A review by queencariad
The Song of the Marked by S.M. Gaither

adventurous tense slow-paced

3.0

A promising worldbuilding with interesting concepts, magic system and rather loveable characters — but the pacing was quite irregular and it frustrated me a lot.

It definitely feels like the book could have been shorter. Same thing, minus 10 % of content, could have been just as good. It got lengthy at times, which gave me the overall impression of a dragging story, and therefore failed to keep my interest in the long run.
Also, the time management was messy, with (for example) a scene starting ‘at noon’ only for the immediately following battle to be happening ‘at night’. Sometimes it got confusing.

I overall liked Cas as a MC but she did make a few questionable choices, and ones that didn’t match her beliefs at that. I enjoyed the fact that she didn’t have ‘not-like-other-girls’ vibes at first, but by the end of the book, they unfortunately started to show. It was the same thing every time: her legs start moving from their own accord despite her fear, she feels the urge to help, do something, “anything”— and every time, of course, her crazy plan works and/or she discovers some hidden talent she has. It was exciting at first, and just became awfully repetitive after the first 4 times it happened.

I loved the idea of found family, but I wished we had seen more of Casia’s friends.

Elander, the love interest, was immediately my jam— charming, sarcastic, with a ‘Death Speaker’ nickname… And his dynamic with Cas was nice. 

In other words, many aspects of this book were enjoyable but I find myself quite frustrated by the execution and rhythm of it all. Something was missing. Something fell short. I wouldn’t be able to tell you what exactly.

Regarding the plot twists and revelations— I had rightly guessed every single one of them, so even if a bit predictable, I’m quite happy about that. Those last 15% are making me consider picking up the second book: I’ll probably try and see! 

3 stars!
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