(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
So, again… I was really happy to have the opportunity to read the second book in the Watcher series. Although it had been a little while since I’d read the last one, I was drawn really easily back into the world.
I felt a lot of empathy for Scorpio with the first scene. It was difficult to see any way around what he’d been ordered to do, even though I thought that the witch had a point in her decision to curse him. While I’m not a fan of love at first sight, it didn’t actually feel like that when I saw Scorpio’s and Tessa’s first meeting… and I really liked the fact that the author took the time to allow me to get to know the characters.
I did think that it would have been nice to see more of the individual characters in Tessa’s people, but I did enjoy seeing her relationship with her father. It was good to see that she was a strong female character… but still had weaknesses and made mistakes. I enjoyed getting to know more of both her and Scorpio’s past.
I really disliked Damien in this book. Unlike Tessa’s best friend, I couldn’t see any redeeming qualities in him at all. I was a bit confused with why he was so obsessed with Tessa, though. And I did feel that the reasons behind her decision to marry him weren’t made completely clear.
I liked the fact that this book was very much focused on Scorpio and Tessa, rather than switching constantly to the other characters from previous books. I especially enjoyed seeing Jinx take a shine to Scorpio… but that’s probably also because I love cats.
I did also really enjoy seeing more of the world, but a bit more concentrated. While I was confused about the crystals, I did enjoy the opportunity to see some of the witches lose their hostility towards Scorpio and it was good to see him begin to think of them as his people.
I felt that there was real danger in this book and the storyline was engaging, with realistic and likable main characters who each had hidden depth to them. I very much hope to read the next book in this series some time in the future.
Ink of Blood 