Ink of Blood

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

Although I was a bit lost at the start of the book, I did find this a really entertaining book to read and I thought that, although the idea of shapeshifting isn’t a terribly unique one, I thought it was handled in a good way.

I felt myself drawn into the world in this book quite easily, even if it did take me a while to get to know the characters and the situation they were in. It would have been good to see more of the world that they left and the reasons why, though I did get some glimpses of the society they had left and what their lives had been like before.

I did like a lot of the characters in this book. I was particularly intrigued by the relationship between Xander and Laren. I’ve always liked brother-type relationships and although the two of them were at each others’ throats more often than not, I felt I could see there was true affection between them. And as I learned more about both of their pasts, I became more and more intrigued by them and was able to empathise with them both really easily.

I found it a bit more difficult to empathise with K’Ti. Although she came across as a fairly likable, innocent character, I didn’t find the romance as believable as it could have been. There were some passages of time that were glossed over that I felt could have been expanded upon. At the same time, I did feel that K’Ti was a well-rounded character and I found her skills to be quite interesting. I didn’t really understand much about her past, but it was good to see how quickly and willingly she accepted the Bete and found a place among them.

I did like Rem as a character and I would have liked to see more of him through the book and about his past. It was nice to see his interactions with Xander and the others.

I was interested in the characters who were shown, but I did feel that there were many who weren’t explored. I was a bit confused by some of the relationships shown and it would have been good to see more of some of the more minor characters.

I would probably read the next book in this series at some point in the future. It would be good to see what happens to the characters and how they deal with the events at the end of this book.