The Song of the Marked

"3.5 star<br/><br/>Started out pretty strong. A very easily distinguishable set of outlaw characters. The comraderie reminded me of the Six of Crows. Very cheeky and fun. I liked the relationships the small building of trust. But halfway thru the pacing changed. Friends would conveniently disappear when Casia needed alone time with the captian. Also, with all that the kingdom has done, I found it very confusing at how the group wanted to join Casia and that she agreed to it so eagerly.<br/><br/>Small spoiler alert ahead: We all knew how that would go. This leads me to say that the twists were very predictable. All but for Casias consequences of her newly found actions. And even though I liked her character, she began to irritate me. Casia knew things were being kept from her and she didn't try to uncover any of it.<br/> <br/>The world building was good up to a point but not well flushed out, and neither were the characters. Also the God's and magic seemed haphazardly thrown in. I wanted more depth and rich history. Like these characters weren't just discovered but more like they have been here this whole time. The anxiety was good to see as weird as that sounds. You rarely see strong characters with real-life problems. I also loved Casia's truths coming out so early. Usually I read about people trying to take them to their grave, so it was refreshing to see.<br/><br/>The romance was a little cliché but I didn't mind it that much. They were interesting and sweet together. In the end, the book just fell short and wasn't strong enough to be set apart from others. Just needed more development. Don't think I'll continue on sadly.<br/><br/>"The closer I get to the end, the more I find myself wanting to go back to the beginning."<br/><br/>"Perhaps this was simply how the world was, no matter what? An endless trading of places between the oppressors and the oppressed? The same song on repeat, with continuously rewritten lyrics.""

"The world building was good and the characters were great, but the pace throughout the read wasn’t giving enough… Fortunately , the last portion of the book was left on a cliffhanger that got me excited to continue with the series. I believe that it went at the pace it did for a reason and I’m hoping the second one’s pace will satisfy me better, especially after that ending! "

"Fantasy with unexpected ****…leaves off on a cliff-hanger. "

"This book started off interesting but the story line gradually became difficult to follow. Events/actions became far too convenient. Too many times the characters ‘somehow’, ‘happened’, or ‘suddenly’ knew the right thing/action. My interest fell a bit more with each lucky guess/learning and by the final fight scene I was just ready for the story to be over. There were also a few inconsistencies (because they’re oh so lucky) that just didn’t make sense. In one scene, the FMC is burned on her face by another person’s touch but at the end of the book she walks through a burning house and doesn’t have a single mark. In another scene, the archers (demon) can’t sense movement quick enough allowing a character to successfully run up and attack them but that’s almost immediately followed by another archer sensing movement so quick that when the FMC reaches to scratch her nose he instantly attacks at that moment. The MMC can literally see the exhaustion on the FMC face from her use of magic and then a few scenes later after using even more magic she didn’t need the rest other magic wielders would need. Hopefully the rest of the series flows a bit better."

"Wow! Just wow!! Where do I start!! I absolutely LOVED this book!! It held my attention from the first page to the last! I devoured this book. <br/><br/>It has everything I love! Action, adventure, strong females, slow burn romance, and definitely twists that I did not see coming!! <br/><br/>Can’t wait for the next one!"

"I really enjoyed the main character in this book and the world building was intriguing. Its the first book in the series recently released."

"2.8 stars maybe?<br/><br/>This was pretty similar to FBAA (which I also don't think was great) and other basic books in that the captain of the guard or right hand of the king or whatever (or sometimes both!) has some ulterior plan not in line with the evil royal's. The book started fairly strong in the beginning, with Casia being a female lead (FL) who could hold her own, was witty, seemed to be a leader to her group of so called mercenaries, and had pretty good chemistry with the Elander (ml), but things really just went downhill after the first few chapters. The side characters are unsurprisingly underwhelming and never really given their own opportunity for us to get to know them, Casia gets caught pretty quickly, and is duped by the king with so much ease, there wasn't even really a point in the author creating that backstory scene between her and Varen (where she gets whipped in the street as a child while he just watches in his carriage). Because we're supposed to believe she hates him, the throne, and participates in burning effigies, spits on his house emblems, and sings songs about his demise? From the first minute she met him she was duped. Despite her getting warned from literally EVERYONE. And so with this obvious plot in mind, was I supposed to be surprised when he ultimately betrayed her? Or even the plot twists where–surprise!–Elander wasn't actually who he said he was, and is actually even more powerful that we could have possibly thought. Or that Casia has some other undiscovered identity (now I'm not going to lie, I wasn't expecting them to go with the sister trope for Varen, solely because I was expecting it to be a Maven Calore situation) that also makes her super powerful but conveniently puts her at odds against Elander. <br/>The way her friends were increasingly pushed aside as the book progressed really was dissapointing, as they had so much potential to be such an entertaining team and bring more life to the book. Ah well, maybe I'm just jaded with fantasy at this point, because I just wonder if anything can really surprise me anymore. I don't know if there's any ya/na fantasy I've left unturned, where I can actually read something fresh and original. <br/>I probably won't carry on with this series, but nevertheless, I shall persist in my pursuit of good reads. On to the next!"

"This book was good, but I think the pacing was off. I also found myself annoyed with the amount of info withheld from the FMC and thus the reader. The plot and world building is super interesting though!"

"This is one of the best fantasy books I have ever read! I was hooked after the first chapter."

"Great world building, battles aplenty, romance, twists...was a really fun read; can't wait to read the next in the series!"