Compelling, thematic and filled with beautiful descriptions. Marrow Charm is a unique genre mash-up of being set in a dystopian world while also being a magic-filled fantasy and a chilling horror. The drool-worthy cover is actually a good way to set the tone for the story.

The story is exciting and intriguing right from the start, and just gets better the more you read.

People are really sleeping on this release and I hope it will get a larger audience because this book was GOOD! I will be pushing this deliciously dark series opener on all of my friends.

I can’t wait to see the story develop even more in the next book.

Marrow Charm - ⭐⭐⭐

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This book held so much promise in the first chapter. It gripped me so hard and swore to never let me go and to be honest I was swept up in the dark and gritty world that Kristin had created...

But...

It fell a little short for me.

I reached the halfway point of the book and honestly just felt like the plot itself was ok. It felt staggered and staged, one moment there was an action sequence, then dialogue, then action sequence, then dialogue. It was a circle of repetition and that reduced the rating for me.

However, the elements I did enjoy was the world building, the writing style (Kristin certainly knows how to paint a truly gruesome picture), the creatures, and the characters. I found the creatures particularly interesting, being reminiscent of something you'd find in a horror movie.

All in all it was an enjoyable read, not bad but not amazing, hence the 3 stars. I will keep my eyes peeled for the next installment.

OMG Marrow Charm is SO GOOD. I stayed up until 4am to finish this and I want the next book to come out already.

My favorite part of this book is the magic system. The world as we know it has ended and magic has corrupted everything on the surface. So humanity has gone underground. Magic is an infection and if a human gets infected they become a monster.

The pacing is great and I love the characters, its set up as an adventure after someone the main character cares about is infected with magic and is kicked out of the human city into the above.

highly highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and The Parliament House for the E-arc copy of Marrow Charm.
Marrow Charm seems like a turtle when you first start it, but as you get to the middle it becomes a rabbit running at full speed. I think because it is the first in a series it had a lot of world to build. Once it gets through the beginning it becomes a page turner so stick in there.
#MarrowCharm
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Thank you NetGalley for my copy of Marrow Charm! This story started out kinda slow for me and I was not loving it. I am so glad I kept reading and really enjoyed the story. I did not know that this was going to be a series so I was bummed not knowing how everything is going to end. I am excited to read the next book and see what happens next!

I found this to be a wonderful fantasy book, the world building was done amazingly and the characters were flashed out and relatable. Worth the read.

I absolutely loved this book and had a hard time putting it down. Very cool concepts while also smoothly writing in a way to where the created bits make sense. I was able to enmesh myself thoroughly in the author's world they created and I can honestly say if there isn't a sequel I'm officially heartbroken. The main character is so utterly likeable in her strength and ferocity to protect her brother while meeting some interesting characters along the path to finding him again. Fantastic read with a fantastic journey.

I was disappointed by this one - or at least, by my reaction to it. I also think this is one of those where the publisher did the book a disservice with the blurb choice. I LOVED Ragnarok Unwound, and when I saw that Jacques had a new title - one that promised to bring together the occult, Nazis, and a world-within-the-world, I was immediately intrigued. I started reading and felt like I'd maybe downloaded the wrong file - Azzy's story didn't feel AT ALL like what was described, and the letdown was hard.

This was dystopia, which was not at all what I was expecting - and which is a category I don't often choose. Or at least, don't choose lightly. I suspect that if I'd stumbled upon the story blind, I might have had better luck with it - Jacques tells a compelling story, no matter the topic, although I must confess I found this one less immediately engaging than RU even though it was just as original. I just never felt like I found my way into the experience I was expecting.

I understand this is the first in a series - that may explain some of the questions and confusion I'm left with, although it is not common for the first book, setting everything up, to be quite so oblique... It's possible this just isn't the series for me - or at least, not for me right now. I may need to let my original anticipation for what I thought I was getting fade away, then come back to this one as a blank slate. Once I have an expectation about a story it's hard to let that slide, and if the book doesn't deliver on that expectation, it's tough to pull me in - even if the story is otherwise entertaining.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read this early.
I really enjoyed this book. The main character is what made this book so great for me, her passion and determination to help out her brother was just so heart warming. The world building and the world in this book are absolutely amazing and very dystopian like and I enjoyed that aspect. This book was a joy to read and I cannot wait for the next. I highly recommend this book. I gave this book 4 stars.

A big thank-you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for giving me a copy of this book for an unbiased review.

3.5/5 - Liked it quite a bit, rounded up to 4 stars.

This book is the first part of a series and quite honestly, I can't wait to continue the story. As it is set in a magical futuristic dystopia, it combines several genres. This is an ambitious undertaking, but Jacques masterfully builds a world that is believable and thoroughly packed with monsters and magic. Although it borrows themes from dystopian and fantasy literature, the story is unique and unpredictable, which makes for a wild ride. I especially loved the settings that Jacques crafts - the book felt like an adventure through an unmapped, thrilling landscape. Overall, it was a very enjoyable read!

