"Following the same course of failed actions will not yield you positive results."

The first half of this book was a lot of world-building, phrases, names, etc. that were very hard for me to follow and somewhat dull. However, the last half of the book had me intrigued. I do think that if I read this book physically instead of on my own phone that it probably would have been easier for me to follow along with the first half of the book and therefore possibly made my star count increase. This wasn't a bad book by any means, but for someone who is new to the fantasy genre, it was a little difficult for me at first. I am interested to see what the next book in the series does for me, however.

Carved Amidst The Shadows was intense and very dramatic but I loved every second of it. How the three different citizens, the marked, Carved, and Flawed in this world of Taelgir and specifically the realm of Isydill collide is so obvious yet dramatic. All over a long drawn-out period, I love how dramatic and inevitable the wreckage of the story was.

I was on the edge every time I continued this book.

It's narrations of a young noble lady at just twelve years old the royal prince of Isydill plus a descendant of this story worlds Gods from a special group called the Order who have gifts that can control people's lives. They all have their own distinct issues with one another that of course, I ate up. Every second was like waiting for the inevitable to happen and for that reason alone it's getting four stars.

3.8 stars

Such a unique storyline. And I fell in love with Kaianne's character. I didn't think I would love the book as much as I did! The plot was really intriguing and as I mentioned before, unique! The thing about Carved, Marked, Flawed was really interesting!

The starting was a bit confusing and slow. And the story occasionally dragged on, in my opinion. I didn't think I would be able to finish it, but I am so happy I did. And I got to know that this is the author's debut novel. I think she has done a very good job.

Thank you for the Arc but this wasn’t for me.

DNF at 22%

I tried. I really thought the story was good but alas I couldn’t get past the co fusing worldbuilding. Half the time I had to keep flipping to the glossary to know what words mean and to use an example the author chose to change the word for yesr worh Stretch. But it wasn’t explained in the text and this was only one issue I had. Please PLEASE stop replacing names we understand it makes the world more Confusing.

The characters were okay at best. I was interested in the religion (faith I think she called it) but it was also confusing. I was unsure if they loved forever (there was mention of them loving centuries) and yet they are human. Once again this went unexplained for too long.

This book does remind me of JLA from blood and ash but told better. Still confusing worldbuilding and someone gets stabbed (badly) but it up and walking within a week and that is just not believable.

I’m sorry but this wasn’t my cup Of tea

This book was really interesting. The world and characters were lively and felt real. I really enjoyed the writing style, but there were unnecessarily long paragraphs over explaining certain aspects of this book.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc.

I was not able to finish this book, I stopped 50% through the story.

However the writing style is very interesting, and the story itself makes you want to learn more.

What made me stop were the long passages of descriptions... I enjoyed the beginning of the story, it was lively. But once we went past the 25-30% mark, it became very slow.

The multiple POVs aren't necessarily always interesting and can get confusing.

I would like to come back to this story another time to see where it goes from the middle of the book to the end.

This book was a really strong debut, and it absolutely gave me Game of Thrones + Arya Stark vibes, (which I am so on board with)! You’ll love this book if you enjoy epic fantasies with:
✨An opinionated female lead
✨Complex world building
✨Politics & corruption
✨Found family
✨Slow burn romance
✨Multiple strong main characters

It’s so well written and the character development is top notch, and I recommend reading it when you can totally focus and immerse yourself in all the details of the world building. This is definitely a book with an intricate plot and multiple main characters that give different perspectives on the story. I love that there was a pronunciation guide and several maps at the start to help understand the world building, too.

I did have a hard time getting into it at first because I struggled with the names, history, etc—but it got easier as I read more. Overall this was a strong debut and I think I’ll read the next book when it comes out!

Could not actually read this book as it was archived before I had a chance to download the book onto my kindle.

First off, I want to say thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review! The idea behind this book - where being "marked" meant to be protected/loyal while being "carved" is a sign of a traitor. One of the main characters turns to the Carved to seek revenge for the family lost due to the murder of her flawed brother. This book overall was a great debut (I did not realize this at first - that is how great it is!), with a unique idea/great execution. My only complaint is the info dump at the beginning of the book was overwhelming at first. It makes sense later, but it did make it a bit difficult to get into the story until the pacing picked up and occasionally it was a bit hard to follow what was happening in the book.

*Check the trigger warnings*

I tried on multiple occasions to read this book, but it just was not for me. I did not like the character interactions. I found the dialogue to be very wordy which made it difficult to maintain interest. There were also several instances that were a little too cringy for me. Ultimately, I dnf'd this book. I love the cover and I think it had a lot of potentially, but it fell short for me.

*A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

This whole book was very well written and full of amazing world building and interesting characters. The plot was intriguing and it kept my attention from start to finish. It was impossible not to feel sad for Kaianne after everything she went through and the tragedy that struck her whole family.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
I genuinely struggled with this book and at times became outright annoyed. The plot reads like a fantastic story; however, the reality just didn’t match up. I found the two main protagonists bland and annoying, and the master is outright creepy with his obsession with his ward. I, unfortunately, had a DNF with this one.

Carved Amidst the Shadows is an extraordinary, coming of age epic fantasy novel.

What attracted me to this book was the actual blurb:

To Be a Marked means to be loyal and protected

To Be a Carved is to be the vilest of Traitors

Born branded as a Marked, Kaianne trusts the system.

When her brother is born Brandless, her misconceptions come crashing down.

Now an orphan and with only one uneasy ally, she turns to the Carved.

Between the blurb and the characters, Fontaine takes her readers on a journey filled with a magical delights, rich history and tenacious word-building.

