Oh, this was a brilliant read! Ink Blood Sister Scribe took me on an adventure, one filled with intrigue, magic, blood, and mystery. However, at its heart, it is a story about family and the secrets that are kept from each other.

Something that I absolutely adored was how immersive this book was. Our four main characters all start off in very different locations - Joanna, living alone in her crumbling Victorian childhood home in Vermont, still grieving her father, looking after his rare magical books collection, and trying to befriend a stray cat for some company. Esther, Joanna’s older sister, who is settling in to a life at a base station in Antarctica, and has decided to ignore her late fathers warnings to up-heave her life every year. Then there’s Nicholas, a young man who has the ability to write spells, and is mostly confined to his uncles sprawling English mansion, for his own safety, after there was an attempt made on his life. And finally, Nicholas’s personal bodyguard, Collins, who rarely leaves his side. I really felt like I was there, alongside these characters, in their environments, which is a credit to the author.

There’s a cosy, almost practical magic-esq, feel to this book sometimes, but there is also a constant feeling of threat, which I loved. It kept me on the edge - one minute I’m reading about a stray cat, and the next there’s blood markings on mirrors, indicating that something is about to go very wrong.

The way magic works within this world is very interesting too. It felt very different from anything I’d read before, and was so well thought out, with a focus on the books that hold the spells, and how they are written.

Overall, a compelling, thrilling, sometimes pretty creepy, debut, but one with huge heart - highly recommend!

Thank you to Netgalley, and the publishers, for the early copy to review.

A slow modern fantasy novel. Unfortunately, I failed to engage with the writing and did not finish. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

Wow, this was hard to put down, and one night kept me up reading when I should have been fast asleep!
Normally I'm not very interested in books about magic, but this was an exception. I suppose that most of the magic books that I do like are to do with books and/or libraries, and so this got in under that umbrella, but I am really glad that I did read it. I found it quite easy to imagine the look of places described, even though there were (thankfully) not long pages of description. I found the section about Antarctica fascinating, and the characters were sufficiently fleshed out that they seemed believable.
There was plenty of action, which I love, and some great twists. What more could I ask for in a book?

This book just did not grab me. I felt that it was very slow and took too long to get to any sort if point.
Esther and Jess are half-sisters sharing a father, Abe, who collected magical books.
Jess can 'hear' the books and is determined to protect them, even if it means living a very insular life.
Esther has no magic but recognises it and is suitably scared of those people searching for her father's books.

This book takes far too long to get going and when it finally does it doesn't quite deliver on what it promised.

The premise is an interesting one and it's what caught my attention when I read the blurb, but you're thrown into a story half told and the descriptive parts of the book focus on things that add nothing to the story and I have to admit I found myself completely lost and, even worse, disinterested in any of the characters.

It's a shame, the bones of a really good story are all here, it just felt dull to read.

A terrific book that kept me reading until the small hours. I absolutely loved this story and all the twists and turns, including the complicated family dynamics. Whilst there are some action scenes, I wouldn't categorise this as a thriller but rather as a fantasy. If you enjoy fantasy literature in general, I urge you to pick up a copy. It is wonderfully written, with an engaging plot, well-rounded characters, and excellent worldbuilding.

Joanna has taken on the lonesome task of caring after her family's library of magical spell books while staying at home. Then, at the age of 18, Esther, her magically immune sister, abruptly left home. After that, Esther frequently moved, never settling down for longer than a year—until now.
On the other side of the globe is Nicholas. His uncle looks after and guards him, and until now, he has always felt safe in the library. Their lives are now in danger. They must learn the truth and know who to trust if they are to survive because there are secrets everywhere.

Hardly able to believe 'Ink Blood Sister Scribe' (that title!) is a debut, I came to the end of the novel with a beaming smile on my face.

Wow! Just wow. Törzs writes with such a commanding voice, the pitch of the novel is characterised by a sense of painstaking accuracy of articulation and concision of meaning. Törzs writes what she means and means what she writes.

