Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs is one of those fantasies that slowly winds together a few different stories & then WHOOSH pulls them tight.

I love that, don’t you? The sign of an author’s master plan coming into big & gorgeous effect.

This story takes as its premise a world where magic can be found (& even created) in books & it’s activated through those books & blood.

Magic has separated sisters Esther & Joanna, but it brings them back together when Esther is threatened. Magic is also part of the secrets surrounding Scribe Nicholas, who sees his carefully constructed world start to peel apart.

Taking the reader from Antarctica to Vermont to the English countryside, Ink Blood Sister Scribe is an adventure that really started captivating me about 1/3 of the way in & that I loved from then on.

There are visceral, violent moments & there’s also love, hope, sisterhood, & the possibility of a new romance.

So, like, a great fantasy.

4.5⭐️. Out now!

Please see a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs.

[ID: Jess’s white hand holds the book in front of a black headboard decorated with flowers & flourishes. Below is a white floral comforter.]

Really fantastic adult fantasy! I felt really connected to all the characters and loved the interwoven storylines of everyone. I really enjoyed the author’s writing style and can’t wait to see what she’ll write next!

A big thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I requested this book on a whim, and boy am I glad I did.

Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs is an urban fantasy novel that follows the estranged life of the Kalotay family, who have been guardians to a magic library for multiple generations. But the story really focuses on the sisters, Esther and Joanna who have been living on opposite sides of the world to escape their family's legacy and unraveling secrets. But they are forced to come together when their father suddenly dies while reading a book. Esther and Joanna must work together to solve his death, and come to terms with their family's secrets and magic.

I did not know what I getting into with this book, but boy am I glad I picked it up. The characters are amazing. The plot is grand and sweeping enough to keep it interesting. The magic system is unique. And the writing style is just *chef's kiss*! Read this book now!

Rating: 3.5/5

I am slowly being reintroduced to the fantasy genre and thought this was a great read.

There were a few issues with pacing - I thought the beginning was slow and I was waiting to see how the characters merged and what would happen upon their meeting. The later half had better pacing.

I thought the fantasy aspects of this novel were well-done. I was not sure if there would be a sequel, but if so, I would read it.

Ink Blood Sister Scribe is a not just a story about magical books. It's about fighting for our personal freedoms, for the power to choose our own paths. The characters in this novel are complex and compelling, each with their own demons to unearth and confront. I was hooked from the first page!

I loved this book! Such a cool magic system and the characters were great! It was a little slow to start but once it picked up it was amazing!

Compelling, creepy, magic, action-filled, blood-soaked mystery that I enjoyed from beginning to end. Beginning contains a sapphic love scene to establish the deep connection between 2 of the characters. The twists and turns of the plot are timed perfectly. Thank you Netgalley for the digital ARC.

Imagine a world in which books could be a source of magic. World in which some humans could sense that magic and some maybe even create it. Welcome to the magical world of Emma Torzs's debut Ink Blood Sister Scribe. I happily lost myself in the world of this book and reluctantly left it after the last page. Adventure, mystery, secrets, family drama - this story had it all. And I won't be the least bit surprised if I start seeing this book everywhere this summer. It's a kind of story that holds a wide appeal to different types of readers.

The story revolves around two half-sisters, Joanna and Esther, separated by time, space and circumstances surrounding their family's secret library of magical books. One of them is bound to their home and the said library while the other one is currently at a work station in Antarctica, constantly on the move for mysterious reasons.

The first third of the book is dedicated solely to character and world building and I was there for it. This world and its magic came alive for me. The images were so clear and vivid, it was almost like watching a mental movie. There were enough twists and action in the later part of the book that the entertainment factor was there in the best way possible. If you appreciate the true art of storytelling and love magic, you will not want to miss this one!

A huge thank yo

My college library has purchased a copy of this book based on my recommendation for lending to college students.

Ink Blood Sister Scribe, by Emma Torzs, is a staggeringly powerful debut novel, encompassing dark magic, family drama and an action-filled plot.
Esther and Joanna are sisters driven apart by the dangerous forces that are trying to control their family’s books of magic spells. While Esther is in Antarctica, fleeing the dark powers, Joanna, at home in Vermont, must set the wards—protective spells—each night to protect the books stored in her basement. After a slow, foundational, start, the plot takes off with much intrigue and time-related tension, as the sisters fight for their inheritance and their lives!
The characters are richly drawn and unique, feeling both realistic and somewhat diaphanous at times. The storyline is pleasingly complex, and without spoilers, comes full circle on the meaningful four nouns of the title—Ink, Blood, Sister, Scribe. All is revealed in a stunning finale!
I found the language and writing lyrical and beautifully descriptive.
This compelling, mesmerizing novel is a superb debut for a promising new writer. I look forward to more works by Emma Torzs.

