This story is so fascinating and the world drawn so richly that I felt like I became a part of it. I listened to the audiobook and Saskia Maarleveld had me enthralled with her narration of the book. The characters are interesting and the magic unique. The writing style is captivating and I need to get my hands on a physical copy for my home library. This is a book I'm going to want to read for myself too.

I will read anything that involves magical libraries. That being said, it took me a bit to get into this one but once I did I enjoyed it and found the ending satisfying. I'm not the biggest fan of contemporary settings and because I mostly read via audiobook the many shifts in POV and time jumps were confusing, so this was partly a me thing. But I don't think it was just a me thing because the writing was all over the place—lyrical at times but in others overwritten or downright confusing. (Just have to bring attention to the line: "This book throbbed like unspent thunder..." what?? Thunder doesn't throb and why is it so sexual when that's clearly not the goal of this simile.) And as far as the multiple POVs go, it was very satisfying when they all came together, I just don't think audiobook (though Saskia Maarleveld does a great job with all the voices) is the best way to read this if you are easily confused like me.

But what is this book about? Esther and Joanna are estranged sisters, Esther having fled to Antartica to escape her late mother's fate, where she has unexpectedly found love, and Joanna being the one who stayed at home in Vermont. However, they are thrown together again when Esther is forced to flee and Joanna seeks to unravel the mystery behind the book that killed their father. Nicholas is a scribe with magic in his blood who also becomes embroiled in this dangerous game. Full of secret societies, spell books bound from human parts, blood magic, murder and intrigue, this is a thrilling book once the pace gets going!

What worked: the magic was so cool to read about, the characters were vivid and their dialog was realistic, the mystery kept me on my toes.

What didn't: the first half was SO SLOW. I found it hard to remain engaged when it all was set up for what was to come. Because of this, the last quarter felt so fast that there was no time to breath or to understand what the characters were feeling. The romance felt random and a lil forced. The sister's relationship which was such a let down and I was really looking forward to that part.

I reallyyyy wanted to love this. I will continue to try Törzs' future works since there was so much promise and I enjoyed her characters and world building.

I recieved the audiobook from Netgalley for my honest review.
The narrator is amazing, I've listened to several books shes done and when I heard her voice I actually pumped my fist in the air, I knew instantly this was going to be a book I would enjoy.
This book starts as a 2 pov then by like ch 5 you get a 3rd pov and it starts to alternate between the three every chapter or so. It threw me off a little bc I thought I missed something but Törzs does this to get to know the sisters a bit better which ultimately works really well. This feels like a which-y version of the Library of Alexandria- magic isn't know by everyone and spell books aren't as easy to come by as other stories have you to believe. Only a specific person can write spell books...in blood. Okay its not that dark of a book but it does have some trauma involving the "scribe". When reading I kept trying to put the 4 main characters in to represent each word in the title, doesn't really work that way. But I think my favorite thing in this book is the Mirror Magic! It is done so well and very cool.

Oh my God. This was amazing. Read this immediately!!

Following two half sisters, Esther and Joanna, Esther is a traveler, moving yearly and Joanna stays at home caring for the vast library of magical books left under her care by their deceased father, Ink Blood Sister Scribe takes the readers on a journey of magic, loss, betrayal and family and it was so very good.
Esther, sent away to protect her sister due to her lack of magical abilities, must relocate yearly in order to keep from being found (and to keep her sister safe)- though by who she isn't quite. Joanna remains home, nightly setting the wards to protect the magical books her father spent his life collecting.
And across the ocean, Nicholas, protected by the Library has all the answers to the questions the two sisters need. Or does he? What secrets have been kept from him during his sheltered, cosseted life?

This novel was so well written, the characters coming to life wonderfully, the nagic and the world unraveling before the reader (or listener if you are able to listen to the exceeding well read audiobook) that is was a joy from start to finish.

Thank you Harper Audio and NetGalley for the advanced electronic audio review copy of this book. This is a great, well-written story. I liked the interesting magic system and elements of mystery. A very enjoyable read.

I enjoyed this a lot. This is such an interesting combination of fantasy elements and thriller elements that I thought really worked well together. I think one thing I really enjoyed was how well-written each separate POV was. They felt like two distinct characters with different voices and ideas, and were parsed through really well. I feel like multiple POV books often run into the issue where the different characters are hard to distinguish from one another, but this book succeeded where many others do not. This was such an intricate and interesting story, with stunning prose and world-building. I cannot wait for more from this author!
Specifically for the audiobook, I enjoyed the narrator a lot. I thought that she had a really interesting voice and she brought a lot of life to the story! I have started to read (listen?) to a lot more audiobooks as of late and this was a good one!

