Review of Prized (Birthmarked #2) by Caragh M. O'Brien

2^nd post! WAHAHAHA!!! I’m lovin’ Christmas break! I was able to finish this next book in less than 24 hours which for me is pretty awesome. I need to put more books on hold at the library if I’m going through them this fast. Still trying to find my groove on here which is probably why I’m babbling, on to the review!

 

Prized (Birthmarked #2) 

Author: Caragh M. O’Brien

Genre: YA Dystopian

Page Count: 356

(If you haven’t read the first book there could be spoilers but I’ll try not to put any)

This is the second book in the Birthmarked series and I couldn’t wait to read it. Though I though the first book was a little slow starting out,  once I got to the end I was in love with the two main characters (well, the main character and her love interest^_< ) . Gaia (It’s that an awesome name) Stone is a midwife on the run
from the Enclave with her baby sister. They are crossing the wasteland in hopes of finding Gaia’s grandmother in a place called the Dead Forest. What they find instead is a community that is run by women. Now, I know I’m female but even I can see the problems that can come from this. Touching and kissing between the sexes (unless they’re engaged or married) is seen as attempted rape and the guy is then thrown into the stocks then into prison. Only married women have the right to vote and the men must follow their every order even though the women are the minority and their numbers are dwindling every generation. Coming from such a different society of course Gaia is going to butt heads with the leader, or Matrarc. That’s not even the worst part: whoever tries to leave ends up dyeing.

Like Birthmarked, I had a hard time getting past the first few pages but after that I really enjoyed it. O’Brien keeps a good up-and-down pace of “oh no! What’s going to happen now?” I really didn’t get bored anytime during the book but there were many times I wanted to pull out my hair and smack some of the characters.lol Gaia, while resourceful, is extremely naive and it gets her into many heart wrenching situations; and if you thought love triangles were ridiculous try a love square (poor guys).  She does pull through eventually with her beliefs/ideals intact which redeems her in my opinion. And of course she ends up with my favorite guy ^_^ (They are SOOO cute together!) She’s no Katniss (Hunger Games) or Saba (Blood Red Road) but she has her own strengths that make her an enjoyable character.

I love Dystopian novels but sometimes it feels like there is a supernatural element to them. I don’t think the author intended it to be that way but some of her descriptions of the Matrarc made me think that she had some hypnotic powers over the people. I also thought there was something in the air that made Gaia go krazy over each guy that showed her some attention, although that could have been due to the fact that in her old world her scarred face kept any possible suitors away. With all that I kept waiting for something supernatural to happen but it never did. I don’t know if I was disappointed or not but it made me feel like there was something left wanting. Though Prized did NOT end on much of a cliff hanger, which I am extremely happy about, this is only the second book in the trilogy I guess I’ll have to wait to see what happens next. Hope you find this helpful and enjoy the book as much as I did!

Moral of the Story

If you ever find yourself in the middle of a love square… RUN!

4 out of 5 Elf Cookies