Thank you to HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.

This is the story of two sisters, the last of their line with a legacy of protecting and preserving magic books.

Joanna, who has inherited the gift of “hearing” the books lives alone since her fathers death. Her sole purpose is tending to and protecting the books. Esther, is currently in Antarctica. She moves once a year to protect herself from attack from the mysterious figures who killed her mother. She has not inherited the gift of hearing the books, and has totally removed herself from that world. That is until, she finds evidence that someone at the base has a book and is practicing mirror magic. Possibly as a way to get to her sister and the books through her.

I loved the ideas in this book! Magic, books, please sign me up 😍. However, I found it had to stay engaged as the first half of the book really dragged. For that reason, I give this book 3.5/5.

Thank you to William Morrow and Netgalley for providing me with this eARC to read and review.

Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törsz

I had high hopes for this book but unfortunately I just didn’t love this one. All the makings of an excellent fantasy story including: spell books written in the blood of a scribe, ancient libraries, mysteries and lonely characters. This book never found it’s stride though.

Too many characters and storylines and a really slow pace made me uninterested in where it was headed. I did stick with it and while the second half was a lot better than the first it still didn’t end up wowing me. @staceylovesastory described it as clunky and that’s exactly how I felt. This one is out on May 30th, thanks to @harpercollinsca for my copy! I’m so curious to see other’s thoughts on it!

On to the next! Reading Cassandra in Reverse which I’m hoping is more engaging and fun!

What are you reading next?

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DNFd at 30%. My policy as a reader and to juggle my busy schedule is to give 30% of a book before deciding what to do. 30% into this one and literally nothing significant has happened. The pacing is painfully slow and boring. I am all for vivid descriptions but I couldn't stand the fact that out of 8 pages of a chapter, 6 were narrative that just kept dragging on and on explaining the character's experiences or thoughts. It just felt like I was being told so many things without being told anything of importance or something to make me be remotely interested in these characters. I heard great reviews about this book and the premise was so interesting. But it failed to deliver for me.

This is a book the defies categorization - there is some magical elements, some thriller, some mystery, some literary fiction, some horror (depending on how you feel about human leather books). But one thing I can save for sure is that it is impactful and stayed with me long after I closed this book.

This book was in no way what I was expecting, but in the best ways. There are multiple POVs that take a while to overlap so you need to hold multiple plots while reading (and speculating if you're like me). All of the characters are flawed fully realized people and while I guessed some of the plot points it felt beside the point as I was reading this beautifully written book.

I feel like it left room for this to become a series, or at least have other books in this series and I wait with bated breath to return to this world.

Ink Blood Sister Scribe is a debut novel that will seem normal on the outside, only to find that it is something remarkable within. Imagine hearing the hum of magic as you read the pages of a book. This novel sounded like an interesting read, but I hadn't expected it to draw me in to its world like it did.

Magic centers on books written in blood. For Joanna, taking care of a centuries-old library hidden in her basement, it must be hidden at all costs. Her sister Esther has cut ties with the magical world, though she still fears that it will follow her. Across the ocean, Nicholas chafes in his role as the only living person who can write new magical books. For all of them, magic is ancestral and stifling, until it becomes dangerously, personally real. The system of magic is easy to understand but also deep.

If this novel isn't magic, it’s close. It’s rare to find such rich characters who struggle with themselves, a riveting plot, adventure and action and twists, basically everything you could ask for in a novel. If you’re at all a fan of books, I see no reason why you wouldn’t like this one.
Thank you to William Morrow & NetGalley for allowing me to review this book

Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torz was a bit of a chore to read. There were important things to know and it took half the book to get the reader up to speed. It was a slog, and boring. But about half way through we got to the actual story and things looked up. Now, I am not a fan of magic and I am not sure how I ended up requesting this book. It was very complicated, maybe more so than it needed to be. The main characters were Nicholas, Esther, and Joanna, with Collins and Cecily coming in a close second for the good guys, and Richard and Maram, for the bad guys. The brunt of the story was a library that housed all magical books known to the librarian based in London, and a small collection of books housed in Vermont. The librarian offered a special service writing new spells, in the form of books. The catch is that they must be written in blood by a Scribe. There is only on Scribe available: Richard’s nephew Nicholas, whom he slowly killing by using too much of this blood without enough recovery time. The relationships were complicated and revealed only in snatches.

