Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon

Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon
Carrier #1
Release Date: October 27, 2011 (UK)
Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books
Source: Publisher
Rating: Enjoyable

When Megan Rosenberg moves to Ireland, everything in her life seems to fall into place. After growing up in America, she's surprised to find herself feeling at home in her new school. She connects with a group of friends, and she is instantly drawn to darkly handsome Adam DeRís.

But Megan is about to discover that her feelings for Adam are tied to a fate that was sealed long ago—and that the passion and power that brought them together could be their ultimate destruction. - Goodreads

I’m sorry to say that I do not like this book as much as I thought I would. I have rated this book as Enjoyable, however, as there were aspects that I did enjoy and I was kept reading.

The book starts with Megan moving to Ireland due to her father’s new job. There she meets a pair of mysterious twins, who are the subject of all sorts of rumours, named Adam and Áine DeRís. Megan later discovers that she is not a typical teenager and that she – along with the DeRís siblings - has a paranormal ability.

Megan wasn’t a protagonist who stands out, unfortunately. She was nice enough, but she didn’t have any qualities about her that will make her easily remembered. She was pretty bland.

Adam, the love interest, was also very bland. I apologise for this comparison in advance - I must mention it – but Adam reminded me very much of Edward Cullen (I totally understand the people who are saying that this book is similar to Twilight, by the way). He was very mushy at times and wasn’t an interesting love interest. He didn’t have a distinct personality which left me wondering why Megan fell for him in the first place.

Megan and Adam’s relationship was very out of the blue. The pair had spoken barely two sentences to one another – after weeks of stares and ‘meaningful’ looks – and then they were declaring their love for each other and spending every minute of the day together. There was little drama in their relationship, and a paragraph’s worth of build up. It was really disappointing and I wasn’t sold on their relationship at all.

That said, I did enjoy the unique mythology which was woven into the ordinary plot. I’ve never read much about the Irish mythology which is present in this book, and it was a fabulous experience for my first time. I won’t go into too much detail but the basic summary is that several characters have paranormal powers, and this leads to complications along the way. There was a large info-dump in the middle of the book, though, which I’ll admit left me very confused.

The pace of the novel is very fast, however not much happens at the beginning. The novel does pick up a lot at the end when the action begins. It made the book much more enjoyable for me.

If you’re looking for an original story then I don’t think this is the book for you. The basic plot has been done before, as have the relationships. I would advise that this is a hit or miss book, so you should probably read some spoiler-free reviews before you buy it, or perhaps borrow it from the library.