125Pages

The Marked Girl by Lindsey Klingele
Published by HarperTeen on June 7, 2016

I started The Marked Girl by Lindsey Klingele not knowing too much about it. I knew a group of teens traveled into an alternate dimension and landed in modern day L.A., other than that I went in blind. And I am glad I did. This was such a different take on a YA time travel type read. Cedric, his fiance Kat and his cousin Merek have been fighting the evil Malquin and his band of wraiths in Caelum. During a fight they run for their lives into a portal that pops them into L.A. and into the life of foster kid, Liv. As they struggle to find a way home, Liv ends up being more than she seems and the group must work together to save themselves and both of their worlds.

Told primarily from the perspective of Liv and Cedric, this was an interesting fish out of water tale. The trio from Caelum is lost in the modern world and so is Liv but in a very different way. I loved how the two tales intersected to show that all of the teens were adrift in their own ways. There were a few bumps with the pacing and a few people came into the plot a little too easily, but other than that I really enjoyed the tale. Klingele crafted a debut that is a great combination of action and heart, and I am already ready for book two.

I received this book for free from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.