"You two are bright stars in the Rabble Mob, and the Rabble Mob is family.”

OH THE FEELINGS.

The first in what’s going to be an amazing series, Kim Smejkal blew me away with this one. Have you ever felt like you were on the inside of something big? I joined Kim’s street team for Ink in the Blood because I have a thing for tattoo books, so I figured I’d like it. But HOLY SHIT. Damn this is good. I feel the need to hoard my ARC copy because it might be a part of something BIG. Sorry for using so many capital letters but I’m actually yelling because I’m SO blown away.

"Just like that, he’d hopped onboard her ship without realizing that the deck was rotted."

Celia is an inkling. She is a worker bee in a religion that keeps its hold on people through tattoos. She literally carries a goddess’s ink in her blood, and receives orders from the High Mistico for the tattoos, passed on from the Divine, which she tattoos on herself and “pushes” to the recipient.

But her religion hides a dark secret, and it’s not just the horrid abuse of its inklings. She plans to escape with her best friend. But can they ever be free from the Divine herself?

“You see, a plague doctor isn’t much of a doctor at all. We’re the ones left behind after all the real doctors leave. We tally the dead. We hold hands and stand sentry at bedsides. When the rest of the world flees, we become the unfortunate mask of any remaining humanity.”

Welcome to the Rabble Mob. Griffin is The Plague Doctor in a troupe of traveling players. He is suspicious of Celia and Amaya from day one. What are they hiding? Will it endanger his family? And, even worse, themselves?

"They hadn’t explicitly asked for help, but Celia discovered Us was funny like that—they hadn’t needed to ask."

This book is an onion, it has many layers. There is the epically amazing story. But then there is the world, where children choose their own names and sexual orientation and gender are not assumed, they are chosen. And accepted. And then there is the family aspect, the deep and complicated meanings of true love, whether through blood or chosen family. There are strange and deep bonds that are studied here, between Celia and her friend, and their new chosen family, and their original parents, and their god.

And there is the Commedia, a reflection of life itself, a story within a story. "The Commedia represents the whole of humanity: the infinite struggles, the triumphs, the despair. But the Rabble Mob of Minos takes it all and puts it directly in your pocket."

I am always afraid when I read the first book in a series that it cannot stand alone. This book is the perfect balance of a complete story with an epilogue that makes you desperate to read the next.

The ending, while I will not give away anything but that there are more than one plot twist, will destroy you. But why do we read if not to be emotionally wrecked and to love and hate the writer at the same time? I love a writer even more if I hate them a bit. Don’t we all?

"Everyone’s breaking was inevitable. Shouldn’t he, above all, understand that best?"

If you are into LGBTQ representation, or tattoos, or strong powerful but morally ambiguous heroins, or lovably arrogant guys, or if you just enjoy being fucking destroyed by a book, preorder this one.

5/5, preorder this book! You'll want to read it and reread it again. One of my top 5 this year!

Frist, thank you to HMH Books for Young Readers for the ARC and eARC for an honest review!

Celia Sand and Anya Burtoni are best friends, partners, inklings. Inklings draw and send on tattoos for the Profeta, a religious institution that gifts tattoos as divine orders. So, if a woman wants to leave her husband, she'll recieve a tattoo resembling family and commitment. But Celia and Anya don't want to stay. When Celia and Anya audition for the Rabble Mob, a travelling show, they are accepted and leave, running from their past, using their ability to draw tattoos as a show trick, hiding from the Profeta and the Rabble Mob, alike.

But when their past catches up with them and the very person, The Divine who inspired the creation of Profeta, begins threatening their friends and fellow Mob members, they must fulfill her divine orders.

This book is filled with lust and darkness, friendship and trust, and freaking MAGICAL TATTOOS. A wonderful debut, Ink in the Blood is a fantasic beginning to a dark and daring duology. not to mention the ever-popular and favorite enemies to lovers burning romance!

The setting of Ink in the Blood and the characters are well-developed, and this world is absolutely beautiful. I really cannot recommend this book enough! Excited for Book 2!!!

