Review: Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon

Let’s play a little game of:

WHO AM I…

-My book starts with me moving to a new location and starting at a new school.

-I live with just my dad, but don’t worry about him, he’s not important at all. In fact, you’ll barely notice he exists at all!

-I quickly make friends at my new school. I’m not sure why everyone likes me. I’m not remotely interesting.

-I’ve never had a boyfriend before meeting my love interest and for some reason people at my school find that hard to believe.

-As soon as my love interest catches my eye, I can’t get him out of my mind. He’s the mysterious type, but he only has eyes for me. He quickly becomes my boyfriend and we fall deeply in love. *swoon*

-My boyfriend happens to have a sibling who simply adores me. How could she not, I’m so awesome! She has a super special sight too. P.S. her name starts with an “A.”

-My b-b-boyfriend—sorry that was me swooning again; he’s so super howt *giggle*—also has another sibling that doesn’t seem to like me at first. They are always glaring at me! It unnerves me. But I can get through anything with my boy toy by my side! Oh, and P.S. their name starts with an “R.”

-My boyfriend just happens to save my life with his mysterious powers. At first when I confront him about it, he plays it off. It really upsets me. It just wasn’t fair!!!

-He later tells me that he can’t stay away from me any longer and soon after he takes me to his home to really introduce me to his family.

-I find out he’s been stalking me for a while. But it doesn’t bother me. I find it incredibly romantic.

-*Psst*, if my boyfriend and I were to have a baby, it would be some strange half-breed child.

-Randomly out of nowhere I’m kidnapped by a Tracker. I’m not sure where he came from because this book is all about me and my one true love.

-When I’m not hanging out with my boyfriend or getting abducted, I can be found brushing my teeth, eating cereal, doing homework or cooking for my dad. Oh, and I hate being the center of attention. I’m so selfless.

-By the end of my book, I end up in the hospital.

So….who am I?

If you guessed Bella Swan you are correct! But if you guessed Megan Rosenberg, you are also correct! Don’t bother looking up to the top of the screen. This is indeed a Carrier of the Mark review or as I like to call it Twilight 2.0 or Twi-remix or Twilight goes to Ireland or, or, or…okay you get the picture. And no, I’m no kidding all the above actually happens in this book.

I feel like I need to start saying how sorry I am to Leigh Fallon. Truly, I am. You see, I’m in the middle of re-reading the Twilight series and as a result, I am hyperaware of the Twi-likeness this book has. I was really eager to get my hands on Carrier of the Mark, but you have no idea how disappointed I am in this book. So, it is with a heavy heart that I review Twilight Carrier of the Mark again.

Seventeen-year-old Bella Swan Megan Rosenberg moves to Forks Ireland after her dad, Charlie Caleb, accepts and new position at a yacht club. On her first day at school she notices a mysterious boy, named Edward Cullen Adam DeRis, staring at her. She literally cannot stop thinking about him for the rest of the book. I’m not going to retell the book here, but if you’ve read Twilight just sprinkle on a little Air Bender, add a pinch of Captain Planet, and toss a creepy baby on top and you pretty much have the recipe for Carrier of the Mark. Instead, I’m going to be pulling a few select quotes with commentary pour moi.

Adam randomly confesses his feelings to Megan after have several staring contests:

They told me from the very beginning that it wasn’t safe to ‘consort,’” he said, slightly wincing at the word, “with you. But I’m not strong enough to stay away.”

Now where have I heard that before?

Twilight:

He heard the change in my tone. His eyes tightened. “I don’t seem to be strong enough to stay away from you…”

A little PDA action:

I put my hand on Adam’s face and felt along his cheek and down along his jaw, reveling in the softness of his skin in comparison to the light stubble. He closed his eyes.
“You have no idea how good that feels,” he murmured.

That sounds so familiar…

Twilight:

“Do you mind?” I asked, for he had closed his eyes again.
“No,” he said without opening his eyes. “You can’t imagine how that feels.” He sighed.
I lightly trailed my hand over the perfect muscles of his arm, followed the faint pattern of bluish veins inside the crease at his elbow.

RosalieRian doesn’t like Megan at first:

“Rían has a tough time accepting who we are and our purpose…I think he’s just finding it hard to accept that you would opt in when you have the chance to walk away.”

Now, who had the same issue?

Twilight:

He sighed deeply. “Rosalie struggles the most with… with what we are. It’s hard for her to have someone on the outside know the truth. And she’s a little jealous…You’re human.” He shrugged. “She wishes that she were, too.”

There is a Tracker following Megan:

It’s been years since we have even seen a tracker in Ireland.”
“Is that what the guy in the theater was? A tracker?”
“I think so. We can’t be sure at the moment, but he fits the usual profile. There’s something different this time, though; he’s getting around our defenses. We just don’t know how he’s doing it.”

Funny that’s just who was following Bella too.

Twilight:

“He’s a tracker, Alice, did you see that? He’s a tracker!”

Love interest serching for a way to protect heroine from the Tracker:

“Don’t apologize. I hate to see you hurting like that. Please believe me when I tell you that I will make you safe.”

Didn’t Edward promise the same thing in a very similar situation?

