A review by kiiitasticbooks
Curse of the Divine by Kim Smejkal

  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

 
This book had me, within the first page, putting on my clown makeup. Because despite literally telling my friends the only thing I would hate in this book is for [specific bad thing to happen to Griffin], I had to read that exact fate in the first few pages.

I was actually really surprised by the story in this book, however. In order to find a way to defeat Diavala for good, Celia and Griffin travel to Wisteria to find Halcyon, the only person recorded to have ever survived Diavala. However, readers are immediately clued in to not everything being as it seems when Celia and Griffin explore Wisteria and find that the town… is weird.

Like magical weird.

One of my favorite things about this book was how it expanded upon the ink’s powers and what inklings can do with the ink in their blood. While we know from the first book that the ink can be transferred between bodies in the form of a tattoo, seeing all the different ways Celia uses ink throughout this book really opened up a whole new world we didn’t know existed!

I also found the way this book treated Diavala’s story to be very interesting. In expanding Diavala’s story, we get to care for her more, and I think that really helps strengthen her role throughout both the first book and this one. The best villains are ones readers can understand, rather than just being evil to be evil, and I think a lot of readers will really look back on this story with awe as they realize how different everything they thought they knew really is!

However, I am unsure if this sequel was really necessary. Because Ink In The Blood was so well-contained, Curse Of The Divine feels like both a sequel and like it could stand alone itself. The best comparison I have to explain the feeling to readers is like if this was a series of connected mystery novels: while they do have similarities in repeating characters and an overarching plotline, each book in the series has it’s own plot that opens and ends within that book.

I think that if there were more books in this universe, Curse Of The Divine wouldn’t feel as awkward as it does. But with it having been a couple years since Curse Of The Divine has been published (and the Diavala plotline being completed within this book), I don’t think the author has any plans to continue Celia and Griffin’s story.