Play Book Tag discussion

It's taken me this long to read this book because, despite my curiosity, I've heard some thing about the book which made me unsure whether I'd read it or not. Now that I have, I found that despite loving the world building, the story itself was just so slow. And despite the interesting take on pain being a 'talent' (currentgift), the 'carve the mark' bit was somewhat worrying. I guess now I kind of understand what those other reviewers weren't happy about. (view spoiler)[one culture carve/cut their arms to mark each kills (hide spoiler)] (trigger: self harm) It was obvious though that the author understood pain; I believe she herself suffers from chronic pain so this novel could be cathartic for her. I didn't love the novel but I do have the second book so I'd at least finish this duology.