Carrier Trilogy #1: Carrier of the Mark Review

Title: Carrier Trilogy #1: Carrier of the Mark

Author: Leigh Fallon

Date of Publication: October 4, 2011

Editions Available: Paperback, E-Book

Synopsis: After moving around her entire life Megan finds herself moving to Ireland after the death of her mother. She soon starts to feel surprisingly comfortable in her new school, making new friends and even attracting the attention of the most gorgeous boy at school, Adam. However her friends warn her that Adam is not to be trusted. Rumors of witchcraft abound and as Megan begins to learn more about Adam and his family it seems that these rumors seem to be true, however her feelings for Adam cannot be ignored and it seems that Adam seems to have similar feelings for Megan. As they begin to fall and love and Megan learns the truth about Adam and their relationship, it seems that their being together can only lead to destruction.

My Review:

After a bit of a slow beginning Carrier of the Mark tuned out to be a bit more of an interesting read than I originally anticipated. As the plot started to pick up and more secrets were revealed I found myself more intrigued in the story and looking at it in a more favorable light. The second half of the novel definitely added some spark to what would have been an otherwise dull novel.

One of the biggest reasons I couldn't really get into this novel was my lack of interest in the characters. I found it hard to relate to any of them and while the Irish setting was fresh and original I think it added separation between the reader and the characters, it's hard to relate to a character who has a name you can't pronounce. Paired with Irish slang that I found myself occasionally having to look up to understand I just couldn't make myself feel one with the characters.

Megan and Adam were both okay main characters, while they weren't completely flat and two-dimensional they lacked the spark that makes a character really come alive. I will say their romance was cute although I felt that it happened really fast, verging on an "insta-love" but not quite. I didn't hate either of them but as I said, I just couldn't relate to them.

The strongest aspect of the novel was the plot. Very original filled with Irish lore I really enjoyed the mythology and prophecies.  I loved the idea of the elemental powers and I'm really excited to see where Fallon goes with them. While the ending was exciting it seemed just a little bit too easy for what happened.

While Carrier of the Mark is far from my favorite novel I think the series holds a lot of promise. I'm really looking forward to reading future books, hopefully with the characters a bit more fleshed out. Fallon has a great plot going on; I'm just hoping for a bit more character development in future novels!

3/5