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    Promised: The Birthmarked Trilogy
    Unavailable
    Promised: The Birthmarked Trilogy
    Unavailable
    Promised: The Birthmarked Trilogy
    Ebook355 pages5 hours

    Promised: The Birthmarked Trilogy

    By Caragh M. O'Brien

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Caragh M. O'Brien's Promised is the conclusion to the thrilling YA dystopian adventure Birthmarked Trilogy, where the world is divided between those who live inside the wall and those who live outside.

    After defying the ruthless Enclave, surviving the wasteland, and upending the rigid matriarchy of Sylum, Gaia Stone now faces her biggest challenge ever. She must lead the people of Sylum back to the Enclave and persuade the Protectorat to grant them refuge from the wasteland. In Gaia's absence, the Enclave has grown more cruel, more desperate to experiment on mothers from outside the wall, and now the stakes of cooperating or rebelling have never been higher. Is Gaia ready, as a leader, to sacrifice what--or whom--she loves most?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateOct 2, 2012
    ISBN9781596438323
    Unavailable
    Promised: The Birthmarked Trilogy
    Author

    Caragh M. O'Brien

    Caragh M. O’Brien is the author of the BIRTHMARKED trilogy and THE VAULT OF DREAMERS trilogy. Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Ms. O’Brien was educated at Williams College and earned her MA in the Writing Seminars from Johns Hopkins University. Her young adult science fiction has been honored by the YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults, the Amelia Bloomer Award, the Junior Library Guild, and numerous state reading lists. A former high school English teacher, she now writes young adult novels full time from her home in rural Connecticut.

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    Reviews for Promised

    3.5/5

    148 ratings12 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      I enjoyed the first 2 books in The Birthmark trilogy and was excited to read the third. I was glad for the final resolutions of the characters, but the Gaia main character just got me riled up with her putting herself in danger again and again and again. She seemed so smart and a risk taker in the first 2 books, but her decisions in this last one, of course had to be done to further the story and were colored by love, but I felt she should have known better with experience. I just wanted to scream at her, "No, no, no please don't do that"! :-)
    • 3/5
      Well, I'm glad that I didn't start reading this series until after the third book was published, because I think I would have went crazy waiting. :)Unfortunately, in my opinion, this book just isn't the same caliber as the first two books in this series: Birthmarked and Prized. Both of those books were fueled by a romantic tension between Leon and Gaia that is, for the most part, solved by the time Promised starts. They're in a happy relationship by this point and have had a year after Prized ended to establish one (this year is alluded to but never detailed). Promised, when compared to the other two books, is much shorter (weighing in at less than 300 pages, and the font appears to be bigger with larger margins), giving the book a padded feel to it, like there wasn't quite three books in this series...perhaps only two and a half. And then there is the whole idea of going back to the Enclave. Yes, Sylum is a (slow) death trap, but going back to the place where both Gaia and Leon were nearly killed promises instant annihilation. And, of course, that is nearly what happens. Gaia strolls into town and is immediately arrested, and then she acts surprised. Does she remember what happened to her last time and how she barely escaped with her life? Gaia, in this book, appears to be struggling with the role of matrarc, and more than once she practically stomps her foot with a "because I say so!" I realize that she is only seventeen, but she seemed more mature in the other two books (especially the first one).The book could have also used better editing. There are duplicated words, missing punctuation, etc, etc. There are also a few instances of ridiculousness: Gaia talking about how her skirt is soaked, and then two pages later someone asking about the trousers she is wearing (which is it?), or Gaia telling someone that she has never had a sister before (uhh, who then is Maya?).I don't mean for it to sound like I hate this book; it's just that this book wasn't a solid ending to the series that I had grown to love. It is more of an "oh, okay...I guess the series is done now" kind of book.
    • 3/5
      This was the final book in the Birthmarked series. It was a decent conclusion to the series. There aren't a lot of surprises here, things play out pretty much how you would expect them to. Gaia is now the leader of her people. Her and Leon are leading the people of Sylum back to the Enclave in an effort to persuade the Protectorate to grant Gaia’s people protection from the wasteland.Gaia is still kind of a blah character for me. She just seems a bit too weak to be leading these people. That really comes across in this series as she looses control of Leon’s actions...which pretty much reinforces her weak leadership. I understand that Gaia always wants peace over violence. It just seems short-sighted of her to allow the death of many rather than command the death of a few to save many. She does grow some throughout the story, but she never really grew on me as a character.Leon is more interesting than Gaia but just as pig-headed in his own way. He constantly undermines Gaia’s leadership and him and Gaia constantly lie to each other. I have never been impressed with their relationship.The characters surrounding Gaia are much more intriguing than she is, but we never get much of a chance to know them.As you might be able to tell I just had a lot of trouble caring about this characters; this isn’t new for me...I didn’t like them much in the previous two books either. So if you thought the first two books were mediocre this is more of the same. If you loved the first two books you should be pleased with this book as well.This book is mostly politics and intrigue. Gaia has to cut a deal with the Protectorate and then make sure he follows up on his part of the bargain. Some of the ideas in this book are fascinating; the idea of a genetic anomaly taking out humanity is an interesting one and I did enjoy how it was explored in this series. That’s pretty much what keep me reading this series.The book is decently written and well paced. It is also completely predictable. I could have told you everything that was going to happen in this book before I read it; I was a bit disappointed that there weren’t any surprising twists and turns.Overall this is a solid dystopian read, but not my personal favorite. The idea behind the story was intriguing, but I struggled with the way Gaia and Leon constantly were unsupportive of each other and made bad decisions for their people. The story was very predictable as well. If you have enjoyed the first two books in the series I think you will enjoy this one. If not, well this is pretty much more of the same. I personally would recommend Veronica Roth’s Divergent series or Ally Condie’s Matched series over this series.
    • 4/5
      Following this book from the beginning, I'm super excited to how its all going to end. Was I happy? Yes, but I thought it would end a bit more happier...Alright, so the book dives right back into Gaia shoes and she's done running. Being chased for a while now, Gaia must come face to face with her past. And let me tell you it's not pretty. Much has changed and people have gotten harder. Friends aren't who they seems they are and well Gaia has a huge fight to win. The plot is face-paced, filled with non-stop secrets, friends betrayals as well as Gaia leading her people.The love interest never waverd from where it was and I love that. Being that this is the last book, I like that Gaia love is strong. She always turned to him and didn't let some other guy come and comfort her. She only had eyes for her man and that I love.There are some really cruel things done to Gaia and I can't seem to get them out of my head. How Gaia can stay at the enclave in the end with all that was done to her is just WOW! I would not be able to do that. Instead, I'd be one pissed off women.Promised unfolds to a nice ending. The true love that Gaia has, holds her down to what needs to be done. Action-packed and ending well, Promised is good.
    • 3/5
      A very strange conclusion. Reminded me of a dystopian twist on Frankenstein. Better for an older, female YA reader.
    • 4/5
      Conclusions are hard to read sometimes, especially when you know that you won't be visiting the characters you've grown to love again. For me, 'Promised' was highly anticipated. I loved the first two novels in this trilogy, so 'Promised' had a lot to live up to. For the most part, it did just that. I wish certain things were executed differently, but as a conclusion to an awesome series, O'Brien did pretty good work with 'Promised'.

