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alexiasophii's review
[I was given a copy from NetGalley for an honest review]
DNF'd it.
I couldn't finish this. I'm sorry, I had a different thought of a story when I got the book from NetGalley and I really did try and stick it through but I couldn't get past it and it was taking me ages to read and making me get into a reading slump. The writing is well done and very well written and the story has tons of potential but the characters... I don't think they're well developed. Viktor reminds me of Edward Cullen but with no vampiresque-thing. It's just not my type of reading and I couldn't finish it.
DNF'd it.
I couldn't finish this. I'm sorry, I had a different thought of a story when I got the book from NetGalley and I really did try and stick it through but I couldn't get past it and it was taking me ages to read and making me get into a reading slump. The writing is well done and very well written and the story has tons of potential but the characters... I don't think they're well developed. Viktor reminds me of Edward Cullen but with no vampiresque-thing. It's just not my type of reading and I couldn't finish it.
maitaylor01's review against another edition
3.0
As a YA Fantasy book, this was always going to be a winner for me, although I have to confess I don’t think it will ever be one of my favourites from this genre. I found the magic system that surrounds the story a little complicated, and whilst I wouldn’t say that this affected my enjoyment of the book too much, it did make it more of a challenge to follow than other similar books I have read. Aside from this, Marked Beauty is a book filled with emotion and tension, and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for any potential sequel(s).
jwood112's review against another edition
2.0
Release date: 17 October 2018
Author: S.A. Larsen
Publisher: Ellysian Press
Genre: Sci-Fi & Fantasy; YA
One sentence review: A neat idea, not well executed.
Short summary: A young woman can sense the emotions of those around her. After a car accident, she is saved by a young man who creates a link between them.
The premise was promising and permeated with the potential for a pretty pleasant novel. (I could not help myself.) However, I was disappointed upon reading.
The focus of this book is a love-triangle. Can we agree that a love-triangle as the central novel conflict is just not a good approach to, both, romance and conflict? Relationships are two individuals agreeing to share life; there is plenty of drama in that naturally. You don’t need a third or fourth person to establish obstacles. You really don’t.
The romance is created in a way by a bond that means the love interest owns the female lead. I don’t feel like I should elaborate further as to the issues I have with this point.
The ancient evil – the bit of the synopsis which peaked my interest (naturally) – is not sinister, dark, twisted, or evil. I need a proper villain. Give me something scary, it has had so much time to develop into a decent villainous creature or darkness or something. I felt the villain was merely determined to be kind of bad. Maybe I am just in the mood for a good grim-dark, and this complaint is due to bad timing?
While I appreciate NetGalley, Larsen, and Ellysian Press for providing a copy of this novel in exchange for a free review, I sadly did not find that I enjoyed this tale. If you enjoy a love-triangle focused story with a bit of fantasy, this is precisely your cuppa. I prefer fantasy with a dash or spattering of romance, so this one was hard for me.
Author: S.A. Larsen
Publisher: Ellysian Press
Genre: Sci-Fi & Fantasy; YA
One sentence review: A neat idea, not well executed.
Short summary: A young woman can sense the emotions of those around her. After a car accident, she is saved by a young man who creates a link between them.
The premise was promising and permeated with the potential for a pretty pleasant novel. (I could not help myself.) However, I was disappointed upon reading.
The focus of this book is a love-triangle. Can we agree that a love-triangle as the central novel conflict is just not a good approach to, both, romance and conflict? Relationships are two individuals agreeing to share life; there is plenty of drama in that naturally. You don’t need a third or fourth person to establish obstacles. You really don’t.
The romance is created in a way by a bond that means the love interest owns the female lead. I don’t feel like I should elaborate further as to the issues I have with this point.
The ancient evil – the bit of the synopsis which peaked my interest (naturally) – is not sinister, dark, twisted, or evil. I need a proper villain. Give me something scary, it has had so much time to develop into a decent villainous creature or darkness or something. I felt the villain was merely determined to be kind of bad. Maybe I am just in the mood for a good grim-dark, and this complaint is due to bad timing?
While I appreciate NetGalley, Larsen, and Ellysian Press for providing a copy of this novel in exchange for a free review, I sadly did not find that I enjoyed this tale. If you enjoy a love-triangle focused story with a bit of fantasy, this is precisely your cuppa. I prefer fantasy with a dash or spattering of romance, so this one was hard for me.
krisandburn's review against another edition
1.0
I was so disappointed with this book. The premise sounded pretty good… I mean… A girl that can see/feel life energies and has a mysterious past? Yes please! Erm… no….
