With dark tones in every corner, this is a tale which lures in and keeps the tension high.

Matilda is a witch, and although she's only a junior in high school, she already wears the scars of the names of the many people she's injured with her magic. Unlike many witches, though, her family has a spell to hide the names etched in their skin. Just when she adds another name to her collection, she meets a boy, who not only dabbles in witchcraft himself, but also wants to be her friend. But dead animals are showing up everywhere, and her home situation is more than rocky. Add her upcoming birthday, which marks her adulthood as a witch...and romance seems to be more than just a simple impossibility.

This is a well-woven tale with more than a few dark secrets and mysteries. Matilda is already an edgy character, whose attitude toward magic and others makes her hard to like. She uses magic for her benefit, regardless of the consequences...and yet, the author still manages to make her somewhat sympathetic. Matilda knows she's on a bad path but struggles with several personal issues. While she does some terrible things, it's hard not to feel pity and hope she finds the light at the end of the tunnel.

The character arc in this one is clear and well done. Matilda has a lot to learn and a rough journey ahead of her. The characters around her are also well laid out and have as many secrets and gray areas as the plot itself. There are some huge twists in this one...some which I did see coming but still enjoyed. And there are enough side tales to add a little depth. I did have a hard time, sometimes, picturing Matilda and her friends as upper classmen in high school, though, since they often came across more as older middle graders in their actions, speech and thoughts. But the story and the plot are definitely solid YA themes.

It's an easy read with lots of surprises, magic and the darkness of a gothic read. I had no trouble reading this in one sitting and did enjoy it for the most part. I received an ARC copy and was grabbed in by the tale.

Thank you Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for sharing my honest review across my platforms and retailing sites.

"My mom is always going on about balance and she's right about that at least; magic is like fire, pretty on a birthday cake but deadly if you set fire to something you shouldn't."

Mark of the Wicked was a dark read in some parts, very contemporary in others. You can definitely tell it was Georgia Bowers' debut, but overall, it was well-written.

Matilda, our main character, was annoying at first. She is mad that her mother sent her father away and abuses her magical abilities to be rebellious (her mother preaches that magic is only to be used when necessary). Matilda just wants to experience everything there is and is a ball of revenge and spite. She uses magic for her own gain and lives a life free of the consequences and scars of her wrongdoings due to a stolen spell from her family's grimoire.
When a spell against her fake ex-best friend, Ashley, has her running through the school hallways, she runs into someone who catches her magic. Oliver already knows about magic though - and he wants to learn more. As Oliver and Matilda hang out more and more, strange things happen: Matilda experiences blackouts, dead animals with carvings on their bodies (pinning Matilda as a suspect), and then Ashley is found dead with the same markings. She isn't responsible though.
As her magic seems to be draining, Matilda begins sleuthing for the truth and figuring out what makes a good witch exactly. She must figure it out before anything or anyone else turns up dead.

The story was good. I enjoyed the mystery of who was behind the killings but was unhappy with how it was in the background of the story (the majority focused majorly on Oliver and Matilda's relationship). The twist of who was actually the culprit was obvious to me from the start and I picked up several phrases that were used over and over (I HATE repetition). In addition, I wasn't expecting the very contemporary setting with phones and cars and such. When I think of witches, despite them being real, I think fantasy - a cottage in the woods, just like how the Hollowell family lived. The characters were . . . meh. I honestly didn't care if any of them lived or died beside Nana May. Honestly, the ending was my favorite part because of all of how Matilda took on the killer.

Overall, I was let down by this book due to the number of contemporary elements, the carelessness with the characters, repetition, and the predictability. The only saving graces of this book were the ending, Nana May, and the little magic it contained.

3.5/5☆ rounded to 4☆ for Goodreads/Amazon/Netgalley

Mark of the Wicked by Georgia Bowers is about an anti-hero, witch named Matilda, who uses her magic for revenge. After a spell goes wrong, things start to happen that she doesn’t expect and causes her problems.