      This whole series is darker than I normally read. Lots of issues have come up in past novels, especially in regards to pregnancy and babies. 'Promised' is no different from its predecessors in that regard. Bad stuff happens to characters we've all grown to know, but rest assured, there are bright spots in the plot, as well.

      The pacing suffers a bit towards the end. The conclusion is somewhat rushed, making the last few chapters and plot tie ups seem to be a little short and to the point.

      Gaia was, well, Gaia. Truthfully, she lacked some of her strength in this novel. However, that is a minor issue. Leon was perfect, as always. I can't help it- I just really like his character and the the interaction between the him and Gaia make these novels.

      All in all, this is a good, solid read that gives the trilogy a well thought out, while somewhat gritty, conclusion. This is a must read series!
    • 4/5
      I thought, while a good ending to the series, it took me a while to get into it. I don't know if it's because I listened to this while I read all the others, but it wasn't until about half way through that I couldn't stop listening to it. Still, I like the series as a whole and recommend it.
    • 4/5
      This was an amazing ending to a wonderful trilogy. It was hard to put the book down once I started. I thought I knew what would happen, but I was fooled, so of course I had to continue. The ending itself had my emotions on a rollercoaster. When I was done I felt both sad and happy with how it ended, which was different for me because I don't think a book has ever left me feeling that way.
    • 3/5
      This is one book I can't wait to read. I loved the other books. I can picture myself. October 2012. Snuggled on the couch, 2 cats lying next (on) to me, reading this ebook while the room smells of vanilla thanks to the candles I lit, and it is raining outside but we don't care.

      Caragh! Make it good. Now I see some of you have already read the ARC,You lucky meanies, so I hope it will be as good as the other 2.5 books/

      Finished. Yes i can see that some people think this story is really not very realistic because the main character is the leader even though she is A:very young, and B: a newby in town and C: just does whatever she wants. ;)

      Yes I agree with that but I did not mins it so much. More annoying is that she never listens and does not use her head most of the time.

      I did enjoy this last book and overall this was one of my favourite series.

      3.5
    • 5/5
      That was...an intense book.I waited patiently for 2 months until I could get my copy and read it in less than 3 hours. And afterward, I just thought 'WOW'.That ending was painful. And completely perfect. I hated it. I loved it.Gah!I can't say too much without giving away spoilers. Your heart will break and you will cry, but there's also an undertone of happiness and hope.Just read the book.
    • 5/5
      Read it fast, don’t think about the plot, and enjoy the way the characters, language, and pace carry you.
    • 4/5
      I was actually pleasantly surprised by the second and third books. I think that they ended up both being darker than I had expected but that isn't a bad thing. Very interesting premise.