Pearl got to her knees and crawled down the length of the bed toward Esther. “I imagine,” she said, “that six months of unwanted celibacy plus a planeful of new faces could make an extrovert of anyone.” 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. As for the plot itself, I did find some of the assumptions the characters made rather *convenient*, and there were a couple inconsistencies, but overall my reading experience was great—it was well-written, I flew through it, and if the "big bad villain" identity was predictable, I enjoyed his demise very much 👀 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.

Ink Blood Sister Scribe ‹ Literary Hub Ink Blood Sister Scribe ‹ Literary Hub

Ink Blood Sister Scribe starts with Esther at a research station in the Antarctic. She has found love in the shape of an Australian, Pearl, who has been there for a year with her. However new people are now arriving and Esther moves on every year on the 2nd of November discarding her old life. Meanwhile her younger step sister, Joanna, is still in their old home in Vermont. She is the only one living there now and she is tasked with looking after the collection of magical books that her family has. This role leaves no time for her to do much else as the wards need to be set on the house each day. ARC provided by Rachel at Century Books and Eliza at William Morrow. Thank you both for the copies! All quotes used are taken from an early ARC and are subject to change upon publication. 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?” 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

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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. Do you think the scientists drink so much because they’re making up for all the years they spent studying?” Esther said. Ink Blood Sister Scribe is itself a magical book, brimming with all the elements that make a story sing - an engrossing plot, characters that steal your heart and make you laugh out loud, and a compelling energy that reveals a true storyteller at work. What a gorgeously satisfying read. Lesley Nneka Arimah, award-winning author of What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky 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... If they are to survive, she and Joanna must unravel the secrets their parents kept hidden from them - secrets that span centuries and continents, and could cost them their lives ...

Ink Blood Sister Scribe: the Sunday Times bestselling edge-of

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. Emma Törzs is a writer, teacher, and occasional translator based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her fiction has been honored with an NEA fellowship in prose, a World Fantasy Award for Short Fiction, and an O. Henry Prize. Calm down, Don Juan,” Pearl said, laughing. “I’m not questioning your technique. You just seem a little nervous.”

Book Summary

An adventure, a puzzle, a twisty thriller, and a tender romance.' Alix E Harrow, The Once And Future Witches

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

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." Overall, an evocative and utterly spellbinding literary fantasy that’s full of vibrant, compelling characters you’ll be hard pressed not to root for. So, if you love books full of magic (and magical books) then you definitely don’t want to miss this! THIS BOOK DESTROYED ME AND MADE ME LOSE FEELING IN MY HANDS WITH HOW ANXIOUS IT MADE ME FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS BEST 2023 RELEASE BY A THOUSAND MILES' Not to mention the comedy gold we get in the Sunshine x Grump dynamics between Nicholas and his bodyguard Collins, or the utter adorableness of female Pomeranian Sir Kiwi (whose bond with Collins is soo sweet.)I love when magic is treated in a new and interesting way, and I got it in this novel. The characters were all distinct and likeable and had their flaws. When the storylines all came together, this book started to sing for me. While I like elements of it, I feel like the execution is going to bring out the ranter in me. Which is a pity, because it's so close to being something I could have loved. And for a book about books, there's very little concern with the contents inside them. It's more about the physical object and the feeling you have when you either hold one or walk into a room full of them. Which is fine and I relate, it just doesn't make me personally connect with the novel or its characters in any way. Un fantasy libroso/stregonesco che interpreta a suo modo quello che consideriamo il "potere" di una biblioteca, con libri raccolti, tramandati, custoditi e inseguiti nei secoli. Törzs's debut novel features a wonderfully realized and atmospheric world and a plot filled with unexpected twists...Törzs does a fantastic job creating a gripping and suspenseful story that keeps readers on their toes and wanting more. Fans of The Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo and The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern will love this magic- and suspense-filled novel. 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.

Ink Blood Sister Scribe – HarperCollins

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 when all three of these characters discover hidden secrets that redefine their lives, they're thrown together on an unexpected and emotional journey. This is a tale that’s so multilayered, so richly woven together that the narrative entertainingly meanders through puzzle solving, uncovering long hidden family secrets and self discovery. Throughout Törzs deliciously blends together contemporary with classic fairytale staples such as various enchantments, magic mirrors, forest animals, a quest, absent parents and even a stepmother. Like any dark fairytale, it is also drenched in blood. There is a fascinating twist on witches and mages as instead of spells just being read aloud and cast, blood is the key to activating the magic or for creating it. There are those who can feel and even hear magic but cannot create it, and there are those who can create it but never feel or hear it. Then there are some spells that are ongoing, that are a work in progress, that hold the power to drain the user’s blood dry.Have I actually been an introvert this whole time?” she said. “All these years, have I been fooling myself? The real extroverts are out there like hell yeah, fresh meat, nonstop party, bangtown USA.” 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! A delight from start to finish. Part caper, part love letter to books, with a slice of gothic creepiness, it was just the read I needed.' Chloe Benjamin With decadently rich prose and an intriguing mix of magic and mystery, Emma Törzs’ Ink Blood Sister Scribe explores loyalty, sisterhood, betrayal and obsession —in this gorgeously interwoven tale about two estranged sisters, their family’s magical book collection and the shady organisation willing to do anything to possess them. Finally, I was enamoured by the descriptions of the sisterly bonds and the longing for belonging, affection, and an identity. A sense of knowing who you are, who your people are, and where you can belong.