My only gripe with it is that at times it was confusing. The characters would have motivations I didn't quite understand, or certain magical rules would be set up earlier to be broken later. Azzy especially puzzled me, because her actions didn't always correlate with her inner dialogue. This made her difficult to grasp as a character. The multiple POVs were interesting, but because they moved back and forth between different timelines and dreams, it was easy to get lost. The writing could also get a little verbose - I think the author just loved the world she crafted so much that she wanted the reader to really visualize it, but at times the overindulgence in detail slowed down the pace of the story too much.

However, I think the positives by far outweigh the negatives and I would certainly recommend this book to lovers of dystopia and YA fantasy. Can't wait to read the next

This is one of the best books I’ve read in a longgggg time and I wish that the sequel was already available because I need it now. The main character, I adore. She’s an amazing person and so determined to help her brother and as many people she can meet along the way, even if most people wouldn’t. The world is so fascinating and terrifying and I can’t get enough it. I loved every page and I almost just want to start it over and read it all over again, such a dark book, but with so many moments of hope and goodness and light. Read it!!!!

This is the first book in the Gate Cycle series and I loved it! This is a dark fantasy series set in a post-apocalyptic type Earth were a magical gate has opened releasing magical monsters and magical taint into the world above.

Azzy and her brother Armin have been eeking out at living by assisting the apothecary of one of the Earth’s last full human underground cities. However, when Armin ends up tainted they flee to the Earth’s surface to try and make a living there.

I really really enjoyed this book a ton. It was very creative, the writing was very descriptive, and I loved the complex and conflicted characters. There is a lot of magic and interesting monsters in here as well. This is a very adventure driven fantasy, which is something I always love!

This is a fairly adult novel and very dark. It borders on being a fantasy horror. However, the adventure element is what I really latched on to. This is one of those books where I could not predict what would happen next, everything was just so creative and unexpected.

Overall I loved this book. The adventure, dark faerie tale elements, and magic drew me in completely. I am definitely planning on continuing this series. I would recommend if you like reading very dark fantasy adventure/dark faerie tales.

This book is an exciting dystopian adventure with magic and monsters. The world-building is immersive and dark. The story moves very quickly and it is obvious that this is the first of a trilogy. I would recommend this to teens who enjoy dark stories and fantasy.

This ARC was provided for review, but in no way affects the following impartial and unbiased review:
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4,5*
Pros: Beautiful description and world-building. Dark and twisty fantastical creatures and folklore. Interesting and complex characters. Refreshing magic system. Stars an awesome wolf. Features deep relationships. Relevant notes about enslavement and fight for survival. A perfect mix of dystopian and fantasy.
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Cons: A few confusing and unexplained details and plot events.

My favorite part about this book was the world building. It's a magic system that has taken its toll on society and become far worse than they hoped. 

It's a story with mystery, family, and disease. The writing sucks you in as much as the magic does to its victims. 

If you're looking for a unique touch to magic and the horrors that make a good Halloween story, this series may be right up your alley. 

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars.

I really didn't enjoy this book. The concept was so interesting, and I was very excited to read it once I read the summary of it. However, there is very little world-building in the actual book, and I didn't understand what was going on or why anything was happening. I also didn't understand the magic system or really why magic was so deadly. It reminded me a little of the City of Ember books, which I enjoyed, but I hated the lack of world-building or any explanation of what was happening or what had happened prior to the start of the novel.

What a creepy, fairy tale-esque and wonderfully drawn world this is! This tells the story of siblings Azzy and Armin who live in the relative underground safety of the Heap, far away from the above, where dangerous magical creatures roam. When Armin is cast out for showing signs of magic, Azzy must undertake a dangerous journey to try and rescue him. I loved the world here - we are thrown straight in, which is a little jarring, but once I found my bearings, this is a rich fantasy land full of magic and monsters that is genuinely sinister in places. I found the relationship between Azzy and Armin really touching and the way in which they relied on each other was lovely. Similarly, I thought that the narrative was really well structured and that the pacing is good, albeit a wee bit slow to start. Overall I found this to be a really immersive and interesting story and I will look forward to the next instalment.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Disclaimer: I have voluntarily reviewed this book after receiving a free copy from the publisher via NetGalley, thank you!

Do you ever read a book awaiting some kind of conclusion or twist or big reveal and it just never comes? Yeah.

Marrow Charm is a story about a world in which magic twists and corrupts people, turning them into monsters. Humans live in underground cities, plagued by sickness, hunger and monsters, and ones tainted by magic are mercilessly banished to the above world that’s full of danger. The main character, Azzy and her brother Armin are the apothecary’s apprentices and Azzy sometimes comes out of the tunnels to gather herbs and other ingredients needed for making medicine. Her brother Armin hides powerful magic that for a long time was undetected. At least until a plague comes to their city and to protect Azzy on their way to find the cure, Armin unleashes a huge blast of magic that gets him infected. When he’s cast out, Azzy decides to follow him to the above together with their late mother’s friend and their guardian, Brixby but when both him and Armin are captured by human traffickers called Snatchers, Azzy needs to survive on her own and find her family before Armin turns into a monster and loses himself.

