A miracle survivor or someone marked by Lucifer and brought back to this world to carry out his will? That is what Matt and his father must figure out. They hunt anyone who has been marked and eliminate them before they can do their evil. Matt, now seventeen, is on his first solo mission. He has to see if Rae Winters is marked or not.

However, soon Matt starts struggling with his mission, what to believe, and to make matters worse he's falling for his project and making friends. Something he's never done. But the consequences of his actions will have lethal results. This book is called a "dark and twisted coming-of-age" and that is so accurate.

Wow, did I freaking love this book. It was a non-stop thrill ride!!! This book was so fun to read. I couldn't t stop I read most of it in a day.
I don't usually read books from a male pov, but I loved Matt! There were times I just wanted to reach into this book and pull him out and protect him!

The cast of characters were all so lovable. This book pulled on my hearts strings! I was not prepared to have those emotions.
This book reminded me of why I love YA. It was dark, fast paced, full of twists, and moments that make you tear up a little.

I highly recommend this book! 5 stars!

This is a fast paced coming of age novel that ties together romance, mystery, and moral quandaries of what is right or wrong, and what is real. This story has found family, that also touches on the topic of grief and support.
I enjoyed both of the main characters, and enjoyed the representation within this story.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4/5 STARS

This is a YA supernatural coming of age.

Similar Book:
Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Synopsis:
Lucifer has the power to send souls back to the living to do his bidding. A father and son team up to find these marked souls and kill them before they can do any harm. But is Lucifer real and should they believe what they are doing?

This book was a fun read! Think father/son team hunting the supernatural while trying to navigate life. I think the devil’s mark was a unique idea. The story kept my attention and I wanted more of the danger. Great debut YA!

Thank you Penguin Teen for the ARC! 🔥

The first 25% was super intriguing and then this book just went downhill for me. I was expecting more dystopian vibes, but this book unfortunately read pretty basic to me. I'd rate it about 2.75 out of 5 stars. The romance was not for me.

I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect when I started this, but I enjoyed it. The concept of Lucifer’s Mark and the Sweepers who watch and eliminate people who they believe are afflicted by his mark before they can cause more harm to society was really interesting and unique. This was definitely a darker YA story. The Sweepers committed multiple murders and burned individuals they deemed marked by the devil.

Matt the main character is given his first solo assignment by the mysterious Sweeper organization. He is assigned to follow Rae a local High school girl who recently survived an accident that killed her father. After near death experiences the Sweep believe people can be marked. This is where the plot gets a little silly because this random organization just happens to take it upon themselves to murder people they think are marked by the devil and ended up assigning a kid to do one of the killings. I wish there had been more on the organization and who they were and how they were started. Matt has to follow and get close to Rae but he starts to fall for her. He struggles a lot with his internal doubts and feelings. Does he have enough clues to prove Rae is marked? And can he be the one to end her life? Those questions weigh heavily on Matt and I appreciated the twists and turns this book has.

Overall, this was a creepy YA story that made me question all the characters motives and nothing was as it seemed. It had a decent balance of not just being a supernatural thriller but also a coming of age story and dealing with grief.

Thank you Penguin Young Readers Group, Razorbill and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC

A Crooked Mark is a dark ya debut by Linda Kao. Matthew has spent his life helping his dad hunt down those cursed by the devil with a crooked mark. Sent on his own mission for the first time his target is none other than Rae Winter, a survivor of a deadly car crash. As Matthew gets closer to Rae and a life he's never had he begins to question his very way of life and is posed with the daunting question - is the mark even real?

This book was super unique to anything that I normally read! I think the plot line of the novel was interesting and it really made me want to keep reading as the book went on.

I enjoyed reading about Matthew and his experiences turning his entire world upside down and what he was going to do about the consequences. I was genuinely surprised by some of the things that happened!

I'd recommend A Crooked Mark to anyone who wants to read a dark ya novel.

Thank you to Penguin Teen for an eARC of this novel. All thoughts and opinions contained within this review are my own.

This book started with a very interesting and fun concept and I was able to breeze through the first half but I don't know what happened in the last 20-30% of the book because I eas so disconnected.

I'll try to reread this in physical form in the future since the start is definitely a gripping kick-off.

More thoughts on my bookstagram soon.

This was an exciting and mysterious read with some unexpected twists and turns. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a darker YA thriller with supernatural elements.

This was my first book by this author, but I would read a sequel to this if there is one. Thank you so much for the ARC!

