Ink of Blood

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

Having read the prequel novella to this series, I wasn’t sure this first book would draw me in quite as completely as it did.

Even though demons aren’t terribly unique (read: at all now) in fiction, I did find this book to be a really entertaining, easy read. While there was the potential for Ashlyn to come across as a Mary Sue, I actually found her to be a likable, sympathetic character. And it was really good to see the way the book stuck to one first person POV.

Compared to the prequel, I thought this book actually contained more of an explanation about the university and how it related to the world and the characters. I think it helped that Ashlyn was ignorant about most of it.

It was interesting to see Claudia and the others through Ashlyn’s eyes. I still really didn’t like Berenice, but Howard grew on me a bit more by the end of this book. Only a little, though.

It was good to have the opportunity to see Ashlyn interacting with her other flatmates. I liked Alex, though I didn’t think Sarah really stood out on her own. I did think that there wasn’t much in the way of twists, though. There was an air of mystery through this book, but it was disappointing that it turned out to be the obvious.

I would have liked to see Cyrus and Leo interacting together a bit more, especially since they’re meant to be brothers. It was interesting to see Persephone… and also have the opportunity to learn a bit more about the different types of demons. There were a couple of frustrating scenes where I knew what was going on… but the main character didn’t.

I liked the fact that Ashlyn’s powers were different without her being ridiculously overpowered. I thought she was nicely balanced… at least in this book. I’ll reserve judgement for the later books.

I was intrigued by the hints of the history of the founding family of the town. I’m hoping there’ll be more details in later books… and I do have the next two on my Kindle, ready to read.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

I’d give this novella 3.5 stars. Although I found the plot fairly intriguing, I did think that too much of the story’s events were summarised at the beginning of the story. It would have been nice to see more of Claudia’s interactions with her parents and some of her learning about her abilities.

I did find Berenicia to be an intriguing character, even though I couldn’t understand why she was so hostile most of the time. Even by the end of the book, it didn’t make it clear why the demons were after only her.

It was interesting to see Claudia also trying to learn about the history of the society, though I was really confused about why they had the registry in the first place. I really didn’t like Jude as a character and I felt he fell really easily into the trap of a two-dimensional villain.

I liked the hints of the society and it would have been good to learn more about the world. It was nice to see Claudia’s interactions with the other students and I was a bit amused by one of the guys she met. Although he came across as a thug to begin with, I thought he was shown to be a character with more depth than he first appeared to have. And I did find him to be a bit amusing at times.

I would have liked a bit more detail about the university and how the students end up joining. I also would have liked to see more of Claudia’s flatmates. I do have to say… Claudia has a lot more patience than I would have with certain characters.

This novella was really easy to read, but I felt the storyline and characters weren’t expanded upon. While this could be because I haven’t yet read the other books in this series, I do think the world could have been explored more than it actually was, especially in regards to the other characters’ families and the fortune-teller. I found her really interesting and would have liked a bit more detail about her.

I do have the other books on my Kindle… and I am hoping that the next books will have more details on the world and the characters.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

I though the concept of this book was a particularly interesting one. The idea of having a society entirely comprised of women, many of whom were forced to live in a swamp, was a really intriguing one. Even though I was a bit confused by exactly why so many of them were outside the Wall, I was easily pulled into the atmosphere of the story.

I was disappointed by the fact that the book switched between first and third person. In my opinion, that switching actually detracted from experiencing the events through Regina’s eyes.

I liked seeing Regina’s relationship with her sister and the other girls. The title fits particularly well with her character and I felt Regina comes across as a really strong individual. The idea of having a bartering system was a fairly interesting one… though I felt a lot of ‘normal’ human kindness fell by the wayside.

I would have liked to know more about the different castes in the society. Although there were hints dropped about elements of the society and those in authority, I didn’t feel those were explored as fully as they could have been.

It was hard to be sympathetic towards some of the characters. I had the impression that many of the youngsters didn’t really understand the danger they could be in. And there were a couple of characters I really disliked.

I enjoyed seeing Regina’s interactions with Wendy, though I did feel that too much of their friendship was glossed over and summarised. I did like how Regina cared about and empathised with the other girls affected, even those she didn’t know.

I did find it a little difficult to picture what it was like under the surface of the swamp. Above wasn’t so much of a problem, but it was disappointing not to have more of the world described. I had no idea what society was like on the other side of the wall.

I did find this book easy to read and in the future, I’d be interested to see where Regina’s journey takes her next. It was good to see she had clear goals that she didn’t drop by the wayside… and I liked the fact she did have to struggle and work hard.