The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
isadoramartha's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Suddenly, the story isn't about Meggie anymore, but I guess that's okay. The writing is a bit redundant and some things are pretty much spelled out for the reader. I feel like that wasn't necessary. Overall, it's a nice ending to a fantastic story, though.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
orchidlilly's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Ah, Inkdeath. Poor, mildly disappointing Inkdeath. This entire series suffers from what I like to call triligitus. That is to say, the trilogy starts with a bang, loses a little momentum in the middle book, and the third book falls disappointingly flat on its face. I’m exaggerating a bit, of course, Inkdeath isn’t in any way bad, per say, but it just feels unsatisfying. There’s plenty to like in the book, sure. The prose is just as good as it’s always been, the main plot with the Adder is wrapped up well, and the worldbuilding is lovely as usual. That being said, I have some specific gripes for how the characters are written in particular.
Violante rather comes into her own, moving from a somewhat tragic background figure to a somewhat competent and fully fleshed out one. It’s nice to see a fantasy book have a powerful female character, but Violante is far from perfect. After all, god forbid we have a female character without a love interest, so she has to be weirdly besotted with Mo for no good reason. Despite her relative independence, Violante, our only non-stereotyped female character, still spends most of her time waiting for the men to do the work that she’s not strong enough to do herself.
The men of the story, and the world of the book as a whole, have always been somewhat sexist in nature, but Inkdeath seems to really dial that up for no apparent reason. Maybe if this fantasy-branded sexism was in any way discussed as something needing fixed, it would have been alright, but as is the world and book seem to just accept it as the way things are, making me wonder if that’s not also how Funke views it.
Then there’s the love triangle. It’s kind of obvious that it was just shoehorned in to fit the rising popularity of love triangles in YA and middle-grade books at the time. If Doria had been introduced in the second book as an alternate love interest from the get-go, things would have felt more natural. But he only starts showing up here, in the last book, and so his addition feels a little off-kilter.
And just as an aside, I’ve never been huge on pregnancy subplots, and I feel that this one especially, takes away what little agency Resa had as a character and instead pushes her further into the simple role of worried mother and wife.
Now, this is a lot of complaining about a book that I’ve given three stars. It’s not a bad book by any means, nor is it a bad ending to a trilogy. It just feels like a bit of a letdown, is all.
Violante rather comes into her own, moving from a somewhat tragic background figure to a somewhat competent and fully fleshed out one. It’s nice to see a fantasy book have a powerful female character, but Violante is far from perfect. After all, god forbid we have a female character without a love interest, so she has to be weirdly besotted with Mo for no good reason. Despite her relative independence, Violante, our only non-stereotyped female character, still spends most of her time waiting for the men to do the work that she’s not strong enough to do herself.
The men of the story, and the world of the book as a whole, have always been somewhat sexist in nature, but Inkdeath seems to really dial that up for no apparent reason. Maybe if this fantasy-branded sexism was in any way discussed as something needing fixed, it would have been alright, but as is the world and book seem to just accept it as the way things are, making me wonder if that’s not also how Funke views it.
Then there’s the love triangle. It’s kind of obvious that it was just shoehorned in to fit the rising popularity of love triangles in YA and middle-grade books at the time. If Doria had been introduced in the second book as an alternate love interest from the get-go, things would have felt more natural. But he only starts showing up here, in the last book, and so his addition feels a little off-kilter.
And just as an aside, I’ve never been huge on pregnancy subplots, and I feel that this one especially, takes away what little agency Resa had as a character and instead pushes her further into the simple role of worried mother and wife.