My mind boggles at how many edits it might have taken to tighten the screws of this novel so precisely. Otherwise, my mind is completely blown by this debut author's natural talent!

The characters here are richly painted and strong. Sharply defined character voices/inner mindscapes make the POV swaps so natural that I'd barely notice when a perspective shift had taken place.

Furthermore, an author must always be lauded when she spotlights a lesbian relationship, and I've been really cheered recently to have read a few novels in a row that resist the Dead Lesbian trope and portray female homosexuality in an objective, no-fanfare way. With Esther and Pearl's relationship, what Emma Törzs effects is a bright and fair-minded realization of female sexuality. In fact, the heterosexual romances portrayed in the novel are dim in comparison to the illumination that highlights Esther's relationship with Pearl in the Antarctic base.

The concept central to the book is carried off superbly. I fully expect there to be libraries somewhere with books that hum with magic, and for there to be people out there whose blood, if used as ink, manifests spells when read aloud! Törzs naturalises her story-world so well that her plot is invested with total authenticity.

I'm really looking forward to the release of 'Ink Blood Sister Scribe', to see the impact it makes!

For receiving an eARC through NetGalley, my thanks to Random House UK Cornerstone; to Emma Törzs, of course; and to Century, publishing 'Ink Blood Sister Scribe' in July 2023.

Wow! What an adventure! Secret societies, magical books, libraries humming with spells....this was absolutely delightful and had me hooked from the start. I loved the familial ties, and growing relationship between the two sisters. We'll definitely be ordering this into our libraries!

I really enjoyed this sprawling mystery/magic novel, which is comparable to The Book of the Most Precious Substance - Sara Gran and The Cloisters - Katy Hays. It was well written and unique, I'm really hoping for a sequel! The only thing that stopped me rating this 5 stars was that it was slow to get going, with most of the action happening in the last 80% of the novel.

I guess, for me, the mix of magic/supernatural and the modern day language and world didn't quite work as I see it did for many others .. lots of prolonged character building that seemed to undercut the magic of the world the family lived in .. and, yes, one of the main characters appears awfully late in the game. It does feel YA as a result .. anyway, a good attempt just not for me

What a great read! There's everything here that you could want; great family dynamics, magic, suspense, fabulous locations and a really exciting plot with a terrific resolution. So often books fail to tie up all the loose ends but not this one, all my questions were answered satisfactorily and the story flowed beautifully. The characterisation adds some real depth and the different POVs add to the dynamic. I'd love to add some examples of why I enjoyed it so much but I can't without giving spoilers so all I can do is recommend that you read it and just let yourself be swept away into this mysterious world.

Sisters Esther and Joanna have grown up with magic. As a collector of spell books, their father Abe was keen for his girls to be involved. However, it appeared that although Joanna was gifted, Esther was unfazed and untroubled by any spells cast, they had no effect on her at all. On her eighteenth birthday, Abe gave Esther the choice of leaving home, thereby keeping her family safe, or staying with them and putting them all in danger. Some choice! He advised her that every November she must move and keep on the move for 24 hours so that no one can track her whereabouts. All very intriguing!

The start of this book was such a struggle to get into, I almost gave up on a couple of occasions. The chapters set in Antarctica were really mind numbing at times. When Nicholas and Collins appeared the story and plot became much better. It was still very slow and the book was far too long, but most of the loose ends did tie up nicely and some strange events explained.

At times this reads as a YA book, and I’m sure that with a few tweaks that would be its perfect audience. I’m not entirely sure that being blurbed as a spell binding edge of seat thriller describes the book well. It is more a wandering through mystic and magical spells with a fair bit of blood letting thrown in.

Nice writing, nice plot, just too long to get going.

2.5*

Thank you NetGalley.

Magic and high paced thrilling action, what's not to like?!

This is a great read, full of high pace action, mystery, compelling characters and relationships. This is one of those books where I can remember where I was when I read it, it's stuck in my head that well.

