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A review by luluwoohoo
Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs
☀️☀️☀️☀️🌤️
A captivating fantasy that drips with atmospheric magic and tense mystery.
I haven't enjoyed a standalone fantasy quite this much in a long time. Törzs blends fantasy, mystery and literary fiction beautifully into something rich and dark and full of tension. Her writing is lovely and I appreciated the little differences between POVs.
The pacing of this novel isn't for everyone but I found it brilliantly deliberate, an excellent way to establish the three protagonists in their own isolated worlds before coming together in the second half. They were all fleshed out well and given opportunities to push beyond their physical and metaphorical boundaries throughout the course of the novel, and even the supporting characters felt like they had rich lives beyond what we were shown in the context of this story.
The magical lore was wonderfully thought out with strict rules and restrictions that made sense within the confines of the story. Each character's relationship with magic was unique to them and the combinations they formed together enriched their connections to create interesting subtext. I particularly appreciated the relationship between Esther and Joanna, whose fractured sisterhood wasn't fixed or made whole for convenience but still felt on the way to recovery.
I loved every aspect of this book and struggled to put it down. I cannot wait to see what Törzs comes up with next if this is her debut!
☀️☀️☀️☀️🌤️
A captivating fantasy that drips with atmospheric magic and tense mystery.
I haven't enjoyed a standalone fantasy quite this much in a long time. Törzs blends fantasy, mystery and literary fiction beautifully into something rich and dark and full of tension. Her writing is lovely and I appreciated the little differences between POVs.
The pacing of this novel isn't for everyone but I found it brilliantly deliberate, an excellent way to establish the three protagonists in their own isolated worlds before coming together in the second half. They were all fleshed out well and given opportunities to push beyond their physical and metaphorical boundaries throughout the course of the novel, and even the supporting characters felt like they had rich lives beyond what we were shown in the context of this story.
The magical lore was wonderfully thought out with strict rules and restrictions that made sense within the confines of the story. Each character's relationship with magic was unique to them and the combinations they formed together enriched their connections to create interesting subtext. I particularly appreciated the relationship between Esther and Joanna, whose fractured sisterhood wasn't fixed or made whole for convenience but still felt on the way to recovery.
I loved every aspect of this book and struggled to put it down. I cannot wait to see what Törzs comes up with next if this is her debut!
"He'd never felt so passionately all-caps about another person [...] and certainly no one had ever felt that way about him. He expected to be sad about this realization, and instead found that he was mostly curious. Maybe [...] if he began to lead a life on his own terms, all-caps was a feeling he himself might find someday."