Hello everyone,
I don’t normally publish a post that solely focuses on one review. This year I might try to do this more but we’ll see how it goes. For my reviews I want to be honest and try to give a good enough explanation behind my ratings.
Publication date: 25th January 2020
Pages: 127 pgs
An artist who inks magical tattoos…
Rea is a Suveri, part of a tribe that can create tattoos with devastating powers. Bitter after the death of her father at the hands of the cruel general, she tries to get revenge …only to fail at her mission and be saved by a mysterious stranger who demands to know the secrets of the Suveri tattoos.
A prince searching for power…
Sebastyen is the heir to the throne and a warrior who has shed more blood than any other on the battlefield. But the woman he meets offers a glimpse of peace. Intrigued by her rebellious nature, he agrees to fulfil three of her wishes in return for learning how to tattoo with magic.
Rating: 3 stars
I give this 3 stars (however a low 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. When reading the blurb I was reading for something mystical, great culture and a passionate forbidden romance that will capture my heart. Sadly, it kind of fell flat for me. I think one of my favourite parts of this book is the cover. It’s stunning!
Storyline
Personally, it moved too quickly and didn’t go into enough detail to capture my heart. It immediately throws you into the story with stuff happening and you’re kind of expected to know. The time frame went from month to month and events were happening in the background that we don’t see but get filled in on which doesn’t have the same effect. It moved quickly but at the same time it felt like not a lot was happening (does that make sense?). I would have loved for the story to go into the magical elements of the tribes tattoos and the background/history along with the tension between the tribe and the village. There wasn’t enough interaction.
Romance
For the romance there was potential but for a forbidden romance I wasn’t sold. I love reading about forbidden romance but I was reading, although my heart wasn’t in it. There was no suspense behind it.
Characters
Ink & Arrows revolve around two characters, Rea and Sebastyen. They didn’t have an impact on me. Obviously they were interesting enough for me to read about and finish the story but don’t stand out. If anything I think it’s their character development that wasn’t paced out enough to suit me.
Overall
The reason why I gave it a three star (a low three star) instead of a two star was because of two reasons. 1) I felt like two stars might be too harsh and 2) 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.
If the summary does interest you, I do recommend to check it out as I also saw 5 star reviews and them loving it, so it goes to show that it does all comes down to your personal taste. It’s just good to note that it’s only 127 pages (although it took me 5 nights to read it!) and the pacing will not suit everyone.
Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review…
Hope you enjoyed the review. Let me know!
Until next time…
xx
Bella 