Unmarked by Miranda Lyn – Series Review

Series Rating: ⭐⭐.5

Books in the Series:

• The Unmarked Witch

• The Unbound Witch

• The Unblessed Witch

Best Book: The Unmarked Witch (Book 1)

Genre: New Adult Fantasy Romance

Spice: Hot

Summary:

In a world where witches wear their spells as tattoos on their skin for all to see, Raven is different. She has many spells, but no marks, which has made her an outcast amongst the witches. But being an outcast is the least of Raven’s worries in a world where witches are being murdered by agents of the Dark King, a half-witch half-shifter, who seems to want the witches to suffer. Years ago, it was Raven’s grandmother who was killed, but now, it’s the leader of her Coven. In memory of her grandmother, but against the wishes of her family and fiancé, Raven and her best friend Kirsi decide to enter the trials to become the next leader of the Moon Coven.

As she is analyzed and tested by the other coven leaders and the Dark King himself, Raven will find her lack of marks to be critical to her success or failure in the trials. And for some reason she can’t explain, Raven is drawn to the Dark King like a moth to a flame. While he’s powerful and brutal, Raven sees something in him that makes her think he might not be the monster she’s been told he is. Raven will have to navigate animosity from the other witches, the machinations of the other coven leaders, and her attraction to the Dark King in order to win the trials and become the next Moon Coven leader.

Reaction:

When I first picked up the Unmarked series by Miranda Lyn, I was mildly enjoying it. I liked the main character, Raven, and was invested in her journey. But I felt like the story broke down a bit in book two. The plot got more confusing, the setting less defined, and the character relationships less authentic as the story continued. I ultimately DNF'd about halfway through the second book.

Initially, the plot started a bit slow, but picked up once the trials started. I was expecting each trial to kind of build the tension, but instead they felt a bit repetitive, without a lot of character growth or new information. Generally, I felt the plot was too up and down instead of steadily building as the trials went on. I did appreciate that Raven's missing marks were critical to the plot instead of just being a character trait to show how unique she was. The first book ended in a cliffhanger, and it was really bizarre and left me with a lot questions. That feeling like I didn't know what was happening continued as book two started. At some point, I lost the plot completely; I didn't understand what the gang was trying to do, and why they were taking the steps they were. And at that point, I decided to DNF.

I was enjoying the world building at the beginning of the story. The witches' world seemed pretty fleshed out with a complex political struggle and magic system. But in book two, I felt like the setting took a turn for the worse. The human lands were not well explained in general, then the magic system that had been established in the first book seemed to break down where all the rules were broken or proven false, without acknowledging that fact to my satisfaction.

From the beginning, I enjoyed Raven and Kirsi. Their friendship felt real and they has so much spunk! There was also a well-defined cast of supporting characters introduced that made the different communities feel realistic. I think the definition of each supporting character was one of this series' strongest aspects; it was one of the few things I felt didn't break down over time. What I did feel broke down in book two for the characters was the relationships. I felt like they were a bit forced to support the plot rather than feeling authentic, except for Raven and Kirsi. Their friendship and understanding was the one thing that continued to feel organic.

I didn't jive with the romance in this series. From the start, Raven seemed attracted to a character I felt had zero personality while ignoring the guy I thought was so much more interesting. In the first book, Raven and her main love interest didn't seem to learn much about each other or bond in a realistic way, they just had this "unexplainable" attraction. Then I think grief and a need for comfort motivated Raven to push things in her relationship instead of taking a beat to really understand her feelings. Maybe she would have realized this fact in the latter part of the second book, but it just seemed like a really messy situation for the sake of being messy without the character growth I'd hope to see from it.

Overall, I think this series started out well, but just got overall confused down the stretch. I honestly think the cliff hanger and transition into book two was the choice that brought the story down, but the breakdown in the magic system and character relationships was also a factor for why I didn't finish this series.

What I enjoyed:

·       Raven and Kirsi's friendship. They played off of each other so well, and truly felt like sisters the way they cared about each other and bantered.

·       Raven's uniqueness, and how she was treated because of it felt like an authentic representation of the range of reactions people can endure. I also appreciated they way it was a critical plot point too.

What I didn't enjoy:

·       The choice of love interest in the first book constantly confounded me. I didn't understand the attraction, and Raven seemed to ignore meaningful interactions with other potential love interests.