The concept of this book is really good. I really enjoyed the idea of an anti hero, and witches who use their powers to hurt people. It’s a concept that isn’t always explored and made for an intriguing experience.

Matilda is definitely an anti-hero. She’s hard to like. She’s cruel and rude, and I didn’t feel a lot of sympathy for her. However, I think that’s the point. She’s well written from that point of view.

I really liked the magic system. It was interesting to see it in a contemporary world. The pacing was a little off, but I liked the concept so much, it was worth pushing through.

Overall, I liked this book. I’m interested to see more from this author in the future.

Thank you to Xpresso Book Tours for the review copy and the opportunity to honestly review this book on the blog tour. All opinions are my own and unbiased.

DNF @ 35%

I so desperately wanted to love this creepy, witchy, YA fantasy but unfortunately this one just didn't pan out for me.

Let's start with some positives! This book has the BEST Hocus Pocus meets Sabrina vibes! It's set in Massachusetts in the 2 weeks leading up to Halloween. There's a creepy small town with witchy history and a family of witches living in the most amazing magical forest cottage. I really loved the atmosphere and setting of this book!

I also think the premise of was 10/10. I love witchy stories and this one definitely intrigued me. I love the idea of a morally grey witch needing to work for the side of good to prove she's not wholly evil and murdering everyone around her.

Unfortunately... in execution this didn't quite work for me. My main issue with this stems down to the fact that I'm a character driven reader. I need something to latch onto with my characters and Matilda gave me nothing. She was this odd, amorphous mix between evil yet whiny about it. And she never seemed to have reason for her actions (her hatred for her mother, her ex-friendship, her acts of revenge) beyond I-woke-up-one-day-and-decided-I-hate-you-and-now-I'm-going-to-complain-about-it.

I kept hoping more depth would be added to her character but it only seemed to dwindle more when Oliver was introduced. Their insta-attraction felt equally as surface level and underdeveloped.

Without something gripping me character-wise, I quickly lost interest in the plot. Rather than push through and give this debut an unfairly low rating, I decided to just put it down.

I still think there are a lot of plot driven readers who will enjoy this story - especially in fall with this having such an amazing Halloween setting! And I'm still interested in checking out what Georgia Bowers releases next.

Thank you to Swoon Reads, Georgia Bowers, and NetGalley for giving me an eARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

"Mark of the Wicked" is a dark fantasy novel that follows a young witch. In "Mark of the Wicked," magic that harms others comes at a price: painful scars in your face or body. However, Matilda's family discovered a spell to conceal the scars on their faces so she has been taking advantage of that. One day dead animals start to appear around her town with her name carved on them. Now she must figure out who is responsible for these killings before she gets blamed.

I requested this book mainly due to the incredible premise. I liked this notion that magic should make you be more responsible and ethical, so to speak, since you cannot use magic for evil purposes basically. I was also attracted by the cover and the promise of a morally grey character. However, I was not a fan of the execution.

While the premise was great and I enjoyed the magic system and Matilda's creepy, silent grandmother, the story overall was rather bland and predictable, and it was narrated mostly through over-exposition dialogue. I felt the story was doing much more of telling rather than showing. I also didn't enjoy Matilda as the main character since she wasn't very entertaining, and I couldn't root for her to win in the end since she did objectively awful things to harm others before being a target herself, and I felt the events were basically her comeuppance for her acts.

Nevertheless, the story did have a satisfying conclusion, and the magic system was very interesting. I would like to give this author another shot in the future. I also think that it might appeal to other readers.

"Mark of the Wicked" comes out on August 10, 2021.

content warnings: murder, animal death and abuse

Mark of The Wicked adds a chilling twist to the typical witch setup in the modern world, where if a witch hurts someone else with her magic, she will have the name of their victim permanently etched on their skin.

We follow the story through the eyes of our protagonist, Matilda, who is a teenage witch living with her mother and grandmother in a small town.

