TL;DR: Sisters, one who can never stay and one who can never go, learn why their family has been torn apart by the books they protect. A young man learns the lengths people will go to control his talent

for writing magical books

.

I found the first part of the book boring. I know it is intended to set up the rest of the book so you can understand the action when it gets there, but it felt too long to me. I also really struggled to understand when we were in the present versus when we were looking at the past. If there had been a format change or something to indicate we were not in the present, it would have felt less jarring to me.

Sometimes, there is nothing better than a book about books!

The setup: The novel follows two sisters, Esther and Joanna, born and raised in a magical family - those who can read magic from books and cast certain spells. While Joanna can produce this magic when reading it, Ester seems untouched by the magic. When she reads the books, nothing happens. More perplexing, magic seems to have no impact on her. Esther and Joanna's family is complicated, and we are met with many fascinating tales about mothers, fathers, stepmothers, and overall familial ties.

In addition, we also travel alongside the tale of someone named Nicholas and his bodyguard, Collins. We know little about Nicholas and his ties to Esther and Joanna's story, but he lives in The Library, a heavily guarded magical library in London. Nicholas is a Scribe, meaning that he writes magical books.

Throughout the novel, we learn of the characters, the magic, and their connection through many ups and downs.

What I liked: I found this novel quite innovative and original. The theme of magical books has no doubt been done before, particularly in witchy settings, but I just thought this one was unique. Additionally, the writing style and prose were just lovely. I found it atmospheric but still grounded in modern times, which was an interesting touch. To me, this seemed to sway to the side of magical realism versus fantasy, but it is about magical books and spells, so I can see why it wouldn't necessarily be too close to real life. Either way, I just thought it worked so well. There were also a couple of twists and turns throughout this novel that I didn't see coming, which I always LOVE!

What didn't hit the mark: The beginning was slow, and while I loved the character development, once the connection was there between plots, I felt some things were a little rushed. That said, I gave this 4.5 stars, so it didn't impact my overall reading experience and love for the book.

I recommend this as a nice in between of magical realism, contemporary literature, and fantasy. It was super readable, yet poetic at times, and I loved the plot. I look forward to checking out this author's other works in the future!

Honestly one of my favorite reads of 2023, and it's December. 

"Ink Blood Sister Scribe" by Emma Törzs is a good urban fantasy for readers who love books and libraries. The story follows two estranged sisters, Esther and Joanna, whose family watches over a collection of magical books. To protect the books and her sister from a mysterious force, Esther must move every year, which has led to a life with few deep connections. But this year, Esther is enjoying her life and budding relationship with Pearl so she decides to stay longer than the one year mark. When this decision backfires, Esther begins to learn the truth of her family's history and the danger that threatens them. 
I really enjoy the magic that Törzs has created as well as everything related to the library. I cared for the sisters but I do think that I will quickly forget them. There is a big part of this story (and a main character) that isn't mentioned in the synopsis and I'm not quite sure why. I found them to be the more interesting part and I felt like they had more character development. I will be interested to see if Törzs writes any companion novels since the world she sets up feels far vaster than the story in this standalone. This feels like it might have been better set up as a series with this book as the first installment and a future installment that would further explore the world outside of the main characters' lives. 

This was a fantastic modern fantasy. I enjoyed the twists, even the ones I saw coming. I thought that the way the books worked was intriguing, especially how the knowledge had to be rediscovered by some of the characters. Once it gets going, the story moves along at a fast pace, leaving me desperate to know what happens next.

This book does contain blood magic. I've given it a good, hard look, and I think it avoids coming too close to invoking blood libel, for the following reasons. First, the magic doesn't have to involve the unwilling taking of someone's blood for the benefit of another. While it can take that form, in the form presented as good the blood is freely given and the magic is viewed as a positive thing of beauty. Second, while there are powerful people who take the magic for their own profit, they are not Jewish-coded in any way I noticed. And third, Jewish tradition is explicitly present elsewhere in the story and used as a source of positive strength. Obviously this is something each reader will have to decide their own comfort level on, that's just the reasoning I followed for my own feelings.

The only thing I didn't like was the romance. I didn't mind Esther's romance, though. I thought that was fine, and just messy enough to make me feel like she earned it. What really ground my gears was Joanna's romance. It's okay for characters to be single. She didn't need a man, and furthermore I never got any kind of vibe that he was particularly right for her. It felt like it was shoehorned in because the author thought she needed to end up with someone in order to be happy, and he was the most convenient guy.

Now, the most important part of the review: does the dog and/or cat die?

There's a pet dog and a pet cat owned by different characters. Both are completely fine. This book is certified adorable for pet lovers!

Well written overall. The magic system, however, toes—if not fully crosses—the line of a blood libel trope. I do not make that argument lightly. See below for short explanation. 

The magic of the books relies on the ritual harvesting (there’s no other word for it, as willing as some may be) of Scribes’ blood to make the ink, at the very least. The length of the book determines how much blood, and Scribes do die in the process of making books. More complex spells are composed of other ritually harvested parts, e.g., hair, sinew, skin. That the magic system relies on the ritual harvesting of the blood, lives, and bodies of a specific group of people (Scribes) in service of magic they themselves cannot enact or be affected by, toes the line of blood libel. That the book is focused on a specific, elite group  and one influential character being the ones doing the ritual harvesting… you see what I mean.

Read with care and caution. 

I do agree that Collins and Nicholas should have been endgame. 

This was great! I think this is my favorite Book of the Month read so far this year. I will say that there are a lot of twists and reveals that I figured out very early, but it didn't detract from my reading experience. It was fun to see the characters put together what I'd already figured out. 

I picked this up on a whim and very much enjoyed it. Then again, I’d love to have magic books in my life.