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Carrier #1
Carrier of the Mark
Their love was meant to be.
When Megan Rosenberg moves to Ireland, everything in her life seems to fall into place. After growing up in America, she's surprised to find herself feeling at home in her new school. She connects with a group of friends, and she is instantly drawn to darkly handsome Adam DeR?s.
But Megan is about to discover that her feelings for Adam are tied to a fate that was sealed long ago¡ªand that the passion and power that brought them together could be their ultimate destruction.
When Megan Rosenberg moves to Ireland, everything in her life seems to fall into place. After growing up in America, she's surprised to find herself feeling at home in her new school. She connects with a group of friends, and she is instantly drawn to darkly handsome Adam DeR?s.
But Megan is about to discover that her feelings for Adam are tied to a fate that was sealed long ago¡ªand that the passion and power that brought them together could be their ultimate destruction.
342 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2011
152 people are currently reading
18967 people want to read
About the author
Leigh Fallon
5?books1,076?followersIn short
I was born in South Africa, raised in Dublin, Ireland and moved to Cork in my 20¡¯s. While living in beautiful Kinsale, Co Cork I discovered a love of writing. I write mainly for the young adult market. My current book, The Carrier of the Mark, prompted me to abandon my ¡®riveting¡¯ career in corporate treasury and have been writing ever since. I have another three books in the Carrier series and a few other projects I'm working on. My family and I now share our time between Ireland and the US.
The Extended Edition
I was born in Durban, South Africa. My parents moved back to Ireland while I was still very young. I grew up in the Dublin Mountains, just outside of Dublin city. I went to a convent school, with nuns, uniforms, gabardines and gym slips, we¡¯re talking the works!
After school, I really wasn¡¯t sure what I wanted to do, so I did a one year business course and got a good solid job in a bank while I was trying to figure out what direction I was going to take. Luckily, the bank was good to me. I made some great lifelong friends and moved around a bit getting loads of experience.
I then met the love of my life, a Navy man none-the-less and moved to Cork where he was based. I managed to worm my way into a treasury position in really good corporate multinational company and the world became my oyster. I did a diploma in accountancy and finance and for two years I travelled Europe working in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, England, Germany and Italy. It was an amazing experience. I met some wonderful people and had a chance to sample the culture and life of all those countries and their amazing residents.
After my second child was born, I decided to take a step back from the corporate world and travel, to a quieter more sedate life at home. Well at least I thought it would be quieter, but how wrong was I? It wasn¡¯t long until I was gasping to get back to work and leave my adorable darlings in the safe hands of a childminder. But just as I was getting ready to take the corporate world by storm again, along came number three and four in one giant identical bundle. That put paid to any intentions I had of returning to work, but I think it was a blessing in disguise. It was the pure unrelenting torment of four children under the age of six that drove me to escapism, and that escapism manifested itself as writing. And for that, to my children, I will always be grateful.
My husband (no longer in Navy) was transferred with the company he was working for, to the US for a couple of years. So we have moved temporarily to Massachusetts, travelling back and forth between our homes here in the US and in Ireland. It¡¯s a tough life, but sure somebody has to do it.
I was born in South Africa, raised in Dublin, Ireland and moved to Cork in my 20¡¯s. While living in beautiful Kinsale, Co Cork I discovered a love of writing. I write mainly for the young adult market. My current book, The Carrier of the Mark, prompted me to abandon my ¡®riveting¡¯ career in corporate treasury and have been writing ever since. I have another three books in the Carrier series and a few other projects I'm working on. My family and I now share our time between Ireland and the US.
The Extended Edition
I was born in Durban, South Africa. My parents moved back to Ireland while I was still very young. I grew up in the Dublin Mountains, just outside of Dublin city. I went to a convent school, with nuns, uniforms, gabardines and gym slips, we¡¯re talking the works!
After school, I really wasn¡¯t sure what I wanted to do, so I did a one year business course and got a good solid job in a bank while I was trying to figure out what direction I was going to take. Luckily, the bank was good to me. I made some great lifelong friends and moved around a bit getting loads of experience.
I then met the love of my life, a Navy man none-the-less and moved to Cork where he was based. I managed to worm my way into a treasury position in really good corporate multinational company and the world became my oyster. I did a diploma in accountancy and finance and for two years I travelled Europe working in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, England, Germany and Italy. It was an amazing experience. I met some wonderful people and had a chance to sample the culture and life of all those countries and their amazing residents.
After my second child was born, I decided to take a step back from the corporate world and travel, to a quieter more sedate life at home. Well at least I thought it would be quieter, but how wrong was I? It wasn¡¯t long until I was gasping to get back to work and leave my adorable darlings in the safe hands of a childminder. But just as I was getting ready to take the corporate world by storm again, along came number three and four in one giant identical bundle. That put paid to any intentions I had of returning to work, but I think it was a blessing in disguise. It was the pure unrelenting torment of four children under the age of six that drove me to escapism, and that escapism manifested itself as writing. And for that, to my children, I will always be grateful.
My husband (no longer in Navy) was transferred with the company he was working for, to the US for a couple of years. So we have moved temporarily to Massachusetts, travelling back and forth between our homes here in the US and in Ireland. It¡¯s a tough life, but sure somebody has to do it.
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December 5, 2013
Let's play a little game of:
WHO AM I...
-My book starts with me moving to a new location and starting at a new school.
-I live with just my dad, but don't worry about him, he's not important. In fact, you'll barely notice he exists at all!
-I quickly make friends at my new school. I'm not sure why everyone likes me. I'm not remotely interesting.
-I've never had a boyfriend before meeting my love interest and for some reason people at my school find that hard to believe.
-As soon as my love interest catches my eye, I can't get him out of my mind. He's the mysterious type, but he only has eyes for me. He quickly becomes my boyfriend and we fall deeply in love. *swoon*
-My boyfriend happens to have a sibling who simply adores me. How could she not, I'm so awesome! She has a super special sight too. P.S. her name starts with an "A."
-My b-b-boyfriend---sorry that was me swooning again; he's so super howt *giggle*---also has another sibling that doesn't seem to like me at first. They are always glaring at me! It unnerves me. But I can get through anything with my boy toy by my side! Oh, and P.S. their name starts with an "R."
-My boyfriend just happens to save my life with his mysterious powers. At first when I confront him about it, he plays it off. It really upsets me. It just wasn't fair!!!
-He later tells me that he can't stay away from me any longer and soon after he takes me to his home to really introduce me to his family.
-I find out he's been stalking me for a while. But it doesn't bother me. I find it incredibly romantic.
-*Psst*, if my boyfriend and I were to have a baby, it would be some strange half-breed child.
-Randomly out of nowhere I'm kidnapped by a Tracker. I'm not sure where he came from because this book is all about me and my one true love.
-When I'm not hanging out with my boyfriend or getting abducted, I can be found brushing my teeth, eating cereal, doing homework or cooking for my dad. Oh, and I hate being the center of attention. I'm so selfless.
-By the end of my book, I end up in the hospital.
So....who am I?
If you guessed Bella Swan you are correct! But if you guessed Megan Rosenberg, you are also correct! Don't bother looking up to the top of the screen. This is indeed a Carrier of the Mark review or as I like to call it Twilight 2.0 or better yet, Carrier of the Twilight or Twi-remix or Twilight goes to Ireland or, or, or...okay you get the picture. And no, I'm not kidding all the above actually happens in this book.
I feel like I need to start saying how sorry I am to Leigh Fallon. Truly, I am. You see, I'm in the middle of re-reading the Twilight series and as a result, I am hyperaware of the Twi-likeness this book has. I was really eager to get my hands on Carrier of the Mark, but you have no idea how disappointed I am in this book. So, it is with a heavy heart that I review
Seventeen-year-old
Adam randomly confesses his feelings to Megan after have several staring contests:
They told me from the very beginning that it wasn¡¯t safe to ¡®consort,¡¯¡± he said, slightly wincing at the word, ¡°with you. But I¡¯m not strong enough to stay away."Now where have I heard that before?
Twilight:
He heard the change in my tone. His eyes tightened. "I don't seem to be strong enough to stay away from you..."
A little PDA action:
I put my hand on Adam¡¯s face and felt along his cheek and down along his jaw, reveling in the softness of his skin in comparison to the light stubble. He closed his eyes.That sounds so familiar...
¡°You have no idea how good that feels,¡± he murmured.
Twilight:
"Do you mind?" I asked, for he had closed his eyes again.
"No," he said without opening his eyes. "You can't imagine how that feels." He sighed.
I lightly trailed my hand over the perfect muscles of his arm, followed the faint pattern of bluish veins inside the crease at his elbow.
¡°R¨ªan has a tough time accepting who we are and our purpose...I think he¡¯s just finding it hard to accept that you would opt in when you have the chance to walk away.¡±Now, who had the same issue?
Twilight:
He sighed deeply. "Rosalie struggles the most with¡ with what we are. It's hard for her to have someone on the outside know the truth. And she's a little jealous...You're human." He shrugged. "She wishes that she were, too."
There is a Tracker following Megan:
It¡¯s been years since we have even seen a tracker in Ireland.¡±Funny that's just who was following Bella too.
¡°Is that what the guy in the theater was? A tracker?¡±
¡°I think so. We can¡¯t be sure at the moment, but he fits the usual profile. There¡¯s something different this time, though; he¡¯s getting around our defenses. We just don¡¯t know how he¡¯s doing it.¡±
Twilight:
"He's a tracker, Alice, did you see that? He's a tracker!"
Love interest serching for a way to protect heroine from the Tracker:
¡°Don¡¯t apologize. I hate to see you hurting like that. Please believe me when I tell you that I will make you safe.¡±Didn't Edward promise the same thing in a very similar situation?
Twilight:
"Soon, as soon as I possibly can. I will make you safe first." His voice was hard.
A bad guy was snooping around Megan's room and house. Adam has his family guarding her, but somehow they manage to slip through:
¡°Someone was in her room, for Christ¡¯s sake. In her room!¡±Can't seem to put my finger on it..oh wait, I can.
¡°But I don¡¯t think he was still there when Megan got home. If he had been, he would have acted right then and there. I¡¯d say her Mark was sensing that he¡¯d been there earlier.¡±
R¨ªan shook his head. ¡°How is he getting around our senses? We¡¯ve always known when the Knox are close. This is bad.¡±
Twilight (Eclipse):
¡°He was in her room, Alice. He could have still been there ¡ª waiting for her.¡±
¡°I would have seen that.¡±
Edward threw his hands up in exasperation. ¡°Really? You¡¯re sure?¡± Alice¡¯s voice was cold when she answered. ¡°You¡¯ve already got me watching the Volturis¡¯ decisions, watching for Victoria¡¯s return, watching Bella¡¯s every step. You want to add another? Do I just have to watch Charlie, or Bella¡¯s room, or the house, or the whole street, too? Edward, if I try to do too much, things are going to start slipping through the cracks.¡±
shitdamn
Oh, but the similarities don't end there. Right after Adam reveals his feelings to Megan, the very next day he takes her to meet his family. And if you remember that is exactly what Edward did after he revealed all his feelings to Bella in the meadow scene (Confessions, chapter 13). Aine
I just couldn't get past all the Twilight references. I'm honestly baffled at how this book got published with all the shocking similarities because Carrier of the Mark reads just like a Twilight Fan-Fic
And what's a Twi-Fan-Fic without insta-love? This book has plenty of that and co-dependency. Keep in mind they have been dating for 2 weeks. Let me count the ways:
"I feel like I could take on the world when I¡¯m with you.¡±
I felt a new confidence building. I could take on the world with him by my side.
This felt so real. It seemed like my future was suddenly very clear. I had a whole new purpose¡ªand it all revolved around this boy by my side.
Everything else paled in significance. I could not live without him. As much as it upset me to hurt the others, it was nothing compared to the stabbing pain I felt when I thought of being parted from him.
And the more time that went by, the more I realized I could not live without Adam.
WTF. I'm so tired of co-dependent relationships! Is it a wonder why young girls think they need a boyfriend to survive? Are these the ideals we want our youth to grow up learning? I don't take issue with Megan being in love, but reading the statements above disturbs me. The entire book revolves around how in love she is with Adam, so don't expect much of a plot in this book. The major conflict in the story comes out of nowhere and ends before it even begins, just as it did in Twilight.
And, OMG the mythology. It will make your head spin. We learn most of the world through god awful info-dumps. I read those pages over a few times and I still don't understand. Perhaps if the author showed the reader instead of telling us, maybe I would have been able to keep up. The only thing I think I understood was that Megan is Carrier of a specific gene that would enable her to produce children to bear the Mark. Since Carrier's are rare the Order (a society that "looks after" the Marked) specially selects the Carrier's mates. I suppose being gay is out if you are a Carrier, because you have a duty to produce babies! Anyway, apparently it is forbidden for Adam and Megan to be together because if they have a child it could destroy the world. Yeah...I don't get it either. Once finding that out, Megan decides she doesn't want to be a Marked one anymore and help save the world. She wants to be with her Romeo. 'Cause being in love is more important than the safety of the world, donchaknow. And, please don't get me started on the whole 25-year-old pregnancy. I can't even.
Fallon, you had all this potential. The setting was perfect: Ireland! And you wasted your descriptions on Megan eating her wheaties and putting on her red Converses? *points to face* This is me not giving two shits.
, babe, you were right.
I'll leave you with a definition from Webster:
o?rig?i?nal
? ?[uh-rij-uh-nl]
Adjective
1. Belonging or pertaining to the origin or beginning of something, or to a thing at its beginning: The book still has its original binding.
2. New; fresh; inventive; novel: an original way of advertising.
3. Arising or proceeding independently of anything else: an original view of history.
4. Capable of or given to thinking or acting in an independent, creative, or individual manner: an original thinker.
5. Created, undertaken, or presented for the first time: to give the original performance of a string quartet.
Originality: THIS BOOK HAS NONE.
And to think this book was on my "really looking forward to this book" shelf.
OK, I'm done.
/end rant \(-_-)/
More reviews and more at .
July 2, 2012
Okay, I do feel slightly sorry for all that I'm about to say in my review, because Fallon does honestly seem like a nice person......but this is just....just too much.
First off, I'm pissed. Excuse me for a second while I rant, here:
I'M SOOOOOO MAD!! GOD DAMMIT AWEOIARHW;EHRIBENAOR;IERU;EHBAROE;JARE! AHHHHHHHH!
Yeah that's right I'm mad!
You know why? Just let me say that, if you put my name into a book, and actually spell it correctly (It's CAITLIN, people, not Kaitlyn, Catelyn, Katelyn, Katelynn, or any of that other shit, it's CAITLIN) then that character had better be one of the awesomest people that I've read about in my whole life! I'm sorry, but if you put my name into a book, I can't help comparing myself to them and seeing how they stock up, and Fallon's character was a fail. She talked like a fucking middle schooler, and was in and out of a relationship with this bastard about five times during the whole book! She seriously talked like this:
Caitlin: I heard from Danny who told Molly who told Anna who told me that he kissed a girl! (seriously that's what she said; the names may have been different, but that's the gist of it) Whaaaa! I hate him! I'm breaking up with him!
Caitlin: I'm getting back together with him because I lurveee him!
Caitlin: Whaaaa I hate him!
Caitlin: I love him!
GAH! Let me tell you all something; I would never break down and cry so much over a guy and get back with that bastard about five times if he'd cheated on me. That little motherfucker is dead to me at that point. If he has the balls to do that, then he can go share what little he has left with some other bitch. Not. Me.
If you can't tell, I hate it when girls are so damn co-dependant on guys. Grrrrr. I refuse to call her by her actual name. She will now be known by the name potato. Anyways.... that brings me right up to my next point!
This. Book. Is. Twilight/New Moon/Breaking Dawn/Avatar. Shit. Pure fucking shit.
Okay....so let me tell you all a story of the main plot-line and see if it sounds even the tiniest bit familiar with a very popular book series and TV series:
Sooo.... Bella Megan moves to a faraway town called Forks with her clueless, single, father Charlie and knows absolutely no one, but goes to school and immediately makes friends with a girl who doesn't really like her, one who does like her, and two of the school's most popular guys even though she didn't have friends at any of her other schools she attended. She's pretending to pay attention (although she really can't do that when she's trying) when she sees a group of totahly hawt people when Jessica Potato tells them her they are all siblings and the most beautiful people in school, but don't date anyone and shoot any girl/guy down when they ask, so there's a lot of jilted lovers. The siblings are the bubbly, short, pixie haired, Alice Aine and the hot but totally unavailable Rosalie Rian, and have a very kind and respectable father Carslile Fionn, but her world comes to a crashing halt when she sees Pedward Adam. While she sits there drooling while they walk away Jessica Potato precedes to tell her that he's the hottest of the three, but also the most unavailable. Fast forward about three days. Someone else's clueless idiocy almost kills Bella Megan via car mangling boat incident but Pedward Adam jumps in and saves her at the last second. Bella Megan proceeds to get medical treatment while Pedward Adam makes sure that she's alright. Fast forward again and she sees even weirder shit out of the Cullen DeRis family, so she's brought to their home, who no one else has ever seen before, and they tell her their big secret: they're vampires they're Marked.
And this is where shit gets crazy. Toph Aine is an earthbender, Zuko Rian is a firebender and Katara, the main love interest Adam, the love interest, is a waterbender controls water, and Megan is a very powerful airbender who is meant to save the world can control the air around her and is meant to save the world.
