Member Reviews
This book had a great plot with intriguing characters. I’ll definitely be looking out for more from this author.
I think Inked in Blood and Memory is a really captivating tale. It's told through multiple perspectives and timelines and it intrigued me with its non-linear narrative. While the shifting POVs and timelines initially required me to piece together the story, I found the experience ultimately rewarding. The author masterfully wove together the different threads, creating a compelling puzzle that kept me engaged until the very end. The characters were vividly portrayed, and I quickly developed a strong sense of empathy for their experiences. This is a book that demands your full attention, but it's well worth the effort for those who enjoy a thought-provoking and intricately plotted story. The writing style allowed me to easily move through the book without being overly descriptive or loosing sense of the eerie atmosphere of the story.
Overall, I really enjoyed this story and I'm very honored to be chosen as an ARC reader.
Thank you so much to NetGalley for this book I had a hard time jumping into it. I would rate this a 3/5 I think it was good but something I wouldn’t pick up again.
thank you netgalley for the arc
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i have never been quite so confused while reading a book before. i dont really even know where to begin with this, because the plot is so incredibly crazy that i cant even wrap my head around it.
to start with, there are so many povs, so many chapters, and so many timeskips and flashbacks that everything just became a muddled mess from about chapter five onwards.
i did like the first chapter a lot, it was interesting and i thought the pov of a child witnessing such a traumatic event was well done. from then it got very confusing and disorienting, sometimes we were in our 'main' girls pov and it was present day, but then we were sucked away into a storybook and it was a cats pov and then it was some random side character who appeared in one earlier chapter and not much made any sense to me at all.
i liked the cat when it was there chilling, and i liked that there were lesbians in it.
very random scene where there is a swamp monster and eggs involved and i was almost cry laughing with confusion and just everything that was happening.
i ended up skimming some because there were very boring parts, and then there were too many characters to keep up with and lots of questions that never got answered. i dont really know why they were so dead set on keeping these sacrifices going, i dont really know why they started in the first place, i dont know much about the magic system but theres spells sometimes and like dimension travel??????
all in all not my favourite, evidently
Such a compelling and engrossing read. Inked in Blood and Memory by Allison Ivy is a horror novel about characters trapped in a book. Had me hooked from start to finish. Def recommend!
This had a number of compelling elements (book-based magic system, wlw childhood friends to lovers, revenge on rich folks) but they felt a bit disjointed and didn't fully come together in the end. I don't think enough time was spent in the present-day timeline/setting (0r reality, or whatever you want to call it) to establish much characterization of either of the two protags outside of their Dream Selves. I kept mixing up their POVs.
This is posted on Goodreads, StoryGraph and Fable.
3.75/5⭐️
Okay. I have a few things to say about this book. First I almost dnf’d but I’m glad I didn’t. I did end up liking it, but that’s why it took me longer to finish and that’s why I’m not loving it. And that’s okay.
It started off with a bang. we learn that Ren and Sophie’s parents are part of a cult that basically sold their first male born to a demon that they made a deal with.
Sophie and Ren are young and they’re left traumatized by the event. Losing their friend Jeremy when he was only 10.
Now at around the 35% mark through 60% things weren’t jiving for me. There was a lot of time jumping and while at the same time POV jumping. This was very confusing for me.
However once the cat came back onto the page at around 63% we were back to cooking.
The strain between Sophie and Ren and the sapphic attraction were great. I enjoyed seeing their relationship blossom into what it should have been from the start, but, you know, trauma.
The story within the story could have worked better had there not been so much time jumping in that section I mentioned.
Nonetheless I feel people can enjoy this sapphic horror just as is.
Thank you netgalley, publisher and author for the opportunity to read this novel.
3.5 stars
Inked in Blood and Memory by Allison Ivy is a horror novel about characters trapped in a book.
First, let me thank NetGalley, and the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
My Synopsis: (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Sophie Vanguard has a stalker who is filling her house with blue passionflowers. But the house she is renting has been the only place she has felt reasonably safe. She has become agoraphobic.
Li Thi Ren knocks on Sophie's door, claiming to be an old friend. But Sophie doesn't recall ever knowing this woman. But Ren starts to win Sophie over, showing her Sophie's own journal, which repeats over and over again, with the same seven entries. Sophie can't believe she has been doing this. Ren helps her to understand that they are both trapped inside a book, and they must fight to get out.
