Ink of Blood

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

Having read the first book in this trilogy, I was eager to read books two and three as well. While I don’t have book three on my Kindle, I did have this book.

It was easy to find myself in Sybella’s head. I felt the author did a good job of showing Sybella’s voice as being different to Ismae’s. I liked Sybella as much as I did Ismae… though in a different way.

I had a lot of sympathy for Sybella. Her family made my flesh crawl… even Julian, who was apparently kinder, but his ‘kindness’ was actually worse, in many ways.

I liked seeing more of Beast in this book. While there was a lot of repetition in the narration, especially when it came to Beast’s appearance, I found the way their relationship grew and evolved came across really well. Their relationship was really believable and the fact that Sybella’s feelings for Beast weren’t based on his physical appearance was good.

There were quite a few disturbing things about this book. I didn’t really think much of the abbess in this book. The way she treated Sybella was awful… and I was just glad that Sybella still had Ismae, whose friendship was realistic. It was also good to see more of Ismae and Duval.

I liked seeing a bit of Sybella’s sisters, even though I would have liked to see more of how they viewed Sybella. There was absolutely nothing redeemable about D’Albert; he was an awful person and I had a lot of sympathy for the people who had to be around him.

I liked seeing a bit more of the other convents dedicated to the other Saints. And I liked seeing Sybella interacting with the Duchess. I thought her intelligence came across really well and as I learned more of her past, I could definitely see why she seemed to be half-mad during the first book.

The atmosphere in this book came across really well and I do want to read the third book in this trilogy in the future. I’m eager to see what Annith’s book will be like and what the world will be like through her eyes.