Twilgiht.... how I hate thee
I'll just continue from here in non-story mode. There are seriously so many Avatar/Twilight similarities ( I will bring up a couple more later as well )that it's crazy. She even goes into the Avatar state that sounds exactly like it was done in the show! Here, let me show you:
I suddenly realized that I was up in the air high above them. I appeared to be radiating a bright light. The air around me swirled until Icould no longer see the land. River water started rising up and spinning around me. Next the boats lifted, then some trees, their great roots torn from the earth by the brutal force emanating from me. It was a massive vortex, spreading out farther and farther until the riverbed was visible, the water swirling high above it. The boats and the trees that had been tugged up swirled so fast that their outlines became a blur. I saw the object of my rage running away. He was making for the woods, but I pushed out the great vortex of moving air and debris so that he stayed constantly in my sight. There was no way he could break through its impenetrable wall. ¡°You,¡± I snarled.
My voice was not mine. It was a mixture of howling wind and cracking thunder. ¡°You will pay.¡± I clasped my hand, as if to pick up his little body far below me on the ground, and he rose right into the air until he was at my level. ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m sorry!¡± he screamed, flailing his legs and trying to shield himself from my glare. ¡°Too late for that.¡± My voice reverberated around the valley. I saw them waving up at me, but I was beyond caring what they wanted. The power inside engulfed me, took over my very core, and it needed vengeance.
Yeahhh she's the fucking Avatar.
Now, I normally start off with the girls when I talk about characters, but Adam just pissed me off so much more. At parts which I basically mean the whole time he acted like more of a needy little girl than Megan ever did, but, at the rare points when he wasn't, was one of the biggest douchebags that I've ever read about. I honestly think that he's a schizophrenic Patch rapist kidnapper. No joke. Because here's some quotes from whiny-ass Adam:
¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said, shaking a little. ¡°That¡¯s never happened to me before.¡± He slumped into my arms and I held him. ¡°What I feel is real; I just know it is,¡± he whispered. ¡°Please believe me?"
¡°No, don¡¯t stop.¡± ¡°No. I shouldn¡¯t have come in here.¡± He sat up. ¡°Please don¡¯t go.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just that my head gets so fuzzy when I¡¯m with you.¡±
I'm not going to spend much time on him being a such a whiny girl, because his douchebaggery and rapist kidnapping annoyed me so much more, but does that quote honestly sound like something a guy would ever say? If anything, it sounds like what I hear female protagonists saying to their love interests! Honestly, I don't give a shit if she was trying to make him "more sensitive" she did it the wrong way. He comes across as needy and obsessive. And she he seriously needs to grow some balls. If you're going to go over to a girl's house and start making out with her in her own bed either do it and have sex with her or just leave her the fuck alone. I really just don't care about how "fuzzy" you are or not.
Speaking of obsessive, I'm going to spilt up Adam's personalities into two categories:
1. Bastard Adam
"¡°whatever happens, we stay together. Fionn will fight to the death to protect you and what¡¯s best for you¡ªwhich, incidentally, is me,¡± he added with a sly smile.
"he gave me a wry smile. ¡°Do you think I would hand you over for training if I didn¡¯t think you were up to it?¡±
This side of Adam was probably the most annoying of all the three; first off, Adam, you've been dating this girl in the second quote that I listed for about one fucking week. You have absolutely no right to "hand her over" because she doesn't belong to you! She's her own person and doesn't need you, a controlling bastard, dictating her life and telling her what to do and who she can and cannot train with. She can train with whomever she wants to, so shut up before I fucking make you. And you are not the best thing for Megan; you're the one who got her into this insanity in the first place! She needs to decide what's best for herself not you telling her what's best. At this point, you've only been dating her for maybe a month and, I'm sorry, but there's no possible way that you could know her well enough to know is or isn't best for her.
2. Patch Rapist Adam
" He pushed me up against a tree. ¡°Oh, I have ways of convincing you that you chose right.¡± He kissed me with such passion it left me breathless.
I am pissed.
As a little aside, this is going out as a PSA to all girls: This is not and never will be romantic. If a guy that you've never really talked to before comes up and says "I have ways of convincing you that you chose right" pushes you up against a tree, and starts shoving his tongue down your throat, that is what most people around the planet like to call sexual assault, not romantic and passionate. And Adam. Stop being so much like Patch. Seriously; you do not walk up to a girl and do that. That is not in any way socially acceptable or right . Maybe the girls in Ireland like it that way (although, I must admit, Irish Traveler culture does have a tradition where a guy has to kiss a girl by the end of the day during festivals and gatherings) but you're not a Traveler and neither is Megan, so you have absolutely no excuse for doing that. And if you do, you should get a swift knee to your manhood, not have a girl fall in love with you!
And basically every time they kiss, he ends up grabbing her roughly and doing "passionate kisses" even if it's basically about jack shit. Their relationship basically goes like this:
Megan: Hey, I moved fire about a foot!
Adam: OMIGOD THAT'S AWESOME LET'S MAKE OUT!
Megan: Hey, I just stopped you from destroying a whole city because you kidnapped me!
Adam: OMIGOD THAT'S AWESOME LET'S MAKE OUT!
Megan: Hey, I just took a shit!
Adam: OMIGOD THAT'S AWESOME LET'S MAKE OUT!
Megan: Hey, I-
Adam: I DON'T GIVE A FUCK LET'S JUST MAKE OUT!
Sigh.
Oh, and get this: at one point in this book there's a scene where Adam and Megan, after having only been dating for around a week, are asked to not be a couple because of The Great Separation Fail ( I'll talk about this soon). Megan begins to move away from him about two feet to try and figure things out for herself when Adam flips his lid. He begins shaking, sweating, and he grabs her by the arm and refuses to let her go, so; basically, this guy is kidnapping her. To further support said kidnapping he then demands that they let him out with her "or else" and drags Megan outside with him, regardless of whether or not she wants to.
And there you have it, my friends. This is the guy you're supposed to love, be obsessed over, and believe is truly respectable boyfriend without rape fantasies. Do you think I do?
How about you just guess my answer to that question.
Now we finally get to the MC, of this story. Megan. She is literally one of the most copy-cat Bellas that I've ever read about in a novel. She doesn't pay any attention to anything-or anyone- around her except for Edward/Adam:
"?ine then proceeded to tell me all about every shop.. giving me every last detail about a pair of killer heels she had bought. I listened, feigning interest, but kept a close eye on Adam
She can't stand to be apart from him for more than twenty minutes, even one week into their relationship:
"There was a knock at the door. ¡°I wonder who that could be,¡± ?ine said, rolling her eyes. I ran to the door, needing to see him. I pulled the door open and fell into his arms. I breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°Adam.
She believes that for anyone older than 30 to have sex is incredibly weird; especially if it's her dad: Charlie
" I was thankful the timer started going off, and I ran to drain the pasta. I wasn¡¯t sure whether to laugh or be horrified. My father? Sex? Yikes.
And at every small touch and gesture, she literally explodes:
¡°With you here, I¡¯m ready for anything,¡± he said quietly, and kissed me softly on my mouth. I reeled from the sensuous touch.
Here's a picture to further illustrate said explosion:
She also gets pains whenever she's away from her hubby:
Everything else paled in significance. I could not live without him. As much as it upset me to hurt the others, it was nothing compared to the stabbing pain I felt when I thought of being parted from him.
And, oh, my personal favorite is when Adam admits to stalking her and sending the crow to watch her while she was naked in the shower, but she's more concerned about the crow than what Adam just admitted:
"I¡¯ve been watching you ¡ stalker style, even when I couldn¡¯t see you.¡± ¡°He even had me hounding you,¡± ?ine put in. ¡°As you surely have guessed by now.¡± ¡°The crow!¡± I looked at her in astonishment. ¡°He was watching me."
Do I really need to say anything more? The proof is in the quotes, my dears. We might as well take out the M,G, and N, and replace them with B and two L's, then she will be just like her!
Okay, so I've been holding off on this next little tidbit of information, but I can't any longer. Fallon seriously has the worst form of plot continuation/what is supposed to put a "block" between the love interests EVER.
"The scribes tell of a twenty-five-year pregnancy, which devoured B¨¦binn as the creature within absorbed her element and every drop of life she had in her. Then it launched itself on the world in the form of a plague¡ªa plague that wiped out half of Europe.¡±
Oh, dear Lord have mercy.
Are you trying to tell me, Fallon, that because two previous marked had sex, they made a baby that stayed in the womb for twenty five fucking years and became the black plague?! And that's why Adam and Megan can't be together?!!?! No. Nonononononono. That is not even remote possibility that I will accept. If the baby kept growing like a normal one would, then do you know how huge the mother's stomach would have to be to contain that!?! It would have to rip first long before the baby even came out! And what the hell did the baby do? Wouldn't people, you know, maybe notice some huge-ass creature walking around killing people? Maybe, just maybe that would come up in a daily conversation? I don't know; like this, maybe:
Pesant #1: Lookith o'r yonder at that!
Pesant #2: *gasps* I seen thine beast! *shouts* 'ere it comes!
Pesant #1: To pitchforks! To arms!
All: YAAAGHHHHHH! FOR NARNIA LLYON!
Oh and did I fail to mention that also because these two people were in love they made an ice age! So interesting...
The last thing I'm going to talk about, here, is Fallon's total fail at describing any kind of description for the reader. Whoever was the editor to this book, I would just like to say to them:
Seriously. It's bad.
"I think you¡¯re beautiful, and I think I¡¯m mentally stable.¡± He laughed, then made a crazy face.
Okay seriously, Fallon, give me a hand, here. There's only so far I can go with that! What kind of crazy face did he make? Did he do something with his mouth, screw up his nose and squint his eyes, what? I had to try to look up my own crazy face, and this is what it got me:
Yeahhh I'm pretty sure that's not what he looked like.
Through this whole damn book, I'm practically begging Fallon, with big kitty-cat eyes, to give me better description of others and what they do.
And I'm pretty damn irresistible in the cuteness department, I can tell you that.
But what do I get? More and more and more shit that Fallon used because she couldn't think up anything else to say.
¡°Let¡¯s see if we can spot the White Lady.¡± He put on a ghoulish laugh.
Everyone burst out laughing. I made a face.
she made a puking sound
Does anyone else notice how.... elementary these descriptions sound? I made, she made, he made, he put on, etc. Fallon, you supposedly graduated from third grade many, many, years ago, so I'm expecting a bit more than that from you, and a lot more from a published author, who should have more control over what the fuck she's saying.
To end this review, I'l give you all a quick recap of what I thought in picture form.
Everyone was a Twilight re-make:
[image error]
This book had me alternating between laughing my ass off and falling asleep because of how slow it was.
And, I desperately need Alphonse to save my soul because of how horrible this book was; all of its idiocies made me want to die:
And I guess there's just one thing one thing left to say, after Fallon has made me use practically all of my word limit. Again, I'm sorry, but if I could talk to this book and say one thing to it, it would probably be this:
[image error]
First off, I'm pissed. Excuse me for a second while I rant, here:
I'M SOOOOOO MAD!! GOD DAMMIT AWEOIARHW;EHRIBENAOR;IERU;EHBAROE;JARE! AHHHHHHHH!
Yeah that's right I'm mad!
You know why? Just let me say that, if you put my name into a book, and actually spell it correctly (It's CAITLIN, people, not Kaitlyn, Catelyn, Katelyn, Katelynn, or any of that other shit, it's CAITLIN) then that character had better be one of the awesomest people that I've read about in my whole life! I'm sorry, but if you put my name into a book, I can't help comparing myself to them and seeing how they stock up, and Fallon's character was a fail. She talked like a fucking middle schooler, and was in and out of a relationship with this bastard about five times during the whole book! She seriously talked like this:
Caitlin: I heard from Danny who told Molly who told Anna who told me that he kissed a girl! (seriously that's what she said; the names may have been different, but that's the gist of it) Whaaaa! I hate him! I'm breaking up with him!
Caitlin: I'm getting back together with him because I lurveee him!
Caitlin: Whaaaa I hate him!
Caitlin: I love him!
GAH! Let me tell you all something; I would never break down and cry so much over a guy and get back with that bastard about five times if he'd cheated on me. That little motherfucker is dead to me at that point. If he has the balls to do that, then he can go share what little he has left with some other bitch. Not. Me.
If you can't tell, I hate it when girls are so damn co-dependant on guys. Grrrrr. I refuse to call her by her actual name. She will now be known by the name potato. Anyways.... that brings me right up to my next point!
This. Book. Is. Twilight/New Moon/Breaking Dawn/Avatar. Shit. Pure fucking shit.
Okay....so let me tell you all a story of the main plot-line and see if it sounds even the tiniest bit familiar with a very popular book series and TV series:
Sooo....
And this is where shit gets crazy.
Twilgiht.... how I hate thee
I'll just continue from here in non-story mode. There are seriously so many Avatar/Twilight similarities ( I will bring up a couple more later as well )that it's crazy. She even goes into the Avatar state that sounds exactly like it was done in the show! Here, let me show you:
I suddenly realized that I was up in the air high above them. I appeared to be radiating a bright light. The air around me swirled until Icould no longer see the land. River water started rising up and spinning around me. Next the boats lifted, then some trees, their great roots torn from the earth by the brutal force emanating from me. It was a massive vortex, spreading out farther and farther until the riverbed was visible, the water swirling high above it. The boats and the trees that had been tugged up swirled so fast that their outlines became a blur. I saw the object of my rage running away. He was making for the woods, but I pushed out the great vortex of moving air and debris so that he stayed constantly in my sight. There was no way he could break through its impenetrable wall. ¡°You,¡± I snarled.
My voice was not mine. It was a mixture of howling wind and cracking thunder. ¡°You will pay.¡± I clasped my hand, as if to pick up his little body far below me on the ground, and he rose right into the air until he was at my level. ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m sorry!¡± he screamed, flailing his legs and trying to shield himself from my glare. ¡°Too late for that.¡± My voice reverberated around the valley. I saw them waving up at me, but I was beyond caring what they wanted. The power inside engulfed me, took over my very core, and it needed vengeance.
Yeahhh she's the fucking Avatar.
Now, I normally start off with the girls when I talk about characters, but Adam just pissed me off so much more. At parts
¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said, shaking a little. ¡°That¡¯s never happened to me before.¡± He slumped into my arms and I held him. ¡°What I feel is real; I just know it is,¡± he whispered. ¡°Please believe me?"
¡°No, don¡¯t stop.¡± ¡°No. I shouldn¡¯t have come in here.¡± He sat up. ¡°Please don¡¯t go.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just that my head gets so fuzzy when I¡¯m with you.¡±
I'm not going to spend much time on him being a such a whiny girl, because his douchebaggery and rapist kidnapping annoyed me so much more, but does that quote honestly sound like something a guy would ever say? If anything, it sounds like what I hear female protagonists saying to their love interests! Honestly, I don't give a shit if she was trying to make him "more sensitive" she did it the wrong way. He comes across as needy and obsessive. And
Speaking of obsessive, I'm going to spilt up Adam's personalities into two categories:
1. Bastard Adam
"¡°whatever happens, we stay together. Fionn will fight to the death to protect you and what¡¯s best for you¡ªwhich, incidentally, is me,¡± he added with a sly smile.
"he gave me a wry smile. ¡°Do you think I would hand you over for training if I didn¡¯t think you were up to it?¡±
This side of Adam was probably the most annoying of all the three; first off, Adam, you've been dating this girl in the second quote that I listed for about one fucking week. You have absolutely no right to "hand her over" because she doesn't belong to you! She's her own person and doesn't need you, a controlling bastard, dictating her life and telling her what to do and who she can and cannot train with. She can train with whomever she wants to, so shut up before I fucking make you. And you are not the best thing for Megan; you're the one who got her into this insanity in the first place! She needs to decide what's best for herself not you telling her what's best. At this point, you've only been dating her for maybe a month and, I'm sorry, but there's no possible way that you could know her well enough to know is or isn't best for her.
2.
" He pushed me up against a tree. ¡°Oh, I have ways of convincing you that you chose right.¡± He kissed me with such passion it left me breathless.
I am pissed.
As a little aside, this is going out as a PSA to all girls: This is not and never will be romantic. If a guy that you've never really talked to before comes up and says "I have ways of convincing you that you chose right" pushes you up against a tree, and starts shoving his tongue down your throat, that is what most people around the planet like to call sexual assault, not romantic and passionate. And Adam. Stop being so much like Patch. Seriously; you do not walk up to a girl and do that. That is not in any way socially acceptable or right . Maybe the girls in Ireland like it that way (although, I must admit, Irish Traveler culture does have a tradition where a guy has to kiss a girl by the end of the day during festivals and gatherings) but you're not a Traveler and neither is Megan, so you have absolutely no excuse for doing that. And if you do, you should get a swift knee to your manhood, not have a girl fall in love with you!
And basically every time they kiss, he ends up grabbing her roughly and doing "passionate kisses" even if it's basically about jack shit. Their relationship basically goes like this:
Megan: Hey, I moved fire about a foot!
Adam: OMIGOD THAT'S AWESOME LET'S MAKE OUT!
Megan: Hey, I just stopped you from destroying a whole city because you kidnapped me!
Adam: OMIGOD THAT'S AWESOME LET'S MAKE OUT!
Megan: Hey, I just took a shit!
Adam: OMIGOD THAT'S AWESOME LET'S MAKE OUT!
Megan: Hey, I-
Adam: I DON'T GIVE A FUCK LET'S JUST MAKE OUT!
Sigh.
Oh, and get this: at one point in this book there's a scene where Adam and Megan, after having only been dating for around a week, are asked to not be a couple because of The Great Separation Fail ( I'll talk about this soon). Megan begins to move away from him about two feet to try and figure things out for herself when Adam flips his lid. He begins shaking, sweating, and he grabs her by the arm and refuses to let her go, so; basically, this guy is kidnapping her. To further support said kidnapping he then demands that they let him out with her "or else" and drags Megan outside with him, regardless of whether or not she wants to.
And there you have it, my friends. This is the guy you're supposed to love, be obsessed over, and believe is truly respectable boyfriend without rape fantasies. Do you think I do?
How about you just guess my answer to that question.