Sophie's brother Carter will soon turn six, and they must be out of this book before that birthday, when their parents will send him into oblivion as they had another old friend of theirs.
My Opinions:
First, I loved the cover. Very pretty. Although the title lettering could have been brighter, as it didn't really stand out, it was still very pretty.
The book was part horror, part sapphic romance. Topics also included magic, evil, greed, and friendship.
The story is told in multiple timelines, and in multiple perspectives. This sometimes got confusing -- there was a lot of jumping around, and it sometimes affected the overall pace.
I liked both Sophie and Ren, and found their romance charming. I'm still not sure about Jeremy.
This was quite entertaining, a relatively fast (if sometimes confusing) read.
For a more complete review of this book and others (including the reason I chose to read/review this book, author information and a favorite quotation or two from the book), please visit my blog: http://katlovesbooksblog.wordpress.com/
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc. I’d randomly chanced upon it while scrolling through the site and the premise hooked me instantly. However, I decided to DNF it by the 60% mark. To describe the book as a “self-aware LGBTQ+ horror that wraps its clutches around the reader and doesn’t let go” is as apt as it can get, for both its benefit and weakness.
I loved the idea of this book. I am not often thwarted by confusing beginnings, and Inked in Blood and Memory started off strong in engaging me in its mystery. I liked the framing of the narrative, what the author chose to divulge to the readers and what it didn’t, as it dramatically heightened the atmosphere and horror of the events that took place. The novel also has a strong narrative voice, both compelling and chaotic in its clear self-awareness, and I found myself wanting to read more than I could mostly because of it, as though beckoned by the narrators to turn one more page every time.
However, by the 60% mark, I knew I had to close the book. Though the narrative voice itself was strong, the combination of the story’s very tone and the pacing it set made for a difficult reading experience. This is not the book’s fault, as I assume this chaos was intended by the author, but it created a huge disconnect between me and the story that I was meant to be engaged in, and the story’s strangeness turned vexing instead of witty.
Overall, this was a decent read with lots of potential in its atmosphere and character/relationship development, and I would still recommend it to those who would not be too bothered by this particular type of storytelling, but it was not for me at this point in time.
I've never read a horror book before, so I was equal parts nervous and excited to read this. Even with my lack of experience of the genre, I enjoyed this book, I loved the different POV's, the multiple timelines (although sometimes confusing to keep up with who it was at the time). The concept of the book in general was sooo good, but turned out to be kind of heartbreaking. I loved the development of our main character Sophie - I felt really connected to her especially in regards to the anxiety, agoraphobia and ended up enjoying her POV more.
I kind of loved there wasn't a ridiculous plot twist at the end, but at the same time I wish the ending had been something just.. more. It felt a little anticlimactic.
Overall though, I really enjoyed it, and would recommend to anyone wanting to dip their toe into the horror genre.
3/5 stars.
I liked it, but sadly did not love it as much I had hoped going into the book. It also was a quick and easy read. All the right elements were there, I liked the gothic horror/splatterpunk atmosphere in it but I guess it could have benefitted of being a bit longer. It was a rollercoaster of a read, and for the most part I quite enjoyed it.
I liked the romance in this book, even though I didn't fully buy it. Or maybe I would've just hoped that there were more romantic scenes and/or maybe at least a bit more explicit ones than there was. But that's just what I've been more into lately I guess.
It also felt like that the blurb for the book didn't tell that specifically what actually happens in the book.
While the publicized synopsis of the Inked in Blood and Memory is intriguing, it does not do the story enough justice as it is so much more than just a tale of two women in a cabin, trapped within the pages of a book.
Inked in Blood and Memory has three main POV characters: Sophie, Ren and Jeremy, three childhood friends that grew up with parents collectively involved in a demonic cult. In return for wealth and success, the families committed to sacrificing their first born sons. Sophie and Ren lucked out in the genetic pool, but Jeremy was not so lucky. On his 10th birthday, Jeremy was sacrificed to the demon and presumed dead - only he didn’t actually die and now after over a decade trapped in the darkness with the demon, he’s a bit pissed off at the family and friends he left behind.
