(I received a free copy of this book, through NetGalley, in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
When I first read the blurb of this book and saw the front cover, I was immediately drawn towards it. It took me a little while to get to reading this book, but I did find it easy to read and although Smitha wasn’t a likable character at first, I thought that she went through a real journey through this book.
In some ways, Smitha reminded me of the character of the Star Child. It was interesting to see how she viewed herself and the people of her home at first. I didn’t really like her as a character, even though there were parts of the narration that indicated she was looking back on her life and had gone through hardships that had changed her.
I did like the fact that Smitha’s ice did affect her, not just the people around her. It was interesting to see that she had to figure out how to eat and drink… and I felt bad that she found things so difficult, even early on.
While I could understand why people were so distrustful of her, Smitha’s experiences with people pursuing her weren’t nice to read about and helped me to empathise with her really well. I also thought her conversations with Death were really interesting to read. Although there were some parts of her life after the curse that were summarised, I felt that I was given the opportunity to get to know her as a character and have glimpses of the world around.
It was interesting to see the contrast to the different country Smitha found herself in. I thought that she was pushed right down, but it was good to see her able to push herself back up again. I enjoyed reading Smitha’s growing friendship with Lo, though I wasn’t sure he treated her very well for a lot of the book. I did feel an intense amount of sympathy for Smitha with how some of the others treated her, though.
I found this book a quick read, though there were some difficult parts of it. It was nice to see more of the wider world around Smitha and how she interacted with other characters both before and after the curse. I’d be interested in reading more books by this author in the future.
Ink of Blood 