BookBar BookWorms have VIP access to Advance Reader’s Copies (ARCs) of Young Adult and Middle-Grade books that have not yet been published. They meet the second Sunday of the month to get a sneak peek of new books and discuss what they are reading. BookWorms also advise BookBar in what books to carry in the shop by honing their review-writing skills.
As a fan of Veronica Roth’s Divergent series, I give Carve the Mark, the first in her new duology, a 10/10.
Everyone is born with a power. A currentgift. It is to be used for the greater good of humanity. However, for Cyra, whose currentgift is for the ability to give pain, it is used for the “greater good” of her tyrant brother, Rysek, King of the Shotet nation-state planet.Some are born with fates, events in their future that are inevitable, told by oracles from each nation-planet. And unfortunately for Rysek, he has a fate. It is to fall to the queen of Thuvhe, where Akos is from. In order to escape his fate, Rysek sends for Akos and his brother, whose currentgift is an oracle, and kidnaps them. Over time, Akos realizes that his currentgift is to block the current, which gives everyone their powers. He is the only one who can stop Cyra’s physical pain, but only she can stop her psychological pain. But Rysek’s hunger for power is growing, and to stop him he must be thrown off of the throne, and Akos and Cyra must do it together.
Though the year just started, Carve the Mark is shaping up to be my favorite book of 2017. It mixes both the sci-fi and fantasy genres well. Throughout the story, Cyra goes through a lot of physical pain from her currentgift, and also psychological pain from her past. While Akos helps with some of it, Cyra herself is the one who heals her hurt from the past, revealing the theme that sometimes you are the only one who can save yourself, and that you don’t always have to rely on other people to relieve your pain.
I recommend it to anyone 12 and up.
—Omar, BookWorm Intern
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