The Twisted Mark by Sophie Williamson

Pages: 379 

Publisher: Storm Publishing 

Released: 26th of July 2023 

Gabriel’s eyes haven’t left my face. There’s not much he can do to me that he’s not already entitled my body and my magic, served up on a plate in return for my brother’s freedom. I swallow hard. I’m hardly naïve—but I’ve never gone all the way. I can’t back out now. I can’t let my family down...

Sadie Sadler lives in the big city. Takes the train to work each day. Drinks fancy coffee. Does yoga… and never, ever does magic, lest it leads Gabriel Thornber straight to her door.

Sadie’s family have used their magic to protect the small northern town of Mannith for centuries. But now, Sadie’s brother Brendan is on trial for murder, and Gabriel, the charismatic and sinister head of the Sadlers’ only rivals, is moving to take the town. Only Sadie has both the knowledge to save Brendan and the magical strength to face down Gabriel.

The trouble is, there’s a good reason Sadie left home and turned her back on she bargained away her powers and her body to Gabriel to save her damn brother the last time he got in trouble. If she comes home, Gabriel will try to collect… but there’s no way she’ll allow her brother to rot in jail or her family’s strength to wane.

Returning in disguise, Sadie’s plan to save Brendan and get out is tested as she’s dragged back into a world of magic and power, with Gabriel at its centre. Battling both her long-standing terror of him and a growing, dark attraction, she must decide who Mannith’s real villains are and how far she’ll go for her family.

A promise made… a magical debt unpaid. This is a fight that could cost Sadie everything.

What I Have to Say 

I really, really wish I hadn't bothered finishing this book. The Characters who were meant to be "morally grey" were not. They were despicable. Writing morally grey characters does not mean you make them do a terrible thing and then make out that they're not so bad after all. 

Gabriel wasn't the only one who was bad, but he made me feel really queasy every time he was on screen. He (at the very least) threatened rape and played mind games with the main character and her family, so much so that the main character runs away and hides to avoid being raped by this guy. Then the rest of the book is basically the author trying to make out that it's not as bad as it sounds and making Gabriel a hero at every opportunity.  

It's a real shame because I liked Sadie a lot as a character and if the author had just leaned into it and made Gabriel a villain, I could have really been into it. 

2 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Storm publishing for providing me with this gifted copy for review.