Blog Tour: Marrow Charm by Kristin Jacques

Hi Blisses,

TITLE: Marrow Charm
BY: Kristin Jacques
SERIES: The Gate Cycle #1
GENRES: Fantasy, Dystopian, Young Adult
PUBLICATION: October 1st 2019 by The Parliament House
NOTES:

Before I share my thoughts about Marrow Charm, first I want to note that I received this book to read and review as part of the BBNYA 2020 competition and/or the BBNYA tours organised by the @The_WriteReads tours team. All opinions are my own, unbiased and honest.

I’m sure you guys are curious about what BBNYA is. Well, BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors. If you are an author and wish to learn more about the 2021 BBNYA competition, you can visit the official website (https://bbnya.com) or our Twitter account, @BBNYA_Official.

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If you would like to sign-up and enter your book, you can find the BBNYA 2021 Author sign up form HERE. Please make sure to carefully read our terms and conditions before entering. If you are a book blogger or reviewer, you can apply to be part of BBNYA 2021 by filling out this form (also remember to read the terms and conditions before signing up)!

BBNYA is brought to you in association with the Folio Society(http://foliosociety.com) (If you love beautiful books you NEED to check out their website!) And the book blogger support group TheWriteReads.

Now, to my thoughts about Marrow Charm…

BLURB

Azure Brimvine lives in a world decimated by magic. One where humans have retreated underground from the overwhelming dangers of the surface. But Below is no safer than Above. Magic borne plagues continue to eat away at the remaining human cities. A sickness that doesn’t merely kill, but creates aberrations from the stricken: people twisted by magic into something dark, dangerous, and powerful.

But when Azzy’s brother, Armin, is infected and cast out into the Above, she sets out after him, determined to be there for him no matter what he becomes. The world Above is full of monsters, both wild and cunning, some more human than Azzy was led to believe.

Her search for Armin leads her to Avergard, a ruthless city of inhuman lords and twisted creatures. Azzy must find allies and forge new bonds in this broken world, brave the perils of the Above, and reach Armin before his new power is used to open the Gate once more.

REVIEW

An amazing journey, a strong and protective heroine, a romance, some wonderful platonic and familial relationships, magic and mythical creatures, some mystery and a plagued, decaying world — Marrow Charm has everything I want in a fantasy/dystopian novel.

Okay, let me elaborate…

Marrow Charm features Azure (even her name is amazing) who lives with her brother, Armin and their guardian in Heap, an underground city. I love Azure as a sister, she’s protective, responsible, caring and just generally will do everything for her brother. Which prompted her journey throughout the book when Armin got infected and was cast out into the Above. There, more mysterious and intriguing things happen.

I love the world that the author has created. The idea of the plagues was really interesting and a great take in this kind of plot element because magic has something to do with it. I love the idea of Below and Above as a kind of division in this fictional world. I love that I got to meet a number of mythical, magical creatures in this book that I really wasn’t expecting to see. We don’t usually meet mythical creatures in dystopian novels, in fantasy novels sure, but the blurb hinted at a dystopian novel, more than a fantasy. But I guess since magic is a big part of this novel, I should’ve expected seeing mythical creatures such as the shifters and witches. Though, I would’ve liked more description for each creature, or each character that Azure met in her journey.

The entire book centers on Azure’s journey in Above and to be honest, it’s a little slow in the beginning but it gets better eventually. I can’t say when exactly the pace picks up but I became more invested when Azure rescued a wolf. Speaking of the wolf… No, sorry, I won’t talk about the wolf much because judging from how much I enjoyed the Azure and the wolf’s interactions, I might gush and gushing is dangerously close to spoiling. LOL.

As for the plot…I enjoyed it. I really did. I found Marrow Charm a very intense read. Azzy and Armin often find themselves in intense situations. But the thing about the whole book is that it didn’t really reveal anything concrete about each plot element. So to me, it was almost like some parts need more development. That said, after finishing it, I felt like I was in the dark even more than I was before reading it. For example, the magic system. I didn’t really quite understand the whole magic system. But anyway, since this is a series, I can still hope that I will learn more in future books. By the way, this one ends in cliffhanger so be warned.

One more thing that I liked is the multiple POVs. I always enjoy seeing or picturing fictional worlds based on different perspectives. Plus, I liked the characters so I love being in their heads. LOL.

RATING: 4 blissful pages with lilies

Like I said, Marrow Charm has everything I want in a fantasy/dystopian novel so despite my little issues, I still enjoyed reading it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kristin Jacques is an author from small town New England. She grew up in the sticks, surrounded by river wildlife, and various swamp inhabitants. Somehow she managed to keep all her toes despite a run in with a snapper or two.

She lives with her husband and sons in another small New England town. She is mighty attached to them.

When not writing, she is likely reading, watching a terrific B-Horror flick, or further spoiling the family cats. Sometimes she has blue hair.

LINKS

AUTHOR:
Twitter: @Krazydiamond07
Website: https://www.kristinjacques.com
BOOK:
Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08GRB622X
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41428040-marrow-charm

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What about you? Have you read this book? Or planning to? What do you think of it? Let’s chat.