Rate: 4 out of 5 stars
(This review may contain spoilers).
I actually did quite enjoy reading this book, though I did feel that there were a few too many POVs. I would have found this book much easier to read if there hadn’t been so much head-hopping… and I probably would have given it at least an extra half-star if it hadn’t been for the amount of confusion caused by some of the shifting that wasn’t even indicated.
I felt a lot of sympathy for Jane’s character. I would have liked some more detail about her history growing up in the asylum and perhaps more of her relationships with the other patients. I did enjoy seeing her musical ability and how she saw colours and words in the music.
I absolutely hated Frost… more so when I saw his interactions with Jules, though it was interesting to see what Jules thought of her father. I thought it was interesting to see how she wanted to escape from his influence… although I did feel sorry for Willis… and I did enjoy seeing her relationship with her lady’s maid.
I did find Mason to be an interesting character and I would have liked to know a bit more of his history. I did like his relationship with Jane a lot more than Grayjoy’s with Jules, which seemed to be more based on the resemblance between two of the characters and didn’t really feel that realistic.
I would have liked to see a bit more of the murders. I actually forgot they had happened until later in the book and even though there was quite a bit of action towards the end of the book, I felt that it fell by the wayside a bit during the middle portion.
It was really good to see Jane and the cat she’d adopted… and also to see that there was at least one other worker there who cared about her being able to get out. I found it really interesting to learn about the different wards… if extremely disturbing to read about Ward Thirteen.
I did feel that the book was really well-researched and there was a lot of good visual imagery in it. I was intrigued by the ending and would like to read the sequel to this book in the future.
Born and raised in western Pennsylvania, Brynn Chapman is the daughter of two teachers. Her writing reflects her passions: science, history and love—not necessarily in that order. In real life, the geek gene runs strong in her family, as does the Asperger’s syndrome. Her writing reflects her experience as a pediatric therapist and her interactions with society’s downtrodden. In fiction, she’s a strong believer in underdogs and happily-ever-afters. She also writes non-fiction and lectures on the subjects of autism and sensory integration and is a medical contributor to online journal The Age of Autism.
Ink of Blood 