*This was previously posted on my Goodreads account
You see, I have a lot of mixed feelings about Carve the Mark. I hesitate to call it bad because I really do enjoy V Roth’s writing. However, it’s just Not Good. There were too many times where Cyra and Akos felt like Tris and Four and too many moments where I considered a big ole DNF to consider this good. Allow me to call Carve the Mark what it is: slow, book slumpish, but if you force yourself to sit down and read 200 pages of it (no, I definitely didn’t have to do this) it’s oddly…enjoyable? Yea, I’m confused about this too.
Rating: 2 Shells (trust me, I’m just as upset about this as you are)
It seems to me that Roth took a lot of the criticisms of her Divergent series to heart. People said the worldbuilding was awful, and Roth spent about 300 pages of boring exposition to correct that in Carve the Mark. People said Four and Tris were too insta-lovey, and so Roth literally took 300 pages again to allow the romance to pick up here. People argued that Tris and Four’s voices in Allegiant (ew) were indiscernible from each other, so Roth makes one POV here in third person, and one in first person. Others complained Divergent was not at all a dystopian book, so Roth made sure that not only is Carve the Mark Sci-Fi, but it’s in space and languages are so important she spends pages telling you about how soft Thuvhe sounds (not pages at a time but really, how many lines in this book were taken up by lines like, “the word was harsh on my tongue” or “*insert impossible to pronounce name* slipped on the words of Thuvhesit”? So many lines. Can I just say, I don’t actually care about how the sounds slip off of a tongue, nor do I think it adds to the worldbuilding. While, as with anything, it was tolerable in moderation, by page 460 it was too much. I realize I’m diminishing this book to simple concepts and probably making it sound pretty bad. But wait! Allow for my concession! People liked the exploration of fear in Divergent so Roth makes that a theme again!
This book put me in a reading slump, but when I sat down and forced myself to read 200 pages because I could not DNF a book by Veronica Roth, that’s borderline sinful, I found myself enjoying it. The beginning is slow, the middle is slow, and the end tries to take all of that slowness and run with it. But it’s like on baking shows when the baker KNOWS their cake is ruined but they’re like, oh, if I just put some frosting on it things will be ok! Show me a single time that has worked. It obviously doesn’t work in Carve the Mark. While the last 200 pages I had to force myself to read were good, 200 pages are only frosting on this burnt and dry 468 page monster of a novel. It seemed like by the end Roth had me, but all it took to get there was Not Worth It. The plot points, even for me, someone who has never in her life correctly seen a plot twist coming (not true exactly, I still figured out a random code in a PLL episode and my sister still doesn’t believe me. It’s true, Abigail!), were obvious and guessable. I think the ending was supposed to be a big reveal, but it was obviously coming. So it’s 468 pages to trudge through, and there’s not even a single plot twist (one that you won’t see coming, at least) to make that trudge worth it. Let me tell you a few things about why these characters 1) aren’t as developed as Tris and Four, 2) are lowkey boring to read about (honestly, how did V Roth, the master of Tris’ incredible characterization, mess this up?), and 3) not bad but once again, Not Good.
Cyra
I watched an interview with V Roth as I was reading this book in which she hinted at some Divergent Easter eggs hidden throughout Carve the Mark. The only ones I could find (seriously, as someone who has read Divergent A LOT, these were all I could find) were moments of Cyra acting annoyingly like Tris (I say annoying because anyone trying to be Tris but isn’t Tris leaves me like ????). Let me show you:
I had walked into this situation with so little regard for my own safety, and I wasn’t even sure why, except that I didn’t want to watch the execution of an innocent when there were so many guilty hidden away.
When I read this I typed it into the notes on my phone and wrote: Tris, is that you? At the time I was sort of noting it jokingly. I’m not going to make the argument that Cyra is Tris. They’re different, I know! But some things like this made me laugh. Even still, I did like Cyra and I preferred her parts to Akos’. That may be because I prefer first person, but Cyra was overall more likable. She is able to overcome an impossible environment she was raised in, and I think that’s something to admire her for. Cyra is a complex, emotionally wounded (and physically, sort of) woman who, despite her family and upbringing, is able to find a place in her heart for love. So maybe that’s why she reminds me so much of Tris (I realize this isn’t similar to Tris’ upbringing, but it’s hard to explain and something about their similar strength makes me like them). I’ve always loved characters who seem like monsters, but when fully developed it turns out that no one has given them a chance and they’re actually good people(yes, this means I do like my mans Peter). Cyra is complex in her way of perceiving death and murder, but the part that makes this book Not Good is that her pain and her environment are really the only characterization of her we get. The other characters have similar stories. Not completely one dimensional, but nowhere near as developed as I know Roth can make them.
I recently read an interview with Veronica Roth and Brendan Reichs in which they discussed worldbuilding of dystopias and science fiction. Roth said this about creating a dystopian society in Divergent, “At 22, I felt equal to the task; at 29, I have a better understanding of how little I know.” It seems to me that at 22 V Roth understood exactly a complex female teenager. She understood it and conveyed it and it resonated perfectly. I’ve never read another character like Tris. It seems to me now, however, that at 29 Veronica took the criticisms of Divergent to heart. I’m not advocating lackluster worldbuilding, and I’m not saying Roth has lost her touch. Carve the Mark is good if you want to imagine a world in space with some okay characters. But I think the perfect book from Roth would be a balance between her 22 year old self and now. It’s a trade off here, but I don’t think it has to be. Vero has an understanding of people (people like me!) that I will never be able to have. Someday soon V Roth will master the characterization of Divergent with the worldbuilding of Carve the Mark and then perhaps Divergent will be dethroned from my all time favorites list.
Not bad but not good typically lends itself to a 3 star review. But I know how good Roth can be. And the Divergent epilogue has me peeved (check out my rant below!). So 2 stars, because I know Roth is good and she wrote a book that just..isn’t.
There was a hunger inside me, and there always had been. That hunger was stronger than pain, stronger than horror…And when I finally named it, I found it was something very simple: the desire to live.
Books by the Water 