Dragon Marked

This review is also featured on Behind the Pages: Dragon Marked

Jessa lives in the magically cloaked town of Stratford, Connecticut. She's lived her life believing she was an alpha female wolf shifter. But when her mother returns to town with a sister in tow, Jessa begins to learn about the secrets that have been kept from her. She is dragon marked. And if anyone finds out, it is a death sentence.

There is a lot of information packed into Dragon Marked. So much information caused multiple instances of exposition that I could not retain. Jessa is extremely close to four brothers, the Compasses, but when they are introduced it is paragraph after paragraph of each one's description. A similar occurrence happens when you are introduced to the council. And honestly, readers don't need to know what each council member looks like right away because they do not immediately interact with Jessa. It would have been easier to see the descriptions spaced out a bit and worked in organically.

One of the major downfalls to Dragon Marked is how the characters behave. No one acts appropriately for their station or age. In the opening scene a teacher threatens Jessa. And then switches the class subject to ways shifters can die. The Compasses reciprocate by threatening the teacher, yet no one suffers repercussions. It sets the stage for constant tension between characters. Which I normally enjoy, but it was immature macho posturing throughout the entire book. And when Jessa tries to pull feminist views of not wanting to be lead by men, it's awkward because Jessa and the Compasses act like their are thirteen instead of twenty something.

I will say that Jaymin Eve did a great job highlighting the relationships between Jessa and her sister Mischa. The awkwardness of first meeting, and then trying to form a family tie was spot on. They were slow to develop towards each other and I loved how they started siding with one another. However, this is not a series I will continue.

So if you've read King Cave, you've pretty much read this book. It's very similar in structure and the characters are also very similar but the world-building is unique. The plot worked the same way though the relationships were a bit muted compared to the Forever Evermore trilogy.

Basically a reverse harem but the main character–Jessa–mainly focuses on one guy though all of them love each other dearly as friends. Another female comes into play and share the relationship that the two main female characters in King Cave shared, a sisterly friendship. The future relationships that will occur are only hinted at in this book and I'm guessing that just like the Evermore trilogy, things will get a bit steamier and more developed later on. I enjoyed the plot in this book a lot more because it wasn't as dramatic as the Evermore trilogy, that is to say, none of the characters that we're introduced to in this first book died. Something that I couldn't never really get behind in the other trilogy was how dire everything had to be. It was either sex or something horrible is about to happen, there was no middle ground in the Evermore trilogy. Mind you, there's not really a middle ground here either but as the plot progressed the circumstances and the emotional reaction weren't as drastic and my heart really appreciated that. These supernatural new adult series never give you a moment to breathe and just connect to the characters, the plot is always churning up new dramatic challenges that the characters have to figure their way out of, it's exhausting to read at times; especially if you like to read your books in one- to two-sittings like I usually do nowadays.

Jessa Lebron is a wolf shifter. She lives in Stratford, a supernatural community. Stratford is also home to Vanguard, a supernatural prison. She goes to college, and hangs out with her pack, the Compasses. The Compasses are quads, and each is a different type of supe. They are also destined to sit on the Council in a few years, but someone has other plans for them. Jessa's mother decides to come back into the picture after 22 years, and someone is gunning for Jessa, or is it the Compasses, or both? This book was fast-paced, I just had to move past the YA moments. Luckily, they weren't enough to kill the story for me. I still enjoyed it, and since it left me hanging, I started the next one too.