Twilight:

“Soon, as soon as I possibly can. I will make you safe first.” His voice was hard.

A bad guy was snooping around Megan’s room and house. Adam has his family guarding her, but somehow they manage to slip through:

“Someone was in her room, for Christ’s sake. In her room!”
“But I don’t think he was still there when Megan got home. If he had been, he would have acted right then and there. I’d say her Mark was sensing that he’d been there earlier.”
Rían shook his head. “How is he getting around our senses? We’ve always known when the Knox are close. This is bad.”

Can’t seem to put my finger on it..oh wait, I can.

Twilight (Eclipse):

“He was in her room, Alice. He could have still been there — waiting for her.”
“I would have seen that.”
Edward threw his hands up in exasperation. “Really? You’re sure?” Alice’s voice was cold when she answered. “You’ve already got me watching the Volturis’ decisions, watching for Victoria’s return, watching Bella’s every step. You want to add another? Do I just have to watch Charlie, or Bella’s room, or the house, or the whole street, too? Edward, if I try to do too much, things are going to start slipping through the cracks.”

Wow.

Oh, but the similarities don’t end there. Right after Adam reveals his feelings to Megan, the very next day he takes her to meet his family. And if you remember that is exactly what Edward did after he revealed all his feelings to Bella in the meadow scene (Confessions, chapter 13). Aine Alice, Adam’s sister also has a “sight.” Fionn Carlisle is Adam’s adoptive father. Adam admitted to stalking Megan just like Edward did to Bella. Megan confides in her best friend, Caitlin, in math class. What do you know? That’s the same place Bella confided with Jessica at. Both Adam and Edward’s eyes change color (interestingly, both share the same original color: green).

I just couldn’t get past all the Twilight references. I’m honestly baffled at how this book got published with all the shocking similarities because Carrier of the Mark reads just like a Twilight Fan-Fic and not a good one. I’d give this book a freakin’ “A+” for following the “Twilight book disaster” recipe to the T, but an all around “F” (FAIL) for YA literature. I went though several different emotions while reading this book: shock, disbelief, finally settling on anger. Anger? Yes. Did the author sit with her editor over tea and crumpets with their Twilight copies on their laps pulling plots, quotes, and carbon copies of the characters? Did they really think no one would pick up on the similarities?! Well, I’ll tell you something. My Twilight copy is open on my lap right now and I am NOT AMUSED one bit. This is something I expect from the usual offender Cassie Clare, not a debut YA author. And, man, I feel so bad writing this review. I absolutely hate giving a 1 star review to debut authors, but wow. I’m just blown this even saw the light of day.

And what’s a Twi-Fan-Fic without insta-love? This book has plenty of that and co-dependency. Keep in mind they have been dating for 2 weeks. Let me count the ways:

“I feel like I could take on the world when I’m with you.”

I felt a new confidence building. I could take on the world with him by my side.

This felt so real. It seemed like my future was suddenly very clear. I had a whole new purpose—and it all revolved around this boy by my side.

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.

And the more time that went by, the more I realized I could not live without Adam.

WTF. I’m so tired of co-dependent relationships! Is it a wonder why young girls think they need a boyfriend to survive? Are these the ideals we want our youth to grow up learning? I don’t take issue with Megan being in love, but reading the statements above disturbs me. The entire book revolves around how in love she is with Adam, so don’t expect much of a plot in this book. The major conflict in the story comes out of nowhere and ends before it even begins, just as it did in Twilight.

And, OMG the mythology. It will make your head spin. We learn most of the world through god awful info-dumps. I read those pages over a few times and I still don’t understand. Perhaps if the author showed the reader instead of telling us, maybe I would have been able to keep up. The only thing I think I understood was that Megan is Carrier of a specific gene that would enable her to produce children to bear the Mark. Since Carrier’s are rare the Order (a society that “looks after” the Marked) specially selects the Carrier’s mates. I suppose being gay is out if you are a Carrier, because you have a duty to produce babies! Anyway, apparently it is forbidden for Adam and Megan to be together because if they have a child it could destroy the world. Yeah…I don’t get it either. Once finding that out Megan doesn’t want to be a Marked one anymore and help save the world. She wants to be with her Romeo. ‘Cause being in love is more important than the safety of the world, donchaknow. And, please don’t get me started on the whole 25-year-old pregnancy. I can’t even.

Fallon, you had all this potential. The setting was perfect: Ireland! And you wasted your descriptions on Megan eating her wheaties and putting on her red Converses? *points to face* This is me not giving two shits.

Cait, babe, you were right.

I’ll leave you with a definition from Webster:

o•rig•i•nal
[uh-rij-uh-nl]
Adjective
1. Belonging or pertaining to the origin or beginning of something, or to a thing at its beginning: The book still has its original binding.

2. New; fresh; inventive; novel: an original way of advertising.

3. Arising or proceeding independently of anything else: an original view of history.

4. Capable of or given to thinking or acting in an independent, creative, or individual manner: an original thinker.

5. Created, undertaken, or presented for the first time: to give the original performance of a string quartet.

Originality: THIS BOOK HAS NONE.

And to think this book was on my “really looking forward to this book” shelf.

OK, I’m done.

/end rant (-_-)/