Her father was the one who taught her a cloaking spell to hide the scars of the names etched on her body, and ofcourse Matilda has taken full advantage of that, using spells left and right on anyone she wants.

At her core Matilda is an unlikable character, but an unapologetically strong one. She has a sharp tongue, a mean streak, and can even be cruel at times. There is a chance that a lot of you won't like her, and sure if she would have been real, I would never cross her; but within the story she was quite an entertaining character to follow.
Not gonna lie there were so many times she got on my last nerve, and frustrated me so damn much, but the twist by the second half of the book was worth it. And it's lovely seeing her acr develop and take a turn for the better by the end of the book.

As for the plot there are some pretty interesting things that happen in the book. It is a lot slower pace than I expected, but I didn't mind it that much. I really appreciated the way the author took the traditional "witch spells" and magic system and made them more edgy and creepier.

It's the magic mirrors, potions, and voodoo dolls- the whole thing but better.

I was granted eARC access to Mark of the Wicked via NetGalley as part of my participation in a blog tour for this title. Thank you to all involved in affording me this opportunity! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

In a version of our world where witches exist and those who hurt others with their spells are doomed to wear the names of their victims as scars on their faces forever, a teenaged witch with a rare concealment charm has many such nasty scars hidden beneath a painful glamour. When a handsome young male witch moves to her school and falls in love with her without the aid of a love potion, it seems like things are finally going right, but nothing is at it seems and Matilda's life is about to get a whole lot more dangerous.

I loved this book! This is a fresh take on teenaged witches, and the plot had me on the edge of my seat with every turn of the page. Bowers writes such compelling, empathetic characters that I loved exactly who she wanted me to love, hated and suspected exactly who she wanted me to hate or suspect, and fell for every single red herring. Normally when I read YA books with mystery elements to them I report that I saw through everything misdirect as if it were a cozy mystery, but that's not the case in this one. This book is full of so many twists and turns and I saw exactly one of them coming.

I'm sincerely baffled by the fact that the average rating on Goodreads at the time of writing this review is under 4.0 because this is a fantastic debut and far more complex than I've come to expect from YA these days. There is blood and gore and a whole lot of dark and borderline-dark magic going on, so I feel it would be best labelled as YA *Dark Fantasy, but it was all handled tastefully and nothing was unnecessary.

This book is full of failed and repaired relationships, coming-of-age hurdles, familial reconciliation, and found-family themes, and I love the combination. Add in the paranormal mystery aspect, and it's gold.

Content Warnings: body horror, animal cruelty, dark magic

If you like magic, mystery, and explorations of the darker side of what it is to be human, this book is a must read!

The first impression we get of Matilda is of someone who is quite cold and detatched from her actions, happy to act out for petty revenge despite the physical marks it leaves carved into her skin. This changes somewhat as the story progresses through her interactions with other characters, where thinking about things again makes her reconsider where she might have acted out too rashly, even in her own opinion.

It’s also through her interaction with other characters that we see other sides of Matilda; her vulnerability, her insecurity, her bitterness, especially regarding her father having left them several years ago. These are things she’s forced, again, to confront as the story progresses, and some degree of amends are made with her mother over their father leaving, and the reason for the concern that runs so deep from her mother around her actions.

The talk of the magic that Matilda is connected to is the most clearly thought out part of the story, both through close her family line, and also through her distant ancestor, Ivy, who is also connected to the town in dark historical way, but who Matilda grows more fond of in the story.

I did love the connection and closeness that Matilda had with her Nanny May, especially as upset to her proves to be a turning point for Matilda’s plans. She loves her so much, it’s clear through the pages that they are remarkably close, and that love probably keeps Matilda grounded more than she would have been otherwise.

Victor was the absolute highlight of this entire novel. I'd recommend all authors in the future to add a goat to their stories because my enjoyment always goes up when I read about these animals for some reason.
I also really enjoyed Matilda being a bad person almost like an anti-hero but at the same time I couldn't help but thinking "welp, you're being a bit of a cow and you kind of deserve what's happening right now".
Overall I liked the vibes of this book, it seems like it'd be great for the spookyseason, but what really let it down was how predictable it was and how I didn't feel like character motivations matched with their actions.

