Carve the Mark (#1) - Veronica Roth

"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?"

Okay I have a confession, I don't and never have liked the Divergent series. I have read the first book and watched the first movie but that's as far as I have gotten. So I must admit I went into this book hesitantly. 

However I was pleasantly surprised. Its no shining light in the YA or Sci-fi genre but it was certainly more palatable to me then Veronica's previous work. 

I am going to get my gripes out of the way first. The three main characters in this book are:
Cyra, a Shotet girl who experiences chronic pain.
Her power hungry, villainous brother Ryzek.
And then there is Akos, a Thuvhesit boy fated to die in service to his Shotet enemy.(Excuse the ridiculous names.)

Let's start with Akos.... I've pretty much nothing to say about him. He was about as interesting as a piece of cardboard. Zero personality. One dimensional. A hole of unconditional love and acceptance is no fun to read about and unrealistic after a childhood in an enemy military training camp. Boring...move on!!!


Ryzek, the big bad, likes to rape minds and steal memories. He could have been a quite chilling character but his portrayal descended into pantomime theatrics and a sensitive subject such as forcibly taking what you want and thereby violation of another person was very badly handled and not showed as horrific as the idea is. He had no menace. 

And finally, there is Cyra. She's an interesting character. Her finding of herself and realising she can make herself rather then be moulded by others was a highlight of a book and a driving plot point. It's a bold move to attempt to write a character suffering from chronic pain... But was it a move that paid off??? Well with regards to the storyline yes! With regards of talking about it realistically I am not sure, the book ends with her being more or less "cured" so I am not sure how that sat with chronic pain suffers.  There where also a few plot hole here. It is said that because of the pain things take longer to do, that makes complete sense and I fully believe it would. However almost next scene Cyra is in the gym and it turns out she spars, like all the time??

I haven't even touched on the idea that Cyra's love interest in this story lessens her pain which just adds this book to the myriad of other YA novels out there that tells the reader that love can cure no matter what ails you be it a mental health issue or a physical illness...

Now on to the parts I really enjoyed. I personally enjoyed the world building. It wasn't in your face, needing pages of exposition but it saw also enough for you to understand the basics of the conflicts and gave a feeling of place. The sea planet sounded beautiful and somewhere I would love to see. The clear contrast between the cultures where well handled and I especially loved that being shown through the different dance types. 

Something I personally liked was the marking practise of the Shotet. The idea that you had to mark a loss and feel pain when you killed was beautiful to me. It wasn't something to do offhandedly, killing was a deep and awful thing to do that you should remember. 

I absolutely loved the idea of the current, a dimensional energetic force that connects and moves all thing was beautiful and just sat really well with me. The current gifts where a little confusing, I understand that they are supposedly "shaped" by the person but I didn't really see that in anyone by Cyra. Why did Akos have the gift he did??

The romance was obvious but well written. It was slow paced and based on a growing mutual understanding rather than instant attraction. Opposites attract with a soft hearted person like Akos at first being scorned by Cyra until she realises being soft is a kind of strength. Akos at first seeing a monster, slowly seeing someone doing anything to survive in a horrible situation. The dialogue was snappy and casual. 

The plot while it had a few holes was solid and had enough twists to make interesting. Overall a good YA and something I would be interested in reading the sequel too. 

Age Rating 14+. Mature content. Torture, killing and political intrigue with everything that entails.