Review Detail

INK IN THE BLOOD is an engaging and atmospheric YA fantasy. Celia Sand was delighted when she was chosen to serve the Divine at six years old; her mothers were so proud of her. However, Celia soon realizes that this devotion is a curse, and being an Inkling is anything but good. Inklings serve the Divine by creating tattoos with messages that the person needs to hear, and those tattoos give them direction for their life choices.

However, as Celia has learned over the last ten years, the messages are not always good, and frequently could be interpreted in many ways, though the person will see one. The ten years in which she has served have been tortuous, and her body bears the physical scars of this abuse. Celia wants out, and she is determined to take Anya, for whom friend is too small a word to describe. However, getting out is nearly impossible.

A way out presents itself through a Mob, a group of performers like a theatre troup or circus. Mobs have their own rules and can do as they please, but it is very hard to become a member- they rarely accept outsiders. They travel around to different countries and put on shows, often comedies, and some people seem to exist only in costume, never resuming their birth persona.

After an audition, Celia and Anya join the Rabble Mob, a group that soon becomes family. They bring a whole host of interesting characters and experiences, but their time in the Rabble Mob is tainted by the religion that follows them and threatens the people for whom they have come to care so deeply.

What I loved: The representation among the characters is amazing, and I love this idea of a society where each person is Kid until they are old enough to decide whether they are he, she, or they, and what their name should be. The theories about religion are vastly thought-provoking and truly shine through the book. There's a lot to consider after reading this book, including about structure, message interpretation, foundation, and the endpoint.

The characters are beautifully crafted, flaws and all. I wish there was time to delve even deeper into the many intriguing people we meet in this book. The idea of tattoo magic was really unique also.

What left me wanting more: I would have liked a bit more crafting about the religion. We get the basics, and it is enough, but I felt like I still had a lot of questions. Additionally, there were things about the world that would come up seemingly out of the blue, and I would have liked to understand them better. On the flip side, this is already a lengthy book, so I am not sure if there was space. The story does seem a bit slow in the early-middle, but the pace really picks up later.

Final verdict: Dark but enchanting, this is a YA fantasy that will stay with the reader long after the last page is turned. Highly recommend for fans of THE CHEMICAL GARDEN series, THE LONE CITY series, and/or SOMETHING DARK AND HOLY series.