RELEASE DAY REVIEW by Lorna: Marked In Flesh (The Others #4) by Anne Bishop (@MollyKatie112)

For centuries, the Others and humans have lived side by side in uneasy peace. But when humankind oversteps its bounds, the Others will have to decide how much humanity they’re willing to tolerate—both within themselves and within their community…
 
Since the Others allied themselves with the cassandra sangue, the fragile yet powerful human blood prophets who were being exploited by their own kind, the delicate dynamic between humans and Others changed. Some, like Simon Wolfgard, wolf shifter and leader of the Lakeside Courtyard, and blood prophet Meg Corbyn, see the new, closer companionship as beneficial—both personally and practically.
But not everyone is convinced. A group of radical humans is seeking to usurp land through a series of violent attacks on the Others. What they don’t realize is that there are older and more dangerous forces than shifters and vampires protecting the land that belongs to the Others—and those forces are willing to do whatever is necessary to protect what is theirs…
 

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Marked in Flesh
by Anne Bishop
Series
The Others #4
Genre
Urban Fantasy
Paranormal Romance
Publisher
Roc
Publication Date
March 8, 2016
  
Fourth in this fascinating series, Marked in Flesh, continues the story of blood prophet, Meg, and the Courtyard of Others that she has made her home with. Otherwise known as probably the most unique and well written urban fantasy series that I(and most people) have ever read. Anne Bishop is a gifted storyteller and none of these books have let me down, instead they have all left me with gigantic book hangovers because, yes they are just that good.
Bishop’s world of the Others, is a world where animals are human shape shifters, instead of the other way around. In other words, Simon, the main male character, is a wolf who happens to be able to shift to human. There’s also vampires, and elementals like Wind, Fire and Water, just to name a few that show up. That made this book unique, but the author expanded on that and made it a world where humans are in the minority, with human towns surrounded with vast wilderness. The Others are the landlords and the humans have to pay them to live on the Other’s land as they own all of it. They also own everything that power can be made from, the forests that build the towns, etc. Humans being humans, they decide they want more land and don’t want to answer to anyone else-or pay for it. They form a group, Human’s First and Last, and for some reason, think they can conquer the Others. BIG MISTAKE.
The Courtyard in Lakeside, a human town, is run by Simon. Meg is a blood prophet(known as a cassandra sangue) that was taken in by the Others, after she escaped from the complex of women and girls like herself that lived only to be cut in order to see a vision-for money. Life for her is so different now and everyone that resides in the Courtyard loves Meg, Simon in particular. She is called, Our Meg, and protected at all times. Now that the blood prophets have all been freed, they are having a hard time acclimating to life outside of the complexes. It’s up to Meg, to be the “Trailblazer” to the other women, and to find a way for them all to live and thrive without losing themselves to the euphoria caused by the cutting.
This installment centers on the war that’s brewing between human’s and Others. So in other words, the reader is on pins and needles throughout the read, just waiting for the Other’s to strike back when the humans start attacking the Others. It’s kind of weird to read a book and be against the humans, but that’s what happens with these books. There are, of course, good humans, but they are few and far between. And now with the inclusion of a new threat from the Others, huge beings called Elders, that are never really seen, but who live in the wilderness, Bishop upped the ante against the humans.
If you haven’t started this series, than you really should if you are an urban fantasy fan. I promise you it is unlike anything else out there and is better than most, if not all urban fantasy in my experience. There’s violence, but no sexual situations, although mating is mentioned at times. Highly recommended, even if you aren’t an urban fantasy fan. Wonderful read!


The review copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
 

About Anne Bishop

Anne Bishop lives in upstate New York where she enjoys gardening, music, and writing dark, romantic stories. She is the author of fourteen novels, including the award-winning Black Jewels Trilogy. Her most recent novel,Twilight’s Dawn, made the New York Times bestsellers list. She is currently working on a new series, which is an urban dark fantasy with a bit of a twist.
Crawford Award (2000)
 

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