disappointed, because after all these "OMG I LOVE IT" reviews, I was hoping for more.
As I mentioned before, I did buy the second book to see if these problems were explained or resolved. Most of them weren't. I won't be sticking around to see if they're fixed in the third book.
Spoilers ahead.
Let me start with something good. I couldn't put this book down. So in spite of everything below, keep that in mind. It wasn't a *good* read, but it had the addiction factor of Twilight, the Selection, etc, which is admirable. That's the only reason this book has 3 stars instead of 1 on my rating scale.
I also really, really loved the way Jessa categorized her wolf
Spoiler
and dragonNow, my problems with it.
Comma splices. Oh my GOD, the comma splices:
"'You need the community to help you, you need a pack.'"
"There was a small dark opening, I slithered up through the gap into the next space."
"Their patience had ended, it was time to go quietly."
"'We have a little time, find me tomorrow.'"
I could keep going. The author knows how to use semicolons, since she inserted them a few times, but she chooses to substitute them for commas more often than not. It's incredibly frustrating, not to mention seriously distracting. There's got to be at least 80 separate instances of them.
I'm sure this book hasn't been edited, which isn't surprising since I'm also fairly sure it's been self-published on Amazon. But honestly, if readers are going to dedicate our precious time for this book, it'd be nice to see that the author has invested just as much (if not much, much more) time into editing the story.
Then we arrive at the characters. Honestly, I hated all of them. Jessa was rude to everyone, and yet they worshiped her for it. The boys were possessive to the point of absurdity. It's possible to have protective characters without them (literally) tossing her around like a football. (How would that even HAPPEN??)
I could get behind the quadruplets, but adding a set of twins to the story seemed ridiculous to me. It doesn't seem to serve any point to the plot. Why not just make them sisters? For the
Spoiler
points of the dragon marked compassSpoiler
dragon markedSpoiler
dragon markPlus, Mischa drives me insane. She's SO weak. It's actually off-putting. She literally contributes nothing to the overall plot, and I don't understand why she's a character at all. I also can't fathom why Lienda, their (assumed) badass wolf shifter of a mother, doesn't take all that time in the "human" world to educate Mischa on self-defense. Lienda already knew they were running for their lives. They moved locations every few years. And she knew Mischa would be returning to the supernatural community eventually. So why why WHY wouldn't Lienda enroll Mischa in some karate classes or something? She literally set her beloved daughter up for failure by not teaching her anything, and it makes no sense to me.
Moving on. Let's talk about Louis, who literally wasn't even mentioned until page 97, and somehow became a love interest. To make it creepier, Louis made a big deal of reminding Jessa that he literally held her as a baby when he
Spoiler
spelled her dragon mark(And yes, I did read the second book. I know
Spoiler
Louis thinks of her as familySpoiler
then someone tell me why the author felt the need to imply (heavily) that it was romantic from book 1? It just seems like a useless relationshipAlso, I'd like to talk about the plot for a minute. What was even HAPPENING here? Find the prison, I know. But why? Because they were curious kids. Okay, fine. Then what about after the
Spoiler
boys are sent to VanguardTo me, the greatest books have one, overarching plot. Subplots, for sure, weave in and out of each other, but I want to have one clear goal in mind. Establish a relationship with someone. Find the mystical object. Save your beloved. Jessa needed a goal. She needed to want something, rather than just reacting to everything that happened. I probably would have rooted for her more, as opposed to generally hoping she'd be killed at some point. >.>
To sum up, this book was basically fanfiction with original characters. Things happened that had no regard to what was established earlier, the characters had ridiculous relationships with each other, and a lot of this novel could be cut during a good editing session. It was like the author gave no regard for how a book should be structured, and instead just wrote whatever the hell she wanted. (Which is totally fine, don't get me wrong. I'd just prefer it not be published as a "finished" book. If it's fluff for the writer, best to keep it on her computer...)
Whew. Okay. So, despite all that, I still finished this book. I read the entire thing in like, two days, while working. It was addictive, and even though a lot of things didn't make sense, I still appreciated the world.
Honestly, if this author had bothered to rewrite this novel a few times before publishing it, it probably could have been a bestseller. As of now, though, I just thought it was unpolished and unbelievable. I was disappointed, because after all these "OMG I LOVE IT" reviews, I was hoping for more.
As I mentioned before, I did buy the second book to see if these problems were explained or resolved. Most of them weren't. I won't be sticking around to see if they're fixed in the third book.
jazblackthorn22's review against another edition
4.0
Cuatro estrellas por la amistad preciosa que tienen Jessa y los Compass.
Empece el libro sin mucha expectativa más que la recomendación de Are pero estuvo super entretenido y no lo podía soltar. Ya quiero leer el siguientee
Empece el libro sin mucha expectativa más que la recomendación de Are pero estuvo super entretenido y no lo podía soltar. Ya quiero leer el siguientee
book_witch23's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
booknerdbetty's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Murder and Death
darrah's review against another edition
5.0
This book is truly awesome! Definitely worth the read and trust me when I say you won't be able to put the book down.
booksavvyreviews's review against another edition
3.0
I thoroughly enjoy supernatural books and will binge read them. I don't care if things are a bit cliche as long as the characters are enjoyable, relatable and have depth. This being said...
I give this book 3 stars, it's not entirely original and there is more Han enough in it that makes me cringe. The main character, Jessa, is a female shifter who has the attention of four guys, the Compass brothers, who are just as special, she is also SUPER a strong, too, on top of being a hottie. So, this kind of got old, especially with how focused the book became on the characters appearance.
The book seems more like a species guide than an actual story. The more we progress through the book it becomes campy.
I enjoy romance, humor and adventure when done right. Although this book was by far from perfect it wasn't altogether horrible...
I give this book 3 stars, it's not entirely original and there is more Han enough in it that makes me cringe. The main character, Jessa, is a female shifter who has the attention of four guys, the Compass brothers, who are just as special, she is also SUPER a strong, too, on top of being a hottie. So, this kind of got old, especially with how focused the book became on the characters appearance.
The book seems more like a species guide than an actual story. The more we progress through the book it becomes campy.
I enjoy romance, humor and adventure when done right. Although this book was by far from perfect it wasn't altogether horrible...
shanbreads's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book! I loved the whole concept of secret supernatural societies existing in towns of their own, hidden from the real world. The characters were great fun and the Compass boys were pretty amazing :-). All in all I felt this was a light hearted and fun take on supernaturals, but it was still filled with well rounded characters and plenty of action. A highlight was the originality of the Dragon Marked and learning how that came to be. I can’t wait to start the next book in the series