The Mark of the Dragonfly - Review

The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson

Rating: 3 Stars

Description:  When Piper, a girl from the scrap town, discovers a girl in the wreckage of a caravan bearing the distinctive dragonfly tattoo she knows she must help her.  This leads Piper on an adventure that takes her far from home and away from everything she knows.  She finds her life full of people and creatures she's unfamiliar with and protecting a girl who doesn't know who she is other than her name is Anna.

Genre: YA

My Impression:  When I first saw the description of this book it didn't grab me.  I know I'm in the minority but I'm not a huge dystopian fan and I was less interested when I saw that it steampunk elements to it as well.  However, some of my favorite books this year have come from me stepping out of my comfort zone so I decided to give this a try.  I don't know that I particularly liked this book but I was compelled and intrigued by it to the point I couldn't put it down.  I kept thinking "well if X happens I'm done reading this." then X would happen and I'd think "well I'll just see what happens."  that was an endless cycle throughout the book.  It took me awhile to warm up to Piper or even to really find her personality.  Once I did I liked her.  She's tough, she has integrity and is a little at war with herself to do what's right and her anger at what has happened to her father and her town.  I liked that Anna isn't helpless even though she's not as tough as Piper.  I was impressed that a story on the surface that held so little interest for me grabbed me enough to make me keep reading it.  While I'm not the target market for this book I think if you liked dystopian/steampunk you would love it.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Yes, especially if she came out with a book in a different genre.

Would I Recommend this Book?:  Yes, definitely.  I've actually already recommended it to my daughter who is 17 and gobbles down dystopian type novels.  I think she'll love this one.