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A Marked Past (2011)

by Leslie Deaton(Favorite Author)

3.75 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

1463551126 (ISBN13: 9781463551124)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Createspace

series

The Mercer Legacy

review 1: ** This book was generously shared by the author through Shut Up & Read Group for the purposes of review.**I really, sincerely struggled with my chosen rating for this book. I wanted to enjoy it; I wanted to love it. The subject matter is of interest to me, so it was not the fact that this book is about Salem, and the Mercer family being witches that turned me off. It was not that the book was horribly written, or had an atrociously large number of editing issues that I couldn't deal with. I just could not connect.The first 25% of the book dealt with a lot of difficult situations that were integral to the story. Lyla's dad tragically dies in an accident and the family is uprooted to Salem after his death, where Lyla's life and reality get turned upside down. With the excep... moretion of the moment when her father's death is revealed, this character's reactions to some important events in this book was contradictory, and perplexing. I found her utter disbelief and then complete acceptance of certain information and events to be confusing and frustrating. It took away the 'credibility' aspect that I rely on to connect to a character, which in turns allows me to connect better with the story. Examples:When her Uncle Nathan announces that he believes that her father was murdered, Lyla not only did not reply but she didn't even react initially to that statement. I would have expected some initial shock, or disbelief, or confusion. After all, as far as she is aware, her father was hit by a taxi while crossing the street. Yet, moments later in the book, when it is mentioned again, she switches to complete acceptance of that as fact, and becomes concerned of the danger to her and her family, but I could not understand the basis of her change of heart with so little to no information to go on.When her Uncle Nathan points out the mark on her neck, and speaks in riddles about what it means, she believes that it is something special and magical, where I would assume, that a normal teenager would be more inclined to be frustrated with the gobbly-gook her uncle is saying, scoff, maybe shake her head in bewilderment, SOMETHING a bit more realistic than complete acceptance that it means something extraordinary! Then, later on, she becomes doubtful that it means anything at all which would be the reaction I would have expected in the first place.This kind of contradiction continues throughout the novel. It also occurred between characters and their relationships. I couldn't really feel a romantic connection between Lyla and Caleb, and the depth of their relationship left me very confused, because I didn't see how that deep connection actually developed between them. Also, characters would have fights with each other, yelling and screaming and walking away in a huff, and the next day, they were smiling and laughing with each other like the previous argument had never occurred. Unfortunately when I become frustrated as a reader, and the character and story loses credibility to me, I just can't invest, no matter how hard I want to. This book was a lot longer than it could have been, and during much of it, the story dragged with useless filler that I felt was either not integral to move the plot, part of the plot, or of any real substance to keep me interested. Therefore, I found myself skimming through a lot of the book and getting to the dialogue and the action. This story line had major potential, and in all fairness, I don't think that the author wrote badly. She wrote quite well. But the connection of reader to character and plot was missing for me. For me that is integral to my reading experience, and it was unfortunately, absent this time around.This book has some really good reviews of people that thoroughly enjoyed it, and I would not deter anyone who is interested in the book synopsis based on my own opinion. I wish the author much success and I would not be opposed to picking up another one of her novels, but I am not invested enough in this story to continue this particular series.Thank you for the opportunity to review this book.
review 2: Wow! I can't tell you how much sleep I lost reading this book, but but I can tell you it was worth it! I had trouble putting it down. 16 year old Lyla's world is thrown into chaos when she loses her father, and moves from Chicago to Salem. Salem is the home of her fathers ancestors, and so much history that it haunts her every move. She learns that her family is different, marked by magic, and she also discovers there's a man who is hunting them. Her Uncle and cousins try to teach her to fight, but only love can bring out her true powers. Lyla has lost a lot, so when her boyfriend is threathened she will do anything she can to save him. The book reveals, powers, msyteries, history, witches, covens, battles, witch hunters and so much more left to discover. I can't wait for the next book A History Renewed (expected in June 2012).(less) less

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