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phiareviews 's review for:
Carve the Mark
by Veronica Roth
“Soft hearts make the universe worth living in.”
1 star
I had such high hopes for this book. I loved Divergent, mainly because it was the first YA experience that led me to where I am now. Looking back, it wasn’t the best book, but it means a lot to me. Now that I have been shown to many wonderful YA books, I am experienced in this genre and can face this book with an objective opinion.
There are many obvious problems with this that many other readers have pointed out. The major ones are:
-Racism
-Ableism
-World Building
I’m not going to pretend I know a sufficient amount about any of these issues to rant about them, so here are some people who have said it well: on racism and ableism, on racism, and on ableism.
All that aside, the writing is nothing spectacular. It is a common trend in the formula for YA that makes me sad. If you’re looking for YA with great writing, you can find it in Laini Taylor‘s books, Renee Ahdieh, VE Schwab, etc.
The plot was so slowwwwwwwwwwwwww. I was halfway through it and complaining to my friends that I was in a book slump because of Carve the Mark. There’s a bunch of backstories that the author thinks we need, around 100 pages of Cyra doing nothing, and perhaps the only thing that kept me reading was the fact that I really wanted to see for myself how bad it was. I held out some hope that maybe I could ignore how bad it was. But no. It was really just terrible. I spent $22 on the last copy of this at my school’s book fair. I could’ve spent it on, I don’t know, Strange the Dreamer or The Hate U Give.
The characters… Oh, how I despised Cyra. She stood by her brother’s side for so many years. And it only occurred to her that she could defy him when Akos arrived. Some people would call that sweet, young love. I call that desperation. Cowardice. Cyra didn’t do anything until she was pushed to do it – desperation. All those years cowering by her brother’s side executing people – cowardice. Only in those last couple of pages, I felt a little sorry for her. And a little hope that maybe she could be a better person. I felt that because I can relate to her – how she is teetering between the boundaries of good and evil.
Akos was the shining star compared to Cyra. He was really kind and cute and an adorable nerd, a type I always fall for. But honestly, I don’t know how he fell in love with Cyra. What does he see in her? The book never says.
A really interesting character that I actually want to know more about is Akos’ mother. She is such a compelling person: mysterious with a touch of malice but a need to protect her family. I have a feeling she will make a decision one day that will make her lose her family one day.
Honestly, don’t waste your money on this. Don’t make the same mistake I did. This book just ruined the beloved author status Veronica Roth had in my brain. I’m just going to forget about this book and put it on my “Trying to Redeem it by Putting it on my Rainbow Shelf But it’s Not Working”.
1 star
I had such high hopes for this book. I loved Divergent, mainly because it was the first YA experience that led me to where I am now. Looking back, it wasn’t the best book, but it means a lot to me. Now that I have been shown to many wonderful YA books, I am experienced in this genre and can face this book with an objective opinion.
There are many obvious problems with this that many other readers have pointed out. The major ones are:
-Racism
-Ableism
-World Building
I’m not going to pretend I know a sufficient amount about any of these issues to rant about them, so here are some people who have said it well: on racism and ableism, on racism, and on ableism.
All that aside, the writing is nothing spectacular. It is a common trend in the formula for YA that makes me sad. If you’re looking for YA with great writing, you can find it in Laini Taylor‘s books, Renee Ahdieh, VE Schwab, etc.
The plot was so slowwwwwwwwwwwwww. I was halfway through it and complaining to my friends that I was in a book slump because of Carve the Mark. There’s a bunch of backstories that the author thinks we need, around 100 pages of Cyra doing nothing, and perhaps the only thing that kept me reading was the fact that I really wanted to see for myself how bad it was. I held out some hope that maybe I could ignore how bad it was. But no. It was really just terrible. I spent $22 on the last copy of this at my school’s book fair. I could’ve spent it on, I don’t know, Strange the Dreamer or The Hate U Give.
The characters… Oh, how I despised Cyra. She stood by her brother’s side for so many years. And it only occurred to her that she could defy him when Akos arrived. Some people would call that sweet, young love. I call that desperation. Cowardice. Cyra didn’t do anything until she was pushed to do it – desperation. All those years cowering by her brother’s side executing people – cowardice. Only in those last couple of pages, I felt a little sorry for her. And a little hope that maybe she could be a better person. I felt that because I can relate to her – how she is teetering between the boundaries of good and evil.
Akos was the shining star compared to Cyra. He was really kind and cute and an adorable nerd, a type I always fall for. But honestly, I don’t know how he fell in love with Cyra. What does he see in her? The book never says.
A really interesting character that I actually want to know more about is Akos’ mother. She is such a compelling person: mysterious with a touch of malice but a need to protect her family. I have a feeling she will make a decision one day that will make her lose her family one day.
Honestly, don’t waste your money on this. Don’t make the same mistake I did. This book just ruined the beloved author status Veronica Roth had in my brain. I’m just going to forget about this book and put it on my “Trying to Redeem it by Putting it on my Rainbow Shelf But it’s Not Working”.