Ink of Blood

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I found this book to be quite an interesting read. It was nice to see a first person POV stick with the same first person and not change perspectives repeatedly.

The blurb of this book was really intriguing, partly because it was similar to an idea I had when I was much younger but never got around to doing anything with. I felt that the author handled the two different timelines particularly well and it was good to see the parallels between the two different storylines, as well as how different the times were.

I thought it was an interesting idea how Jocelyn kept getting sick and dizzy when she was close to Jackson. It was much better than the love at first sight/first conversation trope that seems so prevalent in young adult fiction. It was also good to see certain behaviour picked up on and commented on, such as the whole thing with the watch and its inscription.

I liked a lot of the supporting characters as well, but I did find myself getting confused between the groups of friends at times. It was nice that the different times were in alternating chapters, though, and not two in one time, three in the other… etc.

I did think that the book was fairly well-written, but I also noticed quite a few errors, particularly when ‘lair’ was used instead of ‘liar’. I also didn’t like Jocelyn too much in the nineteenth century… at least before everything happened with Olivia. I could understand why she felt the way she did, but something about her character then kind of rubbed me the wrong way.

I did feel there were a few moments where the language came across as a bit too modern in the nineteenth century storyline, but on the whole, I didn’t get too confused between the two different plot lines.

By the end of the book, I had some questions answered, but a lot more that weren’t. I do have the second book on my Kindle and I will be reading it in the next couple of days. The idea is fairly unique and the characters are interesting and well-rounded.