Review: The Mark of Noba by GL Tomas

Publisher: Rebellious Valkyrie Press
Publication Date: August 12, 2015
Rating: 4 Stars

Sterling Wayfairer has one goal for his senior year: make his mark. He’s been slipping into the background his whole high school career—distracted by his mother’s mental health, unsettled by the vivid dreams that haunt him at night, and overshadowed by the athletic accomplishments of his popular best friends. But this year is going to be different. He’s going to break a few rules, have some fun, and maybe even work up the nerve to ask his crush out on a date.

But things don’t go exactly as planned. Students are disappearing, Sterling starts losing time, and it all seems to center around Tetra, a girl no one else seems to notice but him. When he finally tracks her down for answers, they aren’t what he expects: He and Tetra hail from a world called Noba, and they’re being hunted by a Naga, a malevolent shapeshifter that’s marked them for destruction.

Tetra and Sterling have distinct abilities that can help them fight back, but their power depends heavily on the strength of their bond, a connection that transcends friendship, transcends romance. Years apart have left their bond weak. Jumpstarting it will require Sterling to open his heart and his mind and put his full trust in the mysterious Tetra.
If he doesn’t, neither of them will survive. (Goodreads)

I was turned on to this book when I was a part of the blog tour. It's about a boy names Sterling who who meets a girl from another planet named Tetra. He learns that they are bonded and have a history that has been blocked from his memories. When they're together Sterling has abilities that only Tetra can help him control.

I liked the book. It's not normally something I'd read because Sci-Fi has a tendency to confuse me, but I'm glad I gave this a chance. I liked watching Tetra learn to adapt to this new life. Life and relationships had always been stiff and stringent for her. Her people were very formal and analytical. Sterling and his friends were basically the teens of today, they dated, went to parties, and ignored their parents.

I wish we'd had the opportunity to learn more about Grey, he seemed like a cool dude but I wanted to see more of his relationship with his parents and his siblings.

I think my favorite character was Sterling. He was very realistic, and I think that can be hard to portray sometimes. He was for lack of a better term. "a real boy". I loved the rules list he made! He has crushes and insecurities. He made mistakes and he learned from them. He was brave, but not in a ridiculous Four kind of way. He reminded me of my own bother. He'll step up when he has to, but otherwise, he's a pretty chill guy.