Carrier of the Mark (Carrier of the Mark, #1)

by Leigh Fallon

Bewitching debut teen fiction from Inkpop sensation – dark magic, prophecies and irresistible romance collide in this beguiling read.

When Megan Rosenberg moves to Ireland, everything in her life seems to fall into place. She makes close friends with the girls in her class, her relationship with her dad is better than ever, and she finds herself inexplicably drawn to gorgeous, mysterious Adam DeRis.

Adam is cold and aloof at first, but when Megan finally breaks down the icy barrier between them, she is amazed by the intensity of their connection. Then Adam reveals a secret about the magical destiny that will shape both of their lives but also threatens to tear them apart…

• ISBN13: 9780007445967
• Publish Date: 27 October 2011 (first published 4 October 2011)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 320
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.co.uk

Reviews

[mrs_mander_reads]

At first, I was really interested in the storyline, and felt like the book (and series) had potential. But the more I got into Adam and Megan's relationship, the more forced the book felt. I really think that the author could have done a lot more with the history of the Marked/Order and the history of Ireland as a result, and she missed that opportunity to focus on a cheesy love story. It wasn't believable in the least, and I probably won't read the second in the series.

[kimbacaffeinate]

Carrier of the Mark is the debut novel of author Leigh Fallon. I ordered this for my Nook when it released in January of 2011. I bought it because I absolutely loved the cover. While the synopsis revealed very little; it was enough to pique my interest when it mentioned Ireland. I am not Irish, but I love reading stories set in Ireland. Fallon delivers a tale, with romance, folklore and supernatural elements. I found this first book in the Carrier Trilogy to be delightful.

Fallon’s world building was interesting and I like how she blended old with new to create the blood line for the carrier's of the mark. I found her rendition of elemental powers to be unique and I am looking forward to seeing this develop more in the trilogy. I really like her writing style and loved what she did with the prologue and flashing back four months. I think it was a brilliant move on her part. The backdrop of Ireland was simply beautiful and she captured it in detail. She brought us strong likeable, flawed characters with depth that we all can relate to.

The romance between Megan and Adam was at times gag-me-with-a-spoon, but for fans of eternal insta-love you will be absolutely delighted. As the story progressed I found their romance to be sweet and the way they tried to help each other endearing. I am looking forward to seeing how their relationship progresses.

Throughout the novel there is a lot of tension and danger for the couple and the other marked. The order responsible for protecting the carriers of the mark aren’t happy with the romance developing between Adam and Meagan. An organization is constantly searching for the carriers. This group wants to control them and their abilities. Some of the marks are having difficulty stabilizing their powers and sensing danger. All of these elements created a fast paced plot and a spectacular climax.

I recommend Carrier of the Mark to fans of fantasy, supernatural and romance. It is currently available in paperback and eBook formats. The second book in this trilogy entitled Dawn of the Nights is due to release this year. The third book entitled Age of the Fifth in 2013. I am looking forward to continuing this series and have added the talented, Leigh Fallon, to my list of authors to watch.

[bookishzelda]

Carrier of the Mark gave me a little bit of Twilight deja vu. Girl moves to new town living with her dad. She is drawn to the mysterious boy who is a loner along with the rest of his family. Once it got off that track though it found it's own plot. I really liked what the made the family so "strange". I've always felt that things incorporating nature seem a little more realistic to me. In a whole if magic was actually real sense. I enjoyed the writing and the character development. I was a little confused on some of the bloodlines. I felt like I needed a chart but I got the jist enough to understand what was going on. I liked the ending even though some things were tied up in a manner of speaking it still left some unanswered questions. Question that I want to know the answer to and will definitely be diving into the next book as soon as it comes out.

[lizarodz]

Carrier of the Mark is a great debut novel by author Leigh Fallon and I really enjoyed it. As you know I am a big Twilight fan and this book shares some of the same characteristics, such as a new girl in town, the instant attraction to a gorgeous and strange guy, the mystery that surrounds him and his family and the constant danger they are all in. But Carrier of the Mark has enough differences that make it a unique book on its own right.

Megan is a strong female character that adapts and accepts fairly quickly what is thrown at her. She doesn’t like to be a damsel in distress and I liked that about her. Adam is (as I mentioned earlier) is gorgeous and he cares for Megan a lot and doesn’t care to show it. I am a romantic at heart and the romance between Megan and Adam felt so real (even though it happened fast) and sweet and passionate, all at the same time. Other characters in the book were well developed and I liked Adam’s family and Megan’s new friends.

The story flows at a good pace and the plot is believable and not predictable. I like that everyone was straightforward and we knew about what the “carrier of the mark” means soon in the story. The explanation about how it all works was a little hard to understand, but I got the gist of it. The book was easy and fast to read and I couldn’t put it down.

The Carrier of the Mark was a great read for me and I loved it. I will be counting the days until Dawn of the Knights is published sometime next year.

About the cover: What can I say, other than it is gorgeous? The feeling of weightlessness is very appropriate for the story and the blue makes a beautiful contrast with other elements in the cover.

[Suz @ Bookish Revelations]

Carrier of the Mark is not a novel that I will be forgetting about anytime soon, as I have many questions regarding certain aspects of it. I believe that it has a wealth of potential that it quite possibly taps into, as you follow along with the story it has to tell, whether or not some of it is confusing in some ways is left to the reader to decide for themselves. It is a bit different and unique, but that in and of itself, and I applaud Leigh Fallon for that.

