The Marked Son by Shea Berkley

Description:

Seventeen-year-old Dylan Kennedy always knew something was different about him, but until his mother abandoned him in the middle of Oregon with grandparents he's never met, he had no idea what. 

When Dylan sees a girl in white in the woods behind his grandparents' farm, he knows he's seen her before...in his dreams. He's felt her fear. Heard her insistence that only he can save her world from an evil lord who uses magic and fear to feed his greed for power. 

Unable to shake the unearthly pull to Kera, Dylan takes her hand. Either he's completely insane or he's about to have the adventure of his life, because where they're going is full of creatures he's only read about in horror stories. Worse, the human blood in his veins has Dylan marked for death...

What really captured me with this book was the human characters at the beginning of this book. The mother was portrayed perfectly as a parent who is abusive to his son. I know that is strange praise, but I really felt it was true to form and usually authors tread lightly around this subject. I thought the subject was handled with great care and realistic. She is also not a one dimensional character, but later we see some of her motivation as to why she was so abusive. That perhaps was less realistic, but at least we come to see that a little information does shed a lot of light on the subject. I should quickly add, it still didn't make me like the mother. ;)

The main character, Dylan was someone you really could connect. You felt his pain and his growth in this book showed you that he really had a good heart. He was blinded by some of the same things that blinded others in his position of power, but unlike the others, he listened. I really love that in a character. I also enjoyed the secondary characters. Ones that Dylan learns much... most importantly trust and responsibility.

Of course I did like some of the characters in Teag. Not only did I like Kera, but my favorite had to be Bodog. Sort of the same situation we saw in the Harry Potter books; other magical creatures of the realm were deemed unworthy and subservient. Bodog, having a position below the land of Teag sees and hears all, most importantly the truth without blinders. He makes a great grumpy companion to have in Teag. You just have to read this book to meet him!

The story is well done and keeps you interested in what is going on and what will happen next. There is a good romantic story line and I think it is done well. There is no cliffie as the main mystery was solved but at the very end a door widely opens for you to want the next book in this series quickly. Therefore, I give this book 4 stars and am impatiently awaiting the next book. If you are in the mood for a good bit of fae action, a realistic opening, and a good male protag, pick up this book. I think you will enjoy it.
I was given this book by the publisher for review and no compensation was given.

Btw, if you missed it, I am currently a part of a blog tour and am giving away this book! Just go HERE to enter! Btw, all giveaways are listed right below the blog header! Good luck!