Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth (review by Sofie K. '20)

Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

After the hype and attention that Veronica Roth's Divergent series received, I was very excited to hear about a second series in the works.

Cyra and Akos, like many YA novel characters, are two sides of the same coin. Separated by social class and the races of their people, the two meet when Akos and his brother are captured by the royal Shotet fleet, and delivered right to Cyra's doorstep. Though Cyra is the sister of the tyrant that rules the Shotet people, she rebels against her family out of love for this new stranger. As if the plot wasn't cliche enough, every person on this planet has a special power, or currentgift. Cyra has the power to cause excruciating pain to anyone she touches, which her brother exploits to get information. Akos, on the other hand, has to power to cancel out anyone else's currentgift through contact. The characters conveniently balance each other out, obviously created for one another.

While the book's concept was quite unique, the characters had little to no originality. Cyra and Akos reminded me of a reversed version of Tris and Four; it felt like I was reading the Divergent series all over again. Hopefully, the second book will give the characters their own personalities and develop their stories more. - Sofie K. '20

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Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier (review by Amelia H. '19)

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Daughter of the Forest, a retelling of a classic fairytale, is set in the ancient British Isles. The beginning of the book follows a girl named Sorcha as she grows into a teenager and has to protect her father’s lands from invaders. She is thwarted when an evil sorceress turns her brothers into swans and she has to find a way to change them back. The setup of the book was fascinating, but Sorcha’s character arc is so conventional that I knew how the story would end when I was less than halfway through the book. Marillier’s world-building draws on folk tales and mythology and creates a vivid landscape, but the plot quickly descends into predictability. The story has promise, but anyone even vaguely familiar with fantasy tropes might as well close the book a third of the way through and fill in the rest themselves. - Amelia H. '19

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