Reviews for The mark

Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Sixteen-year-old Cassie sees a blurring glow around people who will die. After her grandmother's death, Cassie relocates to live with an aunt she's never met. As Cassie learns more about her family, she continues to explore the extent and meaning of her power. Nadol's novel avoids both sensationalizing and moralizing. Instead, it is a thoughtful dramatization of a fascinating philosophical conundrum. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.


School Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Gr 9 Up-Cassie Renfield, 16, can tell when people are about to die by the glow she sees surrounding them. "The mark" has always been part of her life, though it isn't until she sees it on her beloved grandmother that she begins to question whether she should try to prevent the deaths. When Nan dies, Cassie is sent to her father's hometown in Kansas to spend the summer with an aunt she has never met. There she begins a romance with Lucas, a handsome philosophy student whose life Cassie saves after the mark appears on him. Emboldened by this success, she agrees to his plea that she tell those with the mark about their impending deaths, although in her heart she isn't sure that fate should be changed. Nadol's debut novel is a compelling coming-of-age tale with a bright, likable narrator. Teens will identify with Cassie's uncertainty about her future and the challenges she faces in her first relationship. Although her ability borders on the supernatural, her dilemma and emotions feel genuine and believable thanks to Nadol's sensitive writing. Cassie's search for information about her parents is a natural response to returning to her father's hometown, although the subplot in which she stumbles upon a huge secret about her mother (thanks to someone she "coincidentally" meets early in the novel) seems contrived and feels hastily tacked on at the novel's end. Despite this, readers will eagerly follow Cassie's story and will hope for a sequel.-Leah J. Sparks, formerly at Bowie Public Library, MD (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.


Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Am I Cassie Renfield, descendant of the gods, or just a girl at the end of a long line of crazy people? Sixteen-year-old Cassie sometimes sees a full-body glow around individuals, but rather than being good news, this glow indicates they will die within 24 hours. Cassie has always had this gift, but its significance only fully dawns on her after she witnesses the glow on her beloved grandmother, who has been her guardian since Cassie lost both her parents at an early age. Shaken by her grandmother's death, and finally realizing the full impact of her gift, Cassie must decide if she is meant to intervene in the fate of those who wear the mark. First-time author Nadol has interwoven an absorbing and thoughtful philosophical dilemma with a YA romance. There are moments of predictability, and the potential familial connection to the Three Fates is a little off-putting, but characters grapple convincingly with the moral question and nothing is oversentimentalized. A great book for discussion groups, this will engender plenty of conversation.--Welch, Cindy Copyright 2010 Booklist


Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A compelling protagonist and a riveting premise search for a story, in a dark fantasy that reads like a Twilight Zone episode. Sixteen-year-old Cassie has always seen the "mark" around someone about to die, but has only recently realized its significance. After her beloved grandmother's death, Cassie is forced to spend the summer with a distant aunt, grappling with the implications of her "gift." She tumbles into a passionate affair with the handsome TA of her philosophy class, who has his own ideas about the responsibilities of such foreknowledge. Cassie is a thoughtful, sympathetic character whose struggles with her unpleasant power feel very real; her agonizing over confronting strangers with their imminent death is heartwrenching. The other characters, however, serve only to convey information and illustrate various ethical positions. As the coincidental revelations of long-concealed secrets pile up, the plot lurches into implausibility, with a conclusion frustratingly devoid of any resolution. Still, the ideas explored could inspire heated classroom debates, and philosophically inclined teens will find that the central question of "What happens now?" will linger long after the many plot holes are forgotten. (Horror. YA) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.


Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Nadol debuts with a thoughtful exploration of fate and free will. Cassie is 16 when she realizes she can tell that a person will shortly die. She has seen an aura surrounding people for years, but its meaning is made certain when she follows a "marked" man and witnesses his demise. After she fails to prevent her grandmother's death, she's sent to live with an unknown aunt halfway across the country. Even there, she continues to see marked people and feels powerless to help them, until she sees the glow on her boyfriend, Lucas, and manages to avert his death. Lucas encourages Cassie to try to change others' fates, but strangers are scared by her predictions, and she struggles with the ethical ramifications of her actions. Nadol's story is more than a modern take on the Cassandra story of Greek myth, and the author uses her protagonist's moral torment (and a philosophy course she takes) to touch on schools of philosophical thought, from Aristotle to Plato. As in life, there are no tidy endings, but the engrossing narration and realistic characters create a deep, lingering story. Ages 14-up. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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