The Unmarked Witch

2.5⭐️ This is was disappointing..it started off well and then slowly just went down hill, the plot was just..meh? <br /><br />Raven was annoying with zero common sense. She hates the king, she loves the king, she hates the king..<br /><br />The romance, again was just the same old thing with a misunderstood villain who smirked a lot and is fascinated by the fmc from the second he meets her because she’s oh so special. She was actually just really boring <br /><br />I enjoyed the magic system and the world building, both were explained well without being too overdone, but the characters and plot just weren’t overly interesting. But it is on kindle unlimited if anyone is interested in giving it a go.

2 Spice Level<br />I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH!!<br />We follow raven who goes through witchy trials to become the coven leader. These trials are run by the Dark King....*insert heart eyes*.<br />He is morally grey, but he has all the heart eyes for our FMC. The trials were fun and had high stakes. I enjoyed the magic and the friendships as well. I very much enjoyed their romantic build up and the spice was CHEFS KISS! Cannot wait for book 2 after that ending!

OMG where do I even start. The way Miranda writes can really suck you into a world and make you hate when the book is over! <br /><br />I loved how different this book was for me. The different covens and their experiences. Of course I loved our main character Raven. <br /><br />If you like an amazing world building, Beautifully written story and witches then make sure you read The Unmarked Witch. <br /><br />Overall ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️/ 5<br />Spice ???/ 5

Overall an enjoyable witchy read with elemental magic. The romance was kind of lacking and I wasn’t attached to the love interest. The side characters, magic, and trials is what really made this book.

"It was about him. It seemed it was always about him." <br /><br />A quote that summarises the core of this book perfectly. If you're hoping for a story about a strong female character and her journey, you'll need to keep looking.<br /><br />The Unmarked Witch is an exercise in wasted potential. When I started reading it, I was actually excited, as the premise looked a lot like The Hunger Games with witches as the main protagonists. However, as the plot (and I am using the term extremely loosely) progressed, this was definitely not the case.<br /><br />As I said, the premise of the book is intriguing, and the magical trials element of the plot is its biggest strength. Unfortunately, the execution of this part of the story has failed completely. The trials themselves aren't given nearly as much attention as they deserve and, as a result, they feel very arbitrary and poorly thought out. The magic system in this book gives the impression there will be rules that guide it, but very quickly, it becomes very vague and convenient. <br /><br />It becomes clear early on that this is a relationship-driven book. Not character-driven, as none of the characters are properly fleshed out, they are all extremely flat and one-dimensional, particularly the main character of Raven. As far as female main characters go, she is completely bland, constantly makes poor decisions, and never seems to learn from their outcomes, and it is frankly baffling to see all of the other characters orbit around her the way they do. To be fair though, the rest of the cast isn't much better in terms of complexity. <br /><br />As a result, the relationships in The Unmarked Witch make no sense whatsoever and feel forced to me. It took me a while to pin down my biggest issue with the main pairing, but in the second part of the book, it suddenly hit me. Raven and Bastian's relationship arc is a very sloppy carbon copy of Rhysand and Feyre from the ACOTAR series (a poor choice to begin with, if you ask me) with some Darklina vibes thrown into the mix. There are even some of Darkling's famous lines sprinkled throughout the text. <br /><br />It's an unhealthy relationship, to say the least, the angst is tortured and it descends into the cheap smut territory very quickly. Just to clarify, I have nothing whatsoever against sex scenes in literature but if the sex is gratuitous and solely there to fill the space between chapters, it is an instant turn-off for me. One particular scene is especially cringy, given its timing, and it shows the complete emotional colour-blindness of the author.<br /><br />One additional point, though a minor one in comparison with the rest, is the use of language. It is very inconsistent and mismatched, and it kept pulling me out of the book. The overall aesthetic of this book is medieval/Victorian and it revolves around witches, magic, castles, etc. Therefore, the words like "corset", "thrashing" and "bedchamber" are perfectly fitting for the narrative. However, the author also uses terms like "asshole", "small dick syndrome" and "I don't give a shit" which gave me constant whiplash. There are plenty of more archaic expletives that would have suited the overall tone much better. It's a rookie mistake I would have expected to be addressed by any half-decent editor at the very least.<br /><br />In summary, if you are an avid Feysand or Darklina fan, you will probably enjoy this book far more than I did. It was clearly not for me, even though I have to give praise to the audiobook narrator who did an excellent job. As to the story itself, I'm afraid I am going to need a palate cleanser after this one.

DNF @ 41%<br /><br />The heroine's antics are just too YA-ish for me to continue. No grown woman would speak to a man they thought was a tyrant and brutal killer, the way Raven does. Obviously he's the love interest instead, but at least make the 'enemies' part believable first before making them enemies to lovers. It comes off as petulant instead.

I am not okay. That is all. Authors are evil AF.

One of the best witchy books I have EVER read! I expected nothing less from Miranda.<br /><br />We journey through the book with Raven Moonstone as she discovers her coven leader dead. With this news, Raven enters the trials to fight to be the new Moon Coven leader, and realizes it’s a fight for so much more. There is intrigue, snarky banter, lots of fun witchy magical powers, a super sexy dark King, twists and in typical Miranda fashion we go through all the emotions. Be prepared to read something that will truly transport you to a magical world and make you feel.<br /><br />I always know that in Miranda’s books, I am home. The Unmarked Witch is no different, and another favorite read added to my list.

3.5⭐️<br />I really loved the plot of this book, witch trials, a dark king, enemies to lovers, fast paced, everything I love. I can see the potential in this story however the way it was written was not my favourite.<br /><br />Let’s start with the positives, the trials were great and interesting, the romance was delicious, the dark king was so protective and obsessed with the FMC Raven.<br /><br />However, I felt like I barely knew the characters which made it hard for me to feel for them once they started dying in the trials. Onyx and Willow barely had conversations with Raven so it was hard to know their motivations for hating her so much. Was it simply because she is unmarked? <br />Aside from her enemies, I barely knew he best friends Kir &amp; Nikos as well. It read quite YA with the lack of character depth <br />Possibly could have benefited from multi POV <br /><br />As for the romance, Raven was slightly frustrating, one minute she likes him, next she hates him and he’s evil but since she believes he is just pure evil why does she even entertain this romance?<br />It had me side eyeing her like girl you think he killed your grandma and you just gonna kiss him…<br />I think it would of made more sense if she hated him until she discovered the truth about him.<br />Also as a witch I think she should of known it was the real him in her dreams…I didn’t buy that it was her imagination at all which made the confrontation fall flat for me<br /><br />The overall plot was good but the execution was not so great. I will read book 2 and hope it gets better

4.5/5 Stars<br /><br />Disclaimer: I received an ARC copy from the author and I'm a part of her street team. This did not effect my review and this was actually my first book by her.<br /><br />The Unmarked Witch follows Raven as she enters trials to try to win the right to become a coven leader. In her world witches wear their spells on their skin as Markings, and she has spells but no marks so she is a bit of an outcast. Raven has a few close friends but otherwise her coven seems to judge her. I love the way she was written and how strong she is despite what she's had to overcome.<br /><br />I loved the friendship Raven had with Kirsi. Kirsi is like her ride or die best friend. They run a shop together, join the trials together, and etc. The love interest in this book, though. Super swoony. It's a bit of a slow burn, enemies to lovers kind of situation which is my favorite kind of romance.<br /><br />The trials are all a little different and they keep you turning the pages wanting to know what will happen next. Each trial requires something a little different and with that we learn about the magic system and a little world building.<br /><br />This book has everything I love: romance, friendship, magic, betrayal, and a good amount of action.<br /><br />Highly recommend!