Review: Marked in Flesh by Anne Bishop

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… ~ Goodreads

Source: ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Review:
Marked in Flesh is the fourth installment in The Others series by Anne Bishop. You absolutely need to read the previous books first, and in order, before starting this one.

I was on the fence as to whether I would continue this series. The previous book, Vision in Silver, felt more like of a set up and filler but Marked in Flesh has me fully immersed again.

The conflict between the humans and the Others, The Elders, the other cassandra sangue's, and of course Simon and Meg start intertwining in a way that finally gets the story moving forward and it's both frightening and hopeful.

Reading this series makes my blood boil with hatred towards the humans – maybe not the side I should be taking lol but I hated them with the hate of a thousand suns!! I’m totally rooting for the werewolves, vampires and even the ancient elders to burn them to the ground.

This is a fictional urban fantasy world but it’s hard not to see the parallels to our own current behavior in regards to the things (people) we fear and our treatment of the planet.

Obviously, IRL. humans aren’t at war with shifters and vampires for the earth’s resources – but it’s easy to see how Mother Nature always wins in the end. Even though Bishop is never heavy handed about the message – it’s clear that she’s warning us to look at how we treat each other and our planet. All while delivering a fantastic story with some of the best character development and kick ass world building out there right now!

My one minor quibble - there wasn't enough Meg and Simon. But there never is enough for me. BUT - Let's just say things are happening on that front!

I can't wait for the next (and final?) book in the series.