The book could have used some editing. Even considering my prejudice against magic, it was a decent book, but too wordy. Stephen King says to use the least amount of words possible. Torz did not follow that dictum. The characters were decently written and interesting, once we got the ball rolling. The plot, simply put, was interesting, but too complicated: too many obscure details. The pacing of the first half was abysmal. It had huge potential but in my opinion, missed the mark.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of Ink Blood Sister Scribe by William Morrow, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #WilliamMorrow #EmmaTorz #InkBloodSisterScribe

May is apparently the month for books about books and I am fully in support of this burgeoning trend. This time around we have a story of a Library full of spell books written at the cost of human blood and the guy in charge is using it for profit, which is rather the opposite of The Book that Wouldn't Burn. Ink Blood Sister Scribe is also set in our modern world, so if you'd like a book with a more familiar setting, then do check this out!
Esther Kalotay left home at 18 and has been moving each year on November 2 in order to keep herself and her family safe. This year she's in Antarctica and instead of packing up and hopping on a plane, she's decided to stay with her lover Pearl. What's the worst that could happen? Well, she's certainly going to find out. Many thousands of miles away, Joanna Kalotay is going about her usual business of maintaining the books in her private collection and keeping up the wards surrounding her home. Joanna is young, but she puts her responsibilities above all else, including her own happiness even after her and Esther's father Abe passed two years ago after bleeding on a particularly vicious spellbook. Across the pond in England we meet Nicholas, heir to the Library that threatens the Kalotay sisters and all those others who might possess certain books or certain gifts. Joanna has always been able to sense the magical books, hearing a buzzing hum like a hive of bees when in the presence of a spellbook. Esther, on the other hand, has always been unaffected by the books and their spells even to the point that she cannot read one aloud to use the spells herself.
As we follow these three characters it quickly becomes apparent that somehow they are tied together, though exactly how remains unclear for quite awhile. I always enjoy a convergence, especially if it's one I've been anticipating and this one was satisfying if a bit calmer than I'm used to in a book!
Overall, I really enjoyed this book though it didn't quite have the reeling emotional impact that would make this a 5 star read. The writing and dialog was on point, as was the whole concept of magical spell books written in blood. This is also a standalone, so the story was succinctly wrapped up with no loose plot threads AND it gave a thorough, hopeful epilogue that lasted for more than a single brief chapter. I'd highly recommend this for fellow nerds who can't get enough of books about books!

3.0
I will read anything that involves magical libraries. That being said, it took me a bit to get into this one but once I did I enjoyed it and found the ending satisfying. I'm not the biggest fan of contemporary settings and because I mostly read via audiobook the many shifts in POV and time jumps were confusing, so this was partly a me thing. But I don't think it was just a me thing because the writing was all over the place—lyrical at times but in others overwritten or downright confusing. (Just have to bring attention to the line: "This book throbbed like unspent thunder..." what?? Thunder doesn't throb and why is it so sexual when that's clearly not the goal of this simile.) And as far as the multiple POVs go, it was very satisfying when they all came together, I just don't think audiobook (though Saskia Maarleveld does a great job with all the voices) is the best way to read this if you are easily confused like me.

But what is this book about? Esther and Joanna are estranged sisters, Esther having fled to Antartica to escape her late mother's fate, where she has unexpectedly found love, and Joanna being the one who stayed at home in Vermont. However, they are thrown together again when Esther is forced to flee and Joanna seeks to unravel the mystery behind the book that killed their father. Nicholas is a scribe with magic in his blood who also becomes embroiled in this dangerous game. Full of secret societies, spell books bound from human parts, blood magic, murder and intrigue, this is a thrilling book once the pace gets going!

One of the best books I've ever read. It's one of those books that you want everyone to read so you can talk about it with them. A brilliant debut by a very gifted author.

What worked: the magic was so cool to read about, the characters were vivid and their dialog was realistic, the mystery kept me on my toes.

What didn't: the first half was SO SLOW. I found it hard to remain engaged when it all was set up for what was to come. Because of this, the last quarter felt so fast that there was no time to breath or to understand what the characters were feeling. The romance felt random and a lil forced. The sister's relationship which was such a let down and I was really looking forward to that part.

I reallyyyy wanted to love this. I will continue to try Törzs' future works since there was so much promise and I enjoyed her characters and world building.