(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).
(This review may contain spoilers).
I think I’d give this book 3.5 stars out of 5. It’s not quite at the level of 4 stars (at least for me), but it’s not quite 3 stars.
Although this book was the second in a series, I did find it fairly easy to follow. Many of the relationships came across as real and natural, though I would have liked to see a bit more development for one of the relationships that formed.
I was quite intrigued by a lot of the characters, particularly Maudae and her relationship with her father… though I would have liked to see Sahgi and Joliph reunited, instead of just having a brief, throwaway line about that.
The fantasy elements in this book were really good and I was particularly intrigued by Joliph’s relationship with Lilith. However, I was also confused about what was going on with them. Presumably, both Joliph and Maudae had formed their relationships for cover… but while I could believe and get behind Lilith and Joliph, I couldn’t do the same with Errud and Maudae… though Errud might have been an interesting character if there could have been any hope for redemption.
The idea about the five Mystics was an intriguing one, but I wasn’t sure how everyone fit together, even though, by the end, I was pretty certain of the identities of two of the Mystics.
The asides written by the scribe in the future were interesting, but there were some occasions I wasn’t sure they were needed. I felt they would have had more of an impact if they’d been confined to the beginning and the end of the book.
I was also quite intrigued by the relationship between Naeden and Talla, though I’m not sure if things run deeper between them than it seems. There were times I felt that the danger the characters faced was real… and I also liked that the characters did end up admitting when they’d done wrong. I like guilt angst.
I’m not completely sure if I’d read the other books in this series or not. I did notice quite a few errors in this book and there were times I struggled to get into the storyline. But it was entertaining to read and even though there were things I would have liked a bit more explanation about, I was able to follow the story mostly well.
Ink of Blood 