I did find myself wanting to skip pages when It got boring, however I was able to refrain. I did see where this information became pertinent,

Thankfully I didn’t skip any pages.

The book overall was fantastic once you got used to the first person narrative and the time jump.

Totally looking forward to the next installment.

BRING ON BOOK 2 PLEASE!!!

GREAT JOB FONTAINE!!!

Thank you NetGalley/M.T. Fontaine/Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op/ For this eARC in exchange for my honest review. My opinions are of my own volition.

Carved Amidst the Shadows was extremely slow and confusing - I almost DNF'd it about halfway through.
The book started to pick up for me once the two main characters reunited.
I wish there would have been more action and romance.

I am unsure if I would read a sequel or not.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The divide between the Marked and the Carved is bigger than ever. What would it take to bring both sides together and create a better system? We see Kaianne embark on a journey to eliminate this divide and stop unnecessary killings. Who will stand in her way and who will help her?

-Super confusing world-building/lots of names that I need to remember--waiting for a time jump (27%)
-I didn't hate the beginning massacre, but kinda dragged on
-Gets soooo confusing the FMC has two names and she doesn’t go by one for the longest time
-She is too developed of an internal monologue for being 12
-I think the prince was intended to be morally grey but just feels more blah grey instead? Just not as complex a character as I would have wanted out of the (presumably) MMC
-I want to DNF this book so bad, but to give an honest review, I need to read it all the way
-Update: at 52% I DNFed


I thought this book had good potential but wowza... the whole time I was just waiting for the time jump but then I think it happened? That's the issue, I was so confused not only with the names but the locations, the time, and how all of it contextually fit together. I just don't get most of what happened. I think this would have been better as the first half is its own book and then when the time jump happens, make that another book.

Rating: 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
*Thank you to Netgallery and M. T Fontaine for this ARC in exchange for an honest review*
I loved this book the more I read it. It follows 3 characters Kaianne, Andreiyes and Rau. A big chunk of the book is set when Kaianne and Andreiyes are quite young (like 13/14). For every person, to be marked means to be protected and loyal but to be a Carved is a sign of a traitor. Kaianne is borned marked but when her family are murdered for having a Flawed brother she is left orphaned. She turns to the Carved to help find revenge for the family shes lost.
I think my favourite thing about the book was Kaianne. I loved how sassy and independent she is (especially in the later part of the book). I was a bit worried as the first half of the book was set when she was 13 and I didn’t instantly connect with her as a female lead character but there was a time jump of 5 years (or 5 stretches in the book) and this is when I really started to fall in love with Kaianne. She came across as clever, cunning, confident (all the things that make a women a bad-ass) but also loving and vulnerable. She was written really well!
What I think is most amazing is this is a debut book for M.T Fontaine! It was written better than some books I’ve read that were their 10th book. It was really well written. I thought the story was very captivating and I loved the idea around being marked, flawed and carved. It was something I had never seen!
The one thing I wasn’t too keen on was the information overload at the beginning. I felt a bit confused at first because there was just so much. But as the book went on you knew what everything meant and became clear. At first I wasn’t fond that so much of the book was set when the characters were much younger. However, now that I have read it I think it was important as it let you understand why Kaianne did things and it also helped you feel sympathy for her! But I do think it could have been shorter.
Overall I think this was a very strong debut novel and series! I wait eagerly for the next one book in the series to find out what happens next. I recommend it for people to read it!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

carved amidst the shadow is an incredible epic fantasy and I was completely invested in it.

the whole book was very well written and full of amazing world building and interesting characters. the plot was intriguing and it kept my attention from start to finish. it was impossible not to feel sad for kaianne after everything she went through and the tragedy that struck her whole family, turning her into an orphan.

i loved how she transformed from a spoiled noble girl to a fighter focused on taking revenge for her family. i completely adore her as a character.

this book really does contain the perfect slow burn between kaianne and andreiyes. i just wanted to skip through chapters and read only about them but i remained patient and it was so worth it.

i didn’t enjoy reading some other parts as much. especially those focused on rau because i found them boring but i’m aware that they are significant to the storyline. the counting of time was also super confusing because it wasn’t explained much throughout the book.

such a powerful debut that i really really liked and can't wait for the sequel!

I never been so confused by a book in a long time. And not even the glossary helped clear things up. The use of time was not helpful at all. I understand that as an author you want to be creative and try something but at least a hint of the glossary would have been nice or more indication of the time span. Most of the time I was guessing.
Also I found it a bit unnecessary to stay with Kaianna for more then half the book when she was 12. And she was not written as the most sympathetic 12 years old. I was happy when I got a different point of view

The world building was definitely not the best because only more then 70% in the book it finally clicked in my mind. I felt like it really tried to be some other more popular books but it didn’t work. I understand that are more parts to this book but I didn’t find I am looking forward to read more of this series

The concept of the book is good but I think the author got so stuck in the storyline and new where they wanted to go that they forgot to explain some parts.

But still I could not put it down and read it in less then a week so yeah

dnf at 15%

it’s not the book it’s me. anyone who reads fantasy books regularly i can see they’re going to love this book. but me who just time to time picks up this genre i couldn’t ge to to this book. right in the beginning it was so information heavy that i didn’t understand what i was reading. and the pov was always changing and i didn’t know who am i reading about.
but i can tell that the author brought a complex world into word, have a great world building and plot in the head.
maybe if i have a psychical copy in my hand i can focus on the words more. but for now i won’t finish this book. planning to read it in the future.

thanks for netgalley for approving my request!