Customer Reviews

Birthmarked (Birthmarked Trilogy)

5 star:		(75)
4 star:		(40)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Gaia's world is outside the wall. She is a midwife and those outside the wall are required to give up three of their babies to the enclave inside the wall where they will live the privileged life every month. When Gaia's parents go missing she suddenly questions her existence and the rules that her society has always followed. She breaks into the enclave and finds that things there aren't as perfect as they've always seemed.

As the story continues the moral story of a perfect race and the perils of inbreeding and genetic manipulation (with an elementary genetics lesson wrapped in) becomes an engrossing one and Gaia has to make difficult choices to save herself and do what she knows is right.

Gaia is a wonderfully strong teen heroine. She fights for what's right and won't let anyone or anything stop her. If you liked Katniss from The Hunger Games and Tally from the Uglies series you'll love Gaia.

The ending is complete yet leaves space for a sequel which I will be thrilled to purchase.

Appropriateness: There isn't any subject manner that will annoy adults. No drinking, drugs, sex or graphic violence. The romance is sweet and the herione is the type of girl that parents would like their daughters to be.

An ARC of "Birthmarked" was gifted to me by my friend, so I feel kind of bad for giving this book such a low rating, but at the same time I don't want to sugar coat it either. The thing is, "Birthmarked" is not one of those horrid books that I despise for awful writing or atrocious characters ("Evermore" and "Hush, Hush" come to mind). It is not bad, but it is simply boring and unremarkable. To be honest, only a marginally interesting premise kept me skimming last 200 pages of the book instead of giving up on it completely.

Gaia Stone is a 16-year old midwife in training in a small village near a walled city called Enclave. At the beginning of the book Gaia assists in birthing a baby and an hour later "advances" it, meaning she takes the baby from its mother and gives it over to the Enclave guards to be raised inside the city walls. Even though the mother of the child is in tears, Gaia advances the baby without any hesitation, this is a part of her job and she knows it's a right thing to do. When later that night Gaia reaches her home, she is told that her parents were arrested and are now imprisoned within the city. The girl doesn't understand why it happened, the only clue to their possible discretion is a hair ribbon covered in mysterious symbols that Gaia'a parents left behind. What follows is Gaia's quest to find her parents and uncover the importance of the ribbon.

I think the first major mistake the publisher of "Birthmarked" makes is that it markets it as a cross between "The Handmaid's Tale" and "The Hunger Games" which happen to be two of my favorites. Trust me, it not even close to either of these books. It lacks the depth and emotional impact of the first and non-stop action and hot teenage romance of the second.

Even more, both the characters and the dystopian world are not sufficiently developed.

Gaia is a very flat heroine. Her main characteristics are: a huge burn scar on her face (the emotional implications are explored only superficially), her ability to get various people to help her by simply asking (even prison guards are always willing to answer her questions and demands, imagine that!) and naivete akin to that of a 10-year old. How this girl ends up getting a mature guy by the end of the story is a mystery to me.

The world of Enclave misses the mark too. I recognized many aspects "borrowed" from "The Handmaid's Tale" (the colored uniforms based on the professional occupation, the titles - Masister, genetic and ecological problems, etc.), but even that is not enough to create a convincing dystopian reality. For a regime that is supposedly totalitarian and oppressive, the Enclave comes off as rather nonthreatening and lax.

All this combined with the general slowness of the story, uninteresting characters, lack of convincing action, conflict, or romance, and absence of any kind of emotional impact that dystopias are known and lauded for, make "Birthmarked" a pretty mediocre read. I might be in minority in my assessment of this book, as there are many 5-star reviews of it, but I am quite positive that even though some fans of sci-fi/dystopian YA might enjoy this novel, it is definitely not the next big thing.

P.S. Almost forgot, the book has an ending, but it is extremely open for a sequel.

Caragh O'Brien explores the bonds of kinship in a deteriorating dystopian society that brings to a head many provocative themes, and forces us to ponder some difficult questions and even more troublesome answers. In Birthmarked, three hundred years into the future, humanity's survival depends on diversity. But the citizens of Western Sector Three don't know that. For countless years they have been sacrificing their select newborns to the Enclave for basic necessities, never to see them again. One girl will unravel the mystery and thrust these two societies into chaos.

