Cornelia has done it again.

After so many years, to return to the story world of Inkheart, Inkspell, and Inkdeath, to find all the characters just as you remember them--I am not sure I can describe that happiness.

The Color of Revenge is more than "another sequel." Cornelia welcomes new characters to the stage alongside familiar ones. She writes in ripples rather than linear plotlines, the world expanding with such depth and richness of detail that you could live there for a century and still continue to invent new dreams.

Cornelia's prose doesn't simply tell the story. You could find any line, any moment from the book, and even without the context of the rest, it would sing to you.

I was endlessly delighted to have a chance to read an advanced copy of this book, and I can only hope, enthusiastically, greedily, unrepentantly, that after the fourth Inkworld book, there will be more.

I have been looking forward to returning to the Inkworld for years. The first time I read Inkheart was when I was fourteen years old and I fell in love with it instantly. I did not finish the rest of the series until much later, though I loved the other two just as much as the first. Cornelia Funke’s books are stunning stories with a world that will draw you in, almost as much as the characters themselves. I had such a wonderful time rereading the original trilogy before picking this up.

I’m always apprehensive when an author returns to a series so many years later, but I was excited to see where Cornelia would take this story. Sadly, I did not enjoy this book as much as I wanted to. It was written just as beautifully as the others, but I was not a big fan of the focus in the novel. I don’t want to spoil the plot here, though I will say that it was meant to wrap up Orpheus’s story and it did that.

Also, this book is so much shorter and it loses some of the magic. Cornelia’s writing is still just as stunning but just too short for me. I always loved how much detail she went into and seeing the books from the many different perspectives: Meggie, Mo, Resa, Dustfinger, Elinor, etc and I missed that in this book. We did get some, but what made the other books feel magical was not here as much.

One of the best parts from this story was the idea of the book with the paintings. It was so clever and fit so well into the Inkworld and made me think of the book Mo bound in Inkspell. Cornelia always comes up with such interesting ideas for the fantastical aspects of the story. I liked learning about the new characters and getting even more world-building. This is a world I love with all my heart.

It will always be a joy to read a Inkworld story and I would read anything Cornelia writes in this world. I didn’t love this but I’m happy we got to see these characters again.

For those of you who grew up reading the Inkheart trilogy and wishing that you, too, could be transported between the pages of a book — good news: THERE’S A NEW INKWORLD BOOK.

As a long-awaited follow-up (nearing 20 years!!! brb applying emergency retinol), The Color of Revenge delivers a packed punch of childhood nostalgia while also giving readers a much-needed peek back into a world that was mostly settled – though with a few unspooled threads left hanging at the end of Inkdeath. The Color of Revenge picks up a mere five years after the events of Inkdeath, and brings with it a whole host of new woes to our cast of beloved, cherished characters.

If you loved the original trilogy, this will likely be a fun ride for you, but prepare for a different vibe — where the original trilogy was long, detailed, and a bit slow-paced, The Color of Revenge is the shortest book in the series, changing POV and plotline so fast that it’s a bit unsettling for those going in with glasses colored with childhood nostalgia for long, complicated fantasy books.

In this new installment, the main character is undeniably the Black Prince — a character briefly touched on in the earlier trilogy — which sacrifices Mo and Meggie’s main characterdom to tell a new story, with Dustfinger and Orpheus POVs to round out the familiarity. It’s fun, and a fresh new take on the story, replete with the comfort of old characters to breathe new life into a familiar tale.

While this fell a smidge flat for me in terms of pacing, and might disappoint anyone looking for a continuation of Meggie and Mo’s stories specifically, The Color of Revenge is undeniably beautifully and familiarly written, telling a fun new story within the boundaries of a world and characters that we’ve loved for nearly two decades now.

Pick this up if you’re chasing that childhood nostalgia, are curious about what your old favorite characters have been up to, and are still yearning, even all these years later, to wake up one day in the midst of your favorite storybook.

Thank you to Scholastic for the opportunity to read an early copy – my 12 year old self is shedding happy tears.

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic Chicken House for allowing me to read this early. The Inkworld series has been a favorite of mine since childhood and did a whole re-read in anticipation of this book. I’m happy to say that Funke’s writing is still as solid and beautiful as I remember it to be. Though, I am sad to say that I don’t think this book really adds anything to the series. Inkdeath left us with a few loose ends and a lot of questions but this book only picks up one end to pull on. Orpheus, who in my opinion is one of the characters I couldn’t care less about. While the overall story is well done, I’m just not sure this added what most of the fans are hoping for in this series.

The Inkheart Series in monumental in my younger years. I was over the moon to find out that there was going to be a 4th book. To be completely honest, this return to the world was not quite what I expected. It was still quite enjoyable, but the length of time between the 3rd book and this distanced the world a bit more than I had realized.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. I love the Inkheart series and was excited to see the next installment. It’s good but I felt like Orpheus was blinded by his rage and hate for Mo,Maggie and others, especially Dustfinger. I did like we get a glimpse of the Shadow Reader.

Have you been waiting for the latest in the Inkheart Series?? Your wait is over! The Color of Revenge is here!

I didn't know what to think coming into this book. The original Inkheart trilogy was an absolute favorite from my childhood. Re-opening a story that has such a special place in in my heart is scary, but Cornelia Funke did not disappoint.

This story picks up years after the original trilogy. We get to see what a lot of our favorite characters are doing, but the focus really ends up on Orpheus and Dustfinger with a cast of side characters. Dustfinger is one of my favorite characters, so it is a little disappointing to see him struggling again, but I do really enjoy the overall story. Orpheus and his goons are great villains.

Cornelia Funke always weaves together a wonderful tale that both children and adults can enjoy. Similar to the other books, there are a lot of lovely illustrations that accompany the end of chapters. I'd highly recommend the Inkheart books to any reader.

Rated 4 stars. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC ebook.

My kids and I love the Inkheart trilogy! We just finished rereading the first book again last week so when I saw this, I had to request it! That being said, my feelings about this one are mixed. In the beginning, we get a brief rundown about what all our favorite characters have been up to since Inkdeath. (Which I loved.) But after that, almost all the main characters are gone and we are left with just a few that this story focuses on. Because I had just finished Inkheart, it felt kind of repetitive that Dustfinger spent almost all of this book being miserable because he was separated from his family once again. Overall, I think I want to love it because I loved the first three, but it feels like this one is missing the magic that the others had.