This is a multiple POV story about the toll magic and it's secrets take on a family as it tries to keep the next generation safe.

The magic as presented here has a lot of rules, which has all been very well planned and thought out by the author. I really enjoyed the world-building and that the protagonists were older than the typical YA/NA range.

The audio narration was great.

I am a sucker for stories about books and libraries–particularly magical books and libraries! Ink Blood Sister Scribe is a fantastic debut written by Emma Tőrzs and expertly narrated by Saskia Maarleveld.

Joanna cares for and guards a library of magical books, just as her father did before he was killed by one of the books. Her sister, Esther, wasn’t gifted with their magical abilities; in fact, she was immune to magic. A danger to her family and the magical library, Esther can’t stay in one place for more than a year. When she decides not to run, mirror magic connects her to Nicholas, who lives a solitary life as a Scribe, protected by his Uncle Richard. As the only known Scribe, Nicholas writes the magical books–with his own blood.

Nicholas and his bodyguard Collins are intrigued by what they saw in the mirror and travel to find Esther, and thus, Joanna. The four of them form an uneasy alliance and must discover who wants them to uncover the library’s secrets and why.

This fast-paced story is perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Holly Black, and Olivie Blake.

It was great to jump back into the fantasy genre with this book. Has three different points of view, and usually I’m pretty hesitant with reading books set up that way, but I felt that Törzs was able to make all the storylines interesting and engaging to want to read them all. I’m always a sucker for sister centered stories, so I loved how that was done in the book.
Overall, great read if you like the fantasy genre and are looking for something less high fantasy and more set in the real world.

This was slow to take off. It took some effort to invest early on, but I was really glad I did. The ride went from Antarctica to England to Boston, with magic, family drama, found family, betrayal, ambition, LBGTQIA+ characters, libraries/books, a little romance, and many kinds of guardians all rolled into one. I'm not an expert in the lore of magic, spellbooks, and codices, about blood being used as ink, about scribes and spell-readers, so I cannot comment on the originality of the storyline, but I know I thoroughly enjoyed it and the concepts were totally new to me. The characters were relatable and sympathetic and I would read more stories about them if the author continued to write them.

This book gets top marks for unusual magic system, creepy atmosphere and secret societies.

This novel is centres around books that contain spells. They are written in blood and only certain people are sensitive to the magic and can hear the books. These are extremely valuable and coveted. People will often commit unspeakable acts to acquire or maintain books for their collections. This was a fascinating magic system and felt quite dark. There is a clear cost to creating these books, and the books themselves can be extremely dangerous. While spell books aren’t a new idea, the way the author presented the creation and use of these books felt quite different and innovative.

There’s a current of menace that never goes away throughout this book. All of our characters seem to be under threat even when they themselves don’t seem to realise it. There’s a real sense of danger that added an exciting tension to the book. While most of the creepy and unnerving atmosphere is subtly built, there are moments of violence and horror that were disturbing. This book wasn’t gratuitous but there are occasions that were quite grim.

I did feel the book took quite a while to get going. About half way through the book it suddenly became riveting and I didn’t want to put it down. Prior to that point there was a lot of set up and backstory so it felt a bit slower. The book follows the point of view of three separate characters so when you’re doing set up and backstory for all of them it does take up a fair amount of time: it was all necessary for the story ultimately and it was worth the investment for how it all came together in the second half of the book. I did find that because we jump from perspective a lot, I had trouble really engaging with any of the central characters.

Overall this was an exciting read, particularly during the second half. I enjoyed the atmosphere, the tension and the constant sense of threat. Really interesting approach to magic. Lots of family secrets and mysteries to uncover too, and none of them in a way that felt like they were for shock value and didn’t add to the book. Very well written.

One sister who had to leave her family to keep them safe and one who is tied to their home. This story is about sacrifice, lies, and deception.

It has a slow start, but begins to pick up around a quarter way through. I love the magical structure. Big bad was a little predictable, but I really loved how everything came together in the end.

It's a story of adventure and healing that feeds the broken little Sagittarius in me.

Book magic for the book lover.