Review: Marked in Flesh by Anne Bishop

Marked in Flesh ( The Others #4) by Anne Bishop
Publisher: Penguin/Roc
Publication date: March 8th 2016
My rating: 5 stars 
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For centuries, the Others and humans have lived side by side in uneasy peace. But when humankind oversteps its bounds, the Others will have to decide how much humanity they’re willing to tolerate—both within themselves and within their community...

Since the Others allied themselves with the cassandra sangue, the fragile yet powerful human blood prophets who were being exploited by their own kind, the delicate dynamic between humans and Others changed. Some, like Simon Wolfgard, wolf shifter and leader of the Lakeside Courtyard, and blood prophet Meg Corbyn, see the new, closer companionship as beneficial—both personally and practically.

But not everyone is convinced. A group of radical humans is seeking to usurp land through a series of violent attacks on the Others. What they don’t realize is that there are older and more dangerous forces than shifters and vampires protecting the land that belongs to the Others—and those forces are willing to do whatever is necessary to protect what is theirs…

My Thoughts:

Marked in Flesh was another winning installment of The Others series! I can’t get enough of the world and characters, but especially Simon and Meg!

The fate of the humans comes to a head after the horrific events orchestrated by the Humans First and Last Group in the last book.  Their actions and stance just made me sick, and really they put the future of the humans in big time danger!  The Elders, “Namid’s teeth and claws” have been watching, and I read with bated breath wondering what kind of retaliation they would take.  The question “How much human did the terra indigene want to keep?” hangs threateningly in the balance. 

“We can’t trust humans anymore.”

“Did we ever trust them?”

“No. But we counted on their desire to survive being stronger than their greed.  I don’t think we can count on that anymore.”

Fortunately, for Meg’s friends, the Elders are fascinated with her and the affect her friendship with those in the Courtyard have had on humans and terra indigene relationships. There are more and more being added to the group of humans The Others are allied with, such as the Prairie Gold Intuits, the River Road Community, Ferryman’s Landing, as well as quite a few in the Lakeside Police Department.  These people show that they feel every creature, whether human or other, should be treated fairly and with respect and I’m happy they’re banding together. 

Once again Meg worries about all her friends and tries to do whatever she can with her abilities to help.  It seems like Meg might be able to receive visions without cutting, or release of that pressing need to cut in other *ahem* ways in the future.  I’m hoping that’s the case.  Of course I read every scene with Simon and Meg over and over, relishing all the minuscule steps they take toward romance!  They’re going down that path and I think they’re finally starting to wake up to that fact! Oh, that last scene!!! Love, love, love!

Hope, the young cassandra sangue placed with Jackson and Grace in the Sweetwater settlement is able to have visions and express them through drawing without cutting.  Her visions were vital to all around.  I adored Hope and was warmed by the relationship she has with Jackson and Grace. The two are very protective of her, almost like parents.  She chose Wolfsong as her last name!! That just touched my heart.   

Even though this book is very serious, there are a lot of playful, funny moments that made me smile.  The swimming hole scene with Merri Lee, Ruth, Theral and Meg doing the “Squeaky Dance” made me laugh, and interactions between Vlad and Simon talking about “kissy books” or “exploding fluffballs” gave me a giggle, and the letter in “The ‘Others Etiquette’ Column” was flipping hilarious!

While Marked in Flesh doesn’t end with a cliffhanger, I eagerly await the continuation of this amazing series! I can’t believe I’ve got to wait a whole year!  I’ll be buying the audio version (the narration is amazing!) so I can enjoy this story all over again.