Ink of Blood

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

This was another book I really liked the sound of, but felt didn’t live up to my expectations as I read it.

I wasn’t quite sure what the main plot of the story was. I felt there was too much going on that wasn’t drawn to a conclusion and that there were too many secondary characters and side plots.

I really liked being able to see the different types of technology on the island and it was also intriguing to see something of their beliefs, even though I wasn’t sure what was myth and what was true, or even really what sort of time period the book was set in.

I would have liked some more details of how the madness worked, as there was very little detail about what caused it and why people who knew the sufferers wouldn’t recognise them.

I thought the hints of background between Belial and Kama were interesting and that was one of the few things I didn’t have any problem understanding, even though I really didn’t like the insta!love connection that formed.

I thought there was a bit too much in the way of information dumping and I would have liked to see D’vinid’s relationships with many of the other characters, such as the princes and Pan’s twin sons. I would have liked to see many of the minor characters explored a bit more.

It would have been good to see a bit more in the way of politics and how things had changed in the previous king’s rule.

I liked the use of the songs/poems in the book, though I would have liked to see more of how they fit in with D’vinid’s title. I also found it very difficult to understand why he had so much trouble with the King… and it took a long time before I got any answers.

I would have liked to see this book expanded upon a bit more and less characters to try and connect with. There was a lot that had potential here, but I did struggle to connect emotionally with the characters or really get to know what the culture was like. I’m not sure I would read the next book/s in this series, at least not unless it was a bit more focused on less characters.