A review by catburglar_
Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

4.5

this is one of my favourite books i’ve read this year! it’s definitely encouraged me to reach for more books that have 500+ pages because this felt like a breeze to get through. i wish it was longer as i never wanted it to end. 

from the first chapter i could visualise everything perfectly. every scene played out like a movie. i loved every single character, the relationships, the descriptions of where they are. i liked how there’s written details too, one example being how one of the characters loves ‘the three musketeers’ and why he feels so connected to that book. it’s little things like that which make them all feel incredibly real (also, i want to read that book so badly now lol). the magic system was easy to understand once you got into it and i found it very creative.

every chapter follows a different character and there was none that i wanted to read more than the others, they were all equally as enjoyable. i loved how there’s things that happens with one character but we don’t know why until we read from another perspective from someone who already knows the answer. it’s really difficult for me to explain what i mean without spoiling anything but in short it’s just so cool how everything comes together!! there was so many “ah” moments of realisation and i felt genuine excitement and nerves for others. my face is usually pretty blank reading most books and often nothing phases me but honestly i had to put the book down several times because of it. am i overreacting? perhaps but sometimes books hit you at a perfect time and this one surely did, especially as it’s one i picked up on a whim. 

spoilers!

a downside however was that the last 150 pages were a bit of a let down.

i felt like the moment all the characters came together, most of them soon lost their charm that they had individually especially as we didn’t really follow a set character from a certain point on. i think pushing a relationship between 2 characters, one of which has barely ever left the house or interacted with anyone and having them kiss day one of meeting was such a bad choice! if it was left ambiguous like how the ending was (unsure if there’s a sequel?) then i would have adored it so much. i also feel that the reveals weren’t really that climactic after a certain point either as things began to be told to them instead of it being figured out but then again i suppose this book would have pushed an extra 100+ pages if that were the case, though i wouldn’t complain, i still LOVED this book a lot.