Fourteen years have gone by and both Ren and Sophie are now in their 20’s dealing with the aftermath of their parent’s choices - only now they have new worries as Sophie’s parents had a late in life second child and his sacrificial date is looming. It’s at this point that Sophie and Ran are trapped in books and what ensues is a menagerie of horror obstacles that they need to overcome to escape (can you say murderous teddy bears?).
My only critique would be the romance aspect of the book - while I appreciated that it was clearly a secondary element to the story, there were times that it felt thrown in at inopportune moments - i.e. you are being chased through a horror landscape trying to beat the clock to get back to the real world in time and suddenly you are making out in an alleyway. I think the romance felt like a natural aspect of the relationship between Sophie and Ren, but given the circumstances of their journey it was weird seeing them get hot and heavy when so much is hanging on the line.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and found the plot twists to keep me invested in what would happen next. I would be very interested to see more work from Allison Ivy.
I almost didn’t read this book after I saw at the very start the author’s attempt to bribe people with money to share this book with people in the publishing industry. That immediately turned me off this book but I decided to give it a chance anyway and read and review it.
This was an interesting premise but in my opinion was poorly executed. I DNFed at 50%. This story felt incredibly rushed. All the jumping around the timeline made it confusing and hard to follow. I didn’t feel any connection to the characters. Even after reading half this story I still feel like I know nothing about them. All the different nicknames Ren had for Sophie was annoying and cringey rather than sweet. This very much felt like a first draft and I think it could have been a great story with more time put into it.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this ebook ARC.
I really enjoyed the concept of this book, it had that element that I wanted from the gothic horror element. It had that romance that I was looking for adn worked with the fantasy overall to tell the story. The characters had that feel that I wanted and was glad I read this. Allison Ivy wrote this so well and was glad I got to read this.
Inked in Blood and Memory was an experience in book form! I rated it 5 stars because I can't rate it any higher! Such a good story, characters, plot... so good!
(3.00)
Rounded to 3 stars. I was so incredibly confused throughout the whole book. The first chapter was clear and immediately threw you into the world and I thought I got it… but I didn’t.
At first I thought it was smart writing, making it so confusing (it is a horror after all, we’re meant to not know what’s gonna happen), but then I quickly realised it was due to the big disconnect between reader and characters that left me so confused + the timeline jumps.
We kept jumping through timelines very quickly. I think there was a 12 years ago (the sacrifice), 6 years ago (Carter was born), 6 months ago (they got put in the book) and the presence (trying to get out of the book). This was then combined with other characters jumping in as POV (Jeremy and the devil dude) that then each also went between these time frames. Clearly, it was confusing as hell.
At 60% I still had absolutely no idea who Ren was even though it was a 50/50 narration between her and Sophie. I think it was due to the timeline jumps, because any time we got a flashback of her she was in a different phase of her life and seemed like a completely different person. Sophie was more constant, I liked her but I feel as if the shift from insecure wallflower to sudden post-apocalyptic badass was done way too swiftly. I felt disconnected from them both in the end.
The dynamic between Sophie en Ren was cute (with the nicknames mostly). Very straightforward. I didn’t really get why they never got together before because it seemed very clear to me they liked each other. Then suddenly they switched the relationship, why had Ren never done that before? She’s depicted as quite impulsive and had always felt attracted to Sophie. But they were still enjoyable.
All in all, the plot was very interesting but the execution wasn’t great. The pacing was strange, timeline jumps left me confused (in the wrong way), some decision making made no sense and I was confused (the parent situations frustrated the shit out of me). Characters were cute together but it just fell a bit flat. It was a quick and easy read, so if you’re looking for some interesting plot (there were some cool fantasy-esque themes) to read in one night, this is an okay book. If you’re looking for a more realistic and interesting plotting with character dynamics, this book isn’t it.
Thank you NetGalley and Xpresso Book Tours for approving me for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
This was a random Netgallery read for me, i just happened to stumble into, which seems to be how i find a lot of books these days.
This is a 3.5 rounded up to a 4 because it was good, but just a slow burn, spooky read. Nothing awful, but just a solid read, nothing wrong with that.
Tension was good, story line was good, and i loved the LGBTQ+ horror aspect, we need more of that out here. I liked the creepy aspect of is this crazy or is this supernatural, some authors toe that line so well, and this was one of them .
Would recommend this to friends who like spooky not scary terrifying horror and honestly i had a good time reading it.