Ink of Blood

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

I liked being able to read the sequel to Lailah. I found myself drawn really easily into this book and it was interesting to see the effects on the characters from the previous book.

While it was interesting to see the fact that Lailah had completely forgotten Jonah, I didn’t really like the info dumping that came in at the beginning of the book. I would have preferred to see the recap done in a better way… perhaps in a conversation between Gabriel and Lailah.

It was good to see the characters from the previous book. I did feel a lot of sympathy for Jonah through this book and although I have a strong dislike for love triangles, I did think that Lailah’s draw to Gabriel and Jonah in different ways came across really well.

I have to say, I didn’t think the prologue was necessary. It felt a bit jarring and didn’t fit with the rest of the story, since everything in it was then made clear in the rest of the book. I did find it interesting to see Lailah interacting with the vampire hunters and how she got to know them… though I did have a lot of reservations about Phelan.

I was intrigued to see how Lailah was struggling to fully accept her dual nature and was struggling to bring herself out of the darkness. In stark contrast, it was interesting to see the way Gabriel seemed to be falling further and further.

There were times I had a lot of sympathy for Lailah, especially considering how cold Jonah was acting towards her. At the same time, I did think that she kept making poor decisions… and did end up putting her friends in danger due to what she chose to do.

I thought it was good to see how the song played quite a big part in the book and I did find it hard to believe that Gabriel loved Lailah like she was now. I did really like Ruadhan, though, and how protective he was of Lailah especially. And it was good to see Brooke and Fergal together.

I would be interested in reading the next (final?) book in this series in the future. It would be good to see how things proceed from the cliffhanger ending.

“What was it like, Lai?”

“What was what like?” I played with the hem of his T- shirt.

“When you were gone. I couldn’t hear you anymore. I couldn’t sense you. Where did you go?”

“I was trapped. I don’t want to go back. Anywhere, in any world, would be better than where I was,” I said.

“Which was where, Lai?”

“It was . . . nowhere. I used to fear death because I would wake up again, lost. I fear it now for the opposite reason—” I gulped. “Because now I won’t wake up, and nowhere can’t be found.”

Gabriel took my face in his palms and kissed me. He tasted a little like strawberries from a summer garden. He leaned into my ear and whispered, “I would tear down everywhere until all that was left was nowhere, and I would save you. I will always save you.”