From the start I felt the writing was at times rushed or messy and confusing. There were a few times I almost gave up, but once I passed the halfway mark I figured I may as well finish it. Now, the main character, Ana, is the one redeeming feature. She is actually quite likeable. But I felt her character drowned in the world around her. The other characters felt flat and perfunctory to me. Ana falls in love with a guy far too forceful for my liking, so the romance was a big no-no for me. There was a standard urban fantasy trope concerning the romance that bothers me as well, but I will not expand on that, as it would be a spoiler of sorts.
At times I felt it was about to pick up, only to let me down. I did not enjoy the writing and I did not really get into the flow of the story being told.
There are plenty of positive reviews on this book, so obviously a lot of people do like it, but it really was not for me. Maybe I missed something?
From the start I felt the writing was at times rushed or messy and confusing. There were a few times I almost gave up, but once I passed the halfway mark I figured I may as well finish it. Now, the main character, Ana, is the one redeeming feature. She is actually quite likeable. But I felt her character drowned in the world around her. The other characters felt flat and perfunctory to me. Ana falls in love with a guy far too forceful for my liking, so the romance was a big no-no for me. There was a standard urban fantasy trope concerning the romance that bothers me as well, but I will not expand on that, as it would be a spoiler of sorts.
At times I felt it was about to pick up, only to let me down. I did not enjoy the writing and I did not really get into the flow of the story being told.
There are plenty of positive reviews on this book, so obviously a lot of people do like it, but it really was not for me. Maybe I missed something?
emilylobelia's review against another edition
3.0
Marked Beauty is a very gripping book. The writer does a good job at reeling you into the story. The world the writer has created is amazing: the many storylines about Ana, her missing mother and her abilities and Viktor and his strange past are captivating. Especially the parts where Ana is finding out what she is and how she is trying to cope with her gifts.
At times, though, it feels very fast paced. I would have liked it if she had elaborated a little bit more about "the Realm, the Rifters or Energy Portals", because it is confusing at times.
So a little more detail for me, would've made the story more understandable. The on-again-off-again relationship between Ana and Viktor bothers me. It isn't very clear if they are involved or not throughout the book.
All in all, if you like a fantasy novel where the magical characteristics are not about fairies, werewolves or vampires, I recommend this book.
At times, though, it feels very fast paced. I would have liked it if she had elaborated a little bit more about "the Realm, the Rifters or Energy Portals", because it is confusing at times.
So a little more detail for me, would've made the story more understandable. The on-again-off-again relationship between Ana and Viktor bothers me. It isn't very clear if they are involved or not throughout the book.
All in all, if you like a fantasy novel where the magical characteristics are not about fairies, werewolves or vampires, I recommend this book.
tactical_peanut's review
2.0
I really wanted to like this book and I think my expectations might have been too high, because I couldn’t even bring myself to finish it. So this is my first DNF of 2018...
I couldn’t bring myself to care about the romance between Ana and Viktor and once Viktor said he “owned” Ana due to the bloodprint. This is an extremely problematic relationship and one of the main reasons I did not finish the book.
The author used existing concepts such as chakras, but then calls them energy portals... This constantly confused me as the descriptions I was reading clearly pointed to chakras, but then the author had to go and name it something else.
The book gave me nothing new and chose to revolve around a love triangle. So some of the people that read my reviews know that NOTHING irritates me more than a book that focuses solely on a love triangle and this was no exception.
The book had a lot of great ideas and some beautifully written pieces, there are even some less brilliant pieces that could easily have been fixed if the never ending run on sentences were removed.
So sadly this is a 2 star from me
*I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
I couldn’t bring myself to care about the romance between Ana and Viktor and once Viktor said he “owned” Ana due to the bloodprint. This is an extremely problematic relationship and one of the main reasons I did not finish the book.
The author used existing concepts such as chakras, but then calls them energy portals... This constantly confused me as the descriptions I was reading clearly pointed to chakras, but then the author had to go and name it something else.
The book gave me nothing new and chose to revolve around a love triangle. So some of the people that read my reviews know that NOTHING irritates me more than a book that focuses solely on a love triangle and this was no exception.
The book had a lot of great ideas and some beautifully written pieces, there are even some less brilliant pieces that could easily have been fixed if the never ending run on sentences were removed.
So sadly this is a 2 star from me
*I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
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