An incredibly short, fantasy romance, far too short for my taste. Because of the length, or lack-thereof, this book felt rushed. There was next to no world building, we weren't shown who any of the characters were, we didn't get to know them at all, we were just told who they were and what to think.

General Sebestyén is a warlord/royal archduke/all around bad guy who holds too much power and the people of this world look up to him for no apparent reason. Of course he has his sultry moments where you can see the insta-love begin within the first 10 pages.

Rea is our protagonist, who was abandoned when her father died by her tribe and who has had to fend for herself and is on the verge of death. The general makes a deal with her to teach him her ways of tattooing magical powers into a person.

I'm not interested at all in instant love connections, i believe they are not believable at all and they ruin a book for me. Knowing this was a romance, if I had known how short it would be I would not have requested because I would have known it would disappoint me. In my opinion, this book was completely unfinished.

"They were like sky and earth, meant to look upon each other without ever meeting."

Ink & Arrows by Shruthi Viswanathan manages to capture a sweeping romance, a lot of conflict and character growth and bring a whole world and force of magic to you all within a novella-length read. I really enjoyed the tattooing aspects, it's a unique concept I haven't really read a lot of fantasy novels themed with it. While the book was short, it still felt complex and the romantic payoff was nice, though a little quick-feeling right at the end.

I received a copy of Ink & Arrows via Netgalley early in return for a fair review.

Thank you @netgalley for the ARC of this book.

This book is a short read and so it's quite fast paced. Hence it doesn't waste time but at ssme time it's missing out on details. There are so many things just mentioned in passing which actually have quite the influence on the characters and yet they are not elaborated. Like the fathers of both main characters, the brother, the starvation, the battles and the wars the hardships. I feel like there is a lot of backstory missing. This book is basically a short story. The narration style did not flow smoothly it was confusing at times about the timeline, the road through the chapters in the book felt a bit jerky and bumpy.

Sebestyén is a general/ archduke and basically the heir to the throne. He keeps winning battles and kingdoms just to please his father gain his approval and love. In the kingdom of this would be king like sort of nomad people traveling from one place to another. This tribe is called Suveri they are famous for their tattoos which give them magical qualities and powers. The rest of the kingdom hate they word tattoo and equally hate the people who draw them. They are hence shunned by society and sometimes even enslaved.

He comes across Rea one day and is attracted towards her. He keeps meeting her under the guise of learning how to make the tattoos. They have the usual banter hate relation which turns to love. But he want to be the next emperor and bring about change and she does not want to be tied down and go where the wind blows. But of course things don't go as they plan.

The romance was fast paced and if I'm honest I didn't really connect with it. There is an explicit scene in this so its definitely for 18+. Overall the story though has a lot of potential I really love the concept of tattoos giving you powers. Since some people really believe its abusing your skin and someone cultures actually are more accepting.

A short romance and a tale as old as time... poor outsider girl must decide if she should give up revenge for the love of a Prince Charming-Warrior type... they are from two very different worlds abs under normal circumstances would not know each other but of course the circumstances of him liberating her from a dungeon aren’t quiet normal...

Rea is a Suveri, they are nomadic gypsy-type people with the ability to weave magic into tattoos. They are outlasted from society and looked down upon by pretty much everyone. Their magical abilities being one of the various reasons people think less of them.

General Sebestyén, archduke and son and heir of the emperors makes a deal with Rea to free her in exchange for her teaching him how to make magical tattoos. She is reluctant but with few other options she agrees. Though she is unaware that Sebestyén stumbles upon her in the valley where she lived and for a long time he watched her intrigued by her and her life. A life so different from his and he used these stolen glimpses as a distraction from the realities of his own life. He never planned to actually know her until circumstances made that necessary.

During their time together they get to know each other and developed feelings. ‘Tis a tale of a enemies to lovers and opposites attract, it’s a romance so they have to overcome their vast differences so that they can of course be together.

To be honest I read this book because I liked the cover and it sounded interesting... It was kinda boring but not a terrible read.

This is a very short novel and if I had known that before I began reading it, I would not have selected this novella. There are two things I hate in any book; insta-love and hate that ends up as love, both are so trite and have been over-done.

