The Twisted Mark

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

1 star. I really didn't like this book. Some aspects of it even made me angry!

Unfortunately, this reads like a really bad fanfiction. The characters were flat and didn't talk or behave like actual people. The plot and the world-building made no sense and were full of contradictions. And the writing style itself also wasn't great. It was mostly cringey and awkward.

This also didn't feel like the blurb-promised Dark Fantasy Romance. It was mostly a courtroom mystery, with the families involved reading more like wannabe Mafia, than powerful witches or a coven. Meanwhile, the romance element felt manipulative and there was no chemistry between the characters.

I also noticed that the book was full of questionable, casual comments about people's appearance, coming from the “good guys”. This shouldn't really be happening in a book published in 2023 and set in the present day, in my opinion. But they just kept happening! Non-magical filler characters were also sent off with love potions and told to have fun with their new girlfriends. So, clearly, the idea of consent doesn't exist in this perfect, idyllic world either. There were many other head scratching and absolutely infuriating moments like this littered throughout the book.