A review by cora_hreads
Mark of the Wicked by Georgia Bowers

4.0

SpoilerI KNEW OLIVER WAS SUSPICIOUS! At her birthday celebration he seemed to be getting way too comfortable with her. Constantly calling her “birthday girl” reminded me of the whole “what’s wrong babygirl?” event that happened, which made me greatly uncomfortable. After the reveal that Oliver was, in fact, causing Matilda all this trouble out of pettiness (he does have the right to feel violated by what Matilda had done to his sister, but he shouldn’t have done what he did for vengeance), everything started to line up. The freezing chills Matilda had whenever Oliver touched her, the fact that nearly every blackout happened when he was around — it all makes sense.

I absolutely loved the ending. Matilda came to terms with her magic and creating a coven — the falling-down-the-well scene was the defining moment in the book for her. The last chapter was incredibly wholesome, too. Many books have ended in an odd way lately, but this hit the nail on the head. Everything about it was phenomenal — Oliver’s punishment (she was really strong to let him go with all his abilities back, that was indescribably excellent), her gift of magic from Ivy — all of it. Amazing.

The only critique I have is for the writing style. While keeping it uniquely the author’s, I think that it could’ve been a bit smoother and consistent in tone from the beginning to around the middle. It became that in the end, yes, but it could’ve always been that way. This isn’t a critique I thought about the whole book, just some food for thought.

Overall I’d definitely recommend this if someone wants to get into reading mystery/fantasy. Incredible!