Now we finally get to the MC, of this story. Megan. She is literally one of the most copy-cat Bellas that I've ever read about in a novel. She doesn't pay any attention to anything-or anyone- around her except for Edward/Adam:
"?ine then proceeded to tell me all about every shop.. giving me every last detail about a pair of killer heels she had bought. I listened, feigning interest, but kept a close eye on Adam
She can't stand to be apart from him for more than twenty minutes, even one week into their relationship:
"There was a knock at the door. ¡°I wonder who that could be,¡± ?ine said, rolling her eyes. I ran to the door, needing to see him. I pulled the door open and fell into his arms. I breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°Adam.
She believes that for anyone older than 30 to have sex is incredibly weird; especially if it's her dad:
" I was thankful the timer started going off, and I ran to drain the pasta. I wasn¡¯t sure whether to laugh or be horrified. My father? Sex? Yikes.
And at every small touch and gesture, she literally explodes:
¡°With you here, I¡¯m ready for anything,¡± he said quietly, and kissed me softly on my mouth. I reeled from the sensuous touch.
Here's a picture to further illustrate said explosion:
She also gets pains whenever she's away from her hubby:
Everything else paled in significance. I could not live without him. As much as it upset me to hurt the others, it was nothing compared to the stabbing pain I felt when I thought of being parted from him.
And, oh, my personal favorite is when Adam admits to stalking her and sending the crow to watch her while she was naked in the shower, but she's more concerned about the crow than what Adam just admitted:
"I¡¯ve been watching you ¡ stalker style, even when I couldn¡¯t see you.¡± ¡°He even had me hounding you,¡± ?ine put in. ¡°As you surely have guessed by now.¡± ¡°The crow!¡± I looked at her in astonishment. ¡°He was watching me."
Do I really need to say anything more? The proof is in the quotes, my dears. We might as well take out the M,G, and N, and replace them with B and two L's, then she will be just like her!
Okay, so I've been holding off on this next little tidbit of information, but I can't any longer. Fallon seriously has the worst form of plot continuation/what is supposed to put a "block" between the love interests EVER.
"The scribes tell of a twenty-five-year pregnancy, which devoured B¨¦binn as the creature within absorbed her element and every drop of life she had in her. Then it launched itself on the world in the form of a plague¡ªa plague that wiped out half of Europe.¡±
Oh, dear Lord have mercy.
Are you trying to tell me, Fallon, that because two previous marked had sex, they made a baby that stayed in the womb for twenty five fucking years and became the black plague?! And that's why Adam and Megan can't be together?!!?! No. Nonononononono. That is not even remote possibility that I will accept. If the baby kept growing like a normal one would, then do you know how huge the mother's stomach would have to be to contain that!?! It would have to rip first long before the baby even came out! And what the hell did the baby do? Wouldn't people, you know, maybe notice some huge-ass creature walking around killing people? Maybe, just maybe that would come up in a daily conversation? I don't know; like this, maybe:
Pesant #1: Lookith o'r yonder at that!
Pesant #2: *gasps* I seen thine beast! *shouts* 'ere it comes!
Pesant #1: To pitchforks! To arms!
All: YAAAGHHHHHH! FOR
Oh and did I fail to mention that also because these two people were in love they made an ice age! So interesting...
The last thing I'm going to talk about, here, is Fallon's total fail at describing any kind of description for the reader. Whoever was the editor to this book, I would just like to say to them:
Seriously. It's bad.
"I think you¡¯re beautiful, and I think I¡¯m mentally stable.¡± He laughed, then made a crazy face.
Okay seriously, Fallon, give me a hand, here. There's only so far I can go with that! What kind of crazy face did he make? Did he do something with his mouth, screw up his nose and squint his eyes, what? I had to try to look up my own crazy face, and this is what it got me:
Yeahhh I'm pretty sure that's not what he looked like.
Through this whole damn book, I'm practically begging Fallon, with big kitty-cat eyes, to give me better description of others and what they do.
And I'm pretty damn irresistible in the cuteness department, I can tell you that.
But what do I get? More and more and more shit that Fallon used because she couldn't think up anything else to say.
¡°Let¡¯s see if we can spot the White Lady.¡± He put on a ghoulish laugh.
Everyone burst out laughing. I made a face.
she made a puking sound
Does anyone else notice how.... elementary these descriptions sound? I made, she made, he made, he put on, etc. Fallon, you
To end this review, I'l give you all a quick recap of what I thought in picture form.
Everyone was a Twilight re-make:
[image error]
This book had me alternating between laughing my ass off and falling asleep because of how slow it was.
And, I desperately need Alphonse to save my soul because of how horrible this book was; all of its idiocies made me want to die:
And I guess there's just one thing one thing left to say, after Fallon has made me use practically all of my word limit. Again, I'm sorry, but if I could talk to this book and say one thing to it, it would probably be this:
[image error]
April 22, 2016
I feel bad about what I'm about to do. ?Honestly. I'm not one of those people who just writes snarky, mean-spirited reviews, just for the sheer black-hearted, puppy-kicking glee of it. ?As tempting as that sometimes it, I just am not that reviewer (generally). ?I like puppies. ?And Leigh Fallon seems like a really nice person, and ?I had high hopes for this book. ?And everything I'm about to say makes me feel like a bully, but no. ?Just - no.
I knew almost immediately that I was not going to like this book. ?You may be asking yourself, then, why the hell I kept reading. ?Generally, I would not. ?But there were a few reasons in this case:
1. When it's a book I requested, and it's for an event like this, then I absolutely will make myself finish.
2. I was curious enough and it was a quick enough read that I was willing to give it a chance - and then at a certain point, when you get so far, you just can't back down.
But mostly 3. I kept noticing these little things?(that added up to one very big thing) that were driving me out of my mind, so I had to finish it just to see how many I would come across. ?(The little things are spoilery and rant-like, and OHMYGOD I could go on about them forever, but instead they comprise a chart at the bottom. ?Read at your own discretion)
Beyond the one-very-big-thing-comprised-of-little-things, I never connected with the writing in this. ?The characters speak like they're in an after-school special. ?It was strange: by turns formulaic, other times robotic, and often just not natural. ?They were caricatures rather than characters, and they crossed the line into cheesy one too many times for my liking. ?It was all these stupid, seemingly insignificant things (for example: people don't generally say each other's names a lot in conversations. ?If someone were to speak to you like this: "Hey, Mary. What are you doing later today, Mary? ?I was thinking, Mary, that maybe we could go to the mall - what do you think, Mary?" you would be like, WHY THE F*CK DO YOU KEEP SAYING MY NAME?! ?It's weird. It's uncomfortable. ?And it makes it seem like the characters aren't well acquainted, like they aren't comfortable enough with each other to just talk.
Sort of in-line with that, the characters have a tendency toward woodenness. ?Megan's dad is ridiculous, as cardboard and saccharine as they come. ?There's never any tension or discover with any of the characters because they are all basically what they enter the story as, and what you are expecting them to be. ?Rian is the only one who changes(ish), but the rest pretty much leave the story as they entered it.
And I think this is emblematic of the problems with the book as a whole: there isn't enough depth and tension. There's an immaturity to the writing that deprives the story of tension, of struggle, of that key element that makes you sit on the edge of your seat. ?Instead, everything is obvious and the reader is hit over the head with it. ?But worse, everything comes so easy. ?Megan accepts what she is too easily, she transitions into the deRis family too easily, she and Adam fall in love too easily, become comfortable with each other and the situation to easily?- everything just happens and it's not really built on any kind of foundation other than "I say so". ?The monk and the bird and the rumors and the OBVIOUSNESS of it all, and the suddenness and the easy acceptance - the way is cleared time and time again for things to just happen and as a result all chances at the delicious tension readers crave is killed. ?There's never very much of a struggle on Megan's part to understand* or accept this whole new way of thinking about the world and herself. ?It's frustrating.
The only thing I can really say in its favor is that it did?actually start to pick up at one point. ?The only thing is...that was 200 pages in. And for a review, I'll stick with it, but for pleasure, you are NEVER going to get 200+ pages out of me before I can call it enjoyable. That book will be put down (like a rabid dog).
*And on the note of "understanding", I do have to make a mention of the times when understanding does not?come easily to Megan. ?There are times - huge swathes of the story - when Megan's intellect and powers of comprehension seemingly revert to that of a 4 year old. ?Every time one of the deRis' begin to tell her of the history of the Marked and all that jazz, she peppers them with "why"s and "what about"s and "I don't understand"s and "but"s - and it's all a sneaky little set-up for Fallon to do massive amounts of info-dumping in the guise of dialogue. ?I mean, paragraph upon paragraph, page upon page of convoluted, over-sharing info-dumps, with set-ups you can see coming a mile away. ?All for the sake of trying to explain what is a fairly strained mythology and backstory. ?It just - no.
Just no.
And now:
The Little Things: aka The Carrier of the Twilight Mark by Leighmeyer Stephallon;?
or, The Tale of an Epic Rip-Off
(unless Misty is just hyper-aware of these things...)
I knew almost immediately that I was not going to like this book. ?You may be asking yourself, then, why the hell I kept reading. ?Generally, I would not. ?But there were a few reasons in this case:
1. When it's a book I requested, and it's for an event like this, then I absolutely will make myself finish.
2. I was curious enough and it was a quick enough read that I was willing to give it a chance - and then at a certain point, when you get so far, you just can't back down.
But mostly 3. I kept noticing these little things?(that added up to one very big thing) that were driving me out of my mind, so I had to finish it just to see how many I would come across. ?(The little things are spoilery and rant-like, and OHMYGOD I could go on about them forever, but instead they comprise a chart at the bottom. ?Read at your own discretion)
Beyond the one-very-big-thing-comprised-of-little-things, I never connected with the writing in this. ?The characters speak like they're in an after-school special. ?It was strange: by turns formulaic, other times robotic, and often just not natural. ?They were caricatures rather than characters, and they crossed the line into cheesy one too many times for my liking. ?It was all these stupid, seemingly insignificant things (for example: people don't generally say each other's names a lot in conversations. ?If someone were to speak to you like this: "Hey, Mary. What are you doing later today, Mary? ?I was thinking, Mary, that maybe we could go to the mall - what do you think, Mary?" you would be like, WHY THE F*CK DO YOU KEEP SAYING MY NAME?! ?It's weird. It's uncomfortable. ?And it makes it seem like the characters aren't well acquainted, like they aren't comfortable enough with each other to just talk.
Sort of in-line with that, the characters have a tendency toward woodenness. ?Megan's dad is ridiculous, as cardboard and saccharine as they come. ?There's never any tension or discover with any of the characters because they are all basically what they enter the story as, and what you are expecting them to be. ?Rian is the only one who changes(ish), but the rest pretty much leave the story as they entered it.
And I think this is emblematic of the problems with the book as a whole: there isn't enough depth and tension. There's an immaturity to the writing that deprives the story of tension, of struggle, of that key element that makes you sit on the edge of your seat. ?Instead, everything is obvious and the reader is hit over the head with it. ?But worse, everything comes so easy. ?Megan accepts what she is too easily, she transitions into the deRis family too easily, she and Adam fall in love too easily, become comfortable with each other and the situation to easily?- everything just happens and it's not really built on any kind of foundation other than "I say so". ?The monk and the bird and the rumors and the OBVIOUSNESS of it all, and the suddenness and the easy acceptance - the way is cleared time and time again for things to just happen and as a result all chances at the delicious tension readers crave is killed. ?There's never very much of a struggle on Megan's part to understand* or accept this whole new way of thinking about the world and herself. ?It's frustrating.
The only thing I can really say in its favor is that it did?actually start to pick up at one point. ?The only thing is...that was 200 pages in. And for a review, I'll stick with it, but for pleasure, you are NEVER going to get 200+ pages out of me before I can call it enjoyable. That book will be put down (like a rabid dog).
*And on the note of "understanding", I do have to make a mention of the times when understanding does not?come easily to Megan. ?There are times - huge swathes of the story - when Megan's intellect and powers of comprehension seemingly revert to that of a 4 year old. ?Every time one of the deRis' begin to tell her of the history of the Marked and all that jazz, she peppers them with "why"s and "what about"s and "I don't understand"s and "but"s - and it's all a sneaky little set-up for Fallon to do massive amounts of info-dumping in the guise of dialogue. ?I mean, paragraph upon paragraph, page upon page of convoluted, over-sharing info-dumps, with set-ups you can see coming a mile away. ?All for the sake of trying to explain what is a fairly strained mythology and backstory. ?It just - no.
Just no.
And now:
The Little Things: aka The Carrier of the Twilight Mark by Leighmeyer Stephallon;?
or, The Tale of an Epic Rip-Off
(unless Misty is just hyper-aware of these things...)
September 9, 2011
The Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon was one of the much buzzed YA books at this year¡¯s BEA. The cover is striking and it takes place in Ireland. Also, Leigh was published by posting the original Carrier of the Mark on a writing site called Inkpop. Unfortunately I DNFed this 100 pages in. Yet another example of what¡¯s wrong with the YA genre. If Carrier was well received at Inkpop, so much so that Harper Teen wanted it, it makes me wonder what other entries are up on there because Carrier has nothing to recommend for it.
Carrier of the Mark is an example of how to use info dumping in conversations as a sneaky way to not get caught using it the old fashioned way, usually as internal monologues from the characters. Leigh¡¯s info dumping is so dry and formal as if her characters are robots, much like the animatronic ones at Disney World. How else would the reader find out that there¡¯s something rotten in the state of some back water town, literally near the water, in Ireland? Our timid not so plucky heroine Megan has a world of woe. Not only does she move from place to place almost every year because of her father¡¯s wanderlust, but she¡¯s stuck wearing an unattractive uniform at her new school where she doesn¡¯t know anyone. This American girl is a fish out of water, or rather a black crow that can¡¯t fly (the crow reference is explained later on). Her first day of school doesn¡¯t start out well at all because when she notices a tall boy leaning against the lamppost, who stares at her as if she has two heads, her hands tingle where they feel frostbitten. They are now connected and Megan can¡¯t stop thinking of him. He¡¯s Adam DeRis of the freaky DeRis clan who everyone warns her to stay away from. But Megan just can¡¯t. Why? Because she and Adam are connected due to their oogily eyes stares.
A black crow begins following Megan around, she meets Adam¡¯s sister Aine, who has a moth and insect fetish and can make dead flowers live again, plus some dark force is causing mayhem for no reason. Adam and Megan go from oogly eye stares to actually bumping into one another and talking. And at that point I stopped because I was so bored.
Leigh again is very sneaky. She¡¯s trying very hard not to make this a copycat of Twilight or like Fizpatricks¡¯s Hush Hush because when all is said and done, Adam isn¡¯t bad boy material. Everyone around Megan tells her that he is. Again more info dumping, but he¡¯s shown as the complete opposite. If only the writing had been stronger, than perhaps The Carrier of the Mark could have stood a chance. Weak writing and lackadaisical characters with no real motivation leaves the reader uninterested and not involved. I raise my hand as one of these readers.
New update: It seems Fallon may have plagiarized Twilight:
Carrier of the Mark is an example of how to use info dumping in conversations as a sneaky way to not get caught using it the old fashioned way, usually as internal monologues from the characters. Leigh¡¯s info dumping is so dry and formal as if her characters are robots, much like the animatronic ones at Disney World. How else would the reader find out that there¡¯s something rotten in the state of some back water town, literally near the water, in Ireland? Our timid not so plucky heroine Megan has a world of woe. Not only does she move from place to place almost every year because of her father¡¯s wanderlust, but she¡¯s stuck wearing an unattractive uniform at her new school where she doesn¡¯t know anyone. This American girl is a fish out of water, or rather a black crow that can¡¯t fly (the crow reference is explained later on). Her first day of school doesn¡¯t start out well at all because when she notices a tall boy leaning against the lamppost, who stares at her as if she has two heads, her hands tingle where they feel frostbitten. They are now connected and Megan can¡¯t stop thinking of him. He¡¯s Adam DeRis of the freaky DeRis clan who everyone warns her to stay away from. But Megan just can¡¯t. Why? Because she and Adam are connected due to their oogily eyes stares.
A black crow begins following Megan around, she meets Adam¡¯s sister Aine, who has a moth and insect fetish and can make dead flowers live again, plus some dark force is causing mayhem for no reason. Adam and Megan go from oogly eye stares to actually bumping into one another and talking. And at that point I stopped because I was so bored.
Leigh again is very sneaky. She¡¯s trying very hard not to make this a copycat of Twilight or like Fizpatricks¡¯s Hush Hush because when all is said and done, Adam isn¡¯t bad boy material. Everyone around Megan tells her that he is. Again more info dumping, but he¡¯s shown as the complete opposite. If only the writing had been stronger, than perhaps The Carrier of the Mark could have stood a chance. Weak writing and lackadaisical characters with no real motivation leaves the reader uninterested and not involved. I raise my hand as one of these readers.
New update: It seems Fallon may have plagiarized Twilight:
September 7, 2012
End of review.
November 14, 2011
I keep on reading books, books are already part of my everyday life, but what if you manage to encounter a book that have similarities to the book you hated before you read it. What will you do? React like a destructive monster or an angelic reader who just leave the mess away and continue reading it, or in between. I read few reviews of this book and I was so shocked that until now I can still feel the intense feelings (mostly hatred) of those reviewers and I mean it, I agree to what they wrote on their reviews.
What if fate tied two lovers who only wanted is peace and love to each other but given them destruction as the result of their love? Most of the books have managed to portray love as the strength of individual but in this book, you have to choose between your interest and the others. Will you continue to love the person that will destroy the mankind or you will surrender yourself to your destiny?
