Carve the Mark book review

Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth
Published by Katherine Tegen Books on January 17, 2017
Pages: 468
Goodreads

In a galaxy powered by the current, everyone has a gift.

Cyra is the sister of the brutal tyrant who rules the Shotet people. Cyra’s currentgift gives her pain and power—something her brother exploits, using her to torture his enemies. But Cyra is much more than just a blade in her brother’s hand: she is resilient, quick on her feet, and smarter than he knows.

Akos is the son of a farmer and an oracle from the frozen nation-planet of Thuvhe. Protected by his unusual currentgift, Akos is generous in spirit, and his loyalty to his family is limitless. Once Akos and his brother are captured by enemy Shotet soldiers, Akos is desperate to get his brother out alive—no matter what the cost.

Then Akos is thrust into Cyra's world, and the enmity between their countries and families seems insurmountable. Will they help each other to survive, or will they destroy one another?

Carve the Mark is Veronica Roth's stunning portrayal of the power of friendship—and love—in a galaxy filled with unexpected gifts.

I think I have to disclaim that I wasn’t a huge fan of the Divergent series, the first two books were well done but the ending for me was badly done. It kind of ruined the series. So going into Carve the Mark I definitely had my reservations. I didn’t want to spend a load of time on a series for there to be no pay off at the end. Well, I have to say this book was a really enjoyable read, not perfect but I was definitely hooked. The world was completely different from what I was expecting and there were some great politics and countries in place.

The best part of Carve the Mark was definitely the different planets and the way that they all had different politics and ways of doing things. I loved learning about the different people and the way things worked on their planet and how they created their communities. I loved how their freedom counteracted perfectly with the brutality of the Shotet and their sojourns. I loved the way that there was a singular idea through the current but each place had their own take on what the current was and how that worked. There was definitely some great singularity throughout the planets.

Why only 4-stars then? Well I think that there was a lot that happened in this book and some parts were really well explored, but others were not. I felt as though we got a surface level look at some of the parts of the story and I struggled a little with that. There was a lot of filler content that I would have prefered to have been used to delve into some of the other things that were maybe a little lacking in detail. I would have loved to have more information about the currentgifts and how exactly they work.

I really like the idea of the fates and how they were weaved into the story. I think the best thing about them is the way that the characters interacted with them and interacted with the story because of them. I think it changed quite a lot especially with where they end up, and how manipulative they become. I love the dynamics that it brought in with each of the group. It was a great addition to the story, and it made Carve the Mark so much better for me.

At this moment in time I would recommend Carve the Mark and I will be carrying on and getting the next book. But I don’t know whether it’ll end up being something like the Divergent series where the ending was shocking.

Have you read Carve the Mark? What did you think? Let me know in the comments.