Review: Marked in Flesh by Anne Bishop

by Jewels E 3/20/2016 0 comments

So, I waited a year for this book and I was not disappointed. It might be the best book of the series yet. The world is changing, the characters are becoming more complex and I absolutely adored everything that was developing. It's terrible in its way, but also, so natural as well.

Series: The Others, #4
My Rating: 5 ❀'s
Genre: Urban Fantasy

I read this book somewhat differently than I did the others in the series. The Others are the dominant predator in this world, and some of the humans, those in the Humans First and Last movement, are rebelling, trying to assert their own dominance and wrest control of land and resources away from the Others. But the trouble is, the Others are the top of the food chain and the Elders have asked the question, how much human do the terra indigene want to keep? A chilling question. It's a question that suggests culling. That means the Elders are going to remind humans in a very loud way that humans are not the dominant predator on earth. The dominant predator on earth is the Others, and they care as a species about the land, the water and the resources. And while they have shared with humans, they have restricted them as well, perhaps this reader thought, because they actually care about the earth, and humans don't. It had me wondering what sort of world we would be living in today if we cared more about the earth, the land and the water and the air. So I was rooting for the Others. They are frightening and alien but I saw them as protectors of the earth, especially since those the Others recognized as actively trying to work with them, as almost friends, were protected.

I found the novel fascinating for this reason. Cities were culled, but they were the humans willing to destroy, to kill, and I had no sympathy for them. It gives me hope though, that the humans now can continue forth continuing to build good relations with the Others, and the Others can understand humans a little better. I have hope that these two species can find some common ground and mutal respect.

Meg and Simon's relationship got interesting all of a sudden as Simon questioned how human he was becoming, and Meg became aware that maybe Simon was awakening something woman in her. Simon found his answer I think, but I have no idea where Meg and Simon are headed--into romance?
Their friendship has always been a little more, but I am unsure how anything more will develop between them. I'm so curious to see where this series will go now. It's wide open and I have so many questions, especially about the cassandra sangue, who are are trying to learn how to prophesy without cutting. Meg is the Trailblazer and is piecing together a way for the others girls to do this, and I cannot wait to see where this series is headed now.

Fans of this series will not be disappointed. And this book will have you salivating for more.

Happy Reading,

Jewels