Great debut! I love darker books filled with horror and mystery. It did drag at times with its descriptions, but some people do enjoy that. I am not one of them. However I loved how the witches were done, it defiantly felt more realistic, which is a big plus. Matilda was a morally grey character, so she was fairly dark at times and rude. Which may not be for everyone. I enjoy these types of characters though, since we don't see them often. It was fairly predictable, but I didn't really mind. I loved the world the author created and can't wait to read more.

A solid YA debut. I didn't fully believe the main character was really all that wicked, just a teen who wanted to get back at the people who hurt her. I liked the family dynamics (loved her grandmother). Even though I knew what the big twist was going to be, I still had a sense of dread about what would happen next. Some of the occurrences were truly disturbing. This would make a great book to read for Halloween. Witchy, spooky, unsettling vibes.

What an unexpected ride! This cover was what initially drew me to the book and the synopsis sold me. Well, the part about magic always leaving a mark. It did start a little slow for me but when it picked up I could not put it down.

Mathilda isn't the typical YA heroine either, She uses her magic to lash out at her peers and each time she does this the magic leaves her with a mark as a reminder of her wrongdoing. And this all seems to have started after her dad left the family. She feels her mother drove him away and this strains their relationship.

Now, odd things are happening around town. Animals are found dead the latest have Mathilda's name carved into their hides. She's blacking out too, which leaves her unsettled and wondering if she could be doing these things when she's blacked out. And when the girl who she last did a spell on dies, Mathilda is determined to find out who is behind all the dark energy that seems set on reaching her.

Thanks so much to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC to review

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.

Mark of the Wicked has an intriguing premise, but I feel it fell down in execution. There are good things about the book from a craft standpoint, which saved the book and kept me reading.

First of all, the main character. If you need your main characters to be likable, this is not the book for you *side-eying one of the current top GR reviews on Goodreads that basically ignored the blurb indicating Matilda’s not meant to be likable and decided to rant about that, while also throwing shots and Mara Wilson for no relevant reason other than the fact that she played another Matilda* I mean, I wasn’t super-invested in Matilda as a character, but I did appreciate that she doesn’t ever try to be more than she is, and there are still ways to explore moral dilemmas

The biggest downfall comes down to plotting and pacing. The first half dragged. I actually looked up how long it was, because it felt like I was reading forever, yet was only just over a quarter of the way in, only to find that it wasn’t particularly long page wise (352 pages). But the second half as things began to come together, my investment grew and ultimately culminated in a satisfying conclusion.

I liked the way the magic system was built to have very clear consequences: when you do harm to others, those names are carved on your skin. There are workarounds for this, like using magic to hide the scars to avoid ostracism. I really liked how this system, allowing for manipulation, worked with Matilda’s character and the questions she confronts.

While I didn’t love this book, I like that it’s doing something cool for the witch archetype. And while this book is not for everyone, if you like stories with morally ambiguous lead characters, you’ll enjoy this.

This is a rollercoaster ride disguised as a book. My thoughts and emotions reading this story went from highs to lows, left to right, and even went to a whole new dimension! This story was so spooky and fun and it definitely takes a dark turn. Even darker than a girl dying mysteriously or animals having their throats slashed. It's clear that something weird is going on and I found myself following the clues, trying to figure out what exactly was happening and who was doing it. There are a lot of fun things to read in this book and there are a lot of reasons to check it out!

This book was really fun and I enjoyed trying to figure out what was going on. Though, I do have some issues with the story. Most of my issues are major spoilers, so I'm going to leave it at this: certain plot points aren't resolved by the end and it leaves me wondering why? I hate unresolved plot points in books and I feel like one of them is kind of big! There are a lot of questions I had at the end of this book that just left things feeling really unresolved and open ended, but not in a good way. 