When I first received an advanced copy of Ink in the Blood, I wasn't entirely sure what to think, since I'm not a huge fan of fantasy books and I often have a hard time getting into them. I have nothing against them at all, I just tend to be more of a contemporary/rom-com reader, so I felt really out of my element when starting this book. However, it turns out that I had absolutely nothing to worry about, because I ended up LOVING this book ten times more than I ever thought I would! So without further ado, let's get into my review:


As the summary explains, Celia is an Inkling, one of the few chosen by the Divine to inscribe messages of both praise and warning on the followers of the religion. But life as a servant of the Divine is not as incredible as the outer public may believe, and Celia finds herself running away for a better life and a chance to escape the torture that plagued her childhood...but what she gets when she meets up with a traveling band of actors is definitely not what she bargained for. However, are these new people willing to help her tear down a sinister institution that is actually idolized by its people? (There are definitely a lot more details that you should refer to the originally summary for -- which is right up at the top of this post -- because there are tons of super-specific details that I'm not good at explaining because, as I just said, I tend to not be a big fantasy buff, so those explanations are kind of hard for me, LOL.)


You guys, I don't think I could say it enough times: I LOVED THIS BOOK. I was kind of hesitant at first because there was a lot of world building and information to set up the story, which was totally necessary but still felt a bit heavy and overwhelming to me at first since I'm not often reading fantasy. However, as the story went on, I found myself more and more hooked, to the point that I was reading this book during the walk between classes, on the train to work, and every spare second that I had in between my various club meetings and homework assignments. Kim Smejkal manages to weave an intricate, intriguing, high-stakes story that you never want to look away from -- the nearly 450 pages of the book passed by in a total blur because I just kept flipping and wanting to find out what was going to happen next!


The entire world of the Inklings and the Divine and having the tattoos being inscribed on people as both messages of prophecy and also warning was also a really interesting concept that I hadn't ever really read before in a book, so I was intrigued about that from the very start. The world with all of the high-ranking officials, the Inklings, the Mob, the fleas, etc., was all very elaborate while also being very easy to understand. As someone who tends to be timid when it comes to world building (because contemporary novels that I read often don't require much, if any, of it), I ended up not being as overwhelmed and confused as I thought I was going to be. And I actually ended up getting a really intriguing story out of all of it!


Something that I particularly ADORED about this book was the increasing amount of sexual tension/flirtation between Celia and the plague doctor. Like I mentioned earlier, I'm a huge rom-com fan, so just having that whole "enemies to potential friends to potentially something more" trope with all of their interactions and their increasing sexual tension that they both refuse to acknowledge was seriously giving me so much life. The plague doctor himself was really just my favorite character and I loved swooning over him every time he was on the page. I have such a weakness for mysterious, masked, dark, brooding, sexually-frustrating characters. He gave me major Phantom of the Opera vibes in the best of ways, and I am not ashamed to admit that I was blushing almost every time he was on the page.


Overall, I absolutely adored Ink in the Blood, and I can't sing its praises enough. I'm really glad that Kim Smejkal is a 2020 debut so we can do some more work with here on the blog (be on the lookout for that!), because this is definitely a story that needs to be getting into as many hands as possible. According to Goodreads, there should be other books coming in a series after this one, so I'm going to be eagerly awaiting those for sure! If Ink in the Blood wasn't on your TBR yet, it definitely should be now!

I’m thrilled to be on the street team for Ink in the Blood! It’s been so much fun so far, and I was also so excited to start this book. I mean, tattoo magic! Female friendships!! Overthrowing an entire religion!!! Ink in the Blood tells the story of a battle between an angel and a devil, two best friends caught in between, and everything they’re willing to do to set things right.

I’ll admit, it took me a bit to get into the book, just because I wasn’t in the right mood at the time, plus it’s purposely roundabout in its prose at times. However, it definitely picked up. I was really into the second half and couldn’t put it down!

The worldbuilding was really cool. Ink in the Blood revolves around Profeta, a religion centered on the Divine who channels magical ink through blessed people called Inklings. The whole world is also very gender-inclusive! Everyone has a tenor, something like an aura, that shows a person’s pronouns. It’s just simply a part of the world, nothing special; it just is. There’s also canon f/f and m/m couples mentioned, and Celia, our protagonist, is wlw!

