Spoiler Free Book Review: Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth

Carve the Mark [Carve the Mark, #1]
by Veronica Roth

Genre: YA science fantasy

My Rating: ★★

Description:

Akos Kereseth and Cyra Noavek are sworn enemies. Akos is from Thuve, Cyra from the Shotet clan. The conflict between their people goes back decades.

Cyra is the sister of the cruel Shotet leader, Ryzek. She is also his weapon. Cursed with a currentgift that both gives her pain and allows her to inflict it on others, she has lived as a puppet to her brother's will for years. But no more. 

Akos is the son of an oracle in the nation of Thuve, one of the Fated, which he soon understands makes him more of a target than he realized. 

When Akos and his older brother are kidnapped during a Shotet raid, Cyra and Akos's lives intersect. 

Survival for both of them is the ultimate goal. But will they survive alone... or together? Can they defy the Fates that have governed them all of their lives?

Overall Thoughts

It's been months, and I still don't know what to think about Carve the Mark. On one hand, there were elements of the story I really enjoyed -- the characters were interesting, the storyworld was intricate and vibrant if a little confusing, some of the storylines were tension-filled page-turners. On the other hand, the plot rambled, the pacing was severely skewed, and some of the themes were... ahem... a little disturbing. 

I'm not going to get into any of the controversies surrounding this book (racism, self-harm, misrepresentation of chronic pain) because I don't feel I'm qualified to speak about these topics. Just know that these controversies do exist, and that there are many other reviews that address these topics and how they were portrayed in Carve the Mark. 

The Characters

In terms of characterization, all of the major characters were fairly well developed. Akos was different from what I expected, more gentle and bashful compared to Four from Roth's other series, Divergent. Cyra was probably the best developed character, and her POV was interesting to read. The main villain, Ryzek, has an original backstory that, while it doesn't make me sympathetic towards his actions, does throw everything he does in a new light. However, there were so many secondary characters -- many with similar names and personalities -- that it became hard to keep track of everyone.

Plot/Pacing

The plot... was very hard to pin down. There were so many rambly plotlines throughout this novel, and there was no overarching story goal to tie everything together. Many times when I thought that the plot was about to start just turned out to be another three-chapter ramble. The pacing was also patchy. Some sections of the novel flew by, and others moved slower than a slug on a glacier. That, controversies aside, was probably the biggest flaw of Carve the Mark. Without a solid story goal, the plot crumbles.

Worldbuilding

The setting had a very Star Wars-esque vibe to it. A solar system governed by a high council of sorts, a Force-like power called simply the Current, current-blades (basically light sabers). However, it was still an interesting world, with some fascinating descriptions of the cities and spaceships. I liked the beginning chapters' description of the ice-flowers opening, especially, and the description of one of the Thuvesite cities nearer to the end. I also thought that elements of the Shotet culture were interesting -- namely, the sojourn.

Content

Recommended for ages 16 and up. 

TRIGGER WARNING: Self-harm; drug abuse. 

Swearing was not uncommon; mostly limited to moderate cuss words. No f-bombs that I can recall, though I could be wrong. 

Sexual content includes romantic attraction between two characters; mentions of touching in a sexual manner, some scenes were kind of uncomfortable for me to read. At least two scenes where one character unclothes another to their underwear, not sexual. Innuendo and sexual references were not extremely common, but frequent enough to make me hesitant to recommend this to younger teens. Two characters are heavily implied as being lesbian and in a relationship. 

One character uses drugs as a means of coping with grief. The Thuvesites use ice-flowers for various drug-related uses, including poison, painkillers, and recreational use. Cyra takes painkillers to cope with her chronic pain.

Violence is not necessarily gory, but descriptive enough that sensitive readers could be disturbed. Minor spoiler warning: Part of Shotet culture dictates that every kill should be carved into the killer's arm. A character marks themselves every time they cause another person to suffer, which can be interpreted as self-harm.