Publisher: Bloomsbury
Format: ARC
Published: 7th June 2012
Number of Pages: 416
Book: For Review*
Genre:
Recommended
Age: 12+
Contains: Violence,
Swearing, Alcohol References
No Drug References
Author's
Blog: Laura Powell
“I’ll win or I’ll burn – whatever it takes.”
Glory is destined to become a witch. When she does, she’s going to make sure her
East End coven is one to respect and fear again.
But a dangerous mix of conspiracy and betrayal
raises the stakes. And then Lucas
Stearne – rich, privileged and a potential Witchfinder – enters her life.
Now Glory and Lucas must put aside their
differences to form an uneasy alliance.
And fight for their lives.
Review
"Fae runs thicker than blood,
quicker than water and wild as wind..."
Glory
comes from a long line of witches. Her mum Edie was a witch - an
unregistered one, hunted by the Inquisition. Glory's dad thinks Edie left
to protect them. But thanks to amazingly vivid dreams, Glory knows
differently.
Her
mother was burnt at the stake.
And
yet for as long as she can remember, Glory has prayed to be a witch. It's
her birth-right, a way to bring glory back to her coven.
Lucas
comes from a long line of Witchfinders, proud members of the Inquisition and
hunters of those with the Fae. When he is older, he will be a Witchfinder
too...
These
two teens from such different backgrounds develop the Fae on the very same day,
years before it usually appears.
From
then on in, they must forge a shaky allegiance, as the two prodigies fight to
bring down a powerful coven.
While
also fighting for their lives...
I've
always loved magic books. And I love paranormal books too. But have
you noticed that lots of them kinda... blur together? They're all rather
similar in places? The same kinda thing regurgitated a little differently
gets boring after too long... But not Burn
Mark. It's original, edgy, fast-paced, awesome and just so, so amazing! The minute I entered
the world, I knew I never, ever wanted to leave. I cannot tell you how
awesome it was! So if you're sick of cookie-cutter paranormal, you must check this one out... NOW! I'll be waiting...! ;)
Seriously,
though. I’ve always had a really morbid
fascination with the witch trials. I did
a project on them in high school and can still remember how dreadful they were –
but it all intrigued me anyway. I think
it’s because I want to be a witch. So
what with the creepy intrigue and witchy wishes, I knew I’d love this
book! I had such high expectations and
it managed to exceed every single one. I’m
gonna just get on with my review, ‘cause now I’m just rambling excitedly in my
head. It was just that good!
One
of the many things I loved about this book was the characters and their
relationships: they all felt really, really real
to me. Like I knew the main characters
so well they were my best friends. I
loved Glory, our heroine: she was strong, brave, bold, street-smart and
sarcastic. She was rougher and more
reserved than Lucas, and therefore took longer to get to know; but once I did,
I loved her! Lucas was someone I liked
more-or-less instantly: he was cheeky, smart and also rather sarcastic. Something about his smooth, confident character
was just so automatically loveable!
Their relationship was amazingly done: how differently they both reacted
to their newfound power, how their personalities were so different is some ways
and identical in others. I loved how the
distrust and hate slowly changed as they got to know one another: it was done
masterfully. All the other characters
were just as well padded out as the leads, all so believable and real. Some I instantly knew were good. Some I
instantly knew were bad. And some I just couldn't figure out. As I
said before - amazing. I must mention Trey Morgan real quick: he was such
a conflicting character, one I loved trying to figure out! I can’t wait to see where he goes!
Laura
Powell’s writing was simply amazing: beautiful, descriptive and horrid at
times! I could feel the fire burning
through Glory's dream, see and smell another witch burning though
Lucas... Dreadful, incredible, addictive! And there was split POV between Glory and Lucas (happy dance)! Their voices were both unique: you could hear
their different backgrounds in their speech.
The plot… just, whoa! It was
brilliant, and although the start wasn't as fast as the rest of the book, I
just didn't care - I was too busy lapping up the world! And when the action kicked off - man did it
kick off! Twisty and fast-paced, I loved every second and had no idea
where everything was going. And
I just have to mention the world,
because it was amazing! It was horrible,
but in the most brilliant way possible.
The world building and backstory was mind-blowing – Powell took
historical events and seamlessly changed them, adding witches to Nelson's fight
against the French, etc. But the best bit was definitely the Mafia-mob
side of the story: it was awesome and so original! Organised witch crime! How cool?!
I just loved everything: the description of the world, of the Fae
(Seventh Sense), how witches lived, gang war-witch terrorism and the fact that
EastEnders will now be for the rest of time a witch soap in my head! But seriously, this world was just so real,
it was like I’d moved there. It was just
that good. And I totally want the Fae now. It’s awesome.
A
totally original, breath-taking, action-packed, magical, gritty book that left
me breathless and desperate for more, more, more! With a strong, kickbutt female lead, a
totally cute and brave male lead, a few added hotties and baddies and the most
awesome witchcraft ever Burn Mark had
me hooked and on the edge of my seat from start to finish. Don’t you just love it when a book is so much more than you ever thought it could
be 0 when it exceeds all your expectations?
Me too! Which is why I’m
recommending this to you all! It’s
awesome, magical, addictive, incredible - with world you just wanna dive right
into! I cannot wait for Laura's next book - especially if it's about
Lucas and Glory!
P.S. Check out my interview with Laura: Here!
Star Rating:
4¾ Out of 5
4¾ Out of 5
Read this
book if you liked:
Blood Journals by Tessa Gratton
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
Advent by James Treadwell
Kill All Enemies by Melvin Burgess
Challenges
It's Taking Part In:
Happy Reading
Megan
* This
book was received from Bloomsbury in exchange for an honest review
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