Leigh Fallon's Carrier of the Mark made her work controversial to most readers and reviewers now days because of its potential to become the next Twilight Saga. Did she execute it well? The answer is yes! Did she impress the readers? And the answer is, sad to say, no! To consider her work as no originality to most reviewers and to sum up I, but few were changed and entice me to read it. And what is that changes that readers must read? Well, the mystery behind the characters that something magical and historical. (Do I have to include Rick Riordan here?)
It was Megan's first day of school in her new school in Ireland. She made friends like any ordinary student at school but there are times that you will encounter not so normal student that your interest made you follow them. Adam DeRis, the hot guy with black hair and green eyes, is a mysterious hot jock in her school that she give her time and interest to stalk it. I'm a little but exaggerated but in the end, she realized that they are destined to each other that will cause destruction.
What can you say about the book?
1. No Originality - Okay, I think most of us find this book disappointing because of some similarities in the book which I already mentioned above. So when I read the part which I find similar to Twilight Saga, I want to jump from my bed and throw it. No need of that action but see, I cannot accept that those negative reviews really make sense. If you need reference, refer it to ¡ªshe had the best comparison so far. Ms. Leigh Fallon, don't put me on your worst list after this.
2. Stop Kissing! - Stop kissing guys, can you guys please stop that? I mean, you don't have to kiss in the book a hundred times. Once, twice or thrice is enough for us to consider you guys love each other. This is not erotic book; this is just simply a book with romance or a love story on it?! Please, don't make me wrong. I don't like people kissing in front of me every day. I agree with Aine, you gross!
3. Yawning... - I finish the book for two hours but it keeps myself deactivated from too much junks. I mean, this book bores me to death that I only give interest to the historical part of the book. Do not enlist me to your friends, readers. I'm just reminding you that I yawn a thousand times (multiply the kissing by hundreds) before I finish it. I'm glad I did not give up.
4. Weakest Villain of All Time Award Winner - I'm counting pages when I'm near in the end. I was hoping for a good villain scene. I know that this will appear sooner but it happens to be the highlight in the ending that disappoints me again! Not again! She just makes the scene smells like a dung of amateur villains. Can she make it exciting at least in the last two chapters of the book? Another sad face.
5. Mythology and History is Fun! - Where did you get the history part? You made it better but it looks like you copied it through wikipedia. Kidding. You made the book interesting for me when you explained to the characters about their.... problems and its history. How cool if those were really real in old books, are they?
6. Huh? What Are You Saying? - I told you, Fallon just copied it through wikipedia. I'm kidding again. I know you did that part very well but you are not good in explaining the whole point. Don't judge me if I really read the book very well but the book had problems regarding its history. Why only female can be carriers, because they can only bare a child? Do you think male can also be carrier because they also carry genetic materials through their bullets? Too many questions to ask, but I'll leave it in the next book.
7. Dashing Cover - I have an eye for a cover but never inside. I'm like anyone like a normal readers who sometimes read books because of a very interesting and well edited cover. This is a good advertisement but remember, don't judge the book by its cover. *wink (I just wink like a girl, so pathetic Kwesi!)
8. Simplicity - Are you playing safe? There is no problem having a book with simple plot and everything and that made it more readable for everyone. Some may find it advantage for a book but there are also disadvantage that we have to consider if we speak about simplicity.
First, your work is common. Other readers won't mind your books once they read the whole sense of it. Two, copycat. Some may call you that because they thought you copied your work from someone's work (Consider you mentioned a series in the synopsis, I suggest don't advertise your books by mentioning them. Most readers will think that your work is another fan fiction or something.) Third, I can't think of anything after reading it and my reaction, "Yeah, I'm done reading it. So what's next?". Period, I'm totally out of my mind while writing this review.
9. Lucky and Creative but with 99% of Disappointment! - I'm very happy that another aspiring author had been discovered through inkpop.com, will readers love her work? Maybe some but readers might mark themselves with the word 'expectation'. Expectation in a sense that Fallon was discovered online that there are thousands of writings online which you think had the opportunity to be published. Don't worry one thing you must remember¡ªkeep writing girl!
Maybe not all readers might like your book but sometimes after reading negative reviews some authors scared to continue their career but I suggest everyone have to try and put their novels at steak again. There will always hope in the end of the road until you reach the top of the ladder. What? Ladder and road, I don't know what I'm talking about. Last but not the least, be creative. Everyone love new ideas and that's the reason why I don't like to write novels. You have to be creative and it's a must for a writer.
Rating: Carrier of the Mark (Carrier Trilogy, #1) by Leigh Fallon, 2 Sweets
Challenges:
Book #311 for 2011
February 12, 2015
**spoilers, so many spoilers ahead**
Okay, I hate writing a bad review, hate it, but I also hate when books let me down like this, and I paid for it, so I think I have the right to rant a little bit.
My main problem with Carrier of the Mark is that it¡¯s a Twilight copycat. There are no vampires or werewolves--the paranormal has to do with magic and the four elements, but really, everything else is exactly like Twilight, like this:
-The book starts with the heroine (Megan) going to her first day on a new school;
-There, she immediately caughts the attention of this extremely gorgeous and mysterious guy (Adam) who doesn¡¯t socialize with anyone else besides his sister (and I can tell you right now she¡¯s the ¡°Alice¡± in this story);
-Megan¡¯s friends keep telling her to stay away from the guy but of course she doesn¡¯t, and thinks about him and his good looks 24/7;
-At some point Megan gets ditched by her friends and walks to a party at night alone. Two drunk guys show up and one of them wants ¡°to have fun¡± with her. Out of nothing, Adam shows up and saves her;
-They hook up in the following scene, after Adam tells her he can't stop thinking about her since they first laid eyes on each other;
-The next day he invites her to his house, to meet his weird family. His room is strange. (There is a bed, but the wallpaper is orange and has a floral pattern. Mm.);
-At Adam's family house, Megan meets the family's guardian, Fionn (¡°Carlisle¡±), who doesn't want her there, but she trips and falls on her face and he starts being nice;
-Adam's older brother, R¨ªan, doesn't care that Megan is clumsy or fragile, he still hates her after the face-on-the-floor-incident, and starts hating her even more when Fionn explains about the carriers of the mark, the magic, and of how dangerous it is to be part of that world--obviously Megan is still all excited to be part of it. R¨ªan is clearly the male equivalent to Twilight¡¯s Rosalie;
-And did I mention that Megan can¡¯t stop thinking about Adam¡¯s good looks?
Like I said, the similarities were what bothered me the most, but there were other things, like most of the time the dialogues don¡¯t make sense, especially between the couple--for example, from day one, all they do is stare and frown at each other from the distance, and in one of their first real interactions Adam tells her he's crazy about her, even though she might find that hard to believe, because of the way he has been acting. They had barely interacted until that point, so... wut?...
Now, why I stopped at page 177 and refuse to finish: Megan, Adam, his brother and sister are all descendents from a mythical being, and each one of them is in possession of magic according to their element (just like Sailor Moon, Megan is Air, Adam is Water, and so on), and this magic is in their blood, meaning: they need to procreate amongst each other so the line of magical descents won¡¯t go extinct. Now, there are others besides Megan, Adam and his siblings who possess the magical gene, but I swear to God that when Adam explains to Megan it¡¯s basically their duty to make babies, it sounded to me like he was saying: Look, it¡¯s either with you or with my sister, okay?
Aaaand I closed the book for good.
Seriously, save your money, save your precious reading time, save yourself!
Okay, I hate writing a bad review, hate it, but I also hate when books let me down like this, and I paid for it, so I think I have the right to rant a little bit.
My main problem with Carrier of the Mark is that it¡¯s a Twilight copycat. There are no vampires or werewolves--the paranormal has to do with magic and the four elements, but really, everything else is exactly like Twilight, like this:
-The book starts with the heroine (Megan) going to her first day on a new school;
-There, she immediately caughts the attention of this extremely gorgeous and mysterious guy (Adam) who doesn¡¯t socialize with anyone else besides his sister (and I can tell you right now she¡¯s the ¡°Alice¡± in this story);
-Megan¡¯s friends keep telling her to stay away from the guy but of course she doesn¡¯t, and thinks about him and his good looks 24/7;
-At some point Megan gets ditched by her friends and walks to a party at night alone. Two drunk guys show up and one of them wants ¡°to have fun¡± with her. Out of nothing, Adam shows up and saves her;
-They hook up in the following scene, after Adam tells her he can't stop thinking about her since they first laid eyes on each other;
-The next day he invites her to his house, to meet his weird family. His room is strange. (There is a bed, but the wallpaper is orange and has a floral pattern. Mm.);
-At Adam's family house, Megan meets the family's guardian, Fionn (¡°Carlisle¡±), who doesn't want her there, but she trips and falls on her face and he starts being nice;
-Adam's older brother, R¨ªan, doesn't care that Megan is clumsy or fragile, he still hates her after the face-on-the-floor-incident, and starts hating her even more when Fionn explains about the carriers of the mark, the magic, and of how dangerous it is to be part of that world--obviously Megan is still all excited to be part of it. R¨ªan is clearly the male equivalent to Twilight¡¯s Rosalie;
-And did I mention that Megan can¡¯t stop thinking about Adam¡¯s good looks?
Like I said, the similarities were what bothered me the most, but there were other things, like most of the time the dialogues don¡¯t make sense, especially between the couple--for example, from day one, all they do is stare and frown at each other from the distance, and in one of their first real interactions Adam tells her he's crazy about her, even though she might find that hard to believe, because of the way he has been acting. They had barely interacted until that point, so... wut?...
Now, why I stopped at page 177 and refuse to finish: Megan, Adam, his brother and sister are all descendents from a mythical being, and each one of them is in possession of magic according to their element (just like Sailor Moon, Megan is Air, Adam is Water, and so on), and this magic is in their blood, meaning: they need to procreate amongst each other so the line of magical descents won¡¯t go extinct. Now, there are others besides Megan, Adam and his siblings who possess the magical gene, but I swear to God that when Adam explains to Megan it¡¯s basically their duty to make babies, it sounded to me like he was saying: Look, it¡¯s either with you or with my sister, okay?
Aaaand I closed the book for good.
Seriously, save your money, save your precious reading time, save yourself!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 13, 2013
I couldn't finish this halfway through...it was pure torture.
I stopped reading when Bella...I mean Meg, got a sudden, inexplicable declaration of love from Edward...I mean Adam. Those who draw a parallel between this book and Twilight are correct. You've read one, you've read both. Don't waste your time. Mysterious boy who spurns all girls at their school suddenly falls for the new girl in town. He has a devoted sister who really loves Meg. They live in a makeshift family compound, and the rest of the "family" oppose their relationship...I could draw the parallels on for paragraphs, but I'll keep it short and just say...
No. Don't even touch this thing.
I stopped reading when Bella...I mean Meg, got a sudden, inexplicable declaration of love from Edward...I mean Adam. Those who draw a parallel between this book and Twilight are correct. You've read one, you've read both. Don't waste your time. Mysterious boy who spurns all girls at their school suddenly falls for the new girl in town. He has a devoted sister who really loves Meg. They live in a makeshift family compound, and the rest of the "family" oppose their relationship...I could draw the parallels on for paragraphs, but I'll keep it short and just say...
No. Don't even touch this thing.
October 29, 2011
Beautiful Cover strikes again. Dang it! What I got out of CARRIER was a story of what Bella and Edward would have done, had they not been vampire and emo-girl but rather some other type of supernatural boy and emo girl/Avatar-to- be. Things went quickly though, that I have to give it. Except this fact might have more to do with my feelings of having been there and read that rather than me feeling things like ¡°Oh boy! What a good story!¡± Not just that it was in turns abrupt and over the top, but that not one of the main characters had much going for them.
Abrupt and Over the Top. They meet. He stalks. She swoons. She loves him. He loves her. Desperately. Passionately. Completely¡ after knowing each other for a very brief period. What¡¯s worse was her serious consideration of giving everything up for him. What she could be, what she could do¡ all her power for a very controlling guy. *shakes head* Theirs was relationship that I did not buy. And truth be told, theirs was one that upset me (those be my mild words now,) because where he blew cold then hot then cold again, she just went with it. While Twilight¡¯s seen better days being much smirked at as it is today, at least it had something relatively new when it came out, which is completely not the case here. As said its Edward and Bella all over again. Only similarities do not end there, most every aspect of the other has been mirrored in CARRIER. Her father, his family, their relationship and even the idea of a baby-monster thing were all touched upon.
Good News: It's a very quick read.
Bad News: I've read stories like this before. Edward, is that you?
Good News: It's got a really pretty cover
Bad News: ...And that's about it.
Good News:It's a 2 1.5!
Bad News: ...I couldn¡¯t make myself click the 1 star
Good News: I didn't spend a dime on this copy
Bad News:
PB Tour #1
Abrupt and Over the Top. They meet. He stalks. She swoons. She loves him. He loves her. Desperately. Passionately. Completely¡ after knowing each other for a very brief period. What¡¯s worse was her serious consideration of giving everything up for him. What she could be, what she could do¡ all her power for a very controlling guy. *shakes head* Theirs was relationship that I did not buy. And truth be told, theirs was one that upset me (those be my mild words now,) because where he blew cold then hot then cold again, she just went with it. While Twilight¡¯s seen better days being much smirked at as it is today, at least it had something relatively new when it came out, which is completely not the case here. As said its Edward and Bella all over again. Only similarities do not end there, most every aspect of the other has been mirrored in CARRIER. Her father, his family, their relationship and even the idea of a baby-monster thing were all touched upon.
Good News: It's a very quick read.
Bad News: I've read stories like this before. Edward, is that you?
Good News: It's got a really pretty cover
Bad News: ...And that's about it.
Good News:
Bad News: ...I couldn¡¯t make myself click the 1 star
Good News: I didn't spend a dime on this copy
Bad News:
PB Tour #1
January 27, 2016
Honestly, this book was disappointing for me. I was really intrigued by the synopsis and the gorgeous cover, and I had high hopes for a story set in Ireland. But there was something really generic about this book that just didn't spark my imagination.
I've complained a lot about insta-love in YA and how much it irks me. Really, this was a great example of some serious insta-love. I mean, she-sees-the-boy-across-the-parking-lot-they-kiss-the-next-week kind. It all just felt very rushed. Even after they had gotten together, there was never that lingering sense of romance that should have been there. There have been books that had insta-love but still managed to seem believable and intriguing (i.e. Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone or Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series; heck, even Twilight!). Honestly, the romance felt very formulaic.
And since the romance is such a huge part of the book, I had a hard time getting past it to the, honestly, pretty cool paranormal aspect. I really liked the concept of the elements and the Carriers of the Mark. It was nice to read about a different type of paranormal. And there were a few scenes in which characters went crazy with the magic that I really found well, magical.
But the originality was a little lost in confusion for me. There's a lot of talk about genetics in this book and how the ability to command the elements is a recessive gene that has to be passed between certain sexual partners to pass on to their offspring. It was all very scientific and confusing, and I still feel like I don't understand it. Seriously, it was uber convoluted!
The characters were so-so for me, too. I never felt connected to anyone. The character I found the most interesting was Rian, just because he was so troubled. I thought maybe he had more depth than the others. Adam felt cookie cutter-ish, and Megan was generic. And Adam was strangely needy, I mean, even more so than Megan. It was weird. And the fact that their romance is a forbidden one just really pushed me over the edge to not enjoy their relationship.
And is it just me, or if the fate of the world hung in the balance of whether you dated a guy or not, wouldn't you choose in favor of the world?! I thought it was crazy selfish and small-minded of Megan and everyone else to encourage her to choose Adam over stopping things like earthquakes and famines and the like. And the members of the Order who suggest that maybe she should reign in the hormone-fest a bit are portrayed as selfish? What?! No. Sometimes, you just gotta take one for the team.
I've said a lot of negative things about this book, but it was relatively interesting. I still loved that it was set in Ireland, the magic was well described, and it was a fairly original plotline. I just wish Leigh Fallon had allowed herself to be more creative and not stick so rigidly to the paranormal romance formula.
I've complained a lot about insta-love in YA and how much it irks me. Really, this was a great example of some serious insta-love. I mean, she-sees-the-boy-across-the-parking-lot-they-kiss-the-next-week kind. It all just felt very rushed. Even after they had gotten together, there was never that lingering sense of romance that should have been there. There have been books that had insta-love but still managed to seem believable and intriguing (i.e. Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone or Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series; heck, even Twilight!). Honestly, the romance felt very formulaic.
And since the romance is such a huge part of the book, I had a hard time getting past it to the, honestly, pretty cool paranormal aspect. I really liked the concept of the elements and the Carriers of the Mark. It was nice to read about a different type of paranormal. And there were a few scenes in which characters went crazy with the magic that I really found well, magical.
But the originality was a little lost in confusion for me. There's a lot of talk about genetics in this book and how the ability to command the elements is a recessive gene that has to be passed between certain sexual partners to pass on to their offspring. It was all very scientific and confusing, and I still feel like I don't understand it. Seriously, it was uber convoluted!
The characters were so-so for me, too. I never felt connected to anyone. The character I found the most interesting was Rian, just because he was so troubled. I thought maybe he had more depth than the others. Adam felt cookie cutter-ish, and Megan was generic. And Adam was strangely needy, I mean, even more so than Megan. It was weird. And the fact that their romance is a forbidden one just really pushed me over the edge to not enjoy their relationship.
And is it just me, or if the fate of the world hung in the balance of whether you dated a guy or not, wouldn't you choose in favor of the world?! I thought it was crazy selfish and small-minded of Megan and everyone else to encourage her to choose Adam over stopping things like earthquakes and famines and the like. And the members of the Order who suggest that maybe she should reign in the hormone-fest a bit are portrayed as selfish? What?! No. Sometimes, you just gotta take one for the team.
I've said a lot of negative things about this book, but it was relatively interesting. I still loved that it was set in Ireland, the magic was well described, and it was a fairly original plotline. I just wish Leigh Fallon had allowed herself to be more creative and not stick so rigidly to the paranormal romance formula.
