Mundie Moms

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Book Review: Burn Mark by Laura Powell


Published by: Bloomsbury Teens
Released on: June 19th, 2012
Source: Bought
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble


Glory is from a family of witches and lives beyond the law. She is desperate to develop her powers and become a witch herself. Lucas is the son of the Chief Prosecutor for the Inquisition—the witches’ mortal enemy—and his privileged life is very different to the forbidden world that he lives alongside.


And then on the same day, it hits them both. Glory and Lucas develop the Fae—the mark of the witch. In one fell stroke, their lives are inextricably bound together, whether they like it or not . . . quoted from Goodreads

Burn Mark intrigued me a few different levels. First there's the catchy cover followed by the synopsis. Those two alone made me want to pick this book up and read it. Two, Laura Powell's witches aren't based on the well know Salem Witch Trials. Set in the UK, her witches have ties to similar witch trials that have gone on through out the world, as well as through out history and most notably the trials that continue in Africa today. Last, I was intrigued with both of the book's MC's history and their family ties. Glory hails from a long line of powerful witches and Lucas comes from a well known family of Prosecutors, who put the Witches on trail. Given their differences, I wanted to know what their ties were together and how the heck these two were going to work through their becoming Witches.

I love a good Witch book, and I felt this one had the makings to be just that. I enjoy a book that's rich in lore, is believable and has intriguing characters that make me want to keep reading their story to learn more about them. Burn Mark has this, but there was something about the way the story was delivered that made it very hard for me to get into it. The story starts off really slow, which I understood way. There was a need to introduce both characters, and give readers a little glimpse into the lives they both live, and the family life they both hail from, but despite that, the story never really picked up for me. No matter how much I tried to get into it, I felt the plot fell flat for me. That's not to say I didn't enjoy the history and the research that went into this story, because I did. I just needed something more than what I go out of the Glory and Lucas's story, and I can't even tell you exactly what it was that I needed.

Character wise, both Glory and Lucas are good characters. I was surprised over how much I liked Lucas. He's a character who was born into wealth and privilege and I loved that those things didn't define who he was. He wasn't cocky and didn't allow those things to go to his head. I really admired him and his strong belief in being true to himself and standing up for what he feels is right. He was a strong solid character with outstanding morals, and someone I felt does the best he can in the situations he finds himself in. Glory is also a strong character in her own right. She stands up for herself, and she doesn't stop in her quest for answers. She's a solid character, and like Lucas, I admired her strength, but in the end I didn't connect with either of like I had hoped to. 

Overall this is a book that had a few things I liked about it, but not enough for me to really enjoy it like I had wanted to. I don't know if that's due to a combination of things I had going on during the time I spent reading this book, or if this is a book that really wasn't meant for me. Just because I didn't love the book, doesn't mean someone else won't. If you're in the mood for a Witch story that has a creative spin on Witch lore, and includes a touch of magic I'd recommend giving it a try.


Be sure to catch some fabulous reviews and other posts during the Burn Mark Blog Tour!

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