Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Book Review: The Pattern Scars by Caitlin Sweet

The Pattern Scars is a dark fantasy novel from Caitlin Sweet.

Book Description
Nola is born into poverty in Sarsenay City. When her mother realizes that Nola has the gift of Othersight and can foretell the future, she sells her to a brothel seer, who teaches the girl to harness her gift. As she grows up, she embraces her new life, and even finds a small circle of friends. All too soon, her world is again turned upside down when one of them is murdered. When a handsome, young Otherseer from the castle promises to teach her, she eagerly embraces the prospects of luxury beyond what she can imagine and safety from a killer who stalks girls by night. Little does she know that he will soon draw her into a web of murder, treachery, and obsessive desire that will threaten the people and land she holds dear, and that she will soon learn the harshest of lessons: that being able to predict the future has nothing to do with being able to prevent it.

The Pattern Scars is the story of a seer named Nola. We first meet Nola as a young girl in her mother's house. Upon witnessing Nola's first "Othersight" vision, Nola's mother promptly sells her to a brothel owner. This first part of The Pattern Scars is my favorite part of the whole story. I loved experiencing Nola's visions and learning how the Othersight worked along with her.

The Pattern Scars continues to follow Nola's story over a large span of time and gets darker and darker all the way to the end. I got a little worried after the first big shift in the story, but by the end I even loved the parts I was originally unsure of. I also loved that The Pattern Scars was a complete novel. (No series, no cliffhanger, nothing ambiguous, everything was resolved.) It was very refreshing to receive the entire story.

If you love a good fantasy story, you should check out The Pattern Scars. It's a dark and different tale that I really enjoyed.

7/10: Recommended

Review copy provided by publisher

2 comments:

  1. I also enjoy a break from series books. One book and done :-) This sounds like one I would like! *adding to list*

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  2. I like that this is a complete story. I'm so tired of cliff hangers and series. I like the sound of this story because it sounds different. I'm a little unsure about the dark elements but I would give it a try.

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