The Mark of the Dragonfly: Review

Posted on January 13, 2014 Updated on January 13, 2014

This book started out incredibly strong and I thought I had discovered a new favorite book, but by the end of the story I found myself feeling dissatisfied and annoyed with the story.

The world-building in the beginning of this story is really quite well-done. The author introduces this new magical world so subtly that the reader is almost able to believe it isn’t a new world at all, rather one already familiar and understood to the reader. The setting in this book is one that I exceptionally enjoy, holding ties to an earth understood by the reader. I have a hard time getting into a book when an author introduces a completely new world that has few ties to a world that I already know. This author does a fantastic job of making the new world seem realistic and believable, it was easy for me to enjoy the world in this story because it was so well-written.

The plot in this book was really well done in the beginning, but I felt that the plot sort of fell through towards the middle of the story. The meteors at the beginning of the story were a fantastic way to start the book off with a bang, I was sucked right into the story. The plot really takes off in the first couple of chapters, with many different action packed parts and tense moments. But I felt that by the time the middle/end of the book rolled around, things had really settled down. I didn’t find myself glued to the pages like I had at the beginning of the story. It might have something to do with the identity of the mysterious man chasing the girls being revealed, but I’m not sure that is entirely what caused me to lose interest… Maybe it had something to do with the writing style… or maybe it had something to do with the romance.

Speaking of romance, the romance between the characters got a little old after a bit. It seemed as if the feelings Piper and Gee had for each other were not just on the minds of those characters, but where talked about quite a bit by the other characters. It got a little old for me as a reader to continue reading about those two characters and how they felt for each other (but I’m the girl who prefers absolutely zero romance in the books she reads.

Other than the romance between two of the characters, the characters themselves were (for the most part) exceptional. The bond between Anna and Piper was so sweet, and although it felt a little fake and forced at times, for the majority of the book the relationship between them felt real and believable. The other characters were also pleasant, the train workers were all unique and the “bad guys” in the story were cruel without being downright scary, making them incredibly believable.

The writing in this book was pretty decent. The author does a fantastic job of describing the world and the characters in a way that allows the reader to visualize, without being overly descriptive and cloying. The authors writing of interactions between characters did leave something to be desired though. Many of the conversations and interactions between characters seemed forced and somewhat fake.

I feel bad because as I wrote this review I knocked a star off my rating (I originally was going to give the book 4 stars). When I think back on the story the beginning of the book is definitely worth four stars, but as the book continues it only deserves three stars. Although I only gave the book 3 stars, I would be interested in reading more from this author (especially once she has mastered the dialogue portion) because she does such a fantastic job of world-building.

I received this book for review purposes via NetGalley.