My Rating for The Song of the Marked by S.M. Gaither
This review might contain small spoilers.
Favorite Quotes:
“He intrigued her. Which for some reason only made her want to stab him more.”
“His grip was as effortlessly powerful as his stare; just a casual hold on her, and yet for some reason she felt as if walking away from it would prove incredibly difficult.”
The Song of the Marked is my first 5-star fantasy romance read of the year. I could not put this book down. I was immediately dawn into the characters and their world.
What Works Great
Fantastic Characters. The characters have unique voices and personalities with detailed
motivations that read beautifully. Even the side characters have their own motivations revealed in smaller ways, making you invested in more than just the main characters.
Cas and Elander’s romance also has that insta-attraction without it being a cliché. Their romance still builds with this slow burn tension that sucks you in and makes you invested in their journey together. Gaither does a fantastic job of creating chemistry between the two.
Great World-Building. None of the details are without purpose. They give a strong sense of setting, but also in how different the cities and their people function as the group interacts with others. The details are consistent. Not only do they build beautifully throughout the book, but many of the smaller details come back into the second book. There’s a cohesiveness to the writing throughout the series that keeps even the smallest pieces of information relevant. And I loved the building of the religion and mythology throughout the book. It’s magnificent, relevant, and engaging.
And I loved the building of the religion and mythology throughout the book. It’s magnificent, relevant, and engaging. Best of all, it’s unique, and it remains relevant from the first introduction to the last chapter.
Wonderful Mental Health Representation. Gaither creates a real representation of trauma where the symptoms exist even after finding love. Cas has PTSD and anxiety, and we watch Cas struggle with attacks from both. She goes through coping mechanisms, and instead of Elander sexing the need for these out of her, we watch him help her navigate her coping mechanisms and add to them. This is just beautifully done. As someone with both conditions, it was great to see a strong representation full of coping and having the people love you add to those coping skills. It offers a refreshing break from one of the most dangerous trends of romantasy novels—mental health issues magically resolving with wingspan.
What Needs Work
Choppy Plot. While I absolutely love the book, the plot in the end of the story could have been executed better, but that’s probably the editor/writer coming out in me. This is definitely a character-driven story, and if that’s not what you like to read, then this book isn’t for you. I love both character-driven and plot-driven, so I was able to get into it, but if you’re looking for plot heavy, then I would suggest skipping this one.
The plot is there, but it becomes a little lost in the ending as things change with the big reveal about Casia, Elander, and the king. I would have liked to see the plot be woven a little more into who Cas is revealed to be. She becomes incredibly important in book two, and I think her characterization and the plot could have been deepened by revealing some of what book two discusses in the ending of book one. This would have also created a stronger conclusion where the plot was more prominent in a way that supports the strong characterization.
Overall. Loved this book. Love the characters. Love the premise. I will be reading the rest of the series and more from this author. She’s a new auto-buy. If you’re into character-driven stories, I highly recommend it.