(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
I haven’t read the prequel to this book, but I didn’t feel I needed to in order to get a good feel for the storyline and the characters.
One of the interesting aspects to this book, I felt, was the mix of attitudes towards the supposed haunting. I did question the wisdom as to why Kie was insisting on staying in the house after everything that had happened… he was an intriguing character, but I felt that a lot of what I knew about him was told rather than shown. For instance, one of the characters talks about this charm that he exudes… but the only person I could tell was drawn to him was Libby; and that was because she was attracted to him and quite obviously so.
I did find a lot of thoroughly unlikable characters in this book. It would have been good to see them from different angles, since it’s possible that a lot of my perceptions were coloured by Libby’s, since it was her head I was in the most. However, I would have liked to see less demonising of Catherine and Kie’s mother.
The paranormal elements in this book were particularly intriguing and there was a bit of an air of mystery. I liked the fact that the ghosts didn’t make much of a physical appearance for most of the book… having them act invisibly was a much more effective way of showing tension, I felt.
I did think that some things were glossed over when they shouldn’t have been. There were a few times when a chapter ended calmly… only for the next chapter to summarise events that had occurred after the previous chapter’s end. I did like Libby’s character. She was an interesting, strong woman and although I did think she went after Kie fast (especially given her decision not to go after someone who was with another person), I did find that their relationship and feelings toward each other came across really well.
I am intrigued enough to read the first book in this series in the future, though I would like to see how things go with Libby and Kie in a later book.
Ink of Blood 