Scan barcode
user613's review
5.0
I’m not sure how to summarize this novel and why I enjoyed it so much.
Piper is a great character. She’s a strong female character who goes through a slow and sweet transformation where she makes friends, starts to care for them, and learns to look outside herself. And, it all happens so slowly that I get to watch it happen, and it feels real.
The world that surrounds Piper is great, too. Full of depth, details and personality, and perfectly supporting her development as a character. The secrets and suspense build slowly, with careful foreshadowing that makes these secrets feel natural.
The pacing has just enough action to keep me interested, and just enough time for the characters to recover and emotionally relate to the events as they happen.
Also,
Most of all, I love how everything connects. All the depth and details and personality work together to create an intriguing world and an exciting story that swept me in.
This book is aimed at teens and middle graders, though older readers will also find what to love about it.
I ended this novel wanting to learn more about the world and the characters and hoping the magic of this story would continue in [b:The Secrets of Solace|25738896|The Secrets of Solace (World of Solace, #2)|Jaleigh Johnson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1434843264l/25738896._SX50_.jpg|45578242] but it was just an okay read. [b:The Quest to the Uncharted Lands|25081301|The Quest to the Uncharted Lands (World of Solace, #3)|Jaleigh Johnson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1495919270l/25081301._SX50_.jpg|44767870] was better but didn’t quite live up to this first book, either.
What to read next:
[bc:The Door to the Lost|36899920|The Door to the Lost|Jaleigh Johnson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1513115102l/36899920._SY75_.jpg|58660707][bc:The Girl Who Could Fly|23310823|The Girl Who Could Fly (Piper McCloud, 1)|Victoria Forester|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1428638808l/23310823._SX50_.jpg|2095997][bc:Princess Academy|85990|Princess Academy (Princess Academy, #1)|Shannon Hale|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1349410861l/85990._SY75_.jpg|3299770][bc:The Girl Who Drank the Moon|28110852|The Girl Who Drank the Moon|Kelly Barnhill|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1485376116l/28110852._SY75_.jpg|48118988][bc:Story Thieves|22546584|Story Thieves (Story Thieves, #1)|James Riley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1421828545l/22546584._SY75_.jpg|42003341]
Content:
Violence: some scary, near death scenes, including slavers, a scary man chasing Anna and Piper who is referred to as “the wolf”.
Romance: a sweet relationship
Religion: they mention the goddess in their conversations as figures of speech such as “thank the goddess”. There also are one or two stories about how the goddess created Solace and left the world, and now she causes the meteor storms. It was pretty subtle, but definitely present.
Other: magical animals and abilities. There is also a tattoo of a dragonfly which a few people have on their arm, and which has significance to the story.
Piper is a great character. She’s a strong female character who goes through a slow and sweet transformation where she makes friends, starts to care for them, and learns to look outside herself. And, it all happens so slowly that I get to watch it happen, and it feels real.
The world that surrounds Piper is great, too. Full of depth, details and personality, and perfectly supporting her development as a character. The secrets and suspense build slowly, with careful foreshadowing that makes these secrets feel natural.
The pacing has just enough action to keep me interested, and just enough time for the characters to recover and emotionally relate to the events as they happen.
Also,
Spoiler
the romance. It’s sweet and innocent and subtle, and I love how Gee and Piper’s feelings are real and developed, and expressed as caring for one another and feeling safe around each other, as opposed to attraction.Most of all, I love how everything connects. All the depth and details and personality work together to create an intriguing world and an exciting story that swept me in.
This book is aimed at teens and middle graders, though older readers will also find what to love about it.
I ended this novel wanting to learn more about the world and the characters and hoping the magic of this story would continue in [b:The Secrets of Solace|25738896|The Secrets of Solace (World of Solace, #2)|Jaleigh Johnson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1434843264l/25738896._SX50_.jpg|45578242] but it was just an okay read. [b:The Quest to the Uncharted Lands|25081301|The Quest to the Uncharted Lands (World of Solace, #3)|Jaleigh Johnson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1495919270l/25081301._SX50_.jpg|44767870] was better but didn’t quite live up to this first book, either.
