(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).
(This review may contain spoilers).
Although I’m still not sure I really understood everything by the end of the book, I did find this quite an intriguing read. The spiral pattern could probably mean a lot of things, but it was interesting to see the way it’s dealt with in these four parts of the story.
I liked the fact that each of the stories were written in different styles. The first one was pretty intriguing and I felt myself drawn into the ancient world that was portrayed in the first story.
The second story was one that struck a particular chord. The witch trials is, I personally feel, one of the low points in human history. And although the fate of the girl wasn’t the main focus of the story, it still stuck with me. The trial was terrible… and the mob mentality is an extremely scary one. (I saw an example of that mentality on a television show… It was quite scary to watch. And, of course, standing against a mob is a really frightening prospect).
I quite liked the third segment, too. I found the relationship between the POV character and his daughter really intriguing. There weren’t many likable characters in that one, though. And I was still left somewhat unsure about what had actually happened by the end. Though the explanation about the madness came across really well.
The fourth story had a bit more tension in the storyline, I felt. I think I understood what was going on better there, although I’m not sure that my assumptions were completely accurate.
It was really good to see the link-ins through all of the segments, not just through the symbol of the spiral. I did read the segments in the order they were in the book, but I can see how they could be read in any interconnecting order.
I saw other blurbs for more books by this author and I found quite a lot of them really intriguing, with plots I’d be interested in. This book was well-written and interesting. It would be good to read more stories connecting with these.
Ink of Blood 