Ink Blood Sister Scribe: the Sunday Times bestselling edge-of-your-seat fantasy thriller

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I loved the book based magic system and I really appreciate how the author explored the topics of conservation, power, and control through the library and the books. I always appreciate when a magic system has very strict and clear rules. Each character in this book had their own advantages and limitations within the magic system. This helped build the “found (or reunited?) family” vibes. First things first: I wanted to love this. I love the purple US cover and would've been so happy to slot this into my shelves, but I just don't think it's for me. (sorry, kerry!) This debut novel is an absolute delight, weaving a convincing occult underground into real-world settings.' Guardian All magic comes with a price, though, and for years the sisters have been separated. Esther has fled to a remote base in Antarctica to escape the fate that killed her own mother, and Joanna's isolated herself in their family home in Vermont, devoting her life to the study of these cherished volumes. But after their father dies suddenly while reading a book Joanna has never seen before, the sisters must reunite to preserve their family legacy. In the process, they'll uncover a world of magic far bigger and more dangerous than they ever imagined, and all the secrets their parents kept hidden; secrets that span centuries, continents, and even other libraries...

Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs - Goodreads Editions of Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs - Goodreads

I recieved an e-ARC via Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions remain my own. Follow where this novel leads and you will be lost in a bewitching spell, a book of magic about books of magic . . . extraordinary.” – MARLON JAMES But when all three of these characters discover hidden secrets that redefine their lives, they're thrown together on an unexpected and emotional journey.

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Esther and Joanna were good characters for me and their storylines were well developed. I found them both interesting and convincing. However Nicholas was never very convincing to me - he felt more like a caricature of a posh boy. His storyline seemed rather naive and possibly contrived. In terms of the magic content I thought this was generally good. In particular the mirror magic was very good and well used.

Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torzs | Waterstones Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torzs | Waterstones

This is probably the part that I like the most, though I feel like it's not explored enough. Most of the magic is just around wards, spying, and then finding/possessing/hoarding/hiding these sources of power. It seems like the magic that can be done is nearly infinite, but the tiny sliver that we see is just a series of very basic magics that have been done time and time again. Honestly, he gave Esther no choice. After a week of this, he approached her one day in the galley and planted himself in her path so she couldn’t get to the pizza, grinning at her so widely she could see his molars. No,” said Pearl without hesitation. She herself worked with the carpenters. “Nerds are always absolute party freaks. I used to go to these kink nights in Sydney and it was all surgeons, engineers, orthodontists. Did you know that people who’re into BDSM have notably higher IQs than their vanilla counterparts?” She fetched them two glasses and Esther sat up on her elbows so she didn’t spill it all over herself as she gulped it. This was the driest place she’d ever been, every last bit of moisture in the air frozen into ice. It was easy to get dehydrated.

Beyond the Book

For generations, the Kalotay family has guarded a collection of ancient and rare books. Books that let a person walk through walls or manipulate the elements--books of magic that half-sisters Joanna and Esther have been raised to revere and protect. Downright irresistible. . . . keeps the surprises and twists coming. . . . Through it all, Törzs stays grounded in her characters' emotional lives, including their tangled family relationships but also their love for the books in their care. By the end you'll gladly follow these people anywhere. Charlie Jane Anders, Hugo-award winning author of All the Birds in the Sky Pearl grinned. She had unusually sharp canine teeth in an otherwise soft mouth, an incongruity that did funny things to Esther’s blood flow. “Can you imagine the variables?” But when she finds spots of blood on the mirrors in the research base, she knows someone is coming for her, and that Joanna and her collection are in danger. The summer season had officially begun a couple days ago: November 5. Three days after Esther, according to her father’s urgent edict, should have been long gone.

Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs - Penguin Books Australia Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs - Penguin Books Australia

I think the sister relationship and the daughter/mother relationship were the strongest here, but still pretty weak overall. Part of it is that the characters don't feel real to me since they never make choices and don't really seem to have passions outside of the scripted path I mentioned above in the section about their agency. Likewise, the romantic relationship is so brief and unimportant to the story that I honestly forgot about it until it resurfaced at the end. Her estranged older sister Esther moves between countries and jobs, constantly changing, never staying anywhere longer than a year, desperate to avoid the deadly magic that killed her mother. Currently working on a research base in Antarctica, she has found love and perhaps a sort of happiness.

Emma Törzs

This edge-of-your-seat fantasy thriller sees two estranged sisters tasked with guarding their family's collection of rare and dangerous magical books. To survive, they have to unravel the secrets their parents kept hidden. Press Association Though I can’t mention the identity of the main villain in Ink Blood Sister Scribe, I must mention how fantastically they too are written. Their manipulation is subtle, sugar coated with love and false affection, they hold the power of wealth, privilege and dominance over others, they orchestrate plans on a level to get exactly what they want no matter how cruel, how deceitful. They strive on other’s dependence upon them, they are a true narcissist. I did suspect them from the moment we met their character but this didn’t dampen my enjoyment in any way, I still had a lot of pleasure watching them get discovered and eventually get their comeuppance. In the great tradition of Ninth House, The Magicians, and Practical Magic, this is a suspenseful and richly atmospheric novel that draws readers into a vast world filled with mystery and magic, romance, and intrigue—and marks the debut of an extraordinary new voice in speculative fiction.

Ink Blood Sister Scribe – HarperCollins

Which ultimately means that their POVs hold no interest for me. They can't make interesting observations or enrich the world or the stakes for me. It just often feels like watching a child complete a scavenger hunt. Magic exists, channeled through certain books. Esther’s family can sense those books: they call to them, and they’ve spent their lives collecting them and protecting them. Esther can’t hear those books, and she ran away from home years ago, chased by a warning from her now dead father. ”Wherever you are, you must leave on November 2 and keep moving for twenty-four hours, or the people who killed your mother will come for you, too." These two families are going to come together in unexpected ways to solve a thrilling mystery - why does Esther have to keep running? Who is killing Scribes? Twisty, dark and exciting, I loved it! Pearl raised her hand, those long fingers wrapped around the stem of an imaginary glass. “Here’s to the crowd. May they love us.” But what is Ink Blood Sister Scribe, really? Is it a book about books? Yes. Is it a mystery? A book about sisters? About family secrets? Yes, yes, and yes.

BookBrowse Review

Ink Blood Sister Scribe is so many things at once: an adventure, a puzzle, a twisty thriller, and a tender romance. . . . I adored it.” – ALIX E. HARROW