The Mark (The Mark, #1) in And So It Begins Reading Challenge

Mar 26, 2010 Nicole rated it liked it

So I'd say comparitively this paranormal "romance" novel was a little more realistic than others that I've read, and hence the reason I could not bring myself to love it. I hear that she's writing more on this premise but it doesn't seem like it will be through the eyes of Cassie, which bothers me. I was left with more questions than answers and never got the feeling of romance between her and Lucas. Ober-like maybe, but not the L-word that she thought she wanted to say to him.

** Mild spoilers** So I'd say comparitively this paranormal "romance" novel was a little more realistic than others that I've read, and hence the reason I could not bring myself to love it. I hear that she's writing more on this premise but it doesn't seem like it will be through the eyes of Cassie, which bothers me. I was left with more questions than answers and never got the feeling of romance between her and Lucas. Ober-like maybe, but not the L-word that she thought she wanted to say to him.

** Mild spoilers**
Lucas really annoyed me. At first he was really smart and cute and I could see why Cass liked him, but after she told him the biggest secret she had been keeping, he acted like an ass and wouldn't even give her the chance to prove herself at first. And then when he finally believed her he was even more of a jerk by only being around her because he thought her gift could make a difference in the world and he could help. How he would help I have no idea, but after that he didn't care about her, only the gift (or curse) she had. I almost wished she would have let him leave the day she saw the mark on him. A little morbid but he was such a jerk to her that I don't really care. And I can't believe she slept with him on their first "date". She didn't even know it was a date until he invited her up to his apartment! Not all girls are sluts people, and I understand this could be realistic if she were older. She was only 16 and hadn't even been on a date before! Now I suppose the author never said that they had sex that night (just that they kissed and did other things), but if she was staying in his apartment for most her stay in Kansas then it had to have happened.

But I liked the premise and the fact that she had such a problem making the choice of whether she should tell someone they're going to die or not. Another thing that bothered me about Lucas was that he basically made her make that decision quickly after ignoring her for a week. I did like how she did trial and error finally, but was still unsure considering her results got mixed messages. When she tried to find out what happened to her mother, I was happy because there was finally some mystery and a new character (Petra) to like. And Cass ended up finding out that she and her mother and her grandmother were descended from The Fates from Greek mythology, which was truly an unexpected twist, but then that was all that was said on that subject.

I also wish Cassie and Jack had gotten together at the end of the book. There were so cute and Jack was much nicer and sweeter than Lucas, and they had known each other since childhood so I was hoping to see that blossom. Maybe it will be incorporated in the next installment? Not sure but I really hope so because romance was a little lacking in this one. ...more

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