(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
I found the front cover and blurb of this book to be really intriguing. I also found myself pulled into the first part of the story. It was really engaging and I found myself quite fascinated by the storyline.
Unfortunately, chapter one took a lot of the mystery out of the book. I felt that there was a lot of eposition/info-dumping… and unfortunately, it did continue throughout the book. I felt like there was a lot of telling rather than showing.
Some of the characters in the book were quite interesting, even though I couldn’t really get behind Anastasia. I didn’t find her a very good narrator… particularly with the whole implications that pretty much every mixed-gender friendship would result in an ‘awkward moment’. That kind of struck me as wrong, to be honest.
I liked the idea of the different gifts and abilities. It was nice to see the different things that the characters could do. However, I did feel that Anastasia had a few too many abilities, which is one of the warning signs in an original character – when they’re more overpowered than the others. It wasn’t to ridiculous levels, but even so, it’s something that can be a red flag for me.
I actually quite like the concept of reincarnation in fiction and it was interesting to learn about people living different lives. I didn’t think it was explained enough about why the population keeps growing if everyone’s getting reincarnated, though.
I was a bit less thrilled about the concept of soulmates. I’ve seen it used well exactly once, but most of the time, it just feels like, ‘they’re together because they’re soulmates’ and there’s none of the development for the romance. At the same time, the whole concept of the Pure Ones and their soulmates were pretty interesting.
I really liked Steven and Ryan as characters. It would have been nice to see more of them. I also found Anastasia’s mother to be quite an intriguing character. I felt that the author did a really good job in showing the effects her marriage had on her.
The action parts of the book were good, but I wish there had been more of them. I’m not sure if I’d read the next book in this series. A lot depends on who the story focuses on.
Get a copy: The Rise of Chaos (Reborn Book 1)
Ink of Blood 