Sebastyen releases Rea from prison in return for help in learning about her tribe’s magical tattoos. Rea’s tribe has always been shunned by others for their tattoos and magical abilities. Sebastyen is the eldest son and warlord of the emperor who have hunted, killed and banned the Suveri from living in their land. As he spends more time with Rea his views change and he finds that she is the one person he can relax and be himself.

This book would have been so much better if the author had delved more into the history of the Suveri, their magic and t tattoos instead of just making it a side story for the love story.

3.25 STARS: I received a free digital ARC through Netgalley in exchange for a honest, unbiased review. I sincerely thank Netgalley, author and/or publisher for giving me this opportunity.

~*~*~SPOILERS~*~*~

This book has such an interesting premise. I love the idea of tattoos that can bestow magical abilities depending on the design. When you add in that a nomadic people are the only ones with the affinity to create those tattoos, a warlord prince in search of power, and a rebellious, strong woman with a painful past you bet I was all in for this story.

Unfortunately, it all fell a bit flat for me. Those nomadic peoples the description promised? Yeah, they play practically no part in the story other than a convenient excuse for Rea’s behavior. And Rea, our rebellious woman capable of bestowing the magic tattoos? Well, she caves to the will of a man and offers her life at his feet after they have a quick tumble. Where is her promised determination, iron will, and free spirit? No dick is worth giving up your free will, no less your life.

Oh, and let us not forget these magical tattoos that can bestow powers, long life, and a myriad of other things. Those are just another plot point tossed in for giggles, they actually don’t mean anything and are pretty much completely useless in terms of the story. Rea gives this huge build up about how painful they are and how they can destroy your sanity with their pain. Yeah, she was just kidding about that. She can make them painless if she wants to. lol.

This book gave so many promises it did not deliver on. Even the romance aspect was pretty dry and entirely unbelievable. The concepts behind this story are wonderful and I think with a little more development and thought this could become an absolutely magical story. In its current format, well, at least it was short.

This was an unexpected surprise!
The characters were well developed and stayed true to themselves even as they grew throughout the story. The tattooing gave it a creative as well as unique twist. It was a subtle constant through the plot and I enjoyed that something simple could bring so much meaning.
It is always interesting to see two very different characters come together and form an enjoyable story.
Overall I did enjoy the book, I just felt as though things were rushed. I liked that I was given satisfaction at the end and you could feel their connection grow, but that just made me want more in the story. I wanted to see more of them.
This was an enjoyable book, even if it was shorter than I would have liked.

-Stone

*ARC provided by Netgalley in an exchange for an honest review*

It genuinely saddens me that this ended up to be a three star read. Because the book had SO much potential, and the world –if given the proper amount of time to be built– was fascinating and I really would've liked to see so much more of it.

One of the stars I took down because the book is only 127 pages and I DON'T understand why and it frustrates me. (Maybe the timeline was pretty long, somehow the book's timeline is over two years?? In a 127 page..? yeah I don't know as well.) Like why not take more time with the book, why only a hundred, so.many.whys!!

The other star was because how a little bit unhooked I was at the beginning, I just didn't understand the motives behind each character, I didn't find myself feeling for either of them at the beginning. I didn't even get to know them enough (even when the book was over), and some things were said at the beginning and later on their opposite was said and it had me confused.

And honestly I don't know who's more complicated Rea or Sebastyen. I still don't fully understand them.

Now I know this all might sound like a boring book or a bad one, but surprisingly it's not, and that's why I'm genuinely sad about giving it 3 stars. I wanted more, I wanted world building, character development, I wanted a hell lot of things and I was left with a slow burn, not very well developed, romance.

So no I liked it but I didn't fall in love with it, to sum it all up

*Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC

~ ARC provided by NetGalley ~

Fantasy romance as advertised. Short and sweet. For a short novel this was unexpectedly good and well written. Although the ending could've used a little more substance, it was like a perfect fairytale ending lol. But if you're looking for a nice easy romance this is enjoyable.

This is a short romance novella about a girl from the Suveri tribe, outcasts for being magic users and creators of magical tattoos. She hates an Alisian general for being responsible for the death of her father and wants revenge. In enters the prince of the Alisians, Sebestyén, who has taken an interest in her way of life, and in particular, her.

I appreciated that this was about two young adults in their early twenties in a fantasy setting. I felt for once that I was not too old reading about teenagers going through very adult situations, but about characters I could directly relate to. I hope that this can set off a new wave of a New Adult genre that is much more interesting with diverse characters like there were in this book. The writing about love in this book was lovely and the enemies to lovers trope was allowed to mature over a reasonable period of time, like a normal relationship would.