Birthmarked was such a compelling read because it's chock full of substance. O'Brien's world is one of obedience. Where the technology, the advancements of a bygone era, hydroelectricity, computers, and the means to grow food are all controlled by the Enclave. Their rules are harsh and unforgiving to those that disobey them. Those outside the walls live a simple life, largely uneducated and supply...babies to the Enclave unknowing that genetic defects are so prevalent within the upper castes.

O'Brien does not purposely soften the tone of her story merely because it is young adults who are her audience. Rather the adversities that Gaia Stone goes through in Birthmarked, bonds the readers to her plight. When Gaia starts to unravel the mysteries that are left to her after her parents are jailed, she must confront the consequences of her actions. What ultimately happened to the babies that she and her mother "advanced"? What became of her two older brothers? What does Leon want with her? What is the significance of the tattooed "freckles" and worse, how will the Enclave use that knowledge especially as their situation worsens? She has the power to destroy or join together both societies...will she do it?

There is harsh death as well as the balm of new life within O'Brien's world, which makes it realistic and meaningful. I have read plenty of YA dystopian novels but none of them can come close to the subtly expressive and thought-provoking themes that Birthmarked contained. I was enthralled from the first page, contemplative, and reveling throughout the entire story. It was simply an amazing debut read. Every reader will want to accompany this courageous heroine on this journey to discover exactly what she is capable of, unravel the mystery of the coded ribbon, and whether she can step unfettered into the future. I definitely want more and am anxious to find out what happens in the next book!

A Fiendishly Bookish Review

I enjoyed this book fairly well. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it, either. I think, really, that I won't know how I truly feel about this story until after I've read the next book, because it's obvious there will be a next book. But I am intrigued enough to *want* to read the next book, which is a good thing.

Gaia's character is very naïve and accommodating, sometimes too much so. But she wasn't raised to believe anything was potentially wrong with her way of life, and she trusts the Enclave implicitly. So I found this part of her personality believable. Her journey to discover what the Enclave is really like was both interesting and appealing, and her motivations fit the story well. She didn't grow as much as I was hoping, but perhaps that will come in the next book.

Some of the plot elements didn't make logical sense, like the lack of record keeping or the level of genetic testing available to the Enclave. I didn't quite believe that the Enclave could do certain types of genetic testing, but not others. And, considering how important genetics are to the Enclave, someone, somewhere, would have kept some kind of minimal record keeping of the advanced babies. At the very least, they would have kept track of the babies who were related to one another. Also, the Enclave's obsession with appearance and need for certain genetic backgrounds seem too conflicting. But, perhaps that will be further explained in the next book.

Still, I'm curious what will happen next, and will definitely read the next book. I'm hoping then I will be able to form a more solid opinion of whether or not this is a story I can recommend.

As someone who has read numerous works of dystopian fiction I have discovered that most have a standard set of elements: an elevated level of society seemingly perfect only to discover that all is not as it seems, a lower class being exploited and chaffing under the oppression of self righteous and often heinous rulers and a notorious group renegades hiding out somewhere in the wasteland. "Birthmarked" contained all of these elements but failed to deliver them in a new or exciting way.

Gaia is 16 year-old girl training to become a midwife. Set in a dystopian society 300 years into the future, Gaia lives outside "the wall" where there are no accommodations of modern technology. As is required, Gaia must deliver the babies born to those outside the wall ; however, her job is not just to deliver the babies: it's to take the first three of the month to the city within the wall away from their families, to "Advance" them. Gaia has never questioned the mandates of the world in which she lives until she has to advance a baby herself, until her innocent parents are taken away, until she sees the injustice that happens behind the wall. Gaia's only wish is to get her parents back, safely outside the wall, and then flee to the Dead Forest, which may or may not exist, but when she finally gets in, a series of events makes her question what is really right, who she loves, and what she lives for.

"Birthmarked" sounds intriguing, but somehow fell flat. The Enclave isn't scary, Gia isn't well rounded, and the story itself is dull. There are better reads.

I enjoyed the beginning of this book, I often looked forward to my chances to read it. The characters were flat and boring, but the setting and world-building ideas were interesting.

About halfway into it, things seriously slowed down, and by the last 25% or so, I was looking for other things to do so I wouldn't have to read it.

