Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torzs

Ink Blood Sister Scribe

By Emma Torzs

Genre: Fantasy, Fiction, Magical Realism, Urban Fantasy, Magic, LGBTQ+, Witches

Pub Date: May 30, 2023

Pages: 416

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars

Synopsis:

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 Thoughts:

With an absolutely beautiful cover and HELLO, magical library written in blood ink?? Count me in!

Where do I even begin with this one?? It took me a minute to figure out the magical system in this one but once I did I was obsessed. This one is a little wordy and it gives me Anne Rice vibes in terms of how descriptive it is about the scenery and what is going on.

The characters are all endearing in their own way and this is a bit of a mashup of a few genres. We have magical realism with a darker side, some mystery and the idea of sisters reconnecting. This one was actually darker than I expected it to be - but I absolutely loved it. This was a lot more witchy than I imagined it would be, I loved the herbs and the wards and all the spelled books.

As the book went on, I found myself getting drawn further and further into the story until the point where I think I finished the last 200 pages in one read because I couldn't stop. I highly recommend this to those who are fans of books like The Cartographers or Ninth House. It took what I thought would be a magical library and made it to be something dark and thrilling.