Carve The Mark - Veronica Roth
Synopsis
(From Goodreads)
"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.
Synopsis
(From Goodreads)
"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?"
Review
Good new sci-fi. I didn't really know what to expect from the premise, but the story really gripped me and pulled me along for the ride.
Roth has a very engaging writing style, as seen in her Divergent series. Divergent was more fast-paced and a bit more like Hunger Games, so if that's what you're looking for this might not be your jam, but the characters and world-building in this story are what really sold it for me. This one was a bit of a slow burn when it came to the plot, and the romance. While the events for this book wrap up nicely, there are still dangling and tantalizing threads to be explored and tied up in the next few books. I'm definitely invested and will read them.
The world-building was so fascinating for me that I didn't mind a slower pace (even though I didn't find it that slow, just compared to Divergent). The cultures and planets that Roth invents are really fun and new, and not just arbitrarily based on some Earth culture with the name slightly changed. She gives us differences in language, in cultural and religious practices, in viewpoints of understanding how the universe works--across multiple worlds. The title refers to the Shotet culture where for every person they kill, they carve a mark on their arm.
The one aspect of this world that I was especially fascinated by was the Current. It reminded me a bit of the Northern Lights in its description, except that it winds throughout the galaxy and around planets, and it's what grants these strange and personal abilities to every person. I hope to understand more about the Current and how it works in the later books (because, yes, like all YA, this is a trilogy).
Akos and Cyra were really what made this book come alive. The book is told from both their perspectives, and so you get to know them not just through their own eyes but through the other's as well. Cyra is such a strong character who has been beaten down her entire life by family and the constant pain of her "gift", and yet she still gets up and gets through the day and makes herself into a smart and sassy warrior. I loved seeing her open up little by little when she encounters Akos' mercy and kindness. And through Akos we see a kind and loving boy who has to do harsh things to protect the ones he loves. We feel his anguish and also see how he slowly grows to depend on Cyra's stability and support to get him through. Their romance is really sweet and, like I said, very slow-burning.
There is one final thing I need to say about this book: There were some people who complained that Roth's book was racist, but I didn't see that at all. These people claimed that the Shotet people (Cyra's people), were being represented as "evil dark people". I have no idea where they got that idea... It's like they only read the first few chapters and drew really wild conclusions. Cyra is described as having tan skin, and Akos lighter skin, but other Shotet people have light skin and blonde hair, and other Thuvhe people have dark hair and different features. The Shotet language is described as harsh and guttural in the book, and these same people said that it was basically being based on North African or Arab people. However, there are several "white people" languages that could be described that way. The feeling I got was that it was kind of Russian/Eastern European. The Shotet military culture was very Roman, and the annual Scavenge they go on (a bit of a religious rite) reminded me of Viking culture.
It honestly angers me when people get this nit-picky about made-up cultures in a not-real world. None of the cultures in this book compared at all to Earth cultures, except for very general elements that exist across many different cultures and ethnicities. There were several shades of skin tone across all the cultures in the book. There definitely are books where racist tropes are a problem, but this was not one of those books. People on Goodreads even changed their review after hearing that some people thought it was racist, even though they did not originally think so. I definitely support diversity in books and think that an author needs cultural sensitivity when writing, but this crying "racist!" where it doesn't exist is a trend I'm seeing in publishing and I hate it, especially when it turns readers away from a good book or makes them feel ashamed for liking it.
Okay, end rant.
Overall, I thought it was a clever and interesting new sci-fi adventure with great characters and a fascinating new world, and I'm excited to read more
Rating
I give this book 4 stars.
Details
Genre: Sci-Fi, YA, maybe Fantasy?
Language: A couple swear words.
Sex: None, some kissing.
Violence: Some violence, but it is fast and not very graphic.
Review
Good new sci-fi. I didn't really know what to expect from the premise, but the story really gripped me and pulled me along for the ride.
Roth has a very engaging writing style, as seen in her Divergent series. Divergent was more fast-paced and a bit more like Hunger Games, so if that's what you're looking for this might not be your jam, but the characters and world-building in this story are what really sold it for me. This one was a bit of a slow burn when it came to the plot, and the romance. While the events for this book wrap up nicely, there are still dangling and tantalizing threads to be explored and tied up in the next few books. I'm definitely invested and will read them.
The world-building was so fascinating for me that I didn't mind a slower pace (even though I didn't find it that slow, just compared to Divergent). The cultures and planets that Roth invents are really fun and new, and not just arbitrarily based on some Earth culture with the name slightly changed. She gives us differences in language, in cultural and religious practices, in viewpoints of understanding how the universe works--across multiple worlds. The title refers to the Shotet culture where for every person they kill, they carve a mark on their arm.
The one aspect of this world that I was especially fascinated by was the Current. It reminded me a bit of the Northern Lights in its description, except that it winds throughout the galaxy and around planets, and it's what grants these strange and personal abilities to every person. I hope to understand more about the Current and how it works in the later books (because, yes, like all YA, this is a trilogy).
Akos and Cyra were really what made this book come alive. The book is told from both their perspectives, and so you get to know them not just through their own eyes but through the other's as well. Cyra is such a strong character who has been beaten down her entire life by family and the constant pain of her "gift", and yet she still gets up and gets through the day and makes herself into a smart and sassy warrior. I loved seeing her open up little by little when she encounters Akos' mercy and kindness. And through Akos we see a kind and loving boy who has to do harsh things to protect the ones he loves. We feel his anguish and also see how he slowly grows to depend on Cyra's stability and support to get him through. Their romance is really sweet and, like I said, very slow-burning.
There is one final thing I need to say about this book: There were some people who complained that Roth's book was racist, but I didn't see that at all. These people claimed that the Shotet people (Cyra's people), were being represented as "evil dark people". I have no idea where they got that idea... It's like they only read the first few chapters and drew really wild conclusions. Cyra is described as having tan skin, and Akos lighter skin, but other Shotet people have light skin and blonde hair, and other Thuvhe people have dark hair and different features. The Shotet language is described as harsh and guttural in the book, and these same people said that it was basically being based on North African or Arab people. However, there are several "white people" languages that could be described that way. The feeling I got was that it was kind of Russian/Eastern European. The Shotet military culture was very Roman, and the annual Scavenge they go on (a bit of a religious rite) reminded me of Viking culture.
It honestly angers me when people get this nit-picky about made-up cultures in a not-real world. None of the cultures in this book compared at all to Earth cultures, except for very general elements that exist across many different cultures and ethnicities. There were several shades of skin tone across all the cultures in the book. There definitely are books where racist tropes are a problem, but this was not one of those books. People on Goodreads even changed their review after hearing that some people thought it was racist, even though they did not originally think so. I definitely support diversity in books and think that an author needs cultural sensitivity when writing, but this crying "racist!" where it doesn't exist is a trend I'm seeing in publishing and I hate it, especially when it turns readers away from a good book or makes them feel ashamed for liking it.
Okay, end rant.
Overall, I thought it was a clever and interesting new sci-fi adventure with great characters and a fascinating new world, and I'm excited to read more
Rating
I give this book 4 stars.
Details
Genre: Sci-Fi, YA, maybe Fantasy?
Language: A couple swear words.
Sex: None, some kissing.
Violence: Some violence, but it is fast and not very graphic.
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