Markswoman by Rati Mehrotra

2/8/2018

SYNOPSIS

Kyra is the youngest Markswoman in the Order of Kali, a highly trained sisterhood of elite warriors armed with telepathic blades. Guided by a strict code of conduct, Kyra and the other Orders are sworn to protect the people of Asiana.

But to be a Markswoman, an acolyte must repudiate her former life completely. Kyra has pledged to do so, yet she secretly harbours a fierce desire to avenge her dead family.

When Kyra’s beloved mentor dies in mysterious circumstances, and Tamsyn, the powerful, dangerous Mistress of Mental Arts, assumes control of the Order, Kyra is forced on the run. Using one of the strange Transport Hubs that are remnants of Asiana’s long-lost past, she finds herself in the unforgiving wilderness of desert that is home to the Order of Khur, the only Order composed of men. Among them is Rustan, a young, disillusioned Marksman whom she soon befriends.

Kyra is certain that Tamsyn committed murder in a twisted bid for power, but she has no proof. And if she fails to find it, fails in her quest to keep her beloved Order from following Tamsyn down a dark path, it could spell the beginning of the end for Kyra—and for Asiana.

But what she doesn’t realize is that the line between justice and vengeance is razor thin . . . thin as the blade of a knife.

Synopsis from Chapters.Indigo.ca

PERSONAL REVIEW

Markswoman was definitely a very different kind of book from the ones I have read in the past. Set in the very far future, society has undergone a huge shift with the Markswomen as the leading peaceful power in Asiana (there is one order of Marksmen, but most of the Markswomen choose to ignore their existence). These women are trained to keep peace within Asiana through their mental abilities, fighting strength, and their bond with their katari (aka magical knives).

We follow the stories of Kyra and Ruston, independently and as they intercept, and further delve into this dystopian world.

What I liked:

Not a Standard Romance:
When the leader of the Order of Kali is murdered, Kyra (our main hero) runs away, vowing to avenge the death. She ends up with the Marksmen order, where Ruston (another POV that we don’t get enough of) is ordered to train her further. Separately and together, Kyra and Ruston give us interesting POVs. They actually don’t even meet until roughly half way through the book! While I’m disappointed we don’t get more time with them together, I really liked both characters and their loyalty to their Orders and to doing good. I think the potential for a strong relationship is here, even if we only ever get a slight hint of what will come between them. It will be great to watch the struggle between each of them trying to figure out how to love someone and what that means for their loyalties to their Orders.
Slightly Boggy Storytelling:
Markswoman unfortunately falls into some of the classic first book problems that happens in trilogies: lots of long explanations and world-building that needs to be covered, lots of characters backstories need to be explained (can be a little long), and limited time actually reading about Kyra and Ruston together. However, I'm really excited for the next book where we (hopefully) will get to actually jump into the story more and spend more time with Kyra and Ruston. What I'm also a bit confused about is where the story goes next...we don't really get any information about why Kyra is so special and the book is more about her avenging her teacher instead of understanding why everyone keeps saying she's "special".
Different POVs:
I mentioned it above, but I really liked getting the different POVs of Ruston and Kyra. I find that changing POVs usually moves a story along more organically and gives us (the readers) a better understanding of the story that is unfolding. Plus, it really gives us more of a connection to the characters. This book was largely Kyra, so I'm hoping that the sequel gives us more Ruston time as well (it's about a 70/30 split at the moment, but I'd love a nice 50/50 POV split). I liked getting to know these characters and it made me fall in love with their story :)

Overall, I thought this was a pretty unique story and I had a fun time reading it. The beginning was a bit slow, but the by the end I felt like we were racing through and I couldn't wait to see where we ended up. I'm not sure where the story will go next, and while I know this is a trilogy, we aren't really given any big tasks or goals that Kyra needs to accomplish or that the books are building towards. So I'm a bit confused about what comes next, but it will be interesting to find out.

FINAL RATING: 3.5/5