Now, this is a lot of complaining about a book that I’ve given three stars. It’s not a bad book by any means, nor is it a bad ending to a trilogy. It just feels like a bit of a letdown, is all.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Death of parent, Misogyny, Sexism, Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, and Violence
lizziaha's review against another edition
dark
tense
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.25
This story is so complexly woven that it’s hard to put down; the mindbending concept of a story within a story within a story and the question of who exactly is writing the story is hard to fully grasp. Definitely the best of the trilogy. That being said, I’m shocked that this is considered a childrens book. The first of the series might be, but this one certainly is not.Â
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Pregnancy, Violence, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Murder, Gore, and Grief
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, and Misogyny
Minor: Slavery
padawan17's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Sexism, Confinement, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, and Domestic abuse
summersnitch's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Body horror, Sexism, Torture, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, Slavery, and Vomit
tobias_fangor_isnt_cis's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Violence
maren_hemsath's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Death
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Sexual harassment, Torture, and Pregnancy
Minor: Bullying
nytephoenyx's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Inkdeath is a darker book than Inkheart and Inkspell. This third book and trilogy finale shifts its focus away from magic and adventure and into something more sinister. There are more villains than ever before in the Inkworld and allies are less stalwart. While the magic of Inkheart leads me to love the trilogy, it is Inkdeath that engrossed me the most.
There is not so much action in Inkdeath as there are high stakes. Of particular interest to me is Mortimer’s transformation. I saw the Inkheart film long before I read any of the books, and Mo will forever be Brendan Fraser in my mind. Watching the way that character evolves to fill the role needed of him in the Inkworld is fascinating and a bit heartbreaking (which makes it that much easier to relate to Meggie and Reesa). Between besting cruel rulers and saving children and having a meeting with Death, there is so much going on in Inkdeath to appeal to any reader, but it’s Mo’s descent that shines most in this novel. I have no idea if this was Funke’s intent or just my personal interpretation, but I really like it.
To be sure, this book has its flaws. It’s far too long and feels like it ambles along sometimes. Where there are so many ticking clocks and things at stake, Inkdeath‘s leisurely pace frustrated me as a reader. While Funke is not a particularly urgent writer, the pacing of the book was further agitated by the multiple POVs. Inkdeath has five main POVs – Mo, Reesa, Meggie, Fengolia, and Orpheus. Meggie and Mo still hold the spotlight, but that is an awful lot of voices. There are also characters that have one or two POV chapters, such as Elinor, Dustfinger, and Farid. From a writer’s perspective, I really enjoy telling the story from the voice of the character who is in the right place at the right time. From a reader’s perspective, it’s a bit much. I personally didn’t get the voices tangled, but by this time I’m well familiar with each of the characters and found their individual internal monologues easy to navigate. Others may not be so fortunate.
The Inkworld remains as vivid and interesting as ever. One cannot help but to side with Fengolio a bit in this one, despite his cantankerous nature – he created an incredible world and Orpheus’ machinations cheapen the magic a bit. There’s also a new setting conjured by Fengolio that I just… didn’t buy. The blue faeries and the Fire-Dancers and the Black Prince and his Bear – all the elements from the original story before humans entered the world and began mucking about – remains as wonderful as ever.
As much as it pains me to admit this, there are characters I really enjoyed in Inkheart and Inkspell that just don’t seem to have a purpose. Farid and Meggie are left mostly to following in their heroes’ shadows and being angsty. Elinor is absolutely one of my favorite characters, and I am begrudgingly forced to admit she doesn’t add much. In fact, Elinor has never been much more than a means-to-an-end to move the story along in places, which is a shame before I adore her. Orpheus, our villain, is so cartoonishly bad that he reminds me of the Bowler Hat Guy from Disney’s Meet the Robinsons. His physical description is nothing like the character, but it’s the only way I can picture him. The characters are all fun and interesting, but they just don’t bring as much to the story as I wanted.
One of the magical things about Inkdeath was that I spent so much time worrying after Mo or for the poor glass men who were constantly abused by Fengolio and Orpheus that I didn’t think of all these things that bothered me until hours after I finished the book. The main premise of the Inkworld trilogy revolves around a man who reads worlds from books and makes them come to life. That same breathless magic is in Inkdeath as vibrantly it is the rest of the trilogy. You dive in, and you are immediately caught up in the world around you.It’s so easy to forget about life for a while.
For all the qualms I have about the trilogy – whether it be translation or fact, but wouldn’t it be amazing to read them in their original German?- I still think that this collection is one of the most creative stories I’ve ever read and I adore the story they tell. I very much recommend it to readers of all ages.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Violence and Sexism
Minor: Pregnancy and Torture
adwoods's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
laurajeangrace's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Pregnancy and Confinement