A review by lundos
Mark of the Fool by J.M. Clarke

3.0

The author is clearly talented. The writing, dialogue and ideas are all good. But the pacing after they reach the wizard school is terrible to an extend that almost made me dnf. Following our MC get stronger and better the same way (hard work and a cheat sheet called the Mark) is just boring. All of the characters are robots that just work, work, work. There are no stakes since the Mark will make sure that the MC will overcome everything and, unsurprisingly, a universty and perfect recall is a perfect match. Boring.

Mark of the Fool oversells its premise. There's nothing foolish or bad about the mark.