Celia is an Inkling, as is her best friend, Anya. Together, they escape from the temple, joining the Rabble Mob (basically a travelling circus) as a means of protection from punishment for running awary from Profeta. Except Diavala, the devil figure, has followed them and is aiming to create chaos. Celia and Anya then set out to unveil all the lies of Profeta to the people while balancing on a knife’s edge so as not to upset Diavala. The vibes of the book lowkey reminded me of the movie The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus actually!

Celia and Anya form strong bonds with the people in the Rabble Mob, discovering a new family, one the temple has never felt like except for each other. It was really interesting reading about all these characters and their tightly knit group dynamic.

The romance was nicely intertwined with the plot. Celia’s tension with Griffin was very real. I’m interested to see how their relationship develops in the next book!

Celia’s relationship with Anya made me cry honestly; it’s all platonic, no romance between them, but their dynamic was heartwrenching. I mean, the way that they’ve been each other’s only family for the past ten years and the way that they would do anything for each other! I loved them.

I really loved the writing! Typically I hate when books end every chapter with a one-liner, just because it loses meaning and weight the more you do it. However, it works so well in this book! Although, again, it would get a bit confusing to follow but also I wasn’t focusing as much. It is meant to be confusing though, if that makes sense; not in a bad way, it’s just that the whole book feels like a riddle.

Overall, Ink in the Blood was a stunning debut. The worldbuilding, characters and their relationships, and writing were all so good. I definitely recommend Ink in the Blood for fans of The Night Circus, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and/or Leigh Bardugo!

I'll start by saying I enjoyed the writing style, but, unfortunately, the story itself didn't keep me after the initial pull. I DNF-ed it just shy of halfway. The magic is very interesting though, so maybe I'll give it another shot later.

I ended this book. I really struggled. I may pick it up again but I was so confused with the world building.

This book just wasn't my cup of tea and that disappointed me! When I heard the comparisons to Leigh Bardugo and Kendare Blake, I knew I would have to try it. The tattoo magic really intrigued me and I wanted to know more about this world.

Unfortunately, it just didn't work for me. I wasn't drawn in to the story at all. I was confused while reading it and didn't really know the point of the book too well. I felt like it got muddled once the theater troupe came in and I was more interested in the beginning of the story and lost interest as it went on.

I thought the world building was good, though. I give anyone credit who can create an entire magic system and make that make sense. This definitely had revolution vibes and that was something familiar to other books that I've read. I think the cover is also very gorgeous and totally goes with the theme of the story. It definitely is a dark fantasy and I liked that a lot about it. I enjoyed and appreciated the queer rep, as always!

I LOVE this book!!! It's refreshingly weird, atmospheric, the main character is a delight and the lore surrounding it was fascinating. I love the worldbuilding and officially want to be part of the Rabble Mob.

I have a feeling because of its unapologetic inclusion of LGBTQA+ and celebration of it, this could be met by resistance from Certain Librarians, but this is definitely a book I feel should be embraced rather than feared for being different. Go into this with an open heart and mind and you might just enjoy yourself ;-)

This book has a fascinating premise, with unique details and characters. The prose is poetic and intricate, with leaps forward and back in time and a constantly shifting point of view that will force readers to pay close attention and fully engage with the story. The non binary gender and sexuality of the world was a refreshing change. The whole book had a kind of fluidity to it. It reads almost like a dream. There's no solid footing. No linear thread between one line of dialogue and another. I wondered, perhaps, if the author intended the reader to be as unsettled and uncertain as the characters within. I think teen readers will enjoy the themes around the power of theatre and art, the fight for free will, and the many layered iterations of love, friendship, and family.

Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Two friends, Celia and Anya Burtoni, are inklings who using magic in the form of enchanted tattoos. They are able to interpret the Divine’s will and guide the actions of the recipients. However, they are captives of a religious cult and make their escape with a traveling theatre trope.

Fantastic world building and a unique premise.

Perfect for fans of Caraval, The Night Circus, and Wicked Saints.

Celia and Anya are Inklings, devout worshipers of Diavala. Their gift with the ink allows them to impart wisdom from the Divine through tattoos that they ink onto their own skin and then send to the recipients. But Celia and Anya are questioning the Divine's will and want out. With the help of a friend, they escape into a troupe of traveling performers. Their act, the Devil in the Bell Jar, causes people to question right and wrong and is highly popular with audiences. But maybe it is too popular.