I'm not sure if it was just the relationship part that killed my enjoyment of it. "Does he like me?" "Do I like him?" "Do I want him to like me?" "Do I want to like him?" It's a YA book, can't fault it for having a typical teenager relationship in it, but as an adult reader, it was just so uninteresting and such unattractive reading.

I enjoyed the first half enough that I was tempted to give it three stars, but the fact that I couldn't even force myself to skim through the last quarter of the book keeps me from doing so.

There are so many good books out there, and reading time is limited. You can do better than this book.

*Contains spoilers*

I just finished Birthmarked and have been trying to put my finger on exactly why I didn't love it. The premise is quite good: an accepted and largely uncontested baby quota, a midwife marking the babies in secret and keeping some kind of record, and a looming, exclusive society inside a large wall.

Sadly, the book did not deliver. I felt that the plot could have been more thoughtfully written, the story arc feels awkward and ill-done. The strange `bridge' book, "Tortured" solidifies this for me. If the story had been better thought out, a loose-end book wouldn't be needed..

My main issues as I was reading were:

1. The foundation for the society as a whole.

We get that the Enclave rose up after some kind of environmental disaster. The founders created a community that appears to have most of the advances of our day (called the cool age in the book): electricity, computers, running water, and indoor plumbing, though it sounds like the women mostly wear cloaks and dresses. It seems to be a fairly self-sufficient city, we know they have a factory to manufacture some kind of mycoprotein food item, but we are left to assume that they also have the means to manufacture computer parts, light bulbs, clothing, fuel, and more.

The sectors outside the wall don't seem to be needed for any kind of product (other than babies), and Grey hints that those outside the wall arrived after the Enclave was built and `leeched' off the system. We're told that those inside the wall sneer, somewhat at the `lowlifes' outside, yet their babies are desirable for genetic diversity.

It's unclear as to why the larger city inside the wall would have diseases as a result of intermarrying where those outside the city would not. Aren't those outside the wall also marrying each other? Or are new people coming through the `wasteland' and adding to their populace?

I felt the society itself and how the peoples viewed each other could have been more richly described; more realistically constructed. I wanted her to build me a world, but all I have is a city on a hill with a settlement around it.

The Enclave is not a clear enemy. And perhaps the author intended it that way, but it made it difficult for me to rally behind the protagonist, behind the... purpose.

2. The purpose.

The Enclave's entire purpose is to diversify the gene pool, but it seems like there would be simpler solutions to such a problem if this were a real life situation. The baby quota has a more sinister feel to it; one that would require a pretty powerful propaganda machine to achieve, yet that doesn't seem to have occurred. Gaia's father explains it with more of a shrug and a `it's for the greater good' attitude. Though how those outside the wall benefit (other than receiving some meager payments and believing their children will be better off) is unclear as they aren't plagued with hemophilia. More hints of the protectorate being tyrannical and evil: video surveillance, executions, people disappearing, disowning Grey, etc. But I found it hard to make the connection between diversify the gene pool and a need for a controlling, police-state dictatorship.

Gaia's purpose is first, to rescue her parents and protect the secrets they have entrusted her. She gives up the secrets somewhat easily -- which I found very confusing. Her mother was incarcerated and would have been able to decode the ribbon, yet we're told that Gaia is `smarter.' I would assume if the mother would not give up her secrets, there was an important reason. Gaia gives them up, and to what end? Why was it important not to give them up? Did Gaia's mother not want the children reunited with their outside parents? Did she not want to give the Protectorate more power? For... what, exactly? He rounded up some people with freckles for tests... and this was super bad because why? I don't know. Because everyone would be forced to marry certain people to breed the best babies? Where was the rebellion? The people angry at this? The masses who should unify behind the protagonist to overthrow the evil government? Nowhere.

Her purpose later became to rescue her mother, which she did. Then her purpose became to get out with her sister and escape to the mythical Dead Forest. We have no idea if she achieves this as the book stops abruptly with her heading into the desolate wilderness with a newborn baby and three canisters of formula.

3. Character development.

There didn't seem to be much groundwork laid for Gaia's transformation from an impoverished, oppressed, uneducated child from outside the wall to someone questioning the Enclave and breaking laws. And even during all the law breaking and escaping she still seemed to lack resolve and direction. She accused Grey late in the book of having every advantage by growing up inside the wall. She tells him not to tell her that his life wasn't perfect. What? At this point at least, she should be more aware of the enemy? I add a question mark, because the enemy isn't ever really clearly defined.

