Not at all what I expected, in the very best way. This is a gripping contemporary fantasy woven with accessible, fascinating magic. Each character is well-drawn and unique, and the plot is full of twists that will keep you turning the pages long after lights out. I adored it!

This book was very slow to get going and initially I was want sure I would get through it but I am so glad I pushed through the start as by the end I absolutely loved it. I loved the magic system and was invested in the story and characters throughout even with the slow start. Would definitely recommend if you like a magic system that's a bit different.
Thank you to Netgalley, Random House UK and Emma Torzs for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! It was an intriguing book weaving a story around family, loyalty, power and betrayal. Dark academia meets the magic of books and family.

Unfortunately, I did DNF this book. I found the pacing to be very slow, the characters and plot confusing. I tried to stick with it but unfortunately this book was just not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an review this book.

I am a newcomer to fantasy or magic books and loved everything about this. The relationship between the characters was as magical as the story itself. I will definitely be reading more books of this genre that’s to the author.

Here's a 3-star review for "Ink Blood Sister Scribe":

---
I had high hopes for *Ink Blood Sister Scribe* due to its intriguing concept, but unfortunately, it didn't grip me as I had hoped. Despite my initial excitement, I found myself reading it in-between other books, which prolonged the experience. The storyline had potential, but it lacked the engagement factor that keeps you turning pages. While I appreciated the unique premise, something about the execution didn't quite resonate with me. It's a decent read, but it didn't leave a lasting impression.

It took me a while to read Emma Törzs’ Ink, Blood, Sister, Scribe, and I couldn’t quite tell you why. Enchanted books, magic, sisterly love — on paper it’s all pretty compelling. I was definitely intrigued by the magic of the books, and by Nicholas’ abilities, but I think in the end it just felt a bit slow. It feels like it takes forever to assemble the main cast, and some of the big reveals were wholly unsurprising by the time they came. Maybe a bit more pace would’ve made them feel a bit more momentous.

It doesn’t help that Nicholas and Johanna are fairly static characters, to whom things just happen — and even Esther, who at least goes places and does things, didn’t really leave me with a sense of urgency about what was happening. Not that everything has to have a sense of urgency, but the slowness kind of detracts from the deadly peril.

It felt a bit like “compulsory heterosexuality” when Johanna and Collins started up a romance, as well. The book didn’t need that.

That said, there are things that felt really well done: Nicholas’ complicated feelings about his uncle, for example; Johanna’s love/anger all in one, directed at Esther (and at Cecily); Esther’s relationship with Pearl…

All in all, I’m not sorry I spent the time on it, but it didn’t live up to my hopes, either.

So great! Really strong fantasy concept, accessible for non-fantasy readers too, loved that it was a standalone and did not end on a cliffhanger.

4.5 stars

This was such a gripping read with such an interesting premise and fantastic characters. I'm a sucker for a book about books and this one did not disappoint in the slightest.

I really liked getting to know our main characters and learning more about them as the story progresses. Told in multiple POVs we really get to delve into the minds of them and unravel the mystery that is going on. Each had their own clear and distinct voice which made it easy to follow along when the chapters changed.

This was such a great read and I'm annoyed with myself that I didn't pick it up sooner! I'm excited to read whatever the author writes next.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Sorry it's so late!

I'm a sucker for stories about magical libraries, and this book is written in a magical way.
It was really enjoyable and lived up to its initial promise.

In Emma Törzs's Ink Blood Sister Scribe, protagonist Agnes journeys through a European landscape scarred by a Hundred Years' War, her path illuminated by the illuminating wisdom of women's writings.
Through Agnes's experience, Törzs explores a world where literature transcends boundaries, offering solace and empowerment to those navigating the complexities of a tumultuous era. Agnes's journey begins in a convent, where she is trained as a scribe, an invaluable skill in a world where written knowledge is scarce. As Agnes ventures out into the war-torn world, she encounters women from all walks of life, each with their own stories and perspectives.
Each meeting enriches Agnes's understanding of the power of the written word, and opens her eyes to new possibilities for her own life. Through Agnes's interactions with female authors, scribes, and scholars, Törzs deftly weaves together a tapestry of literary perspectives. These women challenge conventional gender roles, using their pens to document history, express their experiences, and inspire change. In so doing, they create a hidden network of knowledge and support, offering Agnes strength and guidance on her path. Agnes's journey is not without its perils.
The Europe she traverses is a dangerous place, where violence and prejudice lurk around every corner. Yet, amidst the chaos, Agnes finds hope and solace in the power of words. She learns to wield her pen as a weapon against oppression, using her writing to speak truth to power and advocate for those who have been silenced. Törzs's novel is a powerful testament to the transformative power of literature. Through Agnes's journey, we witness how reading and writing can open minds, challenge assumptions, and empower individuals to make their voices heard.
Ink Blood Sister Scribe is a captivating and thought-provoking work that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the enduring legacy of women's writing.

I thought this was well written, if a little slow. It's generally quite slow in pacing, but the first 30% or so especially was slow with a lot of setup. We have three main characters, so it's understandable, but I think it could still have done with a bit more happening with all of them. It took quite a long time for everyone and everything to come together, then was resolved quite quickly. On the plus side, this does mean there's a fair amount of plot and character development.
I wanted to carry on whenever I was reading, but wasn't dying to pick it back up when I wasn't reading. I liked the writing style, detailed but not overly complicated. I realise this all sounds quite negative, but I did actually enjoy it and would recommend it to people that like magic books in their books, which I do! I feel like there could be another book written as a sequel from some of the things mentioned/noticed towards the end and I would pick it up if so.

