This guarantees an exciting, but slower, second read of a book that will sweep teens away. And yet, despite this disjointed juxtaposition, a feeling Ettie goes through as she joins the machine, Bulbring manages to pull the reader back in again and whip them through the pages so fast that The Mark is over before the reader is ready. This stopped the flow and pace of the story and in coming up for air, I found myself feeling curiously abandoned. In the middle of the book, The Mark’s story is split in two, demarcating one life from another and jarring the process of reading. To finally read a dystopian novel placed in Africa was scintillating. Existing in a world bereft of innocence, where beauty is a fragile commodity and stands out noticeably against its surroundings, the treasures of humanity must be suppressed and carefully secreted away to places where none can find them.Īs I read, I found myself wanting more, desperate for further storytelling of this richly-described place that was so familiar, but so horrendous and filled with evil and filth and soft over-ripe bananas. Reminded of the isolated prawns in the movie ‘ District 9’ and the children in ‘ The Thief Lord’ by Cornelia Funke, Edyth Bulbring’s orphans are as memorable. I wrapped it around me like a second skin and didn’t come out until the last page. The mysteries of this new world lead the reader on a fast-paced adventure that is compelling and hauntingly South African. Hiding where there were no distractions, I dived eagerly into The Mark and was not disappointed. Left with no choice but to follow her heart, Ettie who loves only books, must challenge the future of Mangeria. Defining marks are etched onto their bodies to label and box them in sectors of production, so when Nicolas shows his interest in Ettie, both of them know that he is forbidden to her. Their handler is cruel and uncaring, but Ettie and Kitty must just survive long enough to reach their coming of age, where they will then be assigned a trade, controlled by the Machine.

With an instant connection to the main characters, Ettie is nearly caught, on purpose, in order that Kitty can get away safely. Thrust immediately into a scene of chaos, readers are confronted by invisible monsters, market nags, locusts and sun worshippers, watching as thieves from the Slums dig for treasures in the debris. Instantly gripping, The Mark’s first chapter has readers scrambling for some semblance of recognition in a city that sounds like Johannesburg but where nothing is the same.

The Choice Between Us by Edyth Bulbring