Review Detail

I think I've read this book before, though it was under a different name and instead of people who possessed the powers of the four elements, they were vegetarian vampires...

The first half of this book is pretty much exactly the same as Twilight. Megan has just moved to a new town, and is left speechless after first laying eyes on Adam DeRis. He, continuing in the Twilight theme, is arrogant and standoffish, sticking to his siblings while at school, and of course, is devastatingly handsome. The only difference is that he also seems flustered by Megan's presence, running into a door frame on his way out of class after catching her eye. His family has a notorious history within town, and the weird things that seem to happen when they're around do nothing to dispel the rumours.

After being in town a couple week, Megan has a boating accident and Adam is able to jump in and save her life, much like when Edward saved Bella from being crushed by a car. As in Twilight where Edward accompanies Bella to the hospital, and waits to speak with her once she is released, Adam is waiting for Megan when she emerges from her room.

Later, on her way to a Halloween party, Megan is harassed by two drunk guys from her school. Before anything can really happen, a gust of wind picks up the two boys and throws them away from Megan. All of a sudden, Adam is there asking if she is ok. Sounds an awful lot like when Bella was saved by Edward from a group of men with sinister intentions. When they do make it to the party, Adam tells Megan that he hasn't been able to stop thinking about her since the moment he first laid eyes on her. He tells her that he was warned to stay away from her, but that he isn't strong enough (an exact quote from Edward, if memory serves) and that he feels like their destinies are inexplicably linked.

And the last thing I will point out is that like in Twilight, where Alice warms to Bella while Rosalie gives her the cold shoulder, in Carrier of the Mark, Adam's twin Aine warms to Megan while his older brother Rian is quite upset with her presence.

The explanation of the Order and the history of the Mark, while interesting in concept, was laid out in one info-dumped chapter. I had to re-read it a few times, and I still don't think I fully understand the mythology. Maybe if it had been shown instead of told to me I would have made more sense of it. This left absolutely no no room for suspense, as the most important details were given in one long-winded speech from Fionn. Any remaining details that surfaced seemed to be a weak attempt at causing conflict, so we wouldn't get bored.

One of these conflicts was the Order's complete rejection of Megan and Adam's relationship, as it had "apocalyptic" consequences. Unfortunately, I could care less about whether or not Adam and Megan are able to be together, as there was absolutely NO development of their love story. Their elements spoke to each other, and therefore they were destined. Shortly before the Order's condemnation of their relationship, Megan mentions that they had only been dating for two weeks and that she barely knew Adam. But then when faced with the possibility of separation from him, she exclaims:

There has to be a way I can keep the element and you too. How can I separate the two things that make me feel whole?
And a couple pages later...

Everything else paled in significance. I could not live without him. As much as it upset me to hurt the others, it was nothing compared to the stabbing pain I felt when I thought of being parted from him.

Ugh. You know someone for two weeks and all of a sudden you can't live without them? Give me a break.

I don't even understand how this got published. I haven't read Twilight in years and I still managed to pick up on way too many similarities for it to be mere coincidence.

On a side note, how many times does it have to be mentioned that she was putting on her red converses?