Carve the Mark

The first book in the duology of the same name, Carve the Mark (2017) is a young-adult science fiction novel by bestselling American author Veronica Roth. Set across nine planets in a galaxy outside of the Milky Way, the story follows Cyra Noavek and Akos Kereseth, youngsters from rivaling countries that remain in a constant state of war with each other. When the head of the Noavek clan kidnaps Akos and his brother, Eijeh, Akos is consigned as the personal servant to Cyra, the sister of Ryzek, one of the most brutal dictators in the galaxy. To conquer the world, Ryzek uses Cyra’s special power of transferring immense pain onto others with a single touch. As Akos battles for his own survival, he forms a romantic kinship with Cyra, harnessing her real strength of resilience as a means of salvation. As a warring rebellion rages on, Akos and Cyra must choose between love and loyalty in order to triumph. Carve the Mark became a New York Times bestseller, Wall Street Journal bestseller, USA Today bestseller, and IndieBound bestseller.

Told in alternating perspectives between Cyra’s first person point of view and Akos’s third person omniscient point of view, the story begins in a far-off galaxy on the violent nation planet Thuvhe/Urek. The Shotet’s call their planet Urek, while the Thuvhesits call it Thuvhe. A young Thuvhe boy Akos Kereseth lives with his father, Aoseh, mother, Sifa, brother, Eijeh, and sister, Cisi. Surrounding their planet are eight other nation planets, including Othyr, Koloande, Ogra, Essander, Zold, Pitha, Trella, and Tepes. Akos’s family is in danger because Sifa is one of nine galactic oracles who have the ability to see the future, an ability Eijeh shares. Akos’s family is “fated,” meaning they cannot alter their destiny, and constantly remain under close surveillance.

When Aoseh is killed, Eijeh and Akos are kidnapped by a trio of Shotet soldiers. Akos knows he must devise a plan to break away to rescue his brother. Along the way, Akos learns he can speak the Shotet language, which means he must have Shotet blood in his veins. The Shotet leader is the ruthless tyrant Ryzek Novaek, whose family is also fated. Ryzek has a younger sister Cyra, who has the “currentgift” of being able to inflict extraordinary pain on others with a single touch. Ryzek’s currentgift is the ability to trade memories with others. As the war between the fated families continues on the planet of Thuvhe/Urek, Ryzek forces Cyra to use her currentgift to interrogate, torture, and destroy his enemies.



When Ryzek learns he is destined to fall victim to another fated family, the Benesits, he plans to use the kidnapped Eijah’s gift of clairvoyance to alter his own destiny. During the kidnapping, Akos is also taken by Ryzek’s men and fated to die while serving the Novaek family. Once Ryzek usurps Cyra’s currentgift for his own interrogation torture device, she is left in a state of chronic pain that cannot be medicated. In an attempt to revive Cyra, Ryzek presents Akos to her because his currentgift allows the interruption of Cyra’s pulsing energy, thereby reducing her pain. Akos gives Cyra a hushflower potion that reduces her pain, and in exchange for learning how to fight, Akos teaches Cyra how to make the potion herself. Ryzek’s plan backfires though, and soon Akos and Cyra begin falling in love. Cyra shows Akos how the Shotet carve marks into their arms using a special knife called a “currentblade,” signifying the number of kills they have tallied. Instead of kills, however, Cyra tells Akos the carvings mark their number of losses. Together, Akos and Cyra plan to defeat the tyrannical Ryzek.

Their first plan to defeat Ryzek is to free Eijeh from his service. This proves difficult due to how interchangeable Ryzek and Eijeh have become since Ryzek swapped memories with Eijeh. Ryzek forces Cyra to use her gift to torture Akos for his lack of cooperation, but Cyra rebels, severing all ties with Ryzek. She vows to help a renegade group kill Ryzek to end his dictatorial reign. Cyra is captured during a failed raid, and as punishment, Ryzek strips Cyra of her rank and disfigures her face. Ryzek informs the masses that Cyra killed their beloved mother, Yilra, and invites anyone who wishes to fight her in the arena to do so until she is dead. After two days of battling and growing weaker, Cyra is rescued by Akos, bolstering their romance in the process.

As a means of ultimate vengeance, Akos and Cyra devise a plan of attack with the Shotet renegades while Ryzak addresses a ceremony honoring his soldiers. Knowing that Ryzak kidnapped Ori, the twin sister of Thuvhe Chancellor Isae Benesit, and plans to execute her in public, Akos and Cyra must act fast. The story comes to an action-packed climax when Ori is murdered. Akos and Cyra rescue Eijeh from captivity aboard a spaceship, taking Ryzek hostage. Following his capture, Ryzek springs two surprises on Cyra. Ryzek tells Cyra that she does not have Novaek blood and that his father, Lazmet, is still alive. The shocking revelations springboard the plot line for the second book in the duology, The Fates Divide (2018).



Veronica Roth is the hugely successful author of the global bestselling Divergent series, which includes Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant, and Four: A Divergent Collection. The trilogy was adapted as a blockbuster film franchise by Lionsgate and Summit Entertainment.