Book Review: Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon

Title: Carrier of the Mark

Author: Leigh Fallon
Series: Carrier Trilogy #1
Pages: 342
Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
Date of Publication: 27th October 2011
Source: Publisher*
Synopsis from Goodreads: Their love was meant to be.

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.

My Thoughts:
I was SO excited to read this book. And, I'm not going to lie, it was mostly because of the cover. I mean, it's GORGEOUS. I read the synopsis and thought it sounded great, so I added it to my to-read list. Then, once I got it, I just knew that I loved the cover, and so many other bloggers and readers whose opinions I trust had read and loved it, so I HAD to read it soon, because I knew that I'd love it too. And it did not disappoint me.

Carrier of the Mark is one of those books that, after reading only a couple of pages, you know you're going to love it. Many bloggers had said that it was rather samey, and a bit been there, done that, and while I agree, I don't think this is a bad thing. Yes, there were similarities between this and a certain sparkly vampire book, but they didn't distract me from the main story, which, in my opinion, was very unique. I've never read a book about Celtic mythology before, so I didn't feel like it was a copy of all the other paranormal books out there. Maybe it was a little predictable and it seemed like it was going in the direction of so many other books, but I didn't mind, because sometimes it's nice to sit down with a book that is familiar, and because of that you know you're going to love it...

Anyway, moving on. One of the best things about this book, for me, was the paranormal aspect. As I said before, I've never read anything about Celtic mythology before so it was refreshingly new for me. I loved the way the whole book was based around these myths, and I thought that the way in which it was introduced to the reader was very well done. My only complaint was that sometimes, there was a little bit of information overload, and I think that that could have been spaced out throughout the book more, as I found myself needing to reread the explanation parts just to get my bearings about the myths, but overall I thought it was very well written.

I also really liked the characters. Megan was a great lead, and I felt that I could really relate to her. I really liked how she moved into a new school, and instead of being shy and ignoring people who tried to talk to her, she took it all in her stride and made friends quickly, and with people who were actually nice. And yes, she did immediately fall for the hottest, baddest guy in the school, but honestly, who wouldn't? ;) And then, once she started officially dating Adam, she didn't neglect and ignore her friends, or rather, she didn't forget about them. Perhaps she didn't hang out with them as much as she used to, but she felt bad about that and didn't just forget they existed.

Talking of the hottest, baddest guy in school, I really liked Adam too. I didn't love him or anything, but I thought he was cool. There were some times in the book when he acted like a jerk, but when it turns out that it was for Megan's own good, I managed to forgive him. ;) He was really sweet and it was obvious how much he loved Megan, and overall he was just a really nice, really cool guy. And what he did at the end... Well, I won't spoil you!

Haha, overall though, Carrier of the Mark was a very strong debut, and I have really high hopes for the rest of the series. I can't wait to find out what happens in the next instalments, and it'll be great to see where Megan's powers take her next. I'd recommend Carrier if you're looking for something quick and fun to read, and if you're a fan of YA paranormal romances this would be perfect for you!

*Huge thanks to Rosi at HarperCollins for sending me this in exchange for an honest review! In no way has this affected my opinion of the book.

My Rating:

I give it 4 Feet!

Challenges:
2011 Debut Author Challenge #28
2011 Paranormal YA Reading Challenge #50
2011 100+ Reading Challenge #92