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2 stars! This review will be spoiler free!
Synopsis: Carve the Mark is the first book in Veronica Roth’s new science fiction series. In this galaxy everything is powered by the Current, and the Current yields a unique currentgift to every person. Based mostly in a planet called Thuvhe, there lives two nations who worship the current: the Thuvhesites and the Shotet. These two people could not be more at odds, Shotet raised to expect violence and war, and Thuvesites raised to know peace and hush flower. These two people are also at war for control of the planet and at the center of that war are the fated. Cyra Noavek is the sister of the cruel and brutal Shotet ruler, Ryzek. Her currentgift causes pain to anyone she touches, but comes with the price of cause her constant pain as well. Her brother uses her to torture his enemies and inflict fear in his subjects, but Cyra is more than her pain and more than her gift. She is smart and a skilled fighter, which is something her brother does not realize. Akos is the son of a farmer and Oracle on the frozen Thuvhesite side of the planet. Akos has not lived a life as hard as Cyra’s, but he’s about to experience what it is like to live in a Shotet palace when he and his brother are kidnapped by Ryzek’s men and forced to work for the Noavek family. Akos refuses to escape without his brother, but he may need the Shotet princess’s help to do so. Initial thoughts: A 2 star read for me. I will address my thoughts on the racial controversy in my full review, but for now I will just discuss my initial thoughts after finishing CtM. I was neither blown away nor completely bored of this book. Almost all aspects of this book had a good side and a bad side. For example, I really like the idea that this galaxy has many different kinds of planets and different kinds of people, but the world building was LACKING. I felt that I was confused much of the time for the first 1/3 of this book because I was just thrown onto this planet and all the information I was getting about its culture and background was somewhat convoluted. Not to mention that this galaxy consists of 9 planets with many kinds of nations that are mentioned in passing, but aren’t expounded upon. I do find that the idea of the Current and how everyone has a currengift that manifests as an extension of a person’s personality is super interesting though. Then I liked the 2 main characters and the villain, but oh my goodness were there so many other flat, unmentionables with such difficult names. I like Cyra and how she had such a huge conflict with her currentgift to overcome. I liked Akos because he was so sweet and never once changed from the way he was raised. I also liked how cruel and calculating Ryzek was as a villain and how there is a driving force for his cruelty; he’s not just evil for no reason. There were some characters though that I felt weren’t flushed out, Eijeh… Ori… some of the renegades… Sifu, the list goes on. I guess there were just so many people in this book that not all of them could be flushed out? Then there’s the actual plot. Other than the fact that I am trash for romance in any form and this book satisfied that aspect for me, everything else was pretty slow and predictable. There was one thing that I wasn’t expecting that was mentioned right at the end, but even then… The ending didn’t blow this story out of the park. It was still pretty average. Thoughts on the racial controversy: Now, I won’t lie. I went into this book having read all about the racial controversy behind the characters (more about that from Justina Ireland’s blog: http://justinaireland.com/dammit-this-is-a-blog/2016/12/4/the-continent-carve-the-mark-and-the-trope-of-the-dark-skinned-aggressor). So you can imagine how apprehensive I was and what sort of expectations I had delving into this book. I can tell you based on my own opinion that these accusations were blown WAY out of proportion. (DON’T HATE ME, it’s my opinion) Throughout reading this book, I did not feel like Roth was making any sort of racial suggestions at all. The Shotet people who are considered the aggressive/brutal types were of all colors. Ryzek himself was light skinned and even called pale. Cyra was brown skinned. I mean, there are two points in the book where Roth specifically writes that people of Shotet come in all sort of looks and shapes. And Thuvhe people, who were considered the peaceful kind, were also described with mixtures of dark skin and light skin. I honestly did not see any blatant back slap of racism in this book. All I really want to get across is that you should definitely read it for yourself before you make any assumptions about CtM because you may find that you agree with me. I’m glad that I did so. Audible: I read this using Audible and the narrators Austin Butler & Emily Rankin are amazing. However! I do NOT recommend doing that due to the confusing nature of this world and the millions upon millions of characters/places with the most ridiculously difficult names to spell. This is the type of read that may require you to take notes on the side to not only remember every single person, but also the different places, planets, and current gifts associated with those people. Plot/Characters: Warning: LOTS of violence and brutality. Some may say it’s pretty gruesome at times. Also self-harm is present in CtM, which may be a trigger for some people. This plot was neither terribly exciting nor fast paced; however, I do feel that certain aspects, specifically the traveling of the galaxy and how the Current/currentgifts play a role, are very unique. The Current is just so captivating to me. Not sure why I find it so interesting, but it’s half the reason why I will be picking up book two. Just to know more about it and how certain currentgifts come into play in the sequel. On a random side note, I also really really really love this cover! It’s not only gorgeous, but relevant to the book. Character growth! Roth did an amazing job with the development of the Cyra & Akos, as well as Ryzek. I mentioned that I liked Cyra’s conflict with her gift, well… The way she grows into her gift and learns to utilize it is endearing. It wasn’t a quick development by any means, but she does grow as a person to be more that who she was in the beginning. Akos, you can argue does not develop per say, but grows up. He becomes a man and one that stays true to his culture and upbringing while adapting/absorbing the culture of another people at the same time. He is a strong-willed, resilient character that continues to hate killing or causing pain even despite his hardships, despite being forced into serving a family that caused his family so much heartache. Ryzek is a villain I can understand, but he doesn’t have the most original background story. I’m just glad that the reasons for why he is the way he is were explained and it makes sense. I like the back and forth between him and Cyra, their sibling rivalry will make for a satisfying ending. And while I’m talking about characters, I want to mention that there is one side-ish character relationship that I am ALL for it’s mostly because it’s a female-female relationship. I can’t say who because spoilers, but I know I’m going to be searching for their relationship in the sequel.
Speaking of relationship! I am absolutely trash for YA romantic subplots and this story gave me one that I can appreciate. It wasn't super slow burn, but they didn't die for each other at first sight either. I like how Cyra and Akos are almost complete opposite, but as they are together they help each other grow into the people they become to be in the end. They're just so good for each other, I love it. Most of this story is politically based in how to save Shotet from Ryzek. So if you don’t like politically driven plots, this may not be the one for you. I did not mind it because I liked the main characters more than anything else; however, this is one of those books that is unnecessarily LONG. I think many infodumpy spots or like side excursions could have been taken out and the story would have remained the same. Then there’s ending. Average as it was, it left off on an intriguing note that could be taken any way in the sequel to come. There’s hope! There is hope for this series to get better. And I’m one of those people who are hoping it does. Overall: Was I overly thrilled with this story? Neh. Will I pick up the sequel? Of course. I can’t just leave this series unfinished. I don’t know why, but I’m interested to see how Roth wraps up this world.