Ink Blood Sister Scribe

                                        *free review copy* 

Title: Ink Blood Sister Scribe 

Author: Emma Törzs

Publisher: William Morrow

Release Date: 5.30.23

Publisher’s Summary 

In this spellbinding debut novel, two estranged half-sisters tasked with guarding their family's library of magical books must work together to unravel a deadly secret at the heart of their collection--a tale of familial loyalty and betrayal, and the pursuit of magic and power.
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.

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 . . .

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.

My Review

A library of magical books? Spells? Speculative Fiction? I couldn't wait to read this. 

*sparkles and happy dance music*

Now, fast forward 400+ pages

*groans and frustrated sighs* 

I should have DNF-ed but I just kept hoping it would get better. 

The banter between Nicholas and his "bodyguard" are the only saving graces of this novel which could have benefitted from some serious editing. All magic fantasy novels do not have to be over 400 pages. This would have done well to have been much shorter. It is also the author's job to eventually describe aspects and "rules" when world-building, but I was lost most of the time and just wanted this to be over.