There was so much to the story, that needed to be told and sometimes it felt as if it were a bit too much, in a way it was a touch overwhelming with everything being given to the reader all at once. Then the relationship aspect of it, that occurs between Adam and Megan, seemed quite intense and almost rushed in a sense. I think I would have liked to have seen that slowed down just a bit and pulled back on. I have always been one for slow build up's to a romantic interest, it makes it more realistic in a sense. Although, I will have to say, that I found these two quite adorable. Fallon also gets bonus points for not writing in a love triangle, as fun and interesting as those can sometimes be, sometimes it's much nicer without them hanging about and mucking things up in the process.

The scenery was gorgeous and very well depicted in the novel. With every flourish of Fallon's turn of phrase, I felt like I was right there with the character's and was experiencing everything they were. Reading this novel, felt like reading beautiful poetry set to real life motion. It was undeniably beautiful. There is just no other way to describe it. And the thing is, as confusing as the prophecy and the Carrier's were to me, I very much enjoyed that aspect of the novel. I felt like there was so much more to the story and that it would be revealed with the next book, if I could just wait long enough for it. I have this strong desire to know more about them, like more on the history of how the legend came about and why the Carrier's function as they do, and what makes that prophecy so important?

As confused as I am with some aspects, I find myself captivated and driven by a natural desire to know more. I want to see other stories given the chance to unfold, such as Rian's, Adam's older brother whom I was quite taken with. The supporting character's are just as interesting as the main protagonists, few of them I think I may have ended up liking a bit more. The only flaw, that I keep inherantly coming back to, is that it seems as if Fallon has this desire to tell everyone's story all at once to get them out there, but I do feel it muddles up the plot and again becomes a bit overwhelming to the reader with everything being given to them all at once, instead of built up over a period of time and then revealed.

The plot line was well developed, I do feel, with some room for improvement and a little less clutter or confusion. Carrier of the Mark does provide an interesting and unique story, with some pretty memorable supporting character's as well as the two main protragonists that accompany them. I found myself deeply invested in this story and all that it had to offer, it's almost as if you're leaving normal and you're headed out into the great unknown. It's just that strong feeling of wanting to know more, even if it is dangerous to know and you do have a strong keen sense of power to keep the balance in the world from shifting. All of this and so much more, is what Megan now has to deal with and it's probably one of the most interesting and confusing things that I have ever read in a long time.

For me, personally, Carrier of the Mark was powerfully alluring, massively exciting, and filled with so many questions that I want the answers to. Which is why, I have no problem giving it four of five stars, I would have given it the full five if it hadn't been for some of the confusion and the feelings of being overwhelmed by all of the stories that were being told at once. These are minor flaws though, and they don't slow me down in recommending this book to all who enjoy great paranormal novels that provide unique stories being told.

In my opinion, Carrier of the Mark was a great debut novel for Fallon and I look forward to seeing more from her. It just simply possesses everything that I would want a new debut young adult paranormal romance complete with legend's, original storyline's, and star-crossed romance to entail.

[ladygrey]

This is one of those books that's hard to review because I liked it, but it wasn't great.

[a:Leigh Fallon|4611175|Leigh Fallon|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1296592483p2/4611175.jpg] has created a really interesting mythology, an old world paranormal that seems fresh and new to the genre currently. I enjoyed reading it (mostly) because the powers she's dealing with and the way she deals with them are interesting; because I enjoyed Adam and Megan and their relationship is magical and powerful and refreshingly mature.

I do like that it's a self-contained story. Even though it obviously could be part of a series of continuing adventures, there aren't any elements or mysteries that feel incomplete. There's just more room to explore.

But overall the book feels like it was published too soon; that it needed another draft because it feels half formed. The characters aren't especially well developed. We know their name and their history but not them, as if they're fully developed, living characters. They're just the bits of dialog that they're given without depth.
Also, the mythology, as interesting as it is, is really confusing. The three chapters in the middle where she tries to explain everything should have been enlightening and interesting and I just found them confounding. All of this power is derived from Danu and the Tuatha de Danann. And she says that the four Tuatha de Danann fought until three of them were dead. What she never says is that all four had children to pass their element onto. Is the entire thing derived from the single surviving Tuatha de Danann? And if so, how could that person pass on everything needed to evoke all four elements if they only possessed one? If the other three had children before they died, I need her to say that so we know there are four elemental families. But I think there's just the one? And you can't use the term "royal bloodline" without first introducing some form of royalty. The Tuatha de Danann are something akin to demi-gods - something more than human but less than god - so did they just decide to call the descendants of the surviving Tuatha de Danann royalty? Because she doesn't make that clear she just throws the term royal blood in there as if we have some context for it. And if that's the case - that royal blood just means someone is a descendant of the Tuatha de Danann - then every Marked One should by default also have royal blood. And yet, she makes a big deal that Megan is both royal blood and Marked. And Adam, Aine and Rian aren't. Which totally throws any understanding I thought I had about royal blood and Marked into complete dissarray. Then you get into Marked and Carriers; Marked being a person who actually evokes an element and there can only be four of those at a single time; and Carriers which are female Marked. I think. Or maybe they're just female descendants of the Tuatha de Danann. It's all hazy and not explained very well.

A little more clarity and a little more depth and this would have been a really good book. At it is, it's just ok. And yet, I have to give it credit because I did enjoy it and will probably read it again some time and will likely read the next one.