This one started out strong and ended strong for me. It lost me around the 40-70% mark though. I didn’t see the twists coming which was great, but I wish the middle was more eventful or cut down a bit. Overall, a decent read!

Matthew Watts and his father have the daunting task of hunting down those who should already be dead, or rather, those allowed to survive. When a soul is about to pass on, Lucifer himself can mark a soul, and return it to the land of the living to carry out his evil will. That's just it though, maybe they're marked, and maybe they aren't, the only way to find out is to investigate and wait for the evil to manifest, and when it does, the only way to purge it is by fire. Rae Winters is the sole survivor of a car accident, and Matt's first solo project for The Sweep (the secret organization he and his father work for). The closer Matt gets to Rae, the more he starts to fall for her and question everything he's ever known.

I would have loved this when I was a teenager. In my Supernatural obsessed teenage days this would have been right up my alley. In reading it now though, it comes across like a slightly diet version of one of my favorite TV shows. A father and son hunting down the supernatural through a secret network/society, moving from town to town, the entire vibe of the book felt like a bit like a Supernatural fic. I admit that I really didn't like the naming of "The Sweep" and the idea of burning someone alive because bad things happen around them seemed a little flimsy. Especially since it seemed like all of Matt's elders were gung-ho for murder with little to no evidence. It just didn't seem fully fleshed out to me. Why would Matt's dad not question ever seeing anyone else from the society and just take to arson because someone else told him to? Why no one went to the police for anything also didn't make sense to me. There are a lot of other questions I had by the end of the book, but I can't discuss them without giving away spoilers for the novel. Ultimately, I take some of these questions with a grain of salt because I genuinely think teen me wouldn't have really thought about it that much, and the audience is for teens.

The ending did twist in a way I didn't expect which was really nice and the story did hold my attention the whole time, I just think I wished for more answered questions and less plot holes. It was an enjoyable read overall, and for that I will rate it three stars.

So looking at just the cover I expected a lot more fantasy elements. Though I’m not upset by the genre overall.

I do think the Mark elements of the book were weak. Like accidents happen.

Kendrick and the father came off as very paranoid. Which then spread to Matt. It could’ve only been a tough life for a kid.

The twist ending with Matt was unexpected and I’m not sure if it really fits his story. I also got the feeling he talked himself into seeing signs that we’re there about himself.

As for Rae and her friends forgiving him. I’m kind of surprised. He was full bore stalker and that’s not something your forgive lightly.

Going in, I definitely thought this would be a fantasy book akin to The Hearts We Sold. It's definitely more of a supernatural mystery instead - tracking down those marked by the devil, as uncertainty grows about the nature of this organization. Matt is on his first solo assignment, but he quickly begins to lose objectivity when he meets Rachel. To be fair - who would assign a cute teenager as a "project" to a young boy? There are some chilling twists thrown in, but overall it's a pretty straightforward supernatural thriller.

*Thank you to Razorbill and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

A YA debut about a boy who falls for the girl marked by the devil that he is supposed to kill..

Plot: 3/5
The arc of the plot flowed fairly well though there were a few lulls that could have been sped up. The magic and world development was relatively unique for YA fantasy. Also I did not see that plot twist coming so that was a surprise.

Characters: 2/5
Overall I think the main characters could have used more development. Matt is half Chinese but this was only mentioned once in passing and it felt like his identity was done justice so there wasn't really a point in including that.

Writing: 3/5
Kao's writing was very bingeable and there was a compelling exploration of religion and familial relationships. I think her style needs a little more depth to really connect with though.

Overall: 3/5
I don't think this really hits the comp of Neil Schusterman and Scythe so that didn't do the book any favors.

This book was honestly really good. The whole concept with Sweepers and the Lucifers Mark was really unique, and I honestly binged this book in about 2 days. The story was(relatively) easy to follow but overall, very enjoyable. So, his half-Chinese identity is mentioned at the beginning of the book when he talks about his dead mom but that's the only time it's ever mentioned so I don't really understand why it was written in.

Overall,

Very enjoyable and I wouldn't mind a sequel.

I adored the story, the world building was amazing. I love meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it. The writing was also really nice. I couldn't put the book down and I can't wait for others to read and enjoy this story as well.

Oh man this was so fun! And what a unique concept, I cannot BELIEVE this was a debut! It was suspenseful and tense and made me question everything and then that TWIST??? I never saw that coming, even when the idea could've been put into your head. The romance was such a sweet side plot as well, and I was rooting like hell for everything to turn out well. I'm obsessed with everything about this and you will be too, and nothing says hot summer days like the mark of Lucifer, right?