Burn Mark by Laura Powell
Published: 7th June 2012
By: Bloomsbury
ISBN: 1408815222
Source: Bloomsbury UK
Target Audience: Young Adult
My Rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book started off really slow and with a lot of information to take in. I felt bombarded with details about the Inquisition, who deal with witch crimes, WICA a government agency of witches, who help deal with witch crime and the Wednesday and Cooper covens, where witches and their families are like the mob. A lot of names were just being thrown out. I was getting kind of lost and my mind was just wandering so I'd have to go back and read it again. Even now that I've finished, I probably still don't really know who some of the characters mentioned are. I really felt like giving up on this one.
I won't say I'm glad I didn't, that it turned out to be awesome, because it didn't. But it was okay. Once Glory, who is a witch and Lucas, son of the Chief Prosecutor for the Inquisition, meet up and start working together, things get a little better. The ending of the book was probably what really redeemed it as I really enjoyed it. It is the only real action in the story.
Glory and Lucas were interesting enough characters but I didn't become too attached to them. Lucas, at the beginning is very hoity toity and not really appealing at all, although he becomes more likeable as the book goes on. Glory is completely chav and has a complete attitude problem, but she also, becomes more appealing as the story continues.
My favourite character had to be Troy. He is Glory's second cousin, but not a witch as he hasn't got the witch gene. I liked him from the start, even though we don't see too much of him until the ending. He is the mob bosses son, and while he is set to take over the family business, I couldn't help but feel he was a nice guy. I felt that all the characters in this book lacked depth. For all the information we got on the different departments, I didn't feel we received very much insight into any of the characters.
The writing in this book was easy to take to but with all the information to take in, it stopped the story from being able to flow naturally. There is no romance in this book. That's always a let down for me. From the blurb, I had felt that there would be, that something would happen with Glory and Lucas, but unfortunately not.
I'm not sure if this is stand alone or part of a series. The way it ended, I feel it could go either way. If there was a second book, I probably would read it. I would be interested enough in seeing what happens next for Glory and Lucas, but I would also like to see how/if things change when Troy takes over from his father.
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Lovely review, Suzanne! This book has such amazing premise and the cover is really cool, but it's too bad that the story is not that good! It turns me off when too much information is thrown in the first few chapters. I always have problem with tell, no-show book. I'm glad that there are still things you enjoy about this book though, like Lucas. Ah, the no-romance thing would bug me since I'm such romance junkie. :P
I love the cover for this book and I look forward to read it :) !! Thanks for the great review Suzanne !
It sounds like there was a lot of information overload in this book, which is a shame, as the premise sounds great. I'm glad you found this to be a good read overall, even though it didn't blow you away. And I'm like you - I always need a bit of romance in my books to keep me happy. ;) Lovely review, Suzanne.
Super detailed with meh characters!? Not really my thing either. Too bad though it always sucks when that happens.
wow I don't know if I can take all that info-dump in the beginning. Too bad because I really like stories with witches. Great review!
Interesting that there is such a fine line between not enougb detail and too much detail. I am always complaining about lack of detail in world building, but obviously it can lean toward too much and it slows down the pace, which is the case in this situation. Not to mention an open ending..which is even more frustrating.
Interesting that there is such a fine line between not enougb detail and too much detail. I am always complaining about lack of detail in world building, but obviously it can lean toward too much and it slows down the pace, which is the case in this situation. Not to mention an open ending..which is even more frustrating.
Blah... this is the second review I've read of this book and the other one wasn't glowing either! I'm going to skip this. I hate info dumps and the lack of romance wouldn't help either!
Awesome review!
Had to come and see your review. =) Totally agree with you, to much information to start with. It was hard to get my head around at some points but I'm glad the author evened it out a bit near the end. Great review!
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