Ink of Blood

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

I’m not completely sure I liked this book. Although it was good to see the characters from the first book and get to know new ones, I found it really difficult to believe in the feelings Rain has for Jabari. Just to give an idea of one of the reasons why, this is an exchange early on between them:

Jabari: I love you because you’re a warrior.
Rain: I love you because you’re hot.

If it weren’t for the romance that feels completely unrealistic, I’d probably give this book 4 out of 5 stars. There are a lot of intriguing aspects to it and I do get the feeling that Rain does care about the people around her, even if it feels sometimes that that fades when Jabari’s around. I also thought that Aleela added an interesting element… and I did find myself getting a bit annoyed with Jabari on Rain’s behalf at times.

It was interesting to have the opportunity to learn more about Nicks’ past and I found myself disliking her even more by the end of this book. I did notice the parallels drawn between the Holocaust and what Nicks is doing. One of the worst scenes is when the books and art are burned. I felt the pain of the woman whose painting was taken from her.

I had a lot of sympathy for Maha and I was glad about what happened with Darryl, even though I did think that Rain’s guilt made a lot of sense and really worked for her character. Marcello and Cole are good forms of comic relief… but it was also really good to see the more serious side to them both. I’d like to see more of them in the next two books.

There was more of a feel of real danger in this book, even though I did feel that their abilities meant that they weren’t in proper danger. I did, however, feel that the author did a good job of showing how Rain’s and Daktari’s mother’s depression affected them. And Nicks made me cringe with just how evil she seemed to be in how she spoke to and treated everyone. I found myself really worrying about Callista.

I have the next two books on my Kindle, ready to read. Even though I don’t like the romance, the rest of the book does pull me in really well.