(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
I found the blurb of this book to be really intriguing. I was drawn really easily into the world of this book and I liked Madeline as a character.
It was interesting to see the differences in the separate sections. I did find myself getting confused about the whole charges thing… but I had a lot of sympathy for the Rooless. It sounded like they had a raw deal in the world and I could understand the anger many of them had.
I found Madeline to be a character who was easy to empathise with. Although she did have moments of weakness, I found her to be a realistic character. I did think her description was repeated a few too many times in the narration… the fact that she looked different to the other members of the gentry.
I was a bit surprised to find that I actually liked Cara by the end of the book. Even though she didn’t come across as a nice person to begin with (and I’m not sure she’s a nice person even by the end), she was a really intriguing character and I felt she had a lot of depth to her.
I liked Jude a bit more than I did David. I didn’t know what to make of David half the time… and I couldn’t get over the fact that the emotions between him and Madeline seemed to stem from physical attraction, rather than through getting to know each other.
I also liked Charlie as a character. There was something very sweet and innocent about him, in spit of the horrors the Rootless had to deal with.
There were a lot of disturbing scenes, particularly when it came to the details about the radiation poisoning the Rootless were suffering from. I had a lot of sympathy for the characters like Sarah, living in constant agony and with the threat of death hanging over them.
It was interesting to see how other, supposedly ‘good’ characters viewed the Rootless… such as Jamie, with his comments about the vaccine. I found myself getting quite angry with him and also with Madeline’s father.
I would have liked to learn more about the history of the world, but I had a better understanding by the time I finished the book.
I was drawn really easily into this book. It was entertaining and easy to read… and I’m looking forward to reading book two.
Ink of Blood 