Take a photo of a barcode or cover
cjson 's review for:
The Song of the Marked
by S.M. Gaither
This started out interesting, but I felt it kept leaving loose ends all over the place. Which is disappointing as the first chapter had me hopeful. Things that you think will be important just disappear and most of what happens to Cas seems very much like happenstance. What happened to the evil fire dude, the walking dead, the forest creature and so on. Too much is left without answers.
I didn’t feel much suspense throughout the book. Monsters popped up, but no one really seemed too affected by it. No terror felt throughout the population. Same with the disease, it supposedly is horrible but I never really got a feeling for its supposed horror as it faded (pun intended) into the background.
Cas is of course special and has hair and eyes that set her apart. We’re told the fade marked have been gathered by the king-emperor, but she can apparently walk around with just a hood to conceal her special hair and escape capture for ages. And isn’t it kind of suspicious that everyone that’s marked wears gloves? Seems to me they would be pretty easy to identify in that case.
I also find myself growing a bit tired of all these reckless FMCs. I don’t mind a brave and loyal character that wants to help people. But too often that seems to equate being quite naive and oftentimes just plain stupid. I long for a more thoughtful heroine.
Elander had me confused. First of all, why does Cas recognise his mark but not the dude himself? Second, the way he wanted to save Cas didn’t make sense. It is never questioned. Sure, there’s this “I feel like I know you”-thing going on (which I suspect will turn into some type of fated relationship, because people can never just like each other just because). But why would Cas and Elander be so cozy with each other after practically no interaction? Is he a strong and terrifying general or this chitchatting dude? Pick a lane.
As for the other characters I generally do like the concept of found family. But said found family in this case was too much of a supporting character. It felt a lot like Cas was gallavanting on her own, and the others just happened to be there at times. And the bad guy wasn’t set up well enough either, he was very much a bystander as well. I want someone who comes off as either truly psychotic or is well disguised as a good guy. What I got was just something bland.
The magic system was a bit confusing. Or maybe just not explained enough. Some people are marked for some inexplicable reason. But the why of it was lost to me.
It is hard to write a twist that truly surprises the reader. Most things have already been done in one form or another, and the drop of hints are hard to balance. In this case I felt they were a bit too on the nose. Meaning I wasn’t really surprised at the ending.
All in all, hopeful at the start, disappointed at the end. That pretty much sums up my feelings.
I didn’t feel much suspense throughout the book. Monsters popped up, but no one really seemed too affected by it. No terror felt throughout the population. Same with the disease, it supposedly is horrible but I never really got a feeling for its supposed horror as it faded (pun intended) into the background.
Cas is of course special and has hair and eyes that set her apart. We’re told the fade marked have been gathered by the king-emperor, but she can apparently walk around with just a hood to conceal her special hair and escape capture for ages. And isn’t it kind of suspicious that everyone that’s marked wears gloves? Seems to me they would be pretty easy to identify in that case.
I also find myself growing a bit tired of all these reckless FMCs. I don’t mind a brave and loyal character that wants to help people. But too often that seems to equate being quite naive and oftentimes just plain stupid. I long for a more thoughtful heroine.
Elander had me confused. First of all, why does Cas recognise his mark but not the dude himself? Second, the way he wanted to save Cas didn’t make sense. It is never questioned. Sure, there’s this “I feel like I know you”-thing going on (which I suspect will turn into some type of fated relationship, because people can never just like each other just because). But why would Cas and Elander be so cozy with each other after practically no interaction? Is he a strong and terrifying general or this chitchatting dude? Pick a lane.
As for the other characters I generally do like the concept of found family. But said found family in this case was too much of a supporting character. It felt a lot like Cas was gallavanting on her own, and the others just happened to be there at times. And the bad guy wasn’t set up well enough either, he was very much a bystander as well. I want someone who comes off as either truly psychotic or is well disguised as a good guy. What I got was just something bland.
The magic system was a bit confusing. Or maybe just not explained enough. Some people are marked for some inexplicable reason. But the why of it was lost to me.
It is hard to write a twist that truly surprises the reader. Most things have already been done in one form or another, and the drop of hints are hard to balance. In this case I felt they were a bit too on the nose. Meaning I wasn’t really surprised at the ending.
All in all, hopeful at the start, disappointed at the end. That pretty much sums up my feelings.