In my last episode of 2017, I’ve reviewed Veronica Roth’s “Carve the Mark” and put together some tips and tricks for setting challenging yet achievable writing resolutions for 2018. (If I’m being totally honest, I really don’t like New Years’ resolutions – but improving yourself is always a good thing, right?)
Carve the Mark is, as I forgot to mention on the show, the first in a two-part series. (Duology?) It also hit bookstores in the wake of Roth’s super successful Divergent series. Now that I think about it, I’ve read a few post-break-out novels this year. Aka, books published after an emerging author’s breakout debut. I’m diving into genre, characters, world building and a lot more – so let’s see if Carve the Mark lives up to the fast-paced and fun expectations Divergent set. Happy New Year, bookish friends!
Books mentioned in this episode:
Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth
The Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth
It’s so cool that your reviews are recorded like that! I don’t think I’ve really seen that on WordPress. And I totally agree what you said about the story. You even pointed out some thing that I hadn’t even thought about. There were a lot of things that had either very little context (like time period and why they used swords in the future and things like that), or things that had way too much context (like focusing a lot on very minor things). Had it been cut down it definitely would have been better. At parts it felt like the story dragged and was a bit slow. When authors make as much money as Roth did with Divergent, publishers basically let them write as much as they want because they know it will sell. Still, I wish her editor would have cut that down bit. I hope her future books are better than this one.
Thank you! I decided to publish them as a podcast instead of written reviews because it seemed more fun and because I love listening to podcasts. 🙂 But yeah, I hope her future projects are better, too!
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Can’t listen at work, but this is on my TBR!
Recording your reviews is such a unique idea. I love it! I’ve seen mixed reviews on this book and it’s on my TBR so I’m interested to see if I enjoy it or not. Thanks for the review!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂 After blogging for a while, I decided to start a book review podcast to accompany what I posted here – so that’s where the recordings come from. This book definitely wasn’t for me, but I have seen a lot of mixed reviews as well so if it intrigues you, definitely give it a shot. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on it as well!
I’ve had Carve the Mark for ages, but it is such a big book that It’s taking me forever to get to it as my TBR list is huge. Great way of doing your reviews.
Thank you! It is pretty long (500+ pages), and I felt that it moved pretty slowly as well. This one definitely wasn’t my favorite, but the idea behind it is certainly unique and I think there was some potential there. Then again, my opinions are only personal preference, so if it sounds interesting to you and you have room on your TBR list, give it a shot!
Podcast reviews? WHATTT How neat!
Thank you! 🙂 I love listening to book review podcasts, and making them is so fun – it seemed like a good medium for me to try! Moving forward, I’m going to try and make the descriptions a little more detailed as well, so people can either read them or listen.
I’m so happy to see some other faces here! Your podcasts are brilliant, so I’m glad that there are some other bibliophiles hearing them.
Ah, new years resolutions…. I have seldom made good on any of them, but I think that (some) of this year’s resolutions will go well. As for writing resolutions, I didn’t make any new ones. 😛 But what I was doing last year worked out pretty well, so I’m just going to roll into 2018 with those same practices, but coupled with a year’s worth of experience.
Carve the Mark sounded kind of interesting. Honestly, I was a bit surprised at the end of the review when you said it only merited 1 star. But I suppose I wasn’t planning on reading it anyways…. I didn’t pick up Divergent, either, since it seemed to just be capitalizing on Hunger Games’s popularity. Not sure why that bothered me, as I didn’t read Hunger Games either, but oh well…. Truth be told, I’m not a very good consumer of YA literature. Maybe someday, but right now it seems very trope-laden and angsty.
Thank you for the kind words! 🙂 My resolutions are similar to last year as well – or rather, a continuation of them. After all the point of a resolution is to create a new, positive habit, so I’m okay with the fact that I didn’t reinvent them completely every January. And yeah, I did give this one a pretty harsh review. I think it had a lot of potential – from a story standpoint – I was just so bummed with the execution that I couldn’t bring myself to give it a good review. Then again, reviews are 100% my personal opinion / a reflection of how much I personally enjoyed reading the book, so if it sounds intriguing, it might be worth checking out if you ever have some extra space on your TBR list.
Hahaha! Right. Extra space on a TBR list? I think you must read too many fantasy books to believe in that kind of possibility.
I’m sure I’ll see reviews from people who loved it, too. If I come across a copy, I’ll flip it open and see if it ensnares me. 🙂