I found this book very slow to start off with. It got quite a bit more interesting at chapter 7 when Nicholas appeared. The blurb only mentioned the two sisters so I was quite surprised not only when he was introduced but that he was one of the main characters. That was at about the 25% mark so it did take quite a while before it started to grab me. After that point, it steadily built up to be quite a good read. The story includes certain aspects every so often that don't seem to be important but later on, there's something else mentioned and I realised that it linked back to an earlier seemingly insignificant point which was nicely done. Things started to fall into place and the whole plot suddenly became apparent. You know that moment, when it just clicks, and you realise exactly what's going on? It's like, over and over again, sometimes with major plot points and other times, minor ones.

I particularly liked the way magic spells were cast in this world, it was quite a different way of doing it. I also liked that it was mostly set in Vermont, just because I love Vermont. The characters were interesting, particularly Nicholas, Collins, and Joanna. I found Esther to be not quite as well filled out as the others somehow. From quite a slow and boring start, it turned out to be a much better book than I initially thought. Although all loose ends seemed to be tied up and it came to a definite end, I don't think I'd be too adverse to seeing what happens to Nicholas and co afterwards, particularly with regards to Nicholas' plan.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy to review.

I really enjoyed this fantasy novel set in the regular, modern world. Joanna is the guardian of her family's small stash of magical books. She is stuck in Vermont, having to set daily wards to protect the stash. Her sister Esther has been banished to a life of wandering, forced to move every year on the same date. At the beginning of the novel, she is in Antarctica and really enjoying her life and wondering if she really has to move again or should just stay put. Finally there is Nicholas, a blood scribe across the world. The story takes a little while to get going, setting up the backstory of the characters and doing some world building but then really takes off. It was a great blend of fantasy, mystery and thriller.

I really enjoyed this debut novel. It had some really original aspects to it. It was a bit slow at parts and could have been a bit smother, but it was an enjoyable story with a great mix of character

The ingredients for a great urban fantasy are here but they are... well, undercooked.

The worldbuilding is the book's biggest strength, and the way the author envisions magic working makes the historical linguist in me happy: there are scribes who are able to write magic books, but they need to use their own blood as ink, and this ink needs to be made in the right conditions, with suitable rituals, and enhanced with herbs. Furthermore, the language of the magic book needs to be just right in order for the spell to work as intended. It's more of an art than a science, and the author has done a good amount of research into making books and the relevant history, which makes it all feel believable. (Although I have to admit I skimmed over some of the more gratuitous scenes describing blood being drawn and messed around with because that's icky to me personally.)

What mostly let the story down for me are the characters. The book is told from the pespective of multiple different narrators, and while they are interesting on the surface, in the end their voices were not distinctive enough, and they started to all blend together. There were also multiple moments where the characters reactions to the events did not feel authentic to me or just out of place, and that took me out of the story. The plot worked fine, and I was eager to keep reading to find out what happens next, but the conclusion left me feeling somewhat deflated.

A great debut novel about books, magic and the secrets hidden in families. A little slow to start, it picked up pace in the second half and raced towards a thrilling conclusion.

Esther is living on a remote research facility in Alaska. You find out that she has to leave her whole life behind every 12 months on the same date. However, this year she has decided to risk the danger and stay where she is for love. Her sister Joanna on the other hand is living in the family home as a recluse and is never allowed to leave the protection surrounding the building. We then have Nicholas who is living a life of extreme privilege and wealth, but has every aspect of his life controlled by his family and has no freedom. They are all connected by books powered by blood magic.

This could very easily have been dragged out into a long winded and complicated trilogy so I'm very glad it's all wrapped up neatly into one book. There is lots of action and suspense. The magic element is very believable and well explained. It also explores complicated family relationships and the sense of duty.
It's a great introduction to this kind of genre without being all wizards and magic wands.

A smashing dark academia debut. You will want this one in your hands asap. In a world where magic is real and books are limited the task of two different sisters to save their families legacy will leave you left in their world and gasping for more.