June 8, 2011
I'm delighted that I was able to win an ARC from a competition that Leigh hosted on her blog and at the book's Facebook page. Now, I'm even more delighted to say that I adore the book. But I'm sad that this is only the ARC because it means that I have to wait over a year for the next installment.
Warning: beware of an overuse of adjectives and adverbs. I just loved the book so much!
The story follows Megan following her move to Kinsale, Ireland for her father's new job at a marina. Leigh introduces the characters in a wonderful manner from Megan showing her father how to work the 'wonders of technology' to bumping into Caitlin and catching the deliciously hot Adam staring at her on the first day of school. (Okay, Adam staring comes second, but I'm listing it last to place more emphasis on hot Adam.) Leigh has a light-hearted writing style, and you can see her humor mix in with Megan's thoughts as she adjusts to Irish lingo and Irish life in general.
From the first chapters, I fell in love with Kinsale. Leigh does a fabulous job of describing the place while building the tension surrounding Megan's instant chemistry with Adam and the development of the mystery surrounding the DeR¨ªs family. Her attraction to Adam is all too understandable because of his looks, but Leigh has another explanation for it, one that I'm going to have to leave out so as not to spoil the surprise.
Adam may appear to be aloof and unapproachable at first, but the reader will find in him a passionate, charming young man with a level head that will cease to listen to reason should harm threaten to come to those he loves. His sister ?ine has a wonderful sense of humor. I'm certain that I had a silly smile on my face during her appearances. And as for the rest of the family, I'm going to leave it with there's a lot more beneath the surface than one would initially think, and I grew to love each member of the family.
Leigh has created another kind of paranormal. It's one that we may have seen in another form, to be fair, but she's incorporated a mythology and ancient orders into it. Her use of imagery isn't especially ornate or embellished, but her words are mesmerizing and filled with a simple beauty.
While her powers excite Megan at first, presenting her the opportunity of growing closer to Adam, they threaten to tear her away from him at the same time. Love is never easy, especially when your partner comes from the same breed as you in The Carrier of the Mark. The battle for love and the protection of order in the world will be a long and heartbreaking journey for Megan and her friends.
--
For more of my reviews, visit my blog .
Warning: beware of an overuse of adjectives and adverbs. I just loved the book so much!
The story follows Megan following her move to Kinsale, Ireland for her father's new job at a marina. Leigh introduces the characters in a wonderful manner from Megan showing her father how to work the 'wonders of technology' to bumping into Caitlin and catching the deliciously hot Adam staring at her on the first day of school. (Okay, Adam staring comes second, but I'm listing it last to place more emphasis on hot Adam.) Leigh has a light-hearted writing style, and you can see her humor mix in with Megan's thoughts as she adjusts to Irish lingo and Irish life in general.
From the first chapters, I fell in love with Kinsale. Leigh does a fabulous job of describing the place while building the tension surrounding Megan's instant chemistry with Adam and the development of the mystery surrounding the DeR¨ªs family. Her attraction to Adam is all too understandable because of his looks, but Leigh has another explanation for it, one that I'm going to have to leave out so as not to spoil the surprise.
Adam may appear to be aloof and unapproachable at first, but the reader will find in him a passionate, charming young man with a level head that will cease to listen to reason should harm threaten to come to those he loves. His sister ?ine has a wonderful sense of humor. I'm certain that I had a silly smile on my face during her appearances. And as for the rest of the family, I'm going to leave it with there's a lot more beneath the surface than one would initially think, and I grew to love each member of the family.
Leigh has created another kind of paranormal. It's one that we may have seen in another form, to be fair, but she's incorporated a mythology and ancient orders into it. Her use of imagery isn't especially ornate or embellished, but her words are mesmerizing and filled with a simple beauty.
While her powers excite Megan at first, presenting her the opportunity of growing closer to Adam, they threaten to tear her away from him at the same time. Love is never easy, especially when your partner comes from the same breed as you in The Carrier of the Mark. The battle for love and the protection of order in the world will be a long and heartbreaking journey for Megan and her friends.
--
For more of my reviews, visit my blog .
October 22, 2011
2.5 stars
This book must have been written at the height of Twilightdom.
In the immortal words of Georgia Nicolson, this is a facsimile of a sham. I've read a lot of YA books copying the Twilight playbook, but Carrier of the Mark is the most blatant Twilight clone of them all. I won't get started on specifics because I would exceed the word count allowed for this review, but trust me on this one--just change some names and you've got Twilight (minus that addictive, guilty-pleasure-inducing quality Stephenie Meyer's writing has). I was forgiving at first because a fluffy instalove story is a nice respite at times, but by the time this book went all Breaking Dawn talking about what crazy babies our two just-met-you-a-few-weeks-ago-and-we're-already-talking-kids-and-forever lovebirds would have, I'd had enough.
And you know, this book would be a thousand times better if it stopped trying to ride on the coattails of the Twilight magic and came up with it's own characters and plot. The mythology is brimming with potential (although Fallon makes it a bit of a convoluted mess at times with all this gene nonsense) and the setting is IRELAND with all that gorgeous scenery, history, and magic to tap. There is so much possibility here, folks, but the author goes all Twilight with it and ruins what she has.
I will say, though, that's a gorgeous cover, and this book is highly readable. I breezed through it in just a few hours.
P.S. And for the record, I like Twilight. But it's been done. Enough with the Twilight clones already.
This book must have been written at the height of Twilightdom.
In the immortal words of Georgia Nicolson, this is a facsimile of a sham. I've read a lot of YA books copying the Twilight playbook, but Carrier of the Mark is the most blatant Twilight clone of them all. I won't get started on specifics because I would exceed the word count allowed for this review, but trust me on this one--just change some names and you've got Twilight (minus that addictive, guilty-pleasure-inducing quality Stephenie Meyer's writing has). I was forgiving at first because a fluffy instalove story is a nice respite at times, but by the time this book went all Breaking Dawn talking about what crazy babies our two just-met-you-a-few-weeks-ago-and-we're-already-talking-kids-and-forever lovebirds would have, I'd had enough.
And you know, this book would be a thousand times better if it stopped trying to ride on the coattails of the Twilight magic and came up with it's own characters and plot. The mythology is brimming with potential (although Fallon makes it a bit of a convoluted mess at times with all this gene nonsense) and the setting is IRELAND with all that gorgeous scenery, history, and magic to tap. There is so much possibility here, folks, but the author goes all Twilight with it and ruins what she has.
I will say, though, that's a gorgeous cover, and this book is highly readable. I breezed through it in just a few hours.
P.S. And for the record, I like Twilight. But it's been done. Enough with the Twilight clones already.
March 7, 2012
When I first saw this book I was so enchanted by the cover.
I was like ¡°WOW look at that cover!!¡±
I thought the cover was just gorgeous and I told myself I had to get my hands on that book.
When I clutched the book in my hands, the feeling of excitement overwhelmed me.
Almost immediately after I got it, I started to read¡
My reaction started like this.
Then this.
Then finally..
Alas! Book covers and synopsis could be very deceiving.
This book reminds me of a book very close to my heart.
Unfortunately, that is not a good thing.
This book would have to be the most disappointing book I have read.
The cover masked the unsightliness of this book.
THIS BOOK WAS JUST LIKE
WITHOUT VAMPIRES!
Twilight may not be the best book out there but it¡¯s my first YA book so whatever happens I would still love Twilight and would always dislike books that would come close or imitate its story.
Sad to say, The Carrier of the Mark was one of those books.
I wouldn¡¯t mind the similarity if it were just little things but as I was reading the book majority of it was a Twilightish.
It was infuriating.
All my excitement went down the drain.
Let me give you a few examples of what I meant about it being Twilightish:
1. Megan¡¯s first day at a new school and already the first person to talk to her knew her name.
Why?
Because it was a small town?
(Forks anyone?)
2. First day of school Adam was staring intently at Megan.
Megan stared back.
Megan couldn¡¯t get him out of her head.
*BOOOM!*
They were in love!
(I knew someone who had the same feeling towards each other.
What was their name again?
Oh right, it was Edward and Bella!)
3. Adam and his siblings, his sister and his brother. Their names start with an A and an R.
Now Edward has siblings too right?
What were their names again?
Rosalie and Alice?
I heard A was close with Meghan and R has a bit of an issue with what they are.
You think I was talking about Rosalie and Alice right?
NOTTT!
I was talking about Adam¡¯s siblings.
Was it a coincidence?
4. Adam has special powers.
Cool.
Megan being super duper attracted to Adam didn¡¯t care.
Adam saying he tried to stay away but he couldn¡¯t do it much longer.
(I would know that line anywhere.
Gosh Edward, why do you have to let someone else borrow your line!!
Adam can¡¯t you find your own pickup line?)
5. The Tracker.
Yep. Megan was being followed by a Tracker.
Wait a minute, wasn¡¯t Bella being followed by James?
And what was James called?
That¡¯s right, a TRACKER!
6. If Megan and Adam get kids, it would be an abomination.
Really now?
Didn¡¯t they think that way too with Renesemee?
There¡¯s actually more but I don¡¯t really have the time to list them all.
If I did, I probably would be copying the book and pasting it here.
Well, the book was not entirely bad.
I did love the thing about them being Elementals.
(But I already read a book about that which was more original by the way. No Twilight stuff.)
Carrier of the Mark had potential.
If this book didn¡¯t remind me so much of Twilight I would have liked it.
The author¡¯s writing style was okay.
The setting was perfect.
The myth about the Marked being able to wield and control the elements was okay with me too.
I didn¡¯t like the kissing stuff though.
It was a little too much for me.
I am so sorry.
This may seem like a hate review but its not.
I am just really disappointed because I didn¡¯t think it would be Twilightish.
I guess the moral lesson here is not to expect too much on the cover.
I really wanted to like this book.
Sorry.
It¡¯s a 2.5 for me.
I was like ¡°WOW look at that cover!!¡±
I thought the cover was just gorgeous and I told myself I had to get my hands on that book.
When I clutched the book in my hands, the feeling of excitement overwhelmed me.
Almost immediately after I got it, I started to read¡
My reaction started like this.
Then this.
Then finally..
Alas! Book covers and synopsis could be very deceiving.
This book reminds me of a book very close to my heart.
Unfortunately, that is not a good thing.
This book would have to be the most disappointing book I have read.
The cover masked the unsightliness of this book.
THIS BOOK WAS JUST LIKE
WITHOUT VAMPIRES!
Twilight may not be the best book out there but it¡¯s my first YA book so whatever happens I would still love Twilight and would always dislike books that would come close or imitate its story.
Sad to say, The Carrier of the Mark was one of those books.
I wouldn¡¯t mind the similarity if it were just little things but as I was reading the book majority of it was a Twilightish.
It was infuriating.
All my excitement went down the drain.
Let me give you a few examples of what I meant about it being Twilightish:
1. Megan¡¯s first day at a new school and already the first person to talk to her knew her name.
Why?
Because it was a small town?
(Forks anyone?)
2. First day of school Adam was staring intently at Megan.
Megan stared back.
Megan couldn¡¯t get him out of her head.
*BOOOM!*
They were in love!
(I knew someone who had the same feeling towards each other.
What was their name again?
Oh right, it was Edward and Bella!)
3. Adam and his siblings, his sister and his brother. Their names start with an A and an R.
Now Edward has siblings too right?
What were their names again?
Rosalie and Alice?
I heard A was close with Meghan and R has a bit of an issue with what they are.
You think I was talking about Rosalie and Alice right?
NOTTT!
I was talking about Adam¡¯s siblings.
Was it a coincidence?
4. Adam has special powers.
Cool.
Megan being super duper attracted to Adam didn¡¯t care.
Adam saying he tried to stay away but he couldn¡¯t do it much longer.
(I would know that line anywhere.
Gosh Edward, why do you have to let someone else borrow your line!!
Adam can¡¯t you find your own pickup line?)
5. The Tracker.
Yep. Megan was being followed by a Tracker.
Wait a minute, wasn¡¯t Bella being followed by James?
And what was James called?
That¡¯s right, a TRACKER!
6. If Megan and Adam get kids, it would be an abomination.
Really now?
Didn¡¯t they think that way too with Renesemee?
There¡¯s actually more but I don¡¯t really have the time to list them all.
If I did, I probably would be copying the book and pasting it here.
Well, the book was not entirely bad.
I did love the thing about them being Elementals.
(But I already read a book about that which was more original by the way. No Twilight stuff.)
Carrier of the Mark had potential.
If this book didn¡¯t remind me so much of Twilight I would have liked it.
The author¡¯s writing style was okay.
The setting was perfect.
The myth about the Marked being able to wield and control the elements was okay with me too.
I didn¡¯t like the kissing stuff though.
It was a little too much for me.
I am so sorry.
This may seem like a hate review but its not.
I am just really disappointed because I didn¡¯t think it would be Twilightish.
I guess the moral lesson here is not to expect too much on the cover.
I really wanted to like this book.
Sorry.
It¡¯s a 2.5 for me.
November 21, 2011
I am honestly just at a loss for the epic failure of this book. The sad thing about it was how well it started. I was immediately sucked in and excited and then after I had gotten my feet wet I just kept reading and going ¡®what?¡¯ ¡®huh?¡¯ and ¡®I think I might have read this before?¡¯ And I had read it before in a book that you might be familiar with, called ¡®Twilight¡¯. I really hate comparing books to ¡®Twilight¡¯ because basically you can probably do this to a lot of young adults books from love triangles to the paranormal elements, but the more you look into ¡®Carrier of the Mark¡¯ the resemblances between the books are so very similar that you really wonder how the author got this one past the publisher.
REVIEW:
A girl named Megan moves to a new, small town, well really a new country. She doesn¡¯t know anyone and it is like a whole other world. Being an American and living in a variety of places makes her a novelty so she is quickly sucked in by a popular group. Megan lost her mother at an early age, so her father is her sole guardian. Sometimes in the relationship you have a hard time figuring out who is in charge and making the rules.
At school Megan is instantly drawn to the absolutely mind-blowing gorgeous, yet withdrawn Adam DeRis, but everyone says don¡¯t even try because he is a jerk and not interested in anyone at the school. Adam though is also drawn to Megan and his obvious interest surprises everyone at the school. Yet, even though he seems interested, he stays away and makes cryptic statements. Adam also has a carefree and pixie like sister named Aine who seems like she wants to befriend Bella, I mean Megan, but something is keeping Alice, I mean Aine, back. Then there is another sibling, Rian, who if looks could kill, Megan would be cold in the ground¡Rosalie, I mean Rian is standoffish and makes rude statements to Megan at first, but then warms to her.
Through a freak accident because of her friends carelessness Megan almost dies, but Adam flies to the rescue and saves her through seemingly supernatural means and gets Megan thinking that something might not be human about the ¨¹ber-hot Adam DeRis but she¡¯s still insta-attracted to him no matter what. Are you starting to get the picture here?
The comparisons go on and on and on (spoilers beware).
? Adam comes to the rescue of Megan when she is accosted by horny, drunk men as she is walking alone
? The siblings are raised by a non-related hot guardian named Fionn that could have been Carlise
? The insta-attraction that Adam and Megan share is looked at with trepidation by his family but after only 2 weeks they can see the super-love they share and know there is no separating these two
? There is an all-powerful ruling Order that monitors people like them and might have the power to pull them apart
? There are evil versions of people like them and they could potentially hurt Megan
? An evil version, who considers himself someone that tracks people, kidnaps Megan
? Adam and the rest of the family come to the rescue at the last minute and they destroy the evil guy
The book was a rewritten Twilight, just substitute Ireland for Forks and elemental powers for vampire powers. The good thing though was Megan had some kick-ass powers herself instead of being a bumbling, self-sacrificing weakling. I also know that a lot of people think that Twilight was badly written, even though I¡¯m not of that opinion and I didn¡¯t think ¡®Carrier of the Mark¡¯ was even better written. Don¡¯t waste your time with this one. There is so many more, well-written and original stories out there that you shouldn¡¯t sully your reading-time with blatant rip-offs and novels that are just written because paranormal young adult is a hot seller.
Like this Like That Better
Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1) by Stephenie Meyer
Shiver (Wolves of Mercy Falls) by Maggie Stiefvater
REVIEW:
A girl named Megan moves to a new, small town, well really a new country. She doesn¡¯t know anyone and it is like a whole other world. Being an American and living in a variety of places makes her a novelty so she is quickly sucked in by a popular group. Megan lost her mother at an early age, so her father is her sole guardian. Sometimes in the relationship you have a hard time figuring out who is in charge and making the rules.
At school Megan is instantly drawn to the absolutely mind-blowing gorgeous, yet withdrawn Adam DeRis, but everyone says don¡¯t even try because he is a jerk and not interested in anyone at the school. Adam though is also drawn to Megan and his obvious interest surprises everyone at the school. Yet, even though he seems interested, he stays away and makes cryptic statements. Adam also has a carefree and pixie like sister named Aine who seems like she wants to befriend Bella, I mean Megan, but something is keeping Alice, I mean Aine, back. Then there is another sibling, Rian, who if looks could kill, Megan would be cold in the ground¡Rosalie, I mean Rian is standoffish and makes rude statements to Megan at first, but then warms to her.
Through a freak accident because of her friends carelessness Megan almost dies, but Adam flies to the rescue and saves her through seemingly supernatural means and gets Megan thinking that something might not be human about the ¨¹ber-hot Adam DeRis but she¡¯s still insta-attracted to him no matter what. Are you starting to get the picture here?
The comparisons go on and on and on (spoilers beware).
