Ink in the Blood by Kim Smejkal tells the story of Celia and Anya, who have been raised in the Profeta, a brutal ancient religion since they were six years old. Inking supposedly divine messages through magic onto people’s skin they have always longed for an escape. When the opportunity arises in the form of the Rabble Mob, a travelling theatre troupe, Celia and Anya see the possibility of taking down the Profeta for good.
This book was absolutely fantastic and kept me intrigued from the first page until the last. I really couldn’t put it down.
Smejkal has crafted an excellently unique, magical world and plot line. The world building in her novel is incredible. She has put amazing amounts of attention and detail into the terms of the Profetan religion as well as the wonderfully avant-garde Rabble Mob. She also took me by surprise with the way the plot unfolded a few times.
I was really pulled into the characters particularly Celia, Anya and the Plague Doctor. They were all incredibly intriguing while also being secretive enough that I could never get a true grasp on who they really were or what their intentions were.
I really liked Smejkal’s writing style as well. It is so beautifully poetic and full of metaphors while also being nonsensical and mysterious when necessary.
Finally, the book has excellent LGBT+ representation. Smejkal has introduced a concept referred to as Tenors in her book which appear as colours around a person indicating their gender and pronouns. I thought this was a very interesting and unique concept. There were several nonbinary characters in the book. Additionally, Anya and Celia are love interests and Celia is implied to be polyamorous. The majority of the characters in the novel also are on the LGBT+ spectrum.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a complex, diverse fantasy novel full of theatre troupes, tattoo magic and political resistance.
Ink in the Blood by Kim Smejkal will be released by HMH Books for Young Readers on February 11th 2019.
Book Reviews from Canada 