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This book gave me darker Daughter of the Burning City vibes. The characters were interesting. The magic system was a little tricky to figure out at the beginning but wasn't overall too complex to become off putting. I'm not sure if this is a perfect fit, as fantasy can be hit or miss, but it is a standalone which is nice for YA fantasy. Overall, I really enjoyed this book!

A sprawling, ambitious fantasy with intricate worldbuilding, vivid atmosphere, and a cast of characters you want to run off and join the revelry with.

INK IN THE BLOOD is the debut novel of Kim Smejkal. I was extremely excited to read this story because it advertised my three favorite things: tattoos, magic, and religion. However, it wasn't what I expected. I appreciated what the author was trying to do and I love the queer representation. It is so rare to read about bisexual characters and as a bi woman, I appreciate the author for that.

Though it was a quick read, I really had to sit and think about this story for a while.

I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. The book contained some heavy issues and I saw what the author was trying to do, but I don't believe it was translated effectively for me. I appreciated the worldbuilding and the magic system, but the writing didn't click with me for some reason.

However, I would love to see where she takes this story next. I will always be emotionally invested in books with queer characters as the leads.

Wow-ee! Was that ever a ride of a book! I finished it yesterday and I still don't know who to trust. I'm going to take that as a very good sign.

Let's start with the obvious, shall we? The queer representation is through the roof in this book. For instance, the main character, Celia, is bisexual. Throughout the story we meet several people who are gay, lesbian, straight, or prefer he, she or they as their pronoun. I struggle a little and get confused with the 'they' pronouns, just because my brain is still hardwired to think of it as more than one person, but I'm working on that. Further to all of that, every individual in this world possess a tenor, which is a unique and colourful aura that essentially displays your gender. While the representation is big, it is not the focal point of the plot at all.

The story itself is fascinating. Almost immediately I got a dark Caraval vibe, but from the point of view of a performer, not a spectator. Heck, even The Night Circus would be an apt descriptor, minus the delightful whimsy. The Rabble Mob was an interesting group to tag along with, and it certainly kept that dark vibe going. The Plague Doctor in particular; wasn't quite sure what to do with him but heavens did I love him.

What I really loved was the tattoo magic! It stems from religious lore, and I found the whole premise to be so neat! Celia and her friend Anya are Inklings, and they were chosen by the Divine to send messages to people via the ink. Essentially they tattoo themselves with an ambiguous visual message of warning or advice, and when they 'let it go' it appears on the recipient's skin! And the way Celia and Anya use that ability between themselves throughout the book is just as entertaining. Likewise, the role the religion they served in the progression of this book was crazy! Major plot twists I did not expect!

This was a mighty big story, and much to my surprise, it required a lot of reflection afterward. There are themes of religion and morality that went quite deep. They threaded throughout the entire story and really drove certain plot points with a degree of openness and unpredictability, if that makes any sense at all. I was also especially thinking on where this story is going to go next. I'm guessing this must have originally been written as a standalone, because the ending was about 95% cut and dry and wrapped up with a bow. There are very few loose ends left so I will be very interested to see where this goes in the second book.

The only reason why this book lost a star is because I really had to pay close attention, and I learned this too late. Especially at the end. It got somewhat confusing and I had some difficulty following what was going down with all the hullaballoo. I'm going to chalk much of it up to the version I read being an unfinished arc. I'm definitely buying a finished copy and if it improves my rating will definitely switch to five stars. Regardless, there are a lot of details coming at you, and no matter how small or big they are they need to be filed away for future.

A rich world with an intricate magic system. I was fascinated by the idea of tattoos having a life of their own. A wonderful debut by Kim Smejkal.

*Spoiler free, 3.5 stars*

This one was sort of on the back of my radar for awhile. I knew it had something to do with tattoos and ink, but nothing more than that. Though, when I finally took it upon myself to find out what it's about, it sounded like such a fascinating fantasy. A corrupt religion, messages spread through ink, best friends? It definitely sounded like a book I wanted to try.

I'm not quite sure how to explain my feelings about this book. I liked it. It was really enjoyable and it was a really solid book. Though, there were things I did not like. It's not that they fell flat, were underdeveloped, or anything that I can easily put into words. Some things just weren't fully there for me.