? Adam comes to the rescue of Megan when she is accosted by horny, drunk men as she is walking alone
? The siblings are raised by a non-related hot guardian named Fionn that could have been Carlise
? The insta-attraction that Adam and Megan share is looked at with trepidation by his family but after only 2 weeks they can see the super-love they share and know there is no separating these two
? There is an all-powerful ruling Order that monitors people like them and might have the power to pull them apart
? There are evil versions of people like them and they could potentially hurt Megan
? An evil version, who considers himself someone that tracks people, kidnaps Megan
? Adam and the rest of the family come to the rescue at the last minute and they destroy the evil guy
The book was a rewritten Twilight, just substitute Ireland for Forks and elemental powers for vampire powers. The good thing though was Megan had some kick-ass powers herself instead of being a bumbling, self-sacrificing weakling. I also know that a lot of people think that Twilight was badly written, even though I¡¯m not of that opinion and I didn¡¯t think ¡®Carrier of the Mark¡¯ was even better written. Don¡¯t waste your time with this one. There is so many more, well-written and original stories out there that you shouldn¡¯t sully your reading-time with blatant rip-offs and novels that are just written because paranormal young adult is a hot seller.
Like this Like That Better
Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1) by Stephenie Meyer
Shiver (Wolves of Mercy Falls) by Maggie Stiefvater
April 5, 2011
The Carrier of the Mark is magic. It¡¯s a story that will haunt me for days. I was completely immersed into the world of Megan, Adam, Rian, and Aine. The characters are so real, I feel like they¡¯re constantly with me, hovering somewhere over my left shoulder. Great build and progression through the story. Excellent tension. Fun humor. Leigh Fallon has the ¡®it¡¯ factor¡ªthe ability to make life spring from the page. As soon as I finished, I couldn¡¯t decide whether to start over or just savor the story ... anything to stay in the world a bit longer. I¡¯m already in line for her next book!
October 20, 2011
So just to start off, this book was okay-ish. But there were times when I just could not take the characters seriously. The fact that the main characters had their first kiss SO early in the story completely confounded me. And when it did hapen everything felt so fake and completely out of place...the feeling you get when you're yanked out of the story because it starts to feel too unbeleivable. The dialogue felt so alien in that confession scene because there wasn't any real meaning to it. At the point where Adam confesses to her they are both still virtual strangers to each other. I found myself rolling eyes over and over again during the whole scene.
And the fact that the main character just somehow "knew" that the male love-interest had a thing for her without actually having any real conversations with him left me completely confounded. How exactly could she tell? Is it because she has a big ego or is it because he's been staring at her to the point of almost being a stalker? I honestly don't know. (Seriously, the guy even admits it himself that he acted like a stalker in the book). -_-
I just wish that there could have been a bigger build up to the relationship. I found it so akward and out of character for the both of them to suddenly decide one chapter that they're in love with each other when prior to the chapter they've barely spoke to each other, and Adam comes off as so cold. He turned from an iceburg to a tropical beach in the course of one chapter in the BEGINNING of the book. Most of the time big character changes like that don't happen until the END of the book. I would have taken that scene a lot more seriously if it were placed closer to the climax.
And how many times are they going to repeat "I think I can take on the world when I'm with you!" Was this meant to be a catchphrase or something because they say it about 3 or more times per chapter. -_-
Overall, The Carrier of the Mark was a bit too cliche and abrupt for my tastes. And there were way TOO many similarities to Twilight. I really really wanted to like this book because Leigh is an awesome person, but I just couldn't. After getting about 3/4ths of the way through the book I couldn't bring myself to finish the rest. I felt annoyed with just about every character except for maybe Rian.
And the fact that the main character just somehow "knew" that the male love-interest had a thing for her without actually having any real conversations with him left me completely confounded. How exactly could she tell? Is it because she has a big ego or is it because he's been staring at her to the point of almost being a stalker? I honestly don't know. (Seriously, the guy even admits it himself that he acted like a stalker in the book). -_-
I just wish that there could have been a bigger build up to the relationship. I found it so akward and out of character for the both of them to suddenly decide one chapter that they're in love with each other when prior to the chapter they've barely spoke to each other, and Adam comes off as so cold. He turned from an iceburg to a tropical beach in the course of one chapter in the BEGINNING of the book. Most of the time big character changes like that don't happen until the END of the book. I would have taken that scene a lot more seriously if it were placed closer to the climax.
And how many times are they going to repeat "I think I can take on the world when I'm with you!" Was this meant to be a catchphrase or something because they say it about 3 or more times per chapter. -_-
Overall, The Carrier of the Mark was a bit too cliche and abrupt for my tastes. And there were way TOO many similarities to Twilight. I really really wanted to like this book because Leigh is an awesome person, but I just couldn't. After getting about 3/4ths of the way through the book I couldn't bring myself to finish the rest. I felt annoyed with just about every character except for maybe Rian.
October 26, 2011
*NEW REVIEW*
This book starts off like any other book, new girl, new town, new school, and HOTT guy staring at new girl. But really, how can you really start an epic book any differently? It starts out as something that almost everyone could relate to, and it is also very realistic.
I love the Irish slang, such a character builder for this book, which makes it more of a grabbing read. I would like to visit Kinsale one of these days.
The relationship between Megan and her dad, it is easy going and adorable. Even Megan¡¯s friendships she made with Caitlin and Jennifer; even though I didn¡¯t really care for Jennifer. Caitlin is so adorable and loveable.
Aine stood out to me more than Adam at first, probably because he¡¯s too busy avoiding Megan. Aine is so dag¡¯gone cute and such a lovely character I cannot but to love her to death.
Adam¡¯s first reaction to Megan¡¯s presence was hilarious! He ran into the dang door frame! What a goofball! Also his heroic actions with saving Megan from drowning, was so sexy that I drooled reading that part.
The revealing of Megan and Adam¡¯s relationship at the Halloween party, was delicious and hott. That kiss was steamy and slow, which made it all the better. I like very detailed kissing. Very realistic and sexy, I thought it was a great scene for them to admit the attraction.
The discovery of the elements and the Carrier of the Mark are amazing. The history got kind of confusing, with the recessive gene (I remember studying that somewhere in Science class before¡) but I followed and understood after thinking on it. It¡¯s a very interesting and enticing to learn more on the Marked; especially, when it came to the Druids, the goddess Danu, and the Sidhe. It all kept the book just inches from the tip of my nose.
My heart broke for the DeRis children, by the untimely death of their parents. I hate that Emma and Fionn had to suffer because of the Order¡¯s order for Emma to marry Stephen. My heart broke for Fionn¡¯s story. I literally wanted to cry. Didn¡¯t just kill one of his beloved ones! But two! His unborn child! I hate the Knox!
Megan training with Rian, can I say hot? Like literally it was HOT! Because Rian controls fire!
I think Rian is one gorgeous character, because he just lures me in, for some reason. I love Adam, I¡¯m Team Adam all the way. But gosh does all the DeRis family have to have ultra HOTT men? Rian¡¯s a babe! With his cool attitudes and smirk remarks. I think I want to keep him for myself!
Leigh, can you wrap up Rian for me, as an early Christmas present?
Megan¡¯s training is a cool aspect of the book. The vision of it was put across nicely and there are some kick-butt areas! Megan is a powerful girl. She showed Rian and Adam a thing or two about fighting each other¡ªwhich I thought it was hott.
I don¡¯t like the Dublin Order. They act suspicious and nasty; especially, when it comes to Adam and Megan¡¯s ¡®forbidden¡¯ relationship. But I love the whole aspect of complication to keep the book interesting. Their baby could be a monster?
The fifth prophecy was very interest capturing for me. I want to find out more on it so much right now. However, what I got in the book has my interest in its grasp!
The ending was TENSE! That¡¯s all I have to say. Megan getting extremely angry at Lyonist even scared me! I could just see it happening. I hate strong winds, so I could pretty much see how it went down. And I don¡¯t blame Megan for going psycho on him! He deserved it!
In all honesty, I love this book! Carrier is one of my favorite all-time reads! Because it¡¯s so different, when it comes to powers, the Order, the Knox, and Leigh¡¯s amazing world she had created for Adam and Megan. Even if it¡¯s nothing but a living hell at times, I would still like to live alongside Megan and Adam. (Maybe get me some Rian snogging on his motorcycle?) Maybe I could be off with Aine riding horses, or watching her talk to animals and plants? No matter what, I wouldn¡¯t mind being in the world of the Carrier of the Mark.
*OLD REVIEW for Inkpop version*
Okay considering I've read this book before it was even optioned to be published. I was on inkpop to witness this master piece climb up the charts and into professional editor hands so that it can make it to being published.
This is an AUH-MAZING book, very obsess worthy. I know I was for months after reading it on inkpop.com. You'll fall in love with Adam and Megan, and I LOVE Aine! The mystery behind this book and the tension between the characters is so addictive that you can't help but read it in one sitting. I know I did. XD
I highly reccomend this book to anyone that has a love for fantasy, forbidden romances, and some awesome action.
This book will leave you breathless for more! It did me! And I've been craving for more for a year!
I cannot WAIT until I can get a actual copy of this book in my hands! I'm getting teary eyed typing this, because I got to follow Leigh's journey into getting her book published.
Congrats Leigh!!
With lots of love, Kristia S.<3<3<3 aka XoKrisTeeAuhOx (on inkpop.com)
God Bless<3<3<3
This book starts off like any other book, new girl, new town, new school, and HOTT guy staring at new girl. But really, how can you really start an epic book any differently? It starts out as something that almost everyone could relate to, and it is also very realistic.
I love the Irish slang, such a character builder for this book, which makes it more of a grabbing read. I would like to visit Kinsale one of these days.
The relationship between Megan and her dad, it is easy going and adorable. Even Megan¡¯s friendships she made with Caitlin and Jennifer; even though I didn¡¯t really care for Jennifer. Caitlin is so adorable and loveable.
Aine stood out to me more than Adam at first, probably because he¡¯s too busy avoiding Megan. Aine is so dag¡¯gone cute and such a lovely character I cannot but to love her to death.
Adam¡¯s first reaction to Megan¡¯s presence was hilarious! He ran into the dang door frame! What a goofball! Also his heroic actions with saving Megan from drowning, was so sexy that I drooled reading that part.
The revealing of Megan and Adam¡¯s relationship at the Halloween party, was delicious and hott. That kiss was steamy and slow, which made it all the better. I like very detailed kissing. Very realistic and sexy, I thought it was a great scene for them to admit the attraction.
The discovery of the elements and the Carrier of the Mark are amazing. The history got kind of confusing, with the recessive gene (I remember studying that somewhere in Science class before¡) but I followed and understood after thinking on it. It¡¯s a very interesting and enticing to learn more on the Marked; especially, when it came to the Druids, the goddess Danu, and the Sidhe. It all kept the book just inches from the tip of my nose.
My heart broke for the DeRis children, by the untimely death of their parents. I hate that Emma and Fionn had to suffer because of the Order¡¯s order for Emma to marry Stephen. My heart broke for Fionn¡¯s story. I literally wanted to cry. Didn¡¯t just kill one of his beloved ones! But two! His unborn child! I hate the Knox!
Megan training with Rian, can I say hot? Like literally it was HOT! Because Rian controls fire!
I think Rian is one gorgeous character, because he just lures me in, for some reason. I love Adam, I¡¯m Team Adam all the way. But gosh does all the DeRis family have to have ultra HOTT men? Rian¡¯s a babe! With his cool attitudes and smirk remarks. I think I want to keep him for myself!
Leigh, can you wrap up Rian for me, as an early Christmas present?
Megan¡¯s training is a cool aspect of the book. The vision of it was put across nicely and there are some kick-butt areas! Megan is a powerful girl. She showed Rian and Adam a thing or two about fighting each other¡ªwhich I thought it was hott.
I don¡¯t like the Dublin Order. They act suspicious and nasty; especially, when it comes to Adam and Megan¡¯s ¡®forbidden¡¯ relationship. But I love the whole aspect of complication to keep the book interesting. Their baby could be a monster?
The fifth prophecy was very interest capturing for me. I want to find out more on it so much right now. However, what I got in the book has my interest in its grasp!
The ending was TENSE! That¡¯s all I have to say. Megan getting extremely angry at Lyonist even scared me! I could just see it happening. I hate strong winds, so I could pretty much see how it went down. And I don¡¯t blame Megan for going psycho on him! He deserved it!
In all honesty, I love this book! Carrier is one of my favorite all-time reads! Because it¡¯s so different, when it comes to powers, the Order, the Knox, and Leigh¡¯s amazing world she had created for Adam and Megan. Even if it¡¯s nothing but a living hell at times, I would still like to live alongside Megan and Adam. (Maybe get me some Rian snogging on his motorcycle?) Maybe I could be off with Aine riding horses, or watching her talk to animals and plants? No matter what, I wouldn¡¯t mind being in the world of the Carrier of the Mark.
*OLD REVIEW for Inkpop version*
Okay considering I've read this book before it was even optioned to be published. I was on inkpop to witness this master piece climb up the charts and into professional editor hands so that it can make it to being published.
This is an AUH-MAZING book, very obsess worthy. I know I was for months after reading it on inkpop.com. You'll fall in love with Adam and Megan, and I LOVE Aine! The mystery behind this book and the tension between the characters is so addictive that you can't help but read it in one sitting. I know I did. XD
I highly reccomend this book to anyone that has a love for fantasy, forbidden romances, and some awesome action.
This book will leave you breathless for more! It did me! And I've been craving for more for a year!
I cannot WAIT until I can get a actual copy of this book in my hands! I'm getting teary eyed typing this, because I got to follow Leigh's journey into getting her book published.
Congrats Leigh!!
With lots of love, Kristia S.<3<3<3 aka XoKrisTeeAuhOx (on inkpop.com)
God Bless<3<3<3
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 2, 2011
Let me preface this by stating that I have read some of the other reviews posted here about Carrier of the Mark, and I am disappointed by the constant comparison of Fallon's novel to that of Meyer's imfamously poor written Twilight Saga. I do understand that there are similar constructs at play--for instance, the idea of a girl and boy drawn inexplicably to one another. However, Fallon's novel proves in many ways to be stronger and is more original than "Twilight."
Number One: The Heroine. Megan is used to being a loner since her father continues to move around due to restlessness. This is a clear indication that she has learned to fend for herself in school, friendships, etc. I love her snarky personality, and the fact that she struggles with math. She is not an All-American girl, she has her flaws and embraces her new destiny with hesitant confidence. I believe that the amount of power she exhibits at the end of the novel directly parallels her strength of self.
Number Two: The DeRis Family. Adam and his family are hardly a normal bunch, obviously maintaining the same loner status that Megan has throughout her frequent moves. The power of the elements is such an amazing idea, it makes me wish I had thought of it myself.
Number Three: The Concept. I love that Megan has a clear destiny with the DeRis family, and not a wimpy reason like Bella Swan. Megan completes the prophecy for the elements restoring the natural balance to the Earth. Not only does Fallon create a clear PURPOSE for her heroine's journey, but she also employs current events with the idea of global warming and the many natural disasters plaguing the world. In addition to this, the life within her story world is air-tight. I could not find any inconsistences within the prophesies or history of the elemental hosts.
Overall, I recommend this book to YA Literature nuts--like myself--and to anyone looking for something supernatural that is unique and completely new.
My Review: 4 stars.
Number One: The Heroine. Megan is used to being a loner since her father continues to move around due to restlessness. This is a clear indication that she has learned to fend for herself in school, friendships, etc. I love her snarky personality, and the fact that she struggles with math. She is not an All-American girl, she has her flaws and embraces her new destiny with hesitant confidence. I believe that the amount of power she exhibits at the end of the novel directly parallels her strength of self.
Number Two: The DeRis Family. Adam and his family are hardly a normal bunch, obviously maintaining the same loner status that Megan has throughout her frequent moves. The power of the elements is such an amazing idea, it makes me wish I had thought of it myself.
Number Three: The Concept. I love that Megan has a clear destiny with the DeRis family, and not a wimpy reason like Bella Swan. Megan completes the prophecy for the elements restoring the natural balance to the Earth. Not only does Fallon create a clear PURPOSE for her heroine's journey, but she also employs current events with the idea of global warming and the many natural disasters plaguing the world. In addition to this, the life within her story world is air-tight. I could not find any inconsistences within the prophesies or history of the elemental hosts.
Overall, I recommend this book to YA Literature nuts--like myself--and to anyone looking for something supernatural that is unique and completely new.
My Review: 4 stars.
Read
January 31, 2011This will be the very first book published by us that was found on inkpop.com. Very exciting!
July 12, 2020
Their love was meant to be.
COUGH!!!
Every time I see the cover, I have this imaginary rap in my head:
Oh, the things my mind does.
That being said, I knew this book was going to be terrible, but I wasn't expecting the terribleness. For a book that is so short and easy to read, it was a living snooze pill, but not as relaxing.
Unoriginal doesn't begin to describe it. A rip-off is more like it.
And you have every reason not to. I also can't believe myself either. Here's yet another cheap imitation of Twilight. Sure, it doesn't have vampires and they're in Ireland, but it doesn't mean there are not similarities.
Let's start, shall we?
*Heroine starts with moving to another state (in this case, country).
*Heroine immediately starts making friends despite being ordinary.
*Heroine meets mysterious SUPER HOT boyfriend with green eyes and falls in love with him almost instantly. They have a biology class together.
*Love interest does too but warns her to stay away anyway after he rescued her.
*Heroes professed their love for each other and can't live without the other after just a few weeks.
*Hero confesses that he had watched her sleep before and that he's paranormal. The heroine doesn't give a fuck.
*Hero introduces Heroine to his paranormal.
family. He has two brothers with names that start with an A (Who is a Pixie Manic one) and an R (Who doesn't like Heroine).
*PLOT TWIST: Heroine has powers too eventually.
*Their love is considered destructive and may result with a DEMON SPAWN FROM HELL baby.
*Harmless Villain captures Heroine. Evil laugh.
*Villain gets beat by deus ex machina. Heroine ends up in a hospital.
*
THE. MOTHERFUCKING. END.
