(I received a free ARC of this book).
(This review may contain spoilers).
This book had one of those things that I like in it – a strong female character. I really liked Renna and even though this book did have something in it that I don’t like in romances (love triangles), it wasn’t handled really badly in this book.
I did feel that there was a good amount of world-building. Although I would have liked to learn a bit more about the various alien races and planets, there was enough for the world to feel quite real.
I felt that the sexual tension between Renna and Finn came across really well. It was interesting to learn about their past together and although ‘the thief with a heart of gold’ isn’t a really original stereotype, it was still one of the things I liked about Renna.
I was a bit disappointed that many of the other characters weren’t as fully explored as they could have been. They seemed to really only be there to further the plot with Renna, rather than living their own lives outside of the main storyline. I did also feel that Renna relied too much on seducing people. Presumably, as a thief, she’d be doing other things rather than just seducing people for information/to trick them. I would have liked to see more of her skillset.
I did like the fact that Renna was a much more active character and it was nice to see how things did develop between her and the other crew members. I would have liked the ending to be less open-ended, but I suppose it does leave questions for book two, which I have and will be reading in time to post my review later this month.
I did feel this book was entertaining and easy to read. There were some cliches, but the main characters were well-written enough that those cliches actually worked. This probably is a book that I’d re-read at some point in the future and, depending on book two, I imagine I’d pick up book three to read; if and when it comes out. I personally found it well-written, with very few errors, if any, in the writing.
Ink of Blood 