However, what suffered was the plot and world building elements. We are promised high stakes but there are no real consequences for the characters actions. There was no real conflict from the start, the ‘hate’ between the characters is a farce. The book asked me to care about her hatred for her father’s killers, I could not. It asked me to see how the prince could justify continuing to persecute Rea’s - the main character - people, or at least his own feelings toward them, hatred or pity, but those feelings were not particularly strong except for the love he showed her. I was not able to care about her people’s suffering that much, it was not entirely shown. The one or two characters from her world did not add anything much to her connection to and longing for them. She always thought about him. After a while the premise of revenge did not matter and I wondered why it was the entry point in the first place. I did not even care about the prince’s war exploits outside his interactions with her, I have no idea why they were included. I did not feel like there were huge consequences in the two lovers romance, quite frankly, they were coming and going as they pleased. The magic elements are vaguely explained and nothing is done with them. We are promised magic but almost none is wielded, so the book could have done without it. The ending is tied together unbelievably conveniently in the epilogue with a few paragraphs solving all the major conflicts in this book. On top of that, there were a few typos here and there.

Despite how critical the review sounds, I do think the writer had good ideas and a wonderful premise, but they needed to be fleshed out more. Or it could have been a straight forbidden romance without trying to do so many thibgs at once. I will read whatever offering the author has in future, because there was beauty to be found in this book, but the other issues were glaringly distracting.

Thank you to Netgalley and Weaponry Co-Op for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review

First off I want to thank @netgalley & the author for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
•
The book cover is gorgeous and the synopsis sounded to promising this is what drew me into this short story.This was a good short story, I am kind of sad it didn't go further because honestly this book had a great concept. The magic with the tattoos was a very unique thing and I would've loved more. I understand it's a short story but there was so much potential for growth.
•
This was a typical YA fantasy book the characters were young and you could feel it in the voice the author gave to the characters. The writing was clear and understandable throughout.
•
The ending was too perfect and ended too abruptly, which I get it's a short story but I needed more !

This is a novella with so much wasted potential. The idea behind it is spectacular and could very well make for an intriguing standalone novel. The execution of the idea is lackluster and makes for a very dull reading experience. I need more worldbuilding and explanations. The author very rarely goes into detail and there are a few confusing time jumps. Overall I think Ink and Arrows needed more fleshing out and definitely length to allow the story to grow into the epic tale it could be.

Ink & Arrows. I was expecting to read more bout Rea's ability and her tattoos but the author focused more on a predictable romance. The author skip few months for a few times and I feel lost. I don't get what happen within that time span. This book need more details.
The ending felt pretty rushed. Btw I love the cover! Damn pretty 😍

🌟🌟.5

ARC from NetGalley

2.5 stars

This wasn't bad, but it wasn't good. There were barely any fantasy elements. This is a love story. It's not very a well sussed out love story. It wasn't particularly interesting. It was utterly predictable. I didn't feel anything for the characters. Utterly meh.

What an intriguing novella! I was very disappointed to realize after downloading that it was a short story, but I really enjoyed it. I think it would be amazing as a full length novel with the world building of the Suveri. I hope that happens!

I was provided with an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had very high hopes for this book. The synopsis sounded fantastic, but unfortunately I just found it to be incredibly lacking in world building, character development, and plot in general. I felt no connection to the characters at any point, and I found the plot to be very sub par and underdeveloped. There just wasn't enough meat to the story to make it engaging enough to enjoy.

Ink & Arrows follows the story of Rea, and Sebastyn. Rea is part of a culture in which they tattoo themselves for art but with the art can also come magical enchantment, and from that enhancement. Her tribe/ people are outsiders, and that is the way she expects it to remain. Sebastyn is an archduke, the emperors heir, and the complete opposite from Rea in all aspects but one; he too lives a lonely life filled with sadness. Ink & Arrows follows what happens when their paths collide.

So as you can see I gave this book 2.5 stars. The reason being, this book had great potential. When I initially read the synopsis I was so excited to find out more about the magically imbued tattoos, what they can do, and what someone who has them inked onto their skin would be capable of. Alas, this is no such book. I will say in defense that I really adored everything I read about Rea's people, the community, the freedom, the customs, and their beliefs; it was all very interesting and I felt like it was mostly a good balance - I perhaps would have preferred more but I do understand in such a short story it may have become info dumpy.