What to read next:
[bc:The Door to the Lost|36899920|The Door to the Lost|Jaleigh Johnson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1513115102l/36899920._SY75_.jpg|58660707][bc:The Girl Who Could Fly|23310823|The Girl Who Could Fly (Piper McCloud, 1)|Victoria Forester|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1428638808l/23310823._SX50_.jpg|2095997][bc:Princess Academy|85990|Princess Academy (Princess Academy, #1)|Shannon Hale|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1349410861l/85990._SY75_.jpg|3299770][bc:The Girl Who Drank the Moon|28110852|The Girl Who Drank the Moon|Kelly Barnhill|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1485376116l/28110852._SY75_.jpg|48118988][bc:Story Thieves|22546584|Story Thieves (Story Thieves, #1)|James Riley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1421828545l/22546584._SY75_.jpg|42003341]
Content:
Violence: some scary, near death scenes, including slavers
Spoiler
who nearly capture Piper, Piper nearly being choked to death, dust that immobilizes people which is used a few times, and DolomanRomance: a sweet relationship
Spoiler
between Piper and Gee, where they mention they like each other and blush once or twice and hug and hold hands once or twice in a friendly way. Mostly they speak about feeling safe together and caring for each other. In once scene Gee changes into his human form not wearing anything, and Piper covers him. Nothing more is said.Religion: they mention the goddess in their conversations as figures of speech such as “thank the goddess”. There also are one or two stories about how the goddess created Solace and left the world, and now she causes the meteor storms. It was pretty subtle, but definitely present.
Other: magical animals and abilities.
Spoiler
Piper has magic inside that lets her control machines. Anna is half machine half human.cornergrey's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Read this in middle school for OBOB and it was really funny and cute. Not something I would read anymore but I loved it when I was younger
chelseacounsell's review
3.0
Functional, but the worldbuilding felt a bit slap-dash to me. Not associative or building off of itself. Just a bunch of disparate things the author wanted in the book.
jadeyazzylol's review
5.0
I love this book! I read it when I was younger when I bought it at a book fair and it has been sitting in my shelf for many years. I never have wanted to give it away as I knew I had loved it. Recently I got back into reading and decided to reread it. It was amazing and it felt like I was reading the story for the first time. Definitely check it out! I loved the storyline, the characters, and the world this book created! I do wish to know what other mysteries that world has to hide and I really want to see more of the characters’ adventures.
kathydavie's review against another edition
4.0
I did receive an ARC from the publisher, and I'm hoping this is the first in a new fantasy, steampunk series for middle-grade readers revolving around Piper, an orphan from Scrap Town Sixteen with a talent for machines.
My Take
On the whole, I loved this story, and I hope Johnson writes more! It's an intriguing mix of tropes that Johnson twists and twists and twists into her own unique tale with chases and rescues via coach, flying boy, gliders, and the top of the train amidst battles with slavers and raiders, oh my!
There's some nice values in this as well. Ya gotta love Gee when he says he doesn't like the girls, but they're passengers on his train, and he'll do whatever he can to protect them. The loyalty the girls find along the way, and the frightening revelations of Piper's gift both provide an uplift. The best one for the kids to learn is that having a gift isn't enough. Ya still need learnin' to go along with an ability!
The environmental theme is intense throughout the story from the horrors of the meteor fields and the showers to the smog-spewing factories killing its workers and polluting the air to the depredations of the iron-hungry king.
As sad as Piper's story is, Gee's tale is sadder. At least Piper's dad loved her.
A few odd notes: I never got the feeling, at the beginning, that "the wolf" is bad. Too much tell, I guess. The budding romance could have used a bit more tension as well. I don't understand why Piper doesn't take advantage of Anna's tattoo. Why doesn't Piper try to get their money back? The ending is a bit flat as well. It's too good to be true!
It's greed, power, and money—ain't it always? And the wolf is intent on retrieving his property and more.
It's a great adventure that kept me riveted — I still can't believe it was 400-pages long! — and you won't have to worry about the kids getting nightmares after reading The Mark of the Dragonfly!
The Story
Meteor storms bring treasures---some broken, some not, but all worth money to the desperate scavengers of Sixteen . It's that fierce desire to find something worthwhile that entices Micah to cheat the fates, and also brings Anna into Piper's world.
it's a desperate flight for the two girls as they try to retrieve Anna's memory and escape Anna's captor.
Fight or flight, ain't it almost always the way?
The Characters
The orphaned Piper Linny, 13, has a gift for machines and a desire to leave Scrap Town Sixteen in which she lives.
Anna has a fixation with fixing and an eidectic memory. Piper can live with that…it's "the wolf" who's hunting her she may not live through.
The 401…
…is a north-south train that hauls passengers and freight between the scrapper towns in Merrow back to Noveen in the Dragonfly Kingdom. Gee, a.k.a., Green Eyes, is a chamelin, a shapechanger, who's chief of security aboard the train. Trimble is the fireman with a gift for, you know it, fire. Jeyne Steel is the train's engineer. Together, they're a family. Mr. Jalin is one of the porters. Ms. Varvol is a clothing merchant on the train.
The eleven-year-old Micah Howell has a burning need to help his family and dares to disobey in spite of his older brother, Jory. His parents are fishermen and rarely home. Arno Weir is one of Piper's best customers, is the scrap town's unofficial mayor, and runs a general store outside his house.
Raenoll is a sarnum woman with a gift for psychometry in Tevshal.
The Trade Consortium keeps the peace and provides healers and a school in return for a cut of the profits. Scrappers brave the meteor fields to salvage treasures — mostly broken but with the rare prize — to make a living. The sarnum are very strong psychically and live underground.
