Carve the mark

Written by: Veronica Roth

‘Love the characters.’

Summary

In a solar system where something called ‘the current’ develops into a different gift in each of its inhabitants, every planet is its own polity. On one of those planets – Thuvhe – there are two nations fighting to reign the planet. Cyra, a Shotet, has been used as a weapon by her brother since she first found out her gift. Cyra’s gift makes her feel a lot of pain, but Cyra can also make others feel that pain with just a simple touch. Her brother, the tyrant of the Shotet, is planning on taking over Thuvhe, just like their father would have wanted. Through a mission to kidnap the upcoming oracle of Thuvhe, young Akos is also transported to Shotet. Years later Cyra and Akos finally meet. Both unaware of the changes they will bring forth.

Review

Okay, this is how I feel. Frankly, I didn’t quite like this book. I hoped and thought I would, mainly because I really, really enjoyed Divergent. These high expectations might be the reason I found Carve The Mark mildly disappointing.

My biggest frustration with this book lay in the storyline. I didn’t understand where the story was going until I was reaching the end of this book. It was only then when the main characters finally got some kind of purpose. Before that, every scène felt like meaningless chatter, which I only found out when the storyline became visible.

This doesn’t mean that everything was totally horrible. By no means! The characters were very lovable and the world around them beautifully written. By adding many details, Veronica Roth succeeds once again in making a new world feel so natural, almost ordinary.

Conclusie

A fairly original story with – mostly in the beginning – a sort of vague storyline, but with the most lovable characters and enchanting new worlds. Very elaborate scènes make it feel like you almost get sucked into the story.