Carrier of the Mark

TITLE: Carrier of the Mark

AUTHOR: Leigh Fallon

SERIES: Carrier #1

PUBLISHER: HarperTeen

PAGES: 342 (Paperback)

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I only found this book through the pestering of a friend, and god, am I glad she did! Without a doubt this is one of my best reads this year – seriously, this time – and I can honestly say I loved everything about it: the plot, the characters, the romance… Carrier of the Mark is an amazing addition to the YA Paranormal romance genre, and now I’m seriously thinking about giving this ‘Inkpop’ a look.

I loved Megan as a heroine, she was smart, brave, determined, and also had this everyday girl-next-door quality that made her so endearingly normal. Even though she had this ancient magical thing going on, she also kept in touch with reality, dealing with problems such as her dad dating, her best friend’s love life and her mom’s death a few years before. Fallon did a great job of fleshing out her secondary characters, I liked how she showed their flaws as well as their attributes, allowing the reader to connect with them and making them feel more real.

Through her colourful descriptions and obvious familiarity with the setting of Kinsale I immediately took a liking to the typical countryside village. I thought Fallon’s writing was  very good for a debut, providing simple and yet extremely vivid pictures that allowed me not to just read the story, but also see it in my mind.

Leigh has created a completely different and interesting new race of paranormals, although she seems to have stuck to the iron clad belief that some sort of doomsday prophecy must be involved. However, for me I found that it worked for the plot, making it a new world of mythology and ancient magic that captivated me from the very start.

And of course, what would any review on this book be without the romance? Though Adam may have seemed aloof and up himself at the start, when he finally let Megan in I was happy to find that he was a caring, passionate young man who I instantly wanted for myself. I was a bit sceptical at how he could suddenly blurt out his feelings after almost no proper interaction between the two of them, but it was soon forgotten as I ploughed on through the story.

Also, another thing I was slightly annoyed with was the prospect of another ‘doomed’ love that supposedly can never happen, and yet a loophole is always found at the end and they live happily ever after. That, unfortunately, is one of my pet peeves, IF YOU SAY IT’S IMPOSSIBLE, THEN IT SHOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE!!!! I’m such a hypocrite. I devour this stuff even though I curse it at the same time. *le sigh*

Carrier of the Mark is a thrilling, magical, achingly romantic ride that will leave you begging for more. This incredible story from debut author Leigh Fallon is thoroughly impressive for a first timer, and I for one can’t wait for Dawn of the Knights and Age of the Fifth, coming out 2012 and 2013 respectively.