Review: Stolen Ink

Stolen Ink by Holly Evans
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Tattoos and magic – two of my favourite things. It goes without saying that I would jump into this one. When you see a combination of your favourite things thrown together, you always jump at such books.

However, it also leaves you with very high standards. As the book contains your favourite things, you expect something wonderful.

Did this book deliver me the amazing story I had been hoping to receive? Unfortunately, it didn’t quite make it. I know I have given the book a four star rating, but in reality it is more of a three-point-five read. I had an extremely lengthy internal debate as to whether I should give it three or four stars, but in the end the voice in the back of my head whispered ‘tattoos and magic’ which bumped it to the four star round up instead of the three star round down. A part of me still believes I should have rounded it down, but I’m going to stick with the gut reaction of rounding it up.

As the first book in the Ink Born series, this book does a lot to leave you interested in the story. We get to see a decent amount of the world, we’re introduced to many aspects, and we’re left with a lot of curiosity about many things. In terms of leaving me interested in reading more of the series, this book has certainly achieved something. Whilst it’s not at the top of my ‘grab the next in the series’ list, it’s certainly sitting on the list. I’m interested in where this series will head from here, and I want the answers to all the questions in my mind.

Although I am curious about where the story is to go, a part of me feels this story didn’t quite deliver all it could have. I feel as though many aspects of the story weren’t given the depth that it should have been given, with things entering the story to simple be rather than allowing us to truly appreciate the aspect of the story. Certain things may be developed upon in future books, but some parts I wanted to understand in this story. I’m a lover of understanding the world I’m thrown into, a lover of understanding the complexities of magical systems and the laws of the world, but in this one I feel as though my understanding wasn’t quite up to what I usually like.

Don’t get me wrong, the magical system was a lot of fun. I just wanted to understand it more. I wanted to be left in awe of the system, but I never quite reached that point. I just accepted that two of my favourite things were connected, without them coming together in the mind-blowing way they could have. In part, this is my own fault. I really did have such high standards in my mind for the tattoo and magic link – in many ways I was destined to be let down.

Nevertheless, it was an interesting story. It was far too quick for my liking, but there was everything you needed to make an engaging read. I found myself picking up the story whenever I had the chance, interested to see where things would head next. It really did pull me in, even if I do feel as though it was over too quickly. I also feel as though certain themes were given more attention than they should have been. The romance, for example, took up a decent portion of the story but felt rather weak and clichéd. It wasn’t a romance that I cared much for: it simply seemed to exist to add another element to the story. I would have been much happier had the romance not existed, and the magic was given more attention.

As a whole, though, I enjoyed this one. It was an interesting introduction to the series and I’m interested to see where things go from here.

As a final note, I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this in exchange for a review.

View all my reviews