(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
I was a bit unsure about how many stars to give this book. Although I thought the concept was a really intriguing one and that Fledgling’s character was a really interesting one, I did find her a bit irritating at times. While I could understand she was questioning everything, I thought it was unfair that she was dragging her friends down with her… to the point of them getting into trouble along with her.
I thought it was an interesting concept for all of the fledglings to be different colours and for those colours to be what enabled the other members of their group to refer to them. However, I was disappointed that the main character seemed to stand out so much, to the point that she was different even when it came to her colouring.
I did find the idea of insterting a conscience into the people about to do bad things a really interesting one. While I didn’t understand what that would do for a while at first, it did make more sense as the book went on.
I did like seeing Fledgling’s friendship with Blue and Yellow. It was interesting to see that the three of them all had different ways of dealing with things and carrying out their missions. I also thought it was interesting how the fledglings were created. The first scene in the book did a really good job of establishing Fledgling’s motivations and the fact that she cared about the Innocents. I would have liked a bit more detail about how certain people were chosen to be saved while others weren’t, however.
The interpretations of the arch angels were interesting. I thought that Gabriel was the most unique, while Michael seemed to be similar to how I’ve seen him portrayed in fiction most of the time. At the same time, it was good to see that he really believed in and cared about the fledglings under his care.
While most of the book was well-written, it was kind of jarring that the tense kept being changed to past. I was intrigued by the different abilities that the three of them were developing, or about to develop, and it was good to see that Fledgling wasn’t the only one gaining extra abilities.
I would be interested in reading the sequel to this book at some point in the future. It would be good to see what will happen next with Fledgling and her friends… and I’d especially like to see more of Gabriel and Michael.
Ink of Blood 