My issue with this book, was 1. pacing. Given that this was a fantasy/ romance I expected a lot more build. The problem wasn't the time, but more how time was used. We jumped in feet first to a situation where Rea is in a bad way, and hates Sebastyn then all of a sudden we jump forwards to their companionship/ friendship beginning to kindle. It's not that I don't like time jumps in novels ( I do) however I do expect them to enhance the story and character development not take away from it. In my honest opinion this aspect made the romance seem less genuine, less developed, and as a consequence made me the reader care less.
2. Character development. Unfortunately I wasn't in love with the character development here. Rea's disposition didn't change all the much throughout, and if I'm being honest felt a little forced at times. Yes she did come around, but to me it felt too easy. But again I think that is all down to the lack of time we get to experience her feelings and emotions. Sebastyn didn't really do it for me, he felt flat and all I can tell you about his character is he is a little infatuated with Rea and that he has known some emotional hardship. But there was so much to me that didn't add up for him; he didn't believe in love or sentimentality in the beginning - yet was pursuing a girl he saw in the hills picking flowers one day. He was emotionally shut off one minute and the next trying to relate to Rea by thinking of his mothers own death. I honestly didn't know what I was supposed to think there. There really wasn't much personality in him at all.
3. Secondary characters. So we had some secondary characters...none really worth mentioning. The emperor I will mention for the sole reason of saying I am disappointed we are still getting this character. The stern tyrannical father who is constantly emotionally abusive to his heir and demands perfection etc. I've seen this carbon copy far too many times and am extremely bored of his presence in books these days. A paper cut out villain.
4. The ending. That was a super quick resolve and a definite "lets do a happy ever after/ it all worked out" type ending. Which I can get behind in some cases but again the pacing made it feel to cliche and unfortunately this didn't suit me at all.

Overall, this book was quick and easy to read, but for me it was a little lacking in execution sadly.

A girl from the Suveri tribe, who are feared for their magic, is bound together with the future emperor.

I received a free copy from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Rea is all alone, having parted from her tribe so her father could gather more ingredients for the Suveri's magical tattoos. Unfortunately, her father is killed, leaving Rea in a pit of despair. In her depression, she has switched off from the outside world, and hasn't the energy to do even basic things.

Sebastyen is the eldest son of the emperor, and has been groomed to be heir. He has been schooled in war and politics. His only escape, are the few hours he can steal with Rea, where he can just be himself.

Despite this being about two cultures coming together, with the Suveri tribes' mysteriously magical tattoos, the author focusses this novella on the relationship between Rea and Sebastyen.
The magic, and the secrets of the Suveri are brushed upon, but simply provide a background and a point of contention for our lovers. I was pretty disappointed that this wasn't explored further, as when it was set out in the beginning, I thought it had huge potential.
Instead it devolves into the usual "enemies-but-not-really" into lovers.

I quite liked the writing, although the advance copy I got could do with an edit.
Despite the characters being in their twenties, and the brief sexual content, I thought this read very much like a YA fantasy. The characters always felt young to me, and the narration suited YA perfectly.

I thought the ending was too neatly-tied up. Again, it felt like the potential in the story was trimmed for the sake of a HEA.

Overall, the world the author created had a lot of potential, and I would be interested in reading more of their work.

I give this 3 stars (however a lower three stars). I seem to not be the only one who went in with too high of expectations. I went in really excited but left feeling underwhelmed.

For me, it moved too quickly and didn't go into enough detail to capture my heart. The time frame went from month to month and stuff was happening in the background that we don't see but get filled in which doesn't have the same effect. I would have loved for the story to go into the magical elements of the tribes tattoos and the background/history. For the romance there was potential but for a forbidden romance I wasn't sold. There was no suspense behind it.

There's so much potential in all the elements, cultures and world that the author created that I feel like if this was a full novel, instead of what felt like a sample, I would've loved it. It did feel like a sample into the world and there's so much more to explore and learn.

This didn't live up to what I was expecting. It felt rushed and I was looking for more depth. the romance was nice but it just fell short for me. Thank you netgalley for this ARC exchange for my honest opinion.