This is a book really in two halves and it’s in the second half that this book really comes into it’s own. The story follows Joanna, a hermit who has chained herself to her family home, living alone but maintaining the wards to protect her father’s books, her sister Esther who is currently in Antarctica and lives perpetually on the run, changing her location ever 12 months so she cannot be found at risk of death, and Nicholas who is closely guarded by his bodyguard Collins in the mysterious Library where he acts as the last remaining Scribe who can write magic books. When the book is randomly assigning chapters to each characters POV and the stories are separate, I didn’t enjoy this book so much, it felt a little scattered. For example, Esther wasn’t dedicated much time and when she was, her chapter would end on a cliffhanger and then it jumped to Nicholas doing something very different and there was no relevance or connection between the 2 POVs to keep this story feeling like it was coming from the same place.

However, as with many books where there are multiple characters doing their own thing, when the characters finally interact with each other and their storylines align with each other, that’s where this really picks up it’s pace and you see the vision of the author. When these characters finally start interacting with each other and start bouncing off of each other, that’s when I really started enjoying this book. So I would say, if you are reading this and starting to struggle a little at the start, stick with it because when you hit the halfway mark, it will all make sense and it really picks up until the conclusion of the story, it just takes a while to ‘set the scene’ with the characters individually.

The magic system, the concept of spellbooks written in the blood of the gifted, the idea of selected others being able to hear magic like it’s bees, even the spells themselves, are imaginatively thought through and feel original and not overwhelmingly complex but inventive. The plot itself, while a little broken up at the start, is quite delicious when all the players are in place, when characters are running from The Library again, it’s very clever and thought through.

But what I enjoyed most about this book is the interactions between the characters, all of whom have been isolated and martyred to the cause of magic and spell-work. Nicholas has been kept near prisoner by his uncle in The Library with only an evasive body guard and a dog (Sir Kiwi!!!!!) for company – so him finding belonging not just in getting closer to Colins but in the friendships of Joanna and Esther was really endearing as he learns to be more than his uncle’s possession. Likewise there’s Joanna, estranged from the outside world and her mother who longs for closeness, feeling abandoned by her sister and living vicariously though romance novels, who not only meets the handsome Collins but has the chance to hug and learn her sister again. Then there’s Collins himself who gets to be more than a silent body guard and be a friend. And lastly there’s Esther who is so used to having to move and abandon what she knows, that she has to learn again to settle down and be loved – by her sister, by her friends and by the woman she loves.

Separately these are endearing characters, lost in their own ways, and when they’re put together it’s even better. I particularly liked Esther and Pearl’s journey and would have loved more of it. Also special shoutout to Maram who I desperately wanted more of because she was so deliciously good!

Thank you NetGalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review. I really loved this one :)

‘𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚞𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜.’

💛💛💛💛 / 5

🌶️ / 5

»»————-✼————-««

Review:
In the last 3 months I kept seeing this book everywhere! My local bookshops had it displayed on tables, I had it pop up on my StoryGraph recommendations and today I saw 4 posts about this book! It was fate telling me to finally read it and I’m so so glad that I did! I absolutely loved it!

It’s been a while since I read an adult fantasy, and the magic system in this one was so unbelievably cool and unique! I love that the magic was found in books and that only certain people can feel and see the magic, and only certain people can write and read them! I loved how we were kept in the dark about so much and as it was slowly spoon fed to us it all started to become clear! There were so many twists and turns, I loved not knowing who I could trust, and I was so excited every time I got to press play on my audiobook.

I wish there was a sequel as I’m not ready to put Jo, Nicholas, Collins and Esther to rest, I long to find out if their plan for the future works and if they all get the endings they deserve. But I’m happy with the outcome, it was pretty satisfying. And the audiobook production was absolutely top tier!

For lovers of:
- Fantasy
- Magic
- Secrets
- Library’s
- Estranged Sisters

This was such a good unique idea and I couldn’t wait to read it. It didn’t let me down. My only wish was that it would never end. The author crafted a unique dark academia novel with interesting characters and stunning writing. I’m so excited to read more from this author in the future!

An unusual story this one which grabbed my attention right away. It was so absorbing that I couldn't put it down and I read it quickly. I do enjoy magi7books from time to time and this o e although started off slowly it picked up pace about halfway through. My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

I loved the idea of this book, the blurb really appealed to me. However the first half of the book I really wasn’t sure. It felt like it took me a while to read and I was confused as to what was going on.

When I reached the second half, when some of the characters meet, the story really came alive. I raced through this half, wanting to know what was going to happen. All the questions I had were answered, and the story was pacy and action packed.

I wish there was more of the story when they were all together however it ended up being a good, original story.

This is not my typical read but I absolutely loved it. A brilliant balance of mystery and fantasy & great characters.
A very enjoyable and easy read.

A fantastic story! I loved the characters and it was so well written. I’ll be intrigued to see what the authors writes next.

Dark and magical? Sign me up. What started out as a slow paced book soon turned into a complex multiple pov delight. I loved this book and felt really connected to the characters. I’m looking forward to more from this author in the future