Aron is king of the Dragonfly Kingdom, and he has an itch to explore the world of Solace. With this in mind, he's determined to gather up every bit of iron in their world, much to the Merrow Kingdom's dismay. Doloman is King Aron's chief machinist and the second-most important man in the kingdom.
The Cover
The cover is the greens of a meteor shower as it screams down from space over the snow-capped mountains of Solace with the golden dragonfly and its iridescent wings front and center. The title is above the dragonfly's head with the author's name just above that.
The title is their passport to a refuge and aid, The Mark of the Dragonfly.
My Take
On the whole, I loved this story, and I hope Johnson writes more! It's an intriguing mix of tropes that Johnson twists and twists and twists into her own unique tale with chases and rescues via coach, flying boy, gliders, and the top of the train amidst battles with slavers and raiders, oh my!
There's some nice values in this as well. Ya gotta love Gee when he says he doesn't like the girls, but they're passengers on his train, and he'll do whatever he can to protect them. The loyalty the girls find along the way, and the frightening revelations of Piper's gift both provide an uplift. The best one for the kids to learn is that having a gift isn't enough. Ya still need learnin' to go along with an ability!
The environmental theme is intense throughout the story from the horrors of the meteor fields and the showers to the smog-spewing factories killing its workers and polluting the air to the depredations of the iron-hungry king.
As sad as Piper's story is, Gee's tale is sadder. At least Piper's dad loved her.
A few odd notes: I never got the feeling, at the beginning, that "the wolf" is bad. Too much tell, I guess. The budding romance could have used a bit more tension as well. I don't understand why Piper doesn't take advantage of Anna's tattoo. Why doesn't Piper try to get their money back? The ending is a bit flat as well. It's too good to be true!
It's greed, power, and money—ain't it always? And the wolf is intent on retrieving his property and more.
It's a great adventure that kept me riveted — I still can't believe it was 400-pages long! — and you won't have to worry about the kids getting nightmares after reading The Mark of the Dragonfly!
The Story
Meteor storms bring treasures---some broken, some not, but all worth money to the desperate scavengers of Sixteen . It's that fierce desire to find something worthwhile that entices Micah to cheat the fates, and also brings Anna into Piper's world.
it's a desperate flight for the two girls as they try to retrieve Anna's memory and escape Anna's captor.
Fight or flight, ain't it almost always the way?
The Characters
The orphaned Piper Linny, 13, has a gift for machines and a desire to leave Scrap Town Sixteen in which she lives.
Anna has a fixation with fixing and an eidectic memory. Piper can live with that…it's "the wolf" who's hunting her she may not live through.
The 401…
…is a north-south train that hauls passengers and freight between the scrapper towns in Merrow back to Noveen in the Dragonfly Kingdom. Gee, a.k.a., Green Eyes, is a chamelin, a shapechanger, who's chief of security aboard the train. Trimble is the fireman with a gift for, you know it, fire. Jeyne Steel is the train's engineer. Together, they're a family. Mr. Jalin is one of the porters. Ms. Varvol is a clothing merchant on the train.
The eleven-year-old Micah Howell has a burning need to help his family and dares to disobey in spite of his older brother, Jory. His parents are fishermen and rarely home. Arno Weir is one of Piper's best customers, is the scrap town's unofficial mayor, and runs a general store outside his house.
Raenoll is a sarnum woman with a gift for psychometry in Tevshal.
The Trade Consortium keeps the peace and provides healers and a school in return for a cut of the profits. Scrappers brave the meteor fields to salvage treasures — mostly broken but with the rare prize — to make a living. The sarnum are very strong psychically and live underground.
Aron is king of the Dragonfly Kingdom, and he has an itch to explore the world of Solace. With this in mind, he's determined to gather up every bit of iron in their world, much to the Merrow Kingdom's dismay. Doloman is King Aron's chief machinist and the second-most important man in the kingdom.
The Cover
The cover is the greens of a meteor shower as it screams down from space over the snow-capped mountains of Solace with the golden dragonfly and its iridescent wings front and center. The title is above the dragonfly's head with the author's name just above that.
The title is their passport to a refuge and aid, The Mark of the Dragonfly.
bookph1le's review against another edition
3.0
Solidly written with very good characters and an interesting world, but it didn't entirely grab me and sweep me of my feet the way books I really love do.
heidi_mcj's review
4.0
A very entertaining middle grade book. The more advanced readers in my class would enjoy it.
lielos99's review
4.0
Such a fun read.
Loved the idea of a place where other worlds lost items come to the Merrow, and a lot of creative ideas. Exciting for any of the targeted age range.
Loved the idea of a place where other worlds lost items come to the Merrow, and a lot of creative ideas. Exciting for any of the targeted age range.