Review: The Marked (Talents #2) by Inara Scott

The Marked (Talents AKA Delcroix Academy #2) by Inara Scott
Hardcover, 320 pgs.
Expected Publication April 3rd, 2012 by Hyperion
Source: Review

In her second semester at a boarding school for teenagers with special powers, Dancia Lewis faces danger from both inside and outside of Delcroix Academy.

I've had this book quite some time as the publication got pushed back by several months.  Unfortunately the first book had faded quite a lot from my memory but as I read things came back to me quickly and I was happy to hear about Dancia's journey once again.

Because the description is so short I'll give a short run-down of it.  This is about Dancia and she has an earth power.  She can move the earth and things in it and can even make herself and/or others float, or fly.  She attends a boarding school with others that have talents as well though they have different talents then her, the earth talent is rare.  In this one Dancia sees that there's a group outside of the school that also has talents and they are targeting the school because they are angry about something.  Some are former students.  Dancia wants to know who they are and why they are angry.  Her friend Jack is with that group and tries to convince her that the school isn't good and that she's on the wrong side.  Dancia doesn't know who to believe.  

 I like Dancia and I love that she's smart enough to question people and not just believe everything that's told to her.  She feels something is wrong and she sticks to her guns in her cautiousness.   She's got a lot on her plate because now she's training and learning more about her talent.  She's also an awesome friend and a good girlfriend to Cam now that he's not her watcher anymore.

Cam is not my most favorite character ever.  I didn't love that he was really goody-goody about being Mr. Judan's right hand man and lackey.  But he was a good boyfriend and he can seriously kick some butt when needed.  He's sweet to Dancia and I feel his feelings toward her are genuine.  But there was just something I wasn't loving about him.  However, there's a big thing that happens at the very end and I think my feelings about Cam could change.  It's possible I could really love him in the next book.  Also, I didn't not like him, I just didn't love him.

The supporting characters were great.  All the friends and her grandma were all excellent.  And I really have this feeling there's more to grandma and I hope that in the next book more will happen that has her involved because she wasn't very present in this one.   


I missed Jack in this book.  He was there but not really.  He was very much in the background while still being very important to the plot.  I was sad with how things went as far as he goes but I'm really hoping we haven't actually seen the end of him.  I'm not really sure if he's out of the picture for sure or not. 

I didn't love the romance but I didn't hate it either.  I think that it left it in a place where I could get a good feel for it though and potentially end up loving them as a couple.   


The book takes place near Seattle so it's in the Pacific NW which is good for me because I am too!  I like being able to picture the scenery around them.  The school is pretty cool for a setting and even though boarding schools are really popular in YA right now I'm still okay with them.  I sometimes feel it's just a convenient way to keep the parents out of the picture but in this book I didn't feel that way at all.  The school worked for me and the field trips they went on to 'train' added to it all a bit.


The book felt a tad slow at first but it picked up and I liked that there were constant pockets of action.  Yeah, it wasn't constant action, but it was enough to keep the plot moving.  There were smaller issues thrown in with the bigger ones.  Dancia just doesn't know what to think as she's being told that Delcroix Academy isn't all good and that she's being fed lies but at the same time she sees that this other group of talents that doesn't attend the school are definitely not all good because she sees the things they've done.  She doesn't know who is telling the truth or is there maybe another explanation?  Dancia is determined to figure it out and has to keep a lot to herself as she doesn't want to get those at Delcroix Academy on her case.  The final climax of the book was quite excellent.  I really liked it and liked that it opened things up to more in the next book.  She has some true and very good friends by her side and hopefully they can all figure out what's going on.


So I really liked the book!  It's clean (just kissing, no cursing) and it's one I recommend to those who enjoy YA with super power elements.  


3.5/5 stars!


Disclosure:  I received this book for review purposes.  All opinions expressed are my own and I was not paid or influenced in any way.