Could you guess which book we are talking about? Holy shit, yes! We are talking about Twilight, y'all!
But, wait! This is not Twilight! This is Carrier of the Mark!
SO SIMILAR!
I want to tell you the plot, but you already know it. But, I'll tell you this: It's nonexistent! Like Twilight!
SHOCKING.
Now, let me tell you about the characters . . .
Megan Rosenberg: Our protagonist, she falls for Adam DeR¨ªs, a mysterious boy at first sight. She almost gets assaulted but Adam rescues her. MAKE OUT TIME. She discovers that she's also a paranormal being like Adam's family. She's also a Carrier of the Mark and of royal blood at the same time, which apparently hasn't happened before. And also, there's a possibility that she's part of a prophecy where she's considered the fifth element and the key to saving the world.
In other words, Mary Sue. GASP! Like Bella Swan!
SHOCKING.
Adam Der¨ªs: Mysterious boy who saves Megan from assault. Loves Megan and watches her sleep. Stalker. He's a paranormal being. Looooves making out with Megan. Horny bastard. He's needy and wimpy. They love each other after two weeks of meeting each other. Codependency for the win. He also has green eyes. GASP! Like Edward Cullen did before he was a vampire!
SHOCKING.
Caitlin: Megan's human best friend that has a boyfriend. She always talks about him. He may or may not have cheated on her. They break up. They come back. THE END.
The DeR¨ªs family: Paranormal family. I'll tell you what they're in a minute.
Aine DeR¨ªs: A pixie cute girl. Has a "sight". Not similar to Alice Cullen. At all.
Rian DeR¨ªs: He's mad most of the time and doesn't like Megan. Not similar to Rosalie Hale. At all. Except masculine.
You think this book rips off ONLY Twilight? Think again . . .
The Deris family are element benders. Rian is fire (of course), Aine is earth, Adam is water . . . and Megan happens to be the missing element: Air.
Megan is the last airbender, y'all!
It takes the cake that Adam is a water-bender, just like Katara, Aang's love interest.
SUBTLE.
But, wait! There's more!
The mythology: A mind screw. Adam and Megan shouldn't have sex because she will have a 25-year-old pregnancy and that baby will destroy the world. Just like a baby that used to be the Black Plague. Yeah. Do you get it? I didn't.
Writing: Mediocre at best. SHOW, don't TELL, damn it!
And juvenile writing. Oh, dear God. Most of the descriptions were: "I made a face", "He made this, he made that" "Pukey"! I know this is YA, but it shouldn't mean that the writing should be atrocious.
Damn it.
Conflict: . . . There was a conflict? Really? Oh, I remember! 20 pages before the end, a villain named Lyonis Fleet (Yes, really!) captures Megan. For some reason. Oh, and he has a British accent. So original. Blah, blah, blah, evil laugh, blah blah blah, Adam comes to the rescue! But, oh no! Adam is losing! That makes Megan mad!
And then . . .
Yeah, that just happened.
Villain is defeated and Megan and Adam are happy.
That's it? All this building up for the Big Bad and it only lasts for one chapter of 10 pages? And gets defeated in the last two by a deus ex machina? A DEUS EX MACHINA!
What. A. Ripoff.
This is just lazy. The villain came out of nowhere and left out of nowhere. I hope the next villain isn't utterly pathetic in the sequel. IF I read the sequel. Which I will. Damn it.
Megan goes to the hospital, leaves, and CHEESE FOR MEGAN AND ADAM!!
THE. FUCKING. END.
Was there at least a positive quality? NONE!! Okay, the setting, but THAT'S. IT.
This book sucked monkey's balls and actually gave it a blowjob!
That's how much it sucked.
Fallon, you had a promising story and you decided to let Twilight fucked it up its ass and get it pregnant! This is the result, damn it!
Why? JUST WHY?
You had Ireland and element benders! You only needed a better world-building and characters!
Good riddance!
I sure hope Shadow of the Mark doesn't end up being New Moon: The Remix, because then my fury gets higher!
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!
BONUS TIME!!!!
I REGRET NOTHING!!!
COUGH!!!
Every time I see the cover, I have this imaginary rap in my head:
Bitches be like, I'm so fly
But the truth is that they're not
I'm the baddest bitch, you should never doubt
When I shit on these haters while I skyrocket high
Look at me motherfuckers, look at me fly
Look at me motherfuckers, with my ass saying bye
Don't forget to kiss it and my anus, too
Because you know deep down that I want to get kinky with you
Oh, the things my mind does.
That being said, I knew this book was going to be terrible, but I wasn't expecting the terribleness. For a book that is so short and easy to read, it was a living snooze pill, but not as relaxing.
Unoriginal doesn't begin to describe it. A rip-off is more like it.
And you have every reason not to. I also can't believe myself either. Here's yet another cheap imitation of Twilight. Sure, it doesn't have vampires and they're in Ireland, but it doesn't mean there are not similarities.
Let's start, shall we?
*Heroine starts with moving to another state (in this case, country).
*Heroine immediately starts making friends despite being ordinary.
*Heroine meets mysterious SUPER HOT boyfriend with green eyes and falls in love with him almost instantly. They have a biology class together.
*Love interest does too but warns her to stay away anyway after he rescued her.
*Heroes professed their love for each other and can't live without the other after just a few weeks.
*Hero confesses that he had watched her sleep before and that he's paranormal. The heroine doesn't give a fuck.
*Hero introduces Heroine to his paranormal.
family. He has two brothers with names that start with an A (Who is a Pixie Manic one) and an R (Who doesn't like Heroine).
*PLOT TWIST: Heroine has powers too eventually.
*Their love is considered destructive and may result with a DEMON SPAWN FROM HELL baby.
*Harmless Villain captures Heroine. Evil laugh.
*Villain gets beat by deus ex machina. Heroine ends up in a hospital.
*
THE. MOTHERFUCKING. END.
Could you guess which book we are talking about? Holy shit, yes! We are talking about Twilight, y'all!
But, wait! This is not Twilight! This is Carrier of the Mark!
SO SIMILAR!
I want to tell you the plot, but you already know it. But, I'll tell you this: It's nonexistent! Like Twilight!
SHOCKING.
Now, let me tell you about the characters . . .
Megan Rosenberg: Our protagonist, she falls for Adam DeR¨ªs, a mysterious boy at first sight. She almost gets assaulted but Adam rescues her. MAKE OUT TIME. She discovers that she's also a paranormal being like Adam's family. She's also a Carrier of the Mark and of royal blood at the same time, which apparently hasn't happened before. And also, there's a possibility that she's part of a prophecy where she's considered the fifth element and the key to saving the world.
In other words, Mary Sue. GASP! Like Bella Swan!
SHOCKING.
Adam Der¨ªs: Mysterious boy who saves Megan from assault. Loves Megan and watches her sleep. Stalker. He's a paranormal being. Looooves making out with Megan. Horny bastard. He's needy and wimpy. They love each other after two weeks of meeting each other. Codependency for the win. He also has green eyes. GASP! Like Edward Cullen did before he was a vampire!
SHOCKING.
Caitlin: Megan's human best friend that has a boyfriend. She always talks about him. He may or may not have cheated on her. They break up. They come back. THE END.
The DeR¨ªs family: Paranormal family. I'll tell you what they're in a minute.
Aine DeR¨ªs: A pixie cute girl. Has a "sight". Not similar to Alice Cullen. At all.
Rian DeR¨ªs: He's mad most of the time and doesn't like Megan. Not similar to Rosalie Hale. At all. Except masculine.
You think this book rips off ONLY Twilight? Think again . . .
The Deris family are element benders. Rian is fire (of course), Aine is earth, Adam is water . . . and Megan happens to be the missing element: Air.
Megan is the last airbender, y'all!
It takes the cake that Adam is a water-bender, just like Katara, Aang's love interest.
SUBTLE.
But, wait! There's more!
The mythology: A mind screw. Adam and Megan shouldn't have sex because she will have a 25-year-old pregnancy and that baby will destroy the world. Just like a baby that used to be the Black Plague. Yeah. Do you get it? I didn't.
Writing: Mediocre at best. SHOW, don't TELL, damn it!
And juvenile writing. Oh, dear God. Most of the descriptions were: "I made a face", "He made this, he made that" "Pukey"! I know this is YA, but it shouldn't mean that the writing should be atrocious.
Damn it.
Conflict: . . . There was a conflict? Really? Oh, I remember! 20 pages before the end, a villain named Lyonis Fleet (Yes, really!) captures Megan. For some reason. Oh, and he has a British accent. So original. Blah, blah, blah, evil laugh, blah blah blah, Adam comes to the rescue! But, oh no! Adam is losing! That makes Megan mad!
And then . . .
I suddenly realized that I was up in the air high above them. I appeared to be radiating a bright light. The air around me swirled until I could no longer see the land. River water started rising up and spinning around me. Next the boats lifted, then some trees, their great roots torn from the earth by the brutal force emanating from me. It was a massive vortex, spreading out farther and farther until the riverbed was visible, the water swirling high above it. The boats and the trees that had been tugged up swirled so fast that their outlines became a blur. I saw the object of my rage running away. He was making for the woods, but I pushed out the great vortex of moving air and debris so that he stayed constantly in my sight. There was no way he could break through its impenetrable wall. ¡°You,¡± I snarled.
My voice was not mine. It was a mixture of howling wind and cracking thunder. ¡°You will pay.¡± I clasped my hand, as if to pick up his little body far below me on the ground, and he rose right into the air until he was at my level. ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m sorry!¡± he screamed, flailing his legs and trying to shield himself from my glare. ¡°Too late for that.¡± My voice reverberated around the valley. I saw them waving up at me, but I was beyond caring what they wanted. The power inside engulfed me, took over my very core, and it needed vengeance.
Yeah, that just happened.
Villain is defeated and Megan and Adam are happy.
That's it? All this building up for the Big Bad and it only lasts for one chapter of 10 pages? And gets defeated in the last two by a deus ex machina? A DEUS EX MACHINA!
What. A. Ripoff.
This is just lazy. The villain came out of nowhere and left out of nowhere. I hope the next villain isn't utterly pathetic in the sequel. IF I read the sequel. Which I will. Damn it.
Megan goes to the hospital, leaves, and CHEESE FOR MEGAN AND ADAM!!
THE. FUCKING. END.
Was there at least a positive quality? NONE!! Okay, the setting, but THAT'S. IT.
This book sucked monkey's balls and actually gave it a blowjob!
That's how much it sucked.
Fallon, you had a promising story and you decided to let Twilight fucked it up its ass and get it pregnant! This is the result, damn it!
Why? JUST WHY?
You had Ireland and element benders! You only needed a better world-building and characters!
Good riddance!
I sure hope Shadow of the Mark doesn't end up being New Moon: The Remix, because then my fury gets higher!
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!
BONUS TIME!!!!
I REGRET NOTHING!!!
November 15, 2011
I was really looking forward to reading carrier of the mark! I ordered it from my local book store and picked it up on the day it came out. Unfortunately I'm sorry to say that I was terribly dissapointed! Carrier of the mark turned out to be one of my least favorite books that I have ever read and when I say one of I mean like my top three worst of all time! And I've read a lot of books. I don't mean to be mean but this book was just so terrible! I'm amazed that Leigh Fallon has not been sued for plagerism by Stephanie Myer. Every main plot point is practically copied from the Twilight series but without any real feeling or excitement. And if that weren't bad enough our protaganist is so incredibly boring that the reader has no reason to even like her. Although I guess that is to be expected considering that fallon failed to develop any of the charicters in this book so that we have no real connection to them or reason to route for them. Aside from these things the plot itself has more holes than swiss cheese! We start out with one main plot point that turns into another and in the end neither one of these has been resolved or even adiquitly addressed. the end of the book leaves the reader with no real answers to questions that needed to be answered because they were the main plot of the book and no desire to read a sequal to possibly get these answers because the first book was so bad. What we are left with though is an ending to the final main plot point that Fallon added at the end seemingly because she had no idea how to resolve the last two main plot points so she thought she might distract the reader with yet a third less involved and developed plot point that the last two. I cannot believe that a publisher picked this up and an editor let it go out in such bad shape. Long story short: don't waste your money, time or energy.
May 28, 2011
The Carrier of the Mark is thrilling, fresh and achingly romantic. It will have you up late at night, devouring the lives of Megan and Adam, leaving you wanting more and more.
November 9, 2011
Pre-Reading: Wow. I'm absolutely in love with that cover. Can't wait to read it!!
Review: You know what I'm really not liking nowadays? How most YA paranormal books are almost exactly the same thing, just with different paranormal situations. Girl meets mysterious guy, they quickly fall in love, girl gets pulled into some paranormal world, learns she is "special", etc. It's really ticking me off. Of course, not ALL YA paranormal books are like this. And I was really hoping Carrier of the Mark would be something different. Ever since I heard how good it is and watched the author interviews, I instantly planned to buy it. Good thing I didn't because sadly, it was a huge disappointment.
I liked the prologue-it really grabbed my attention and got me interested to know what happened that led up to it. After that, however, is when everything went downhill. I really don't want to say this but...the beginning was A LOT like Twilight. *flinches* I'm really not one of those people who compare every single YA paranormal book out there with Twilight but this book was just waaaaay too similar. The "siblings" who are actually adopted and separate themselves from others, how Adam and Megan instantly feel an attraction towards each other despite speaking no more than two sentences, and Megan's quick acceptance of Adam's world. Seriously. Another thing I didn't like was how everything was all happy-ish. It was like watching a super perfect family who make corny jokes all the time and stay happy. Just with supernatural powers. And the romance? The two barely go on more than two dates and Adam has Megan meeting his family. Yeah, maybe that was because of Megan's' true identity but I felt that their relationship moved way too fast. Plus it was super cheesy with Adam flirting non-stop and "joking" about how no guy (or bird) can get Megan because "she's his". Ugh.
I actually have a lot more to say about this book but I don't want to waste my time. I actually didn't finish the book, I stopped after I was about two-thirds in. I could've finished it, but I'd rather do other things that I actually enjoy.
Despite the beautiful cover, this book was not what I was expecting. From now on, I'm going to be very careful when I add books to read.
Review: You know what I'm really not liking nowadays? How most YA paranormal books are almost exactly the same thing, just with different paranormal situations. Girl meets mysterious guy, they quickly fall in love, girl gets pulled into some paranormal world, learns she is "special", etc. It's really ticking me off. Of course, not ALL YA paranormal books are like this. And I was really hoping Carrier of the Mark would be something different. Ever since I heard how good it is and watched the author interviews, I instantly planned to buy it. Good thing I didn't because sadly, it was a huge disappointment.
I liked the prologue-it really grabbed my attention and got me interested to know what happened that led up to it. After that, however, is when everything went downhill. I really don't want to say this but...the beginning was A LOT like Twilight. *flinches* I'm really not one of those people who compare every single YA paranormal book out there with Twilight but this book was just waaaaay too similar. The "siblings" who are actually adopted and separate themselves from others, how Adam and Megan instantly feel an attraction towards each other despite speaking no more than two sentences, and Megan's quick acceptance of Adam's world. Seriously. Another thing I didn't like was how everything was all happy-ish. It was like watching a super perfect family who make corny jokes all the time and stay happy. Just with supernatural powers. And the romance? The two barely go on more than two dates and Adam has Megan meeting his family. Yeah, maybe that was because of Megan's' true identity but I felt that their relationship moved way too fast. Plus it was super cheesy with Adam flirting non-stop and "joking" about how no guy (or bird) can get Megan because "she's his". Ugh.
I actually have a lot more to say about this book but I don't want to waste my time. I actually didn't finish the book, I stopped after I was about two-thirds in. I could've finished it, but I'd rather do other things that I actually enjoy.
Despite the beautiful cover, this book was not what I was expecting. From now on, I'm going to be very careful when I add books to read.
May 15, 2012
*Sigh* OK, let's see umm...quirky, Converse-wearing new girl at school; check. Tragic dead mother; check. Doofy, clueless, but lovable father; check. Instant best friend for spunky protagonist at new school; check. Tall, dark, and totally unrealistic love interest; check and check.
I actually liked the build-up. This is a lot like Twilight, formula-wise, but better written. However, when the romance happens, it just comes up and bitch slaps you really hard in the face, no mercy style. I mean it. Adam's elusive, elusive, elusive, then WHAM! can'tsatawayfromyouanymoreyoudrivemecrazycanyoufeelittoo? *kiss kiss kiss* *licking palm of Converse girl*....hot, but....really?
So then we run into more of the inevitable; Converse girl is so super powerful and oh-so scary when she finally decides to check in, but our little Mary Sue is willing to give up everything for Mr. Perfect....oh, but they can't do the nasty. Yeah, you heard me, it goes there, too. Only it's not because they're afraid of burning in hell like Edward, simply because it could literally end the world. Right. If I were given a warning like that, first thing I'd be doing afterward would be finding a bed. I mean, can you imagine how epic that sex would be? I mean, at the end of the book, the freaking wind starts trying to have sex with them every time they make out. Seriously, get a room, this could be good stuff!
Why is YA fiction so tame? It's certainly never realistic. Two 17-year-olds who are in obsession/love with each other and freaky atmospheric things start happening when they so much as flick tongues? I'm sorry, the pants aren't gonna stay on long. I think my biggest frustration is with the absurdity of the very idea. Guess it's time for another break from paranormal YA.
I actually liked the build-up. This is a lot like Twilight, formula-wise, but better written. However, when the romance happens, it just comes up and bitch slaps you really hard in the face, no mercy style. I mean it. Adam's elusive, elusive, elusive, then WHAM! can'tsatawayfromyouanymoreyoudrivemecrazycanyoufeelittoo? *kiss kiss kiss* *licking palm of Converse girl*....hot, but....really?