4. The ending.

As I stated, it's abrupt. The author says on her website that she never planned on continuing Gaia's story, but it sure seems that way. However, based on the negative reviews to the sequel, and the aforementioned "bridge" book, a story arc for a trilogy doesn't feel very well planned.

I've never not seen a series through - even one I was frustrated with. I was always driven to at least see how everything turned out, but in this case I don't think I'll bother. I liked Gaia, and I was intrigued by the romance. I found the scene where her mother passes very touching, but I don't think I can bring myself to read her waffling about in another oppressive society where, I'm sure, even more plot lines will be abandoned and hung out to dry.

2 and a half stars.

I love the quality of young adult fiction that is being published over recent years. "Birthmarked" is just another prime example.

Powerful descriptive passages animated this dystopian world. There is considerable character development, bringing the various characters alive and vivid.

I love that there is a strong female protaganist - Gaia Stone - in this story. This seems to be a popular trend recently, as in Hunger Games Trilogy Boxset, Graceling, Virals, and Uglies, The Collector's Set: Uglies, Pretties, Specials, Extras. I wish all of these books had been around when I was a girl. But I am enjoying them as an adult, too.

NOTE: Language is fine in "Birthmarked" and no sex but there are some situations (such as Gaia being a midwife) that I would consider to be a little intense for younger children. If you have a question as a parent, read the book yourself - it's great - and then you can be available to discuss any questions with your child.

Since reading The Giver I have looked for other dystopian type books by other authors (yes I liked Gathering Blue and the Messenger too). I've read a few that never seemed to cut it, till this book.

As The Giver is to a male protagonist, Birthmarked is to a female protagonist.

When questions about the society are raised that is when the bravery of our protagonist kicks in and acts of self-sacrifice abound. I really it when a protagonist does what they do because of injustice or to reveal the truth. Gaia is that kind of protagonist.

At first I wasn't certain what to think considering the main protagonist's -- who is an apprentice midwife -- with the name, Gaia. In mythology Gaia is another name for Mother Nature. . .which the source of life. Seemed almost too obvious to me and so I started the first few pages with skepticism.

But the plot of the story developed quickly and the suspense began to rise. Unlike The Giver, the threat of death is always imminent, which added to the suspense and thus made the need to read that much better.

We never know where Gaia will find allies, but when she does their motives are easy to understand and you root for her and her fellow conspirators.

My 12 year old son took one look at the cover and said it wasn't a story for him. And that was in regards to the nice blue cover with the tower shown. He didn't see my ARC cover of just a girl's face. Then when he saw I was engrossed in it he started to show interest. There is one romantic scene where I know my 12 year old boy will simply skip through the reading not caring about any kissing that may or may not be going on.

There is nothing in this book I can think of that kids who watch PG movies haven't been exposed to. Even at that, there were some scenes the author handled "cleanly" where I've seen other YA authors get too graphic with. There is no profanity and only a hint of sex with a couple coming out of a room with their clothes rumpled.

OVERALL:

This was a good YA book. One of the best I've read in a while. I would enjoy reading it again and any future adventures that happen in this dystopian world created by the author.

BIRTHMARKED is set far in the future, north of "unlake" Superior, and the Enclave seems to be the only settlement in a region dominated by a scorched, post-apocalyptic landscape. Those who live outside the wall depend on the Enclave for their livelihood and in return, the Enclave takes their healthiest children and brings them up inside. Both of our main heroine Gaia's older brothers were taken, but because of an unsightly burn on her face, she has been left behind with her parents.

Gaia and her mother dutifully deliver their quota of three babies per month to its mysterious and dark rulers. When Gaia's mother and father are taken away to be questioned about their written baby records and subsequently thrown in prison, Gaia begins to question her loyalty to the enclave and her role in it. This leads to one of the most imaginative and enthralling reads since I put down The Hunger Games and Catching Fire several months ago.

From the very first chapter, the fascinating world building, foreboding atmosphere and characters lured me in and set the stage for an impressive series. Birthmarked is one of those rare finds that keeps you reading on late into the night. You will find your tired eyes drifting shut but you will fight that just to keep reading! I loved the open-ending that left room for a sequel and I will most certainly be watching out for more from this author!