This cover! Soooo beautiful and it made me want this book from the moment I saw it. And with the summary and the fact that this would play in Ireland, it was even more intriguing. So it landed at my home and despite the fact that I read it a few years ago, this review had to be written. A novel about druids, a Celtic goddess, and the elements of the earth: can it get any better than that? With a soft writing style, humor, and a great main figure Leigh Fallon wrote a story that contains whatever a reader´s heart desires.
Carrier Of The Mark
by Leigh FallonCarrier Series #1
Publisher HarperTeen on October 1, 2011
Genre Young Adult
Pages 342
Format Paperback
Source Purchased
Goodreads
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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.
Story
Megan moves with her father, a widower, to a small town in Ireland. From the first moment on she feels at home, feels that something is different. But she can´t name it. When she meets Adam DeRìs for the first time at her new school, things change completely. Her life seems to become more and more complicated and when the first magic moment happens and she gets to know that the DeRìs family has magic abilities too, she finds herself in the middle of an old Celtic ritual and with the burden of a very old fate.
Style
During some scenes, I had to laugh out loud when I pictured Àine soaking wet in my head when Adam took revenge with his magic abilities for some teasing. And maybe because Àine is a drawing genius that made me fall in love with her. Carrier of the Mark is written in a soft tone, easy to read, and filled with wonderful humor and irony. From Megan´s point of view, I discovered the beauty of Ireland and what it is about the Celtic gods. A lot of magic happens and though I found the first half a bit too decent, the second half had quite a mark on me. From that moment on I was not only smirking, but I had to laugh quite often because of the fascinating way Megan gets to know what she really is. Haunted and hooked I had to keep reading and in the end, I knew that I had to read the second book too.
The legend of the druids turns out to be a huge part of this book. The children of the goddess Danu show up in the legend and all that is presented in a diversified and wonderful amusing way. Oh yes, this novel is really a fantastic read.
Characters
Megan is used to it that she has to move a lot with her father. Since her mother´s death, there seems no place on earth where her father can stay very long. But when they move to Ireland everything changes. Not only her father feels like this could be the place where they finally will settle in, Megan thinks it too. For her, the small town seems to be the answer to almost everything. She easily connects with other young people. The different lifestyles, the school uniform, the food, the town itself; everything seems to fit and lets her feel at home.
Adam is not amused when he figures out what Megan is. Familiar with the legend and that there is some evil in the world that he has one day to fight in a certain way, isn´t exactly what he calls a normal life. Having friends isn´t the norm and a girlfriend is out of the question. But his feelings for Megan are strong from the very beginning and he doesn´t want to fight them.
Conclusion
What an enthralling book! If you are looking for some magic, mysticism, and romance then you should read the Carrier books. They have a beauty inside them that amazes me all the time I look into them. Highly recommended.
Happy reading
Leigh Fallon
Leigh Fallon was born in South Africa, raised in Dublin, Ireland, and moved to Cork in her twenties. Leigh and her family now share their time between Ireland and the United States. She is the author of Carrier of the Mark and Shadow of the Mark.