Warning: this is the third & final book in the Birthmarked Trilogy.
If you haven't read the first two books you may not want to read this.
Promised
by Caragh O'Brien was a great read. It was fast paced, suspenseful, and it had an interesting love story.
Gaia Stone had survived the Enclave. She had escaped to the waste land and survived that also. She is now ruling Sylum. Sylum is slowly dying and the only way to save it is for Gaia to do the unthinkable. She has to lead her people back to the Enclave. Leaving the Enclave on such bad terms has Gaia feeling frightened, but she has no choice. She knew everything wouldn't go smoothly when they got there, but she also hadn't anticipated all that would be asked of her. All that she would have to sacrifice in order to survive. It's all up to her.
I loved this trilogy. Some of the things in this last book literally made my jaw drop. I didn't see a lot of it coming. Some of the story was rather heart-breaking, yet in my opinion the good out-weighed the bad, which I liked. Needless to say I recommend this trilogy.
Rating 5 out of 5.
Warning: this is the second book in the BirthMarked trilogy. If you haven't read the first book I wouldn't read this.
Prized
by Caragh O'brien was even better then the first book, Birthmarked.
It was fast paced, suspenseful, and romance came into play. Some of the questions from the first book get answered as well. So far this trilogy seems to be a must read!
Prized picked up where BirthMarked left off. Gaia is scrambling around in the wilderness with her newborn baby sister. She has escaped the Enclave, only to be at death's door step. She's running out of supplies and she doesn't know where to go now. Her sister is starting to die. Gaia and her sister are captured and get taken to Sylum. It's a society inside the dead forest, but every thing is backwards. The woman rule over the men, the men out number the woman, and kissing or any form of affection is a crime unless your married. Gaia's sister is taken from her to see if the Sylum women can save her. There's strict laws in which Gaia needs to learn to follow if she ever wants to see her sister again, assuming she lives. As if that's not enough, once you enter the society you can't leave it for long periods of time or you die. No one has been able to figure out what causes the death. Gaia fears she may not be able to submit to all the rules. If she submits, she'd have to change who she is as a person.
I LOVED this book. I couldn't put it down, and I definitely can't wait to start the next one, Promised.
My heart literally broke for Gaia. The love story Caragh Obrien decided to go with was such a tough romance. I'm telling you now, start the trilogy. You won't be disappointed. (Assuming nothing drastically goes wrong with the third book. I'll let you know.)
Rating 5 out of 5.
Birthmarked 
by Caragh O'brien is the first book in an exciting trilogy. This book is a new favorite of mine. It is a suspenseful and an addicting read. Once I started reading it I didn't want to put it down. There's a bit of a mystery in it that slowly gets revealed chapter by chapter.
Sixteen year old Gaia Stone is a mid-wife that lives outside the wall. Gaia and her family have always served the Enclave dutifully. Gaia and her mother deliver all the babies in their sector, making sure to advance the first three babies born each month. Gaia's mother will tattoo the babies ankle then give it to the people inside the walls. Gaia's never really understood why, she has just always followed orders. She followed them until the day her parents were arrested and taken from her for no reason. An old woman came to her and gave her a ribbon with strange markings and said it was her mothers and to keep it safe. She didn't understand at the time what it was, but she decided to do what the woman asked. A rumor started to float around saying her parents were sentenced to death in a weeks time. She knew then she was going to sneak inside the wall and get them out or die trying. Gaia had thought everything inside the walls would be perfect, however; upon entering there was an execution taking place in the main square. What unnerved Gaia wasn't the execution per say, but the fact that the women was pregnant and could be due any day. When the floor dropped out from the woman's feet and she was hung, Gaia knew then that she was going to find out where the body would be taken. She may not have been able to save the mother, but she was going to try and save the baby, even if it jeopardized everything else. Since there was no oxygen getting to the baby at this point, it became a race against time. Gaia didn't know if she could do it, but she had to try. It was this action that opened a doorway to all sorts of problems and mysteries. Each and everyone Gaia would have to face and overcome. Her life depended on it.
This book was an interesting read, and it was well written. Some of it was rather heart wrenching, and you really felt Gaia's pain. Other parts of it you could jump for joy when Gaia had triumphed over a difficult trial. The book was ever twisting; there was so much I never saw coming, and it turned into such a surprise. I was sad to see it end, but i'm excited as ever to start the second book,Prized.
Rating 4.5 out 5.