Overall, I liked the story, the vibes, the mystery, and the creepiness of this book. There are definitely darker themes to this book and some disturbing imagery, which makes this book perfect for spooky season! If you're looking for a good paranormal thriller, I would definitely recommending checking out Mark of the Wicked!

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, and Swoon Reads in exchange for an honest review.

Ok, so I'll be honest. The first 50% of MARK OF THE WICKED almost lost me and caused me to DNF. Matilda is one of those morally grey protagonists that's hard to like or connect with. To be blunt, she's kind of a selfish, petty, bitch. So when she meets up with someone that seems to be her male counterpart, I was about ready to give up.

BUT.... I'm glad I stuck with it because once the plot twist happens, this turns into a very different story. There were some places where I was mentally screaming at Matilda while reading because I was so frustrated she wasn't putting the pieces together fast enough. Overall I thought the conclusion was satisfying and the second half of the book does make up for the slog of the first half.

Bowers' rules of magic are based around an interesting premise... that if you do magic to harm/hurt others, then their name ends up carved on your skin so that others know you aren't a good person. But if you have a secret family spell that can cover up those scars... where do you draw the line of what is going to far? Without others being able to see your scars, even though you're in pain from them, it basically allows you to practice dark magic without any real consequences.

I was really annoyed with how out of the picture Matilda's mother was - and while I understand that was necessary for the plot, if other witches knew something bad was happening and tried to help Matilda, HOW did her mother not get what was going on?

This would be a fun, atmospheric read for Halloween if you don't mind if your main characters aren't exactly likeable.

I am always down to read a Witchy book. Especially when it leads me into Fall, which btw, is my second favorite time of year…. Behind Winter. Even though I live in Florida and it’s always Summer here.

Georgia Bowers has created a world that feels new and refreshing, but also like a comfortable sweater that I love to cuddle into. I could feel her love for all things witchy while reading Mark of the Wicked. The little references to “Fairuza”, which is an off page cat in the book and the real name of the bad witch in The Craft, as well as nods to Hocus Pocus and some that I’m sure even I didn’t pick up on.

There were ups and downs in the book that kept me on the edge of my seat, but TBH I knew who the villain was from the beginning. I didn’t get that AHA! moment in a mystery where the MC finds out. It was too easy. Make me work for it!!

I loved the characters so much, especially Nanny May. Even though she didn’t speak more than two words for the entirety of the book (because of a spell), you get that Grandmotherly love throughout. She was there attempting to help Matilda the whole time.

I really loved the world and hope that we get another book in it.

I'm usually prepared for Christmas in July but not so much for Halloween in August. Mark of the Wicked certainly helped set the mood for the ghostly holiday. It's an atmospheric read with a mix of growing up pains and unexplained paranormal occurrences. While I mostly enjoyed it, the storyline does drag a bit with some repetitiveness in the first half and continues longer than I wanted after it reaches the climax. The ending, however, makes up for it.

Matilda, the lead character, is introduced while attempting a spell sixteen days before Halloween. She's a morally grey character and not easy to connect with. She has a lot of pent-up anger and resents her mom. These feelings fuel her decision making, pushing her to use magic on anyone who has made her life miserable. She is not a good witch by any means but even as wicked as she is, she also claims she has boundaries she is unwilling to cross.

I enjoyed the plot and thought the price to pay for harming others was clever. It poses an interesting question: what choices are we willing to make if we could hide the consequences of our actions? The plot does become repetitive, and I nearly stopped reading it. I'm glad I didn't because I liked the ending. Those ready for Halloween will enjoy the mystery presented by Mark of the Wicked. Additionally, fans of the cult classic The Craft are likely to enjoy it as well. (3.5 stars rounded to 4 stars)

Rating: dnf @ 30% (~2.5/5 Unbearable heroines)

Format: ebook. I’d like to thank the author and FierceReads for a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review!

