7.4 /10 1 Votes
Country United States Publication date January 17, 2017 Originally published 17 January 2017 Page count 480 | 3.7/5 Goodreads Language English Pages 480 Publisher HarperCollins | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Media type Print (hardcover), e-book, paperback Genres Science Fiction, Young adult fiction Similar Veronica Roth books, Other books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Carve the Mark is a science fiction young adult novel. It is the fourth novel by Veronica Roth, published on January 17, 2017 by HarperCollins. It is the first book in the duology. The story follows Akos and Cyra, young people from opposing cultures whose fates are intertwined.
Contents
Carve the mark by veronica roth official book trailer
Noavek family
Kereseth family
Plot
Carve The Mark by Veronica Roth is the beginning of a new science fiction series. The characters of Carve The Mark live among nine planets. Each planet has different rules, different governments, and different people. The names of the planets are: Othyr, Koloande, Ogra, Essander, Zold, Pitha, Trella, Tepes and Thuvhe/Urek.
Although the Shotet and the Thuvhe live on the same planet (Thuvhe/Urek), they have wars and disagree on many things. The Shotet call their planet Urek although the Thuvhesits call it Thuvhe. The people of Shotet live in violence and brutality although the Thuvhesits live in peace and love. In Thuvhe/Urek, there are no years. Instead, the Thuvhesits and Shotet call them seasons.
In their galaxy, there is an invisible force called the current. The current flows through every living thing in the galaxy. Every person in the galaxy has a 'currentgift' which may or may not help them. Everyone's currentgifts come at different times, some earlier than others.
The Shotet have a ritual where they use a currentblade (a type of knife) to carve a mark on their arm every time they kill someone. It is the way that the Shotet remember those who are gone. It is also a way that shows respect to the family of the victim.
Cyra Noavek is Shotet. Her brother is Ryzek Noavek, the current leader of the Shotet. Cyra's currentgift gives her and others (when she touches them) pain. Her currentgift also creates dark shadows that move around underneath her skin.
Ryzek Noavek became the leader of Shotet when his parents died. His currentgift is the ability to trade memories with other people. He has always used Cyra, his younger sister, to torture his enemies because she has the power to create pain.
On the other side of the planet, Akos Kereseth and his family were living in peace and happiness. This all ended when the Shotet found out that his older brother, Eijeh, and him were fate favoured. Fate favoured meant that they were destined to have a bright and successful future. Two enemy Shotet soldiers broke into their house and killed Akos' father in order to capture the two brothers and take them to Ryzek.
Ryzek switched memories with Eijeh hoping to get Eijeh's currentgift by doing so. Unfortunately, it did not work although it caused Eijeh to begin serving Ryzek as his master. Akos wanted to get Eijeh back no matter what the cost.
Akos became the servant of Cyra. He taught her how to create painkillers using hushflowers (a commonly known flower in Thuvhe) to help reduce the pain caused from her currentgift. At first they were silent when they were around each other but as time passed they began to form a relationship. Cyra soon wanted to help Akos escape and get him back home safely without him knowing. She did not want Akos to know since he would stubbornly tell her that he would not go anywhere without his brother.
Cyra got help from the renegades, a secretive group hoping to kill the Noavek royal family. They made a deal that they would get Akos safely out and take him back to Thuvhe if Cyra would unlock all the pass codes and unlock security gates to help them murder Ryzek.
Development of the novel
On March 2, 2015, it was officially announced that Veronica Roth had reached a two-book deal with HarperCollins. On May 5, 2016, the title of the first book and the release date were revealed. Carve the Mark was published on January 17, 2017 by HarperCollins and its sequel is anticipated in 2018. HarperCollins described the books as "in the vein of Star Wars, the story of a boy who forms an unlikely alliance with an enemy."
Reception
Carve the Mark received mixed, but mostly positive reviews. Brian Truitt of USA Today wrote that despite the "overwhelming amount of exposition" which opens the novel, the story "excels when settling into the core relationship between its two embattled leads." Kirkus Reviews said that though "the book is not without its flaws," it is "brimming with plot twists and highly likely to please Roth’s fans." Nivea Serreo of Entertainment Weekly gave the book a B. Carol Memmott of the Chicago Tribune said that though Roth has "built a stunning world," the lead characters' "perpetual grimness might make it hard for some readers to fully invest in cheering them on." Danielle Zimmerman of Hypable said the book was, "an engaging sci-fi story."