Despite the fact that I have a lot of issues with this book, I need to assure you all that I didn’t hate it at all. The characters were okay, the locations nicely described and there was a lot of action to keep me interested. However, there are major things that prevent me from giving a higher rating.

My first issue is an absolute lack of any advanced worldbuilding. Yes, there are many locations in the book that are neatly described and interesting but besides the places, the characters visit we barely know anything about the rest of the world. There are very brief mentions of places where people live above the ground and use magic without being tainted, some hints about the fact that the world is actually our world many years after some mysterious disaster when magic was unleashed but besides that, everything seems completely random. The characters don’t know anything but they also barely learn anything throughout their journey. The only place where the backstory of the world is actually explained is the book’s synopsis and I surely don’t have to say why this is bad. Because of that, the locations the character passes through seem completely random and they don’t actually bring much to the plot most of the time.

Another issue I had is actually kind of connected to the previous one and that is the magic. Oh boy, the magic in this world is absolutely unexplainable and works however it’s currently convenient to the plot. The only thing we know about it is that it infects people who use too much of it and turns them into monsters lacking humanity. But there are characters who, despite their changed appearance still keep their humanity? There are also characters who are clearly said to have used magic for a long time and yet they aren’t infected in any way. Azzy at first seems not to have any magic at all and as the story progresses not only we learn that she does have it but also see her power grow from simple superhuman instincts into something that makes us go “Hey, I don’t think she should be able to do that” but we actually don’t really know that because there are no set rules to how magic works in this world. The characters can do seemingly random stuff that’s not defined by anything. And how do they know that Azzy’s power defies the norm if there’s no set norm whatsoever? Magic seems to work on pure convenience here and it’s really disappointing. The most illogical thing is a wolf who has a healing factor in his saliva. Good luck to him trying to hunt anything.

Another thing is that there were far too many scenes in which the characters just dreamed. They didn’t bring anything to the plot, they were just supposed to set this ominous atmosphere and give off the feeling of impending danger but there were far too many of them and they were just tiring at some point.

I went through the book expecting some revelation, plot-twist or something that would turn the plot around, change the characters’ view on the world and magic, uncover a great secret or give a reason for character development but it never happened. I was waiting for a culmination point that never happened and despite Marrow Charm being the first book in the series, I still feel it needed some kind of conclusion. The ending was alright and I would like to read more to see what happens next but it felt like a longer book cut in half.

As I mentioned, though, there was good stuff too - a lot of action kept me reading, the characters were maybe not the most memorable but likable enough and there was this atmosphere of danger and suspense that makes post-apo so good. I liked how the plot progressed to the ending and the last location left me carving for more because it was so different from the caves and the forests we’ve seen most of the book. It wasn’t a horrible book but it surely had the potential to be better.

I would recommend this book for people who like the fairytale-like atmosphere but the heavy and mysterious one, not the candy-sweet Disney one. If you have some time and like a ya fantasy and post-apo mix that doesn’t require a great emotional investment, definitely give it a read.

CHARACTERS
Azure (Azzy) – main protagonist
Armin – brother, having magic inside him growing stronger
Brixby – guardian of the pair, after their mother died
Wolf (Kai) – protector of Azzy, after she saved his life
Safiya – witch in the woods

WRITING
“The sun-soaked day to your brother’s storms.” – a beautiful quote from the book to describe brother and sister. The first half of the story is read through Azzy’s eyes. Then we switch to other character’s views of the story. Jumping from one character’s view to another can get confusing, but I didn’t get lost once, reading til the very last page. Reaching the fevered climax where the plot takes an unexpected turn, jumping between character narrations, was infuriating and made each page that much more intriguing as we wait to find out what will happen next, blending past with present.

PLOT
There is the main plot, Azzy’s search for her brother, seamlessly woven with subplots that feel both realistic and possible in this world. Losing myself in this fantastical world was unexpectedly easy.

WORLD
There are creatures in this world, warped and changed by magic. I loved learning more about how this world was changed. There are cities above and below ground, very different from one another. My only wish here was to learn more about how magic came to exist in this world, and why it tainted humans and animals alike.

OVERALL
I wished there were more history and flashbacks into the pasts of the characters in this book. I don’t want to wait for the second installment. I need to know where this journey will end, and whether everything will end well… There are so many routes open to this ending that there’s no way I can wait to read more!

In Short

a dark, twisted and extraordinary world filled with imagery woven with words
a love so deep, it transcends space and time
captivating characters you will long for and root for until the bitter end

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with the ARC. The writing style was great, loved the story, characters were developed. I will be reading more from this author in the future!