(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
Having had a big fascination with mythology (and particularly Greek mythology) from a very early age, I was immediately drawn by the blurb of this book. I especially liked the fact that it was about a different mythological figure – the Sphinx.
It was good that not everything was revealed all at once, but there was very little in the way of explanation as to motives. I did kind of feel that there were a lot of cliches involving Hope, though. It would have been good to see a bit less of the ‘tragic past/new girl absolutely hated by the popular girl in the new school she attends’.
It was good to see the relationships Hope did form with the other characters and I did find that Athan’s aunt was a really interesting character. Athan himself was kind of difficult to understand. While I appreciated the fact that the romance did take a realistic amount of time to grow and form, I found it really hard to understand WHY Athan was so interested in Hope from the start.
I did feel that there wasn’t much in the way of world building. I was confused about why mythology was a required course, since if it was in a world where the myths and legends are a fact of life, then surely the myths would be taught more as history?
I thought that the use of riddles were interesting, though it was a little confusing that there was very little foreshadowing. Just because Hope’s grandmother told riddles, I wouldn’t think it would automatically mean she enjoyed riddles.
The book about the Sphinx was interesting, but I would have liked to see a bit more detail about how the book worked. I also liked seeing Hope with her aunt, but I felt like the situation with that was dragged out far too much.
I didn’t feel like there was much in the way of action in this book, even though I did find the Skia to be quite interesting. I would have liked to see more of the world and the creatures inhabiting it.
I will be reading the sequel to this book, but I do hope it won’t focus so much on the pure romance.
Ink of Blood 