276°
Posted 20 hours ago

Carve the Mark: 1

£9.9£99Clearance
ZTS2023's avatar
Shared by
ZTS2023
Joined in 2023
82
63

About this deal

When it comes to life, we spin our own yarn, and where we end up is really, in fact, where we always intended to be.” I got this on the strength of Divergent, not the last book in this series. This was a lot better than the first book. I wanted to give it 3.5 stars, but is it such an improvement on the last book? I thought it deserved a round up rather than down. It is still very slow paced, and there are probably less fights in this book then there were in the last book, but the story is much better and fills in many of the holes/problems in the first book. There is a lot more political intrigue, manoeuvring, and manipulation, along with some big plot twists. The characters are explored really well, both with their flaws and with their strong aspects, to make them look real and believable in the eyes of the readers. The main character, Cyra and Akos, have developed a bit more in this installment, they looked mature which reflected in their thoughtful and wise decisions. The two other characters are relatively new and their fresh voice added life to this dark inter-spatial drama. In short, all the characters are very layered and felt really good to read about them. Akos wants to know whether he saves Eijeh or not in his mother’s visions. Based on her vision, they decide to attempt to save Ori and kill Ryzek at the same time. Akos is suspicious his mom is trying to orchestrate the future she wants. Globally bestselling Divergent author Veronica Roth delivers a breathtaking fantasy featuring an unusual friendship, an epic love story, and a galaxy-sweeping adventure.

So you can imagine how much it hurts for me to say that The Fates Divide was an extremely, unbelievably, ohgoddingly, painful read. It just....I don’t know what happened to me. Is it even me? My tastes might have changed after reading all kinds of books after Carve The Mark. I know for one The Raven Cycle series had recently changed me forever, that’s probably it, right?? Soon Cyra, Akos, Eijeh, Ryzek, and many others board the sojourn ship. Letty reminds everyone of Ryzek’s fate, and he makes her fight Cyra in the arena because of it. Cyra easily overtakes her even without a blade. When Akos is helping her carve the new mark on her arm, Cyra says she was ten when her father first started asking her to cause pain in others. In general, this series worth reading if you are a space sci-fi fan spiced up with fantasy, suffering heroes, cute romances, strong female characters. Space was not a finite container, but that didn't mean it was empty. Asteroids, stars, planets, the current stream; space debris, ships, fragmented moons, undiscovered worlds; this was a place of endless possibility and unfathomable freedom. It was not nothing, it was everything. The narrative has been set on a distant planet where the residents develop unique powers, known as the popular gifts. The various gifts are bestowed among the people by a magical current, which runs throughout the galaxy. Many of the residents find their gift to be quite useful, but the rest such as Cyra and Akos, find their gifts to be heavy burdens. According to Cyra and Akos, other people for their gains can use their gifts. Cyra’s evil and violent brother is the ruler of the Shotet. He uses Cyra’s power to cause intense pain, torture his enemies and to further his plans as well. Carve the Mark begins with the Shotet soldiers killing Akos’s brother in cold blood. After killing his father, they capture Akos and his younger brother and place them in captivity. While in captivity, Akos hone his skills and eventually becomes a skilled fighter. Furthermore, from time to time, he also chats with Cyra, who briefs him about her people, their favorite colors and their powers as well.An oracle meeting is broadcast on the feed and Akos catches a glimpse of his mother. He can’t decide how he feels because she had to know what was coming for their family. The Shotet and Thuvhesit live on the same planet, Urek/Thuvhe, and have a long history of violence, blaming certain historical events on each other. The two peoples are separated by a large expanse of feathergrass, a tall grass that causes hallucinations. The Shotet call their planet Urek whereas the Thuvhesit call it Thuvhe, but the planet is universally recognized only as Thuvhe and the Thuvhesit are the only recognized people/nation of the planet, even though the Shotet have been vying for that privilege for many generations.

The Hero: Akos Kereseth - he and his older brother Eijah were taken from their home in Thuvhe as children to serve the royal family of Shotet. The leader, Ryzek wanted to change his fate so he took Eijah (an oracle) to help try to lead him to a different fate. The story was interesting and the powers the characters had were unique. I liked the idea that it took place in outer space and other planets. Unfortunately, it wasn\’t as good as I had expected. It was pretty fast paced. Too many characters were introduced so I couldn\’t feel for the main characters. Some characters were introduced and then only had small, almost irrelevant, parts. I tried to visualized the world they lived in and found it difficult because I felt as though there were pieces of Dune by Frank Herbert and then Ender\’s Game by Orson Scott Card. Every time I came across the word \”Benesit \” the name/title of one of the families, I kept wanting to say \”Bene Gesserit\” from Dune. As for the relationship between the two main characters, I felt very little for them. As mentioned, because it was so fast paced and so much information was being thrown in, I really couldn\’t relate to the relationship or to their situation. What was very obvious was the pain the protagonist felt and how she learned to deal with it. I think if the focus was solely on this as the story, how she was chosen to have this type of power that would cause herself pain, and how she learned to control or manage it, would have been a great story on its own. I really wanted to like this story. I love sci-fi and fantasy combined. I did enjoy Roth\’s writing and how easily one scene merged into the next. I wasn\’t sure if I\’d like the first person view from the protagonist and then the 3rd person view from the second main character, but Roth did it well. Roth skillfully weaves the careful world-building and intricate web of characters that distinguished Divergent, with settings that are rich with color, ripe for a cinematographer. Roth fans will cheer this new novel with its power to absorb the reader. Readers will be anxiously awaiting the sequel."--Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) (starred review) Roth skillfully weaves the careful world-building and intricate web of characters that distinguished Divergent." --VOYA (starred review)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?

Asda Great Deal

Free UK shipping. 15 day free returns.
Community Updates
*So you can easily identify outgoing links on our site, we've marked them with an "*" symbol. Links on our site are monetised, but this never affects which deals get posted. Find more info in our FAQs and About Us page.
New Comment