Reviews

Promised: The Birthmarked Trilogy by Caragh M. O'Brien

laughlinesandliterature's review against another edition

5.0

OH MY GOD! This book just had me up and down and all over the place. I loved that it started off with Gaia and Leon and the ex-members of Sylum at the end of the journey, it allowed filler to be dropped and I liked the 1 year advancement of the timeline. I felt like I really got to see Gaia removed from the 16 year old she was and I got to see her as a woman. This book was extremely fast paced and it worked well until the end. I really loved that Gaia started fearless just the way she ended book 1. I enjoyed Prized(book2) because it allowed us to see how easily it can be to change and lose who we are in the process but this book brought us back the Gaia who was strong and independent but now a woman. I loved her and Leon's relationship throughout this entire book, he is not the typical good guy because he's willing to do what is cruel to achieve the needed results and I loved that he ended up calling Gaia out on her moral superiority complex when in reality she just allows him to make those decisions and tells herself it doesn't matter. I still hated the Protectorat in this book and while I don't think he is intrinsically evil, I do think that he is craaazy and bigoted. He discriminates those who live outside the wall and thinks that they are lesser than he is just because of that. Then we get to the problem of Gaia.

Spoiler

I just can't believe they took her ovaries. Who the hell does that?! I know that she's not damaged for life but I can absolutely understand her grief and pain because they did that to her. I would absolutely feel gutted as well. Poor poor Gaia I don't even know if I could function if that happened to me.

Overall this book is probably the weakest in the series because the ending was final and it was weak. The interlude between the final conflict scene and the end of the book was really weak and it didn't feel connected really to the rest of the book. It was good and I did enjoy it and I would highly recommend the series so it still gets 5 stars from me!

lcgerstmann's review against another edition

3.0

I liked the first book in this series for it's dystopian world building. The story is more original and didn't "borrow" as obviously from "1984", "The Handmaid's Tale" and "The Giver" as most other YA dystopian novels do, but I felt it missed the target in the emotional connection arena.

I really liked the second book for building another totally different and interesting dystopian society and for convincing me emotionally, however, it lost some of the grit and darkness that made the first book more poignant.

This third book and final book attempted to mesh the best of both previous books. While it succeeded in bringing us full circle in our journey, it left me quite unsatisfied. There was a lot of repetition that hinted at danger without fully committing to it, until BAM, the horrible happens.... and then... a wedding. I guess we are supposed to be outraged and appalled and swooning all at the same time. It did't work for me.

I do still give this book 3 big stars, more like 3.5, for confronting mature issues for an YA audience. The most poignant being the bonds of mothers to their children, infertility and women's rights (as it concerns their own bodies). As a mother, I feel these issue resonant with me in a way that might not be as meaningful to a teenager and therefore may take away some of the intensity of the story for young readers, but hopefully it opens these young minds (especially girls) to think about the importance of these topics.

Now I'm going to call my mom and tell her I love her and kiss my daughter good-night.

beckykirk's review against another edition

2.0

A series started with such promise ends so... Ugh I don't even know what word I should use. I loved the 1st book, was ok with the 2nd but was really disappointed with this one. How stupid is Gaia? How many times does the Protectoret have to screw her over before she realizes what a liar he is? I'm just glad the series is over and I can look for better dystopia books!

snjluc's review against another edition

2.0

It frustrates me SOOOO MUCH when books are published with errors!!! Come on publishers!!!!

glitterbomb47's review against another edition

2.0

Disappointing end to the Birthmarked trilogy. Inane behavior by many characters just to move the plot forward. I wish now I had skipped this one entirely.

jolene_r's review against another edition

5.0

Loved the series. Decent ending

rachel_maloy's review against another edition

4.0

I thought it wasn't as good as the first one, but still good. I like her writing, although ever since the first book the story has been going a little downhill

rochelleisreading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative medium-paced

5.0

sydney_09's review against another edition

3.0

I give this a 3.7 as I mentioned with the first two, this is like a mix between The Hunger Games and The Handmaid's Tale. I appreciate Gaia's growth but her age and naivety definitely showed through. I do feel like she lost her self as a Midwife, not sure if that is intentional by the author considering what happened to her. I think an epilogue would've been nice since the ending feels complete, but incomplete.

ama_reads's review against another edition

2.0

Perhaps it is due to the amount of time between reading the previous book and this one. I felt underwhelmed by the final installment of this series.