So then we run into more of the inevitable; Converse girl is so super powerful and oh-so scary when she finally decides to check in, but our little Mary Sue is willing to give up everything for Mr. Perfect....oh, but they can't do the nasty. Yeah, you heard me, it goes there, too. Only it's not because they're afraid of burning in hell like Edward, simply because it could literally end the world. Right. If I were given a warning like that, first thing I'd be doing afterward would be finding a bed. I mean, can you imagine how epic that sex would be? I mean, at the end of the book, the freaking wind starts trying to have sex with them every time they make out. Seriously, get a room, this could be good stuff!
Why is YA fiction so tame? It's certainly never realistic. Two 17-year-olds who are in obsession/love with each other and freaky atmospheric things start happening when they so much as flick tongues? I'm sorry, the pants aren't gonna stay on long. I think my biggest frustration is with the absurdity of the very idea. Guess it's time for another break from paranormal YA.
October 26, 2011
Originally posted at
Carrier of the Mark is simply amazing. It's been a long time since I've read a novel with explosive romance, brilliant mythology, a whole cast of fantastic supporting characters and nail-biting suspense. I could shout praises all day long! Alas, I must control myself...... Megan Rosenberg and her father move every year, but something about Ireland just feels right, like maybe it's where they're meant to stay for good. On the first day of school, Megan is inexplicably attracted to Adam DeR¨ªs, despite the warnings from her friends to stay away. The Der¨ªs family have a reputation for being stuck up and caught up in the world of witchcraft... True? False? You're in for a nice surprise!
Adam and Meg¡all I can say is WOW. Their love is intense, consuming, earth-shattering and meant-to-be. Fireworks are exploding everywhere here! Yes, they're drawn to each other immediately. Yes, they fall in love as they prepare for a huge paranormal battle. No, it is not like Twilight! Fallon is a magnificent writer and fully immerses her readers in the realistic world she's created. The romance is forever, but not cheesy or overdone. I dove in head-first and devoured every little "I love you" like it was water and I was dying of thirst. Throughout the book, my heart threatened to jump out of my chest because the romance isn't on a constant high, but is met with barriers and devastating revelations - not just between Adam and Meg, but their friends and family too! Even if you're not a romance fan¡there are plenty of other things to love about this novel.
Usually when you have two amazing lead characters everyone else blends into the background, but you will love Adam's family, Meg's friends (and their cute boyfriends) and Meg's father. It's not everyday that you see a young adult character with a great relationship with her dad! What they have is sweet and trusting and will have you feeling all warm and fuzzy inside in no time! All of the characters will plaster a smile across your face with their humour and friendliness - oh, these Irish folks are so lovely!
So many things are revealed and turned onto their heads in Carrier of the Mark, which is why I haven't gone into the plot. It's all part of the mysterious allure! It's exciting and unique, and you'll have a lot of fun exploring¡"things". The beautiful scenery of Ireland plus the magical element of this story is so engaging and will quickly have you falling in love! It doesn't get much better than this. I guess I should stop fangirling now and just let you read the book. Do it now, before I send evil villains after you!
Carrier of the Mark is simply amazing. It's been a long time since I've read a novel with explosive romance, brilliant mythology, a whole cast of fantastic supporting characters and nail-biting suspense. I could shout praises all day long! Alas, I must control myself...... Megan Rosenberg and her father move every year, but something about Ireland just feels right, like maybe it's where they're meant to stay for good. On the first day of school, Megan is inexplicably attracted to Adam DeR¨ªs, despite the warnings from her friends to stay away. The Der¨ªs family have a reputation for being stuck up and caught up in the world of witchcraft... True? False? You're in for a nice surprise!
Adam and Meg¡all I can say is WOW. Their love is intense, consuming, earth-shattering and meant-to-be. Fireworks are exploding everywhere here! Yes, they're drawn to each other immediately. Yes, they fall in love as they prepare for a huge paranormal battle. No, it is not like Twilight! Fallon is a magnificent writer and fully immerses her readers in the realistic world she's created. The romance is forever, but not cheesy or overdone. I dove in head-first and devoured every little "I love you" like it was water and I was dying of thirst. Throughout the book, my heart threatened to jump out of my chest because the romance isn't on a constant high, but is met with barriers and devastating revelations - not just between Adam and Meg, but their friends and family too! Even if you're not a romance fan¡there are plenty of other things to love about this novel.
Usually when you have two amazing lead characters everyone else blends into the background, but you will love Adam's family, Meg's friends (and their cute boyfriends) and Meg's father. It's not everyday that you see a young adult character with a great relationship with her dad! What they have is sweet and trusting and will have you feeling all warm and fuzzy inside in no time! All of the characters will plaster a smile across your face with their humour and friendliness - oh, these Irish folks are so lovely!
So many things are revealed and turned onto their heads in Carrier of the Mark, which is why I haven't gone into the plot. It's all part of the mysterious allure! It's exciting and unique, and you'll have a lot of fun exploring¡"things". The beautiful scenery of Ireland plus the magical element of this story is so engaging and will quickly have you falling in love! It doesn't get much better than this. I guess I should stop fangirling now and just let you read the book. Do it now, before I send evil villains after you!
September 30, 2011
I¡¯d seen a lot of hype over The Carrier of the Mark and so I was super excited to be able to read this one in advance of its publication date. I started The Carrier of the Mark and sat down to read it in its entirety in an entire day. I even stayed up later than I had intended just so I could finish the book.
Needless to say that I enjoyed reading The Carrier of the Mark very much; it has a lot of same-ish elements to it that books in the paranormal romance genre have; but at the same time there are a lot of differences too. To me, it¡¯s the differences that really make this book. They stand out far more than those same qualities.
For starters, the descriptive writing is really amazing. I loved Leigh¡¯s writing style as it was nice and simple yet captured the beauty of what was happening in certain parts of the story. There are some very beautiful scenes in The Carrier of the Mark but I can¡¯t say too much more about them without giving away spoilers.
The paranormal/supernatural element was quite different to others I¡¯ve come across before and without spoiling anything, no they are not vampires. A lot of it ties back to Irish folklore and so that is very interesting as well.
While there were a couple of parts of the book that were only touched on I would love to really see more of those parts in further books in the series. I¡¯ll definitely be picking up more books in the series because it is very interesting and quite exciting.
The characters were all quite interesting. I didn¡¯t really have a favourite although I did like A¨ªne and R¨ªan and would like to get to know more about R¨ªan in future books.
I quite enjoyed reading The Carrier of the Mark and fans of paranormal romance will not go amiss in reading The Carrier of the Mark. It¡¯s set in Ireland and features something quite different in the way of paranormal entities. Definitely check it out as it is awesome.
Needless to say that I enjoyed reading The Carrier of the Mark very much; it has a lot of same-ish elements to it that books in the paranormal romance genre have; but at the same time there are a lot of differences too. To me, it¡¯s the differences that really make this book. They stand out far more than those same qualities.
For starters, the descriptive writing is really amazing. I loved Leigh¡¯s writing style as it was nice and simple yet captured the beauty of what was happening in certain parts of the story. There are some very beautiful scenes in The Carrier of the Mark but I can¡¯t say too much more about them without giving away spoilers.
The paranormal/supernatural element was quite different to others I¡¯ve come across before and without spoiling anything, no they are not vampires. A lot of it ties back to Irish folklore and so that is very interesting as well.
While there were a couple of parts of the book that were only touched on I would love to really see more of those parts in further books in the series. I¡¯ll definitely be picking up more books in the series because it is very interesting and quite exciting.
The characters were all quite interesting. I didn¡¯t really have a favourite although I did like A¨ªne and R¨ªan and would like to get to know more about R¨ªan in future books.
I quite enjoyed reading The Carrier of the Mark and fans of paranormal romance will not go amiss in reading The Carrier of the Mark. It¡¯s set in Ireland and features something quite different in the way of paranormal entities. Definitely check it out as it is awesome.
January 29, 2016
At first I was willing to see this as a meh YA paranormal book.
Then I got to the point where I could not ignore ALL the Twilight similarities and was like, really?
I mean nearly the same plot, I'm not gonna say plagiarism but it wasn't that original. Or even close to it.
I don't mind fanfic, even published fanfic, but at least thoroughly change stuff to the point where we would have no idea. I can't judge because I wrote fanfic, but I don't think my smut writing is worth paying for, tbh. LOL
Anyways, the worst crime of this book was trying too hard to be Twilight. Next book please.
Then I got to the point where I could not ignore ALL the Twilight similarities and was like, really?
I mean nearly the same plot, I'm not gonna say plagiarism but it wasn't that original. Or even close to it.
I don't mind fanfic, even published fanfic, but at least thoroughly change stuff to the point where we would have no idea. I can't judge because I wrote fanfic, but I don't think my smut writing is worth paying for, tbh. LOL
Anyways, the worst crime of this book was trying too hard to be Twilight. Next book please.
January 24, 2020
I think I've read this book before, though it was under a different name and instead of people who possessed the powers of the four elements, they were vegetarian vampires...
The first half of this book is pretty much exactly the same as Twilight. Megan has just moved to a new town, and is left speechless after first laying eyes on Adam DeRis. He, continuing in the Twilight theme, is arrogant and standoffish, sticking to his siblings while at school, and of course, is devastatingly handsome. The only difference is that he also seems flustered by Megan's presence, running into a door frame on his way out of class after catching her eye. His family has a notorious history within town, and the weird things that seem to happen when they're around do nothing to dispel the rumours.
After being in town a couple week, Megan has a boating accident and Adam is able to jump in and save her life, much like when Edward saved Bella from being crushed by a car. As in Twilight where Edward accompanies Bella to the hospital, and waits to speak with her once she is released, Adam is waiting for Megan when she emerges from her room.
Later, on her way to a Halloween party, Megan is harassed by two drunk guys from her school. Before anything can really happen, a gust of wind picks up the two boys and throws them away from Megan. All of a sudden, Adam is there asking if she is ok. Sounds an awful lot like when Bella was saved by Edward from a group of men with sinister intentions. When they do make it to the party, Adam tells Megan that he hasn't been able to stop thinking about her since the moment he first laid eyes on her. He tells her that he was warned to stay away from her, but that he isn't strong enough (an exact quote from Edward, if memory serves) and that he feels like their destinies are inexplicably linked.
And the last thing I will point out is that like in Twilight, where Alice warms to Bella while Rosalie gives her the cold shoulder, in Carrier of the Mark, Adam's twin Aine warms to Megan while his older brother Rian is quite upset with her presence.
The explanation of the Order and the history of the Mark, while interesting in concept, was laid out in one info-dumped chapter. I had to re-read it a few times, and I still don't think I fully understand the mythology. Maybe if it had been shown instead of told to me I would have made more sense of it. This left absolutely no no room for suspense, as the most important details were given in one long-winded speech from Fionn. Any remaining details that surfaced seemed to be a weak attempt at causing conflict, so we wouldn't get bored.
One of these conflicts was the Order's complete rejection of Megan and Adam's relationship, as it had "apocalyptic" consequences. Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t care less about whether or not Adam and Megan are able to be together, as there was absolutely NO development of their love story. Their elements spoke to each other, and therefore they were destined. Shortly before the Order's condemnation of their relationship, Megan mentions that they had only been dating for two weeks and that she barely knew Adam. But then when faced with the possibility of separation from him, she exclaims:
And a couple pages later...
Ugh. You know someone for two weeks and all of a sudden you can't live without them? Give me a break.
On a side note, how many times does it have to be mentioned that she was putting on her red converses?
The first half of this book is pretty much exactly the same as Twilight. Megan has just moved to a new town, and is left speechless after first laying eyes on Adam DeRis. He, continuing in the Twilight theme, is arrogant and standoffish, sticking to his siblings while at school, and of course, is devastatingly handsome. The only difference is that he also seems flustered by Megan's presence, running into a door frame on his way out of class after catching her eye. His family has a notorious history within town, and the weird things that seem to happen when they're around do nothing to dispel the rumours.
After being in town a couple week, Megan has a boating accident and Adam is able to jump in and save her life, much like when Edward saved Bella from being crushed by a car. As in Twilight where Edward accompanies Bella to the hospital, and waits to speak with her once she is released, Adam is waiting for Megan when she emerges from her room.
Later, on her way to a Halloween party, Megan is harassed by two drunk guys from her school. Before anything can really happen, a gust of wind picks up the two boys and throws them away from Megan. All of a sudden, Adam is there asking if she is ok. Sounds an awful lot like when Bella was saved by Edward from a group of men with sinister intentions. When they do make it to the party, Adam tells Megan that he hasn't been able to stop thinking about her since the moment he first laid eyes on her. He tells her that he was warned to stay away from her, but that he isn't strong enough (an exact quote from Edward, if memory serves) and that he feels like their destinies are inexplicably linked.
And the last thing I will point out is that like in Twilight, where Alice warms to Bella while Rosalie gives her the cold shoulder, in Carrier of the Mark, Adam's twin Aine warms to Megan while his older brother Rian is quite upset with her presence.
The explanation of the Order and the history of the Mark, while interesting in concept, was laid out in one info-dumped chapter. I had to re-read it a few times, and I still don't think I fully understand the mythology. Maybe if it had been shown instead of told to me I would have made more sense of it. This left absolutely no no room for suspense, as the most important details were given in one long-winded speech from Fionn. Any remaining details that surfaced seemed to be a weak attempt at causing conflict, so we wouldn't get bored.
One of these conflicts was the Order's complete rejection of Megan and Adam's relationship, as it had "apocalyptic" consequences. Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t care less about whether or not Adam and Megan are able to be together, as there was absolutely NO development of their love story. Their elements spoke to each other, and therefore they were destined. Shortly before the Order's condemnation of their relationship, Megan mentions that they had only been dating for two weeks and that she barely knew Adam. But then when faced with the possibility of separation from him, she exclaims:
There has to be a way I can keep the element and you too. How can I separate the two things that make me feel whole?
And a couple pages later...
Everything else paled in significance. I could not live without him. As much as it upset me to hurt the others, it was nothing compared to the stabbing pain I felt when I thought of being parted from him.
Ugh. You know someone for two weeks and all of a sudden you can't live without them? Give me a break.
On a side note, how many times does it have to be mentioned that she was putting on her red converses?
November 13, 2014
Review posted on
It started with the hype - I started seeing blurbs, contests, features on the book all over the book blogging community. After reading the synopsis and noting that it involved (1) elemental magic (2) in Ireland, I knew I had to get my hands on it as soon as possible. I picked up a copy at Barnes and Noble during my lunch break, read the first three chapters and was hooked. I literally finished this book about an hour ago and I'm still not quite sure how to properly express how I feel about it.
This book is AMAZING. Seriously. There are so many things I love about it - the story, the legend/history, the settings, the characters. Everything wove itself together into a beautifully crafted tale that drew me in and got me so intensely absorbed that reaching the ending and rejoining the real world was like having a dash of cold water tossed into my face.
The story behind the Mark is fascinating. I can't wait to learn some more about the history and the legends behind it, because I feel like there's so much more ground to be covered. Every bit of it that was included in this book left me fascinated trying to piece it all together and understand it; it was almost like I was channeling Meg as I was reading!
I loved the characters as well - Megan, Adam, Rian, Aine, Fionn, Caitlin and Megan's dad. All of them were written with such clearly defined personalities that I felt like I was getting to know them quite well. My favorites though are Aine and Adam, the twins, and simply because I think they're spectacular.
The love story was a little quick for me, but I do recognize that it is possible for feelings to flare up into that level of intensity that fast. The chemistry between Adam and Megan and the intensity of their feelings left me breathless from squealing so much while I was reading. Adam is now one of my favorite characters ever and I can definitely see why Meg fell for him!
Leigh combines everything - the beautiful settings, the incredible lore, the quirky characters, the budding romance - into an interesting, exciting and spellbinding story. I cannot wait to read more from her -- especially the next book for this series, tentatively titled Dawn of the Knights.
It started with the hype - I started seeing blurbs, contests, features on the book all over the book blogging community. After reading the synopsis and noting that it involved (1) elemental magic (2) in Ireland, I knew I had to get my hands on it as soon as possible. I picked up a copy at Barnes and Noble during my lunch break, read the first three chapters and was hooked. I literally finished this book about an hour ago and I'm still not quite sure how to properly express how I feel about it.
This book is AMAZING. Seriously. There are so many things I love about it - the story, the legend/history, the settings, the characters. Everything wove itself together into a beautifully crafted tale that drew me in and got me so intensely absorbed that reaching the ending and rejoining the real world was like having a dash of cold water tossed into my face.
The story behind the Mark is fascinating. I can't wait to learn some more about the history and the legends behind it, because I feel like there's so much more ground to be covered. Every bit of it that was included in this book left me fascinated trying to piece it all together and understand it; it was almost like I was channeling Meg as I was reading!
I loved the characters as well - Megan, Adam, Rian, Aine, Fionn, Caitlin and Megan's dad. All of them were written with such clearly defined personalities that I felt like I was getting to know them quite well. My favorites though are Aine and Adam, the twins, and simply because I think they're spectacular.
The love story was a little quick for me, but I do recognize that it is possible for feelings to flare up into that level of intensity that fast. The chemistry between Adam and Megan and the intensity of their feelings left me breathless from squealing so much while I was reading. Adam is now one of my favorite characters ever and I can definitely see why Meg fell for him!
Leigh combines everything - the beautiful settings, the incredible lore, the quirky characters, the budding romance - into an interesting, exciting and spellbinding story. I cannot wait to read more from her -- especially the next book for this series, tentatively titled Dawn of the Knights.
January 30, 2011
I read the first few chapters of this great read on Inkpop. I am so delighted The Carrier is being published by Harper Collins, I cannot wait to get myself a copy and read the rest of the story. It's such a gripping read you just can't put it down! Hurry up and get it on those shelves PLEASE. From me this is 5star+ . A Great read, well written.
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