The writing is incredibly poetic. I wasn't expecting that, so I think that threw me off for a bit. Though, it was done very, very well. I enjoyed it a lot. Though, I felt like it wasn't consistent throughout. There were things that were talked about in metaphors, with writing that flowed however it wanted to. And then there were things that were talked about starkly and where exactly as they seemed. It threw me off a bit and there were times where it left me wanting. I just wanted to get to the heart of a certain character or just fully understand a piece of worldbuilding, but the writing kind of danced around it.

A lot of things in this book were done really well, but I felt like some things were kind of misplaced. There were twists that happened that I never would have guessed, but I wasn't shocked when they were revealed. I felt like some of them happened too early, or weren't placed the right way. There wasn't enough tension or mystery around them, so they sort of just felt like something happening. They were good plot points, but I personally would have liked if they were executed differently.

I also would have liked to see a lot more out a lot of the aspects in this book. I would have liked to see more of Celia and Anya's friendship. I actually thought it was going to have both Celia and Anya's POV, but it was actually just Celia. I would have liked to see their relationship with the Mob grow and blossom more. I would have liked to delve in the world in a slower, deeper way. I guess I think some things could have been fleshed out in a more intricate way. Some things just felt fast, and I ended up being confused here and there (though that could just be me). I didn't get a full emotional hold.

Despite these things, I didn't hate this book haha. I know I'm making it seem that way, but there were a lot of things I really liked!

Celia was absolutely fantastic. I loved her character. She's angry, she's determined, and she just wants to live freely. She calls brain her bees, which is honestly one of the best ways I've heard thinking described. She was a sharp wit and is just really brilliant. She also feels the same way about gender that I do! Which was really, really awesome to see. She swings between female and non-binary and she and they pronouns.

The queerness of this book was also something I really, really loved. There are casual non-binary characters. Casual use of they/them pronouns. It's done in a fantasy way, but with such care. There is also so many queer characters and relationships and it was honestly just really great to see.

The Mob was also really great. I loved their shows and I loved their family. They were so interesting.

I also really liked the ink and the tattoos. They were just as fascinating as the synopsis makes them seem. They're part of such a cruel world. A world where change needs to happen, but nobody sees that but the people its harming. And nobody wants to listen to the people its harming.

Overall, this was a really interesting book and I did enjoy reading it. Some things didn't quite work for me, but it was still good. The ending is very subtle in it's delivery, but that's what makes the punch it packs so effective. I am looking forward to seeing what comes next!

OH. MY. AMAZING. Kim Smejkal has masterfully created complex, multi-layered characters, a hauntingly lovely setting, and a new and unique type of magic. Her writing is mesmerizing--the kind that completely pulls you out of reality and keeps you turning the page. INK IN THE BLOOD is light and dark, love and lust, life and death--all set within a Venician-esque backdrop where the shimmery veil of theater and illusion battles the iron fist of religion and law and you never quite know who's playing the tricks on who. Basically, this book is pure magic. It will not disappoint. I can't wait until book 2!

Kim Smejkal has masterfully created complex, multi-layered characters, a hauntingly lovely setting, and a new and unique type of magic. Her writing is mesmerizing--the kind that completely pulls you out of reality and keeps you turning the page. INK IN THE BLOOD is light and dark, love and lust, life and death. This book is queer, and the magic system is unique. Which makes it stand out in our world of ever-revolving door of fantasy books. Thanks for a great one!

This is an interesting concept.
It combines both fantasy and tattoos in a magical way and it's unique and cool. Unfortunately the plot is both weak and confusing and the characters aren't strong enough to hold your interest. It has its moments here and there and it is a quick read but it's just not enough to hold that spark. This is only part one of a series so I have faith and hopefully the next installment will be much better. I'm looking forward to it!

This book was received as an ARC from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group - HMH Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I fell in love with this book right from the beginning. The concept and execution Kin Smejkal took with this book was very unique and different which made me like it more. I myself have never been a huge fan of tattoos but when these tattoos reveal a lie that has been told for generations and the teachings Anya and Celia have learned all their lives have all been lies and things were not exactly as they appear, the story got more shocking than the next. Because this book was so different focusing on a whole alternate concept, our teen book club is bound to sure love this.

We will consider adding this title to our YFiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.