To sum up:
Matilda has a secret ability amongst the other witches in her coven, she can be merciless with her magic. Typically, when a witch uses magic to hurt another person, the witch is scarred with that person’s name on their skin, but Matilda has found a way around this. Broken-hearted and angry by the absence of her father, Matilda lashes out with her magic as a form of control and dominance. She spells boys into loving her, boys into doing her homework, and mean girls always get what’s coming to them. Unfortunately for Matilda, that may also be true for her because strange and deadly things are happening in her town and all signs are pointing to her as the cause.

What I enjoyed:
I think this book has a really interesting premise! I like the fact that there is a direct cost for magic used for evil. I love that it centers around Halloween and the fact that we have an unreliable narrator on our hands. Overall, I was enjoying the writing style and description, but unfortunately, the list of things I enjoyed ended there.

What was meh:
I really struggled to understand and side with Matilda. In the first 30% of the book, Matilda does some truly awful things. I understand that she’s hurting and that she is angry, but after a certain point, I just couldn’t continue to be in her head. I didn’t have any sympathy for what she was going through because I felt she was awful. I couldn’t root for her because I want her to fail. Ultimately, I’m the type of reader where if I feel the MC really has no redeeming qualities, I just can’t finish the book. I’ve read other books I really like that walked this line very carefully, but this one was a little too much on the wrong side of the line. I want to understand Matilda and to revel in her casual cruelty but I just couldn’t. Her cruelty never seemed justified, even in a warped teenage dramatic kind of way.

Overall, I really wanted to like this. It has witches, sacrifice, romance, and a cool mystery. But I just couldn’t stand the MC so I won’t be finishing this. I hope to read what this author publishes next though!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review

Mark of the Wicked follows Matilda, a witch who uses her magic for revenge on those who’ve wronged her. After a spell goes wrong, she meets Oliver, who knows about her magic. Matilda starts to be haunted by strange things happening: she experiences blackouts, dead animals keep showing up, and a girl dies. Matilda needs to find out what is going on, and if she’s causing it.

This book sounded so amazing to me. First of all, witches are always a plus. But I also think that in the modern age, it would be pretty realistic that some witches would use their magic to hurt people and I was very interested to explore that in this book. That aspect of the book did not disappoint at all. However, throughout the entire book, I just found Matilda to be rude and cruel most of the time. She has done entirely unredeemable things throughout her life. The other characters in the book also fall flat for me. The romance between Matilda and Oliver is very forced and they have zero chemistry. I really don’t have a favorite character.

The plot was very predictable. However, I enjoyed exploring the witch magic system, which was a main element in the plot. While I didn’t have a problem with the writing, the pacing was a bit messy at times. The book was really hard to get into and I considered DNFing it at the 40% mark. While I didn’t like the premise’s execution, I did enjoy the author’s unique writing style. It holds potential that leaves me interested to see some of Bowers’ future work.

Overall, if you like stories about witches and anti-heroes, you may enjoy Mark of the Wicked.

3.5/5 stars: Mark of the Wicked is a story that has major Sabrina the Teenaged Witch vibes, a story about a ruthless teenaged witch who finds herself getting a taste of her own medicine. Matilda is dark, snarky and the very definition of morally grey. I thought that it was a really interesting journey that Matilda had to go through in this book as she struggles with discovering the identity of who is trying to frame her for murder only to discover a cutting betrayal of someone close to her. I thought that the dynamic between Oliver and Matilda was really fun to watch and the twists and turns in this story were quite gratifying. This is one of those stories where you really don't know who you can trust. The small town feel and the autumn vibes of the setting gave this book a spooky and atmospheric feel to it. I also felt that the female relationships for Matilda with her family and her friends were both complex yet well formed and created a community that is at the heart of this book. I thought this was a really solid and witchy debut. My reason for this rating was that this book didn't really floor me the way 4 star or 5 star books tend to do, but it wasn't a bad read. Mark of the Wicked is a story about consequences, and how our mistakes can either mark us permanently, or offer a chance at redemption.