Name: The Unmarked Witch
Series: Unmarked #1
Author: Miranda Lyn
Publisher: Self Published
Format: Hardback (available on KU)
Genres: New Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal, Magic
Noted Tropes: Enemies To Lovers, Shifters, Witches, Games and Trials, “Who did this to you?”, Found Family
Steam or Spice: Spice!!
Rating:
Synopsis: Goodreads
ALL RAVEN WANTS IS PEACE. BUT IN A MAGICAL REALM PLAGUED BY DECEPTION, THE ONLY THING HER WORLD KNOWS IS TURMOIL.
A land where witches wear their spells like tattoos is no place for a woman without a single magical mark—except for Raven, whose unblemished skin contradicts the truth of her power. Surviving under the scowls of her fellow witches has carved indelible scars into her mind over the years—just as the day she watched the Dark King’s men murder her grandmother in cold blood.
But the Dark King’s reign of terror is far-reaching, and Raven’s grandmother won’t be the last witch to die under his rule. After the death of a coven leader heralds the start of the infamous Witch Trials, Raven finds herself dodging death to triumph. The journey quickly descends into perils far greater than she’d ever imagined, including a war on her heart from a man she’d only ever known as a villain.
Still, trust is always fragile in kingdoms ruled by magic, especially when love enters the fold. Yet, something else is awry in the land of spells and shadows and Raven must decide whether she trusts her gut or her heart.
Review:
The Unmarked Witch was added to my TBR after I read my friend Kay’s review over at K-Books back in August, I purchased it with the gift card received for my birthday and I held off to read until October because I wanted to have a couple of witchy books to read during my favourite quarter (October to December = the best time of year). Which leads me to the past two weeks – The Unmarked Witch took me 2 weeks to actually finish, but it took me almost a week and a half to actually start it due to work commitments! So, not bad all in all.
Our FMC Raven, who in a world where your power is literally available for everyone to see in the form of markings on your skin, is unmarked. This should mean that she has no magic however that is not the case, and this confuses a lot of people throughout the story but she embraces it and uses it to her advantage in the Trials which I liked quite a bit! She is fiercely protective but also has her own mind, which you quickly realise is not the case with a lot of the Witches due to the rumours being spread about the Dark King.
I also adored her friendship with Kirsi and her familiar Scoop, as their found family filled my heart with joy as I was reading. There was a lot to like about these two, and Kirsi’s unrelenting support of her best friend was one of those friendships that everyone wishes they have in moments when they’re not feeling particuarly strong. Kirsi was quick to bite at anyone who was causing Raven trouble, even if that would get her into trouble – and Raven would equally do the same.
I’ll be honest and say I expected the romance in the story to be between these two! That was until it was abundantly clear that Kirsi was totally smitten with another female, and Raven was suspiciously into our MMC (oh and was kind of, sort of, betrothed?)…
Our MMC is the Dark King, Bastian aka the ruler of the land and the leader of the Fire Coven, and the asshole that is killing witches both through starvation and through his own hand. He is morally grey at best, and yet he was brilliant. He has the whole ‘who did this to you’ thing going for him, that means I quickly loved him. Additionally, he exchanges these adorable letters with Raven which leads to some hillarious moments and some sweet ones too. The back and forth between them, whether through the letter exchange or in person really showed us their characters! Walls started cracking with the Dark King long before the truth came out.
Spoilers: Partial reason for the lower rating
There were some ‘dream’ scenes that had me annoyed. Raven, for some unknown reason, didn’t once think that Bastian was actually visiting her in her dreams and this led to an argument later in the book that I felt was a mute point? Until I realised that Raven had genuinely believed that the Dark King in her dreams was just her imagination. I can’t fully explain why this annoyed me, but it only partially impacted my rating.
I will say that although the start of The Unmarked Witch is a little slow (as Miranda Lyn explains the world to us a bit and why the things that are happening, are happening) you keep reading and the story gets intense and information is revealed, the pace picks up and it became one of those books that I couldn’t read fast enough!
The Unmarked Witch is book one in a completed duology (which is a shock for me, I don’t think I have read many duologys! If any…) and I purchased book two before I even finished this one. That being said, they are both available on Kindle Unlimited, so if you find yourself wanting a great witchy read, and have KU, it’s a no-brainer pick up!
“Better a villain by truth than a hero by lies. I’ll be the devil in your story if that’s what you need…” – Dark King Bastian
Reading With Tyler 
Leave a comment