Carve the Mark

by Veronica Roth

Amazon Prices:

Paperback: $12.99

Hardcover: $22.99

Kindle: $12.99 (Not available on Kindle Unlimited)

Audible: $23.16 (Not available on Kindle Unlimited)

Before Reading Facts:

Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth was published in 2017 by Katherine Tegen Books.

Page Count: 512 pages (paperback) 480 (hardcover) 472 (Kindle)

Audiobook length: 15 hrs 06 mins

Chapters: 42

Languages: English (also available in the following translations: Arabic, French, German, Italian, and Spanish)

Summary of Book:

“Cyra Noavek and Akos Kereseth have grown up in enemy countries locked in a long-standing fight for dominance over their shared planet. When Akos and his brother are kidnapped by the ruling Noavek family, Akos is forced to serve Cyra, the sister of a dictator who governs with violence and fear. Cyra is known for her deadly power of transferring extraordinary pain unto others with simple touch, and her tyrant brother uses her as a weapon against those who challenge him. But as Akos fights for his own survival, he recognizes that Cyra is also fighting for hers, and that her true gift—resilience—might be what saves them both.

When Akos and Cyra are caught in the middle of a raging rebellion, everything they’ve been led to believe about their world and themselves must be called into question. But fighting for what’s right might mean betraying their countries, their families, and each other.

When the time comes, will they choose loyalty or love?” – Amazon

Author Biography:

“Veronica Roth is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Divergent series and Carve the Mark. She was born in a Chicago suburb, and studied creative writing at Northwestern University. She and her husband and dog currently live in Chicago.

You can find Veronica on Instagram (@vrothbooks), Facebook, or at her website (veronicarothbooks.com), or sign up for her newsletter to get book news and exclusive content here! eepurl.com/dcqzr1” -Amazon

Book Review:

Overall Book Rating: ★★★★★ / ★★★★★

My initial reaction: This book took me a while to get into. I had seen this book multiple times and have heard about it before but never really heard anyone say that this was a “must read!” I didn’t hear much buzz on this book, but I still wanted to give it a chance. I wanted to read more from Veronica Roth. I had read the Divergent series which I was impressed with, so I decided to give this book a chance.

Now, my I will admit that I made a mistake when I started reading/listening to this book. When I normally read something unfamiliar to me, I usually do not listen to the audiobook while doing something else until I get a feel for the book and the author’s narrator. However, for this novel I did just that: I started listened to this novel while I was working on household duties. That was a mistake I greatly regret as this novel really required my full, undivided attention from beginning to end. The reason I say that is because I had an issue trying to figure the world out. I didn’t really know where the characters were for a very long time, and I will admit even when I finished, I didn’t really know if I had figured that out. That may have been my fault, so I will give the novel the benefit of the doubt. It probably explained the movements of the characters in this world, I was simply not paying enough attention to realize it. Keep that in mind when reading. Above all other books I have read recently, this one required more attention at the beginning. 

When I did finally place my full attention into the novel, it still took me some time to get into it. I didn’t really care for the characters. There was not one character that stood out to me. I usually like to latch on to a character in every novel I read; it doesn’t necessarily have to be the main character. I look for my “book bestie” in the book and continue to follow their every move to see what the author has in store for them. I unfortunately did not find such character, which I think was the reason it took me longer to finish this book than it did the previous books I had read. The characters did not seem all that well-developed, and that made me disconnect some from this book. 

The main conflict of the novel didn’t draw me in either. Nevertheless, I still got through the book. Even though I did not find my “book bestie” in this story and I was not too into the major driving conflict, I was still interested in what Roth was doing. I wanted to know what fate would await her characters, and I will say that I was drawn in near the second half of the book. I enjoyed the second half a lot more than the first half, for the second half seems to be more action while the first half is more world and character building. I do think that the second book in the series will be more like the second half of this novel. I think that Roth had a tricky task at building such an intricate world. I am interested to see what will take place now that I am somewhat familiar with it. I do admit that I may have to reread this book in order to really get a feel for it though. 

Audible Review:

Narration Rating: ★★★★★ / ★★★★★

Narration by Austin Butler and Emily Rankin

Butler and Rankin’s narration was well done. It was not over enthusiastic or overdone. It also was not dull and boring. To me, it was just right. Their narration at 1.0 speed was done really well and not so slow that I had to speed it up to be able to tolerate it as I have done with other audiobooks.  Their narration 1.25 speed was at what I would consider normal, conversation speed. The favorite listening speed for me was at 1.75 speed. The speed was just right for me. It’s hard to explain, but at that speed I could follow it best. For those of us who like to multitask and listen on the go, I recommend listening at a 1.5 speed, so one does not miss anything. For those who are listening while reading the book and want to listen at a faster pace, I found 2.0 speed to be the best speeds. 2.5 speed was good too, but I liked 2.0 speed better and easier to follow. 3.0 was too fast for me, and I was missing a lot of what the narrator was saying and had to eventually slow down the narrator’s reading speed. However, it is manageable. If you’re used to speed listening, 3.0 speed should be manageable. 3.5 speed was definitely too fast for me.

Other works by this Author:

Carve the Mark Series

• Carve the Mark
• The Fates Divide

Divergent Series

• Divergent 
• Insurgent
• Allegiant 
• Four: A Divergent Collection