Pacing is a very important aspect of a book to me. It determines how well my attention is kept and how much I enjoy reading about the characters. Bad pacing leads to a boring reading experience. Inkmistress had excellent pacing. Events did not move too fast, nor did they skip ahead. Events unfurled quickly enough to make me happy and keep my book open.

Asra went right to my heart. In the beginning she has this idea that she's selfish because she wants to matter the most to the woman she's involved with (Ina). I didn't see this, though. If anything she was incredibly reserved and giving. Her heart was given wholly to Ina, which did lead to trouble but wasn't inherently self serving. There was a bit of naivety  that was a bit wearing at times, though it never reached a truly painful level. In fact, it more emphasized how good her heart was that she kept trying to see the good in people, kept trying to fix things. It hurt seeing her try to do all these things and yet see so many people betray her. Her strength, even with her goodness blinding her to the cruelness of some people, kept her from losing her purity.

I did question her devotion to Ina. The time they spent together did not feel intimate enough to warrant the faith Asra put in Ina, which shows when she tries to convince her to let her manifest settle. As much as she tries to appeal to the Ina she knew, it really emphasized that the girl she knew, the girl Ina was, and whatever Ina is now are different things. However, she did grow a lot as a character and this growth enabled her to see that what she felt for Ina was not the love she'd thought it was, neither for her part or coming from Ina.

Ina was not nearly as likeable though definitely more understandable. I got a more selfish feeling from her. Ina came up to the mountain as an escape but was really secretive about it, which I understood to an extent. However, she didn't seem to have as much heart in the relationship as Asra did and didn't acknowledge it. She kept asking for and digging for dangerous secrets that Asra only gave up to please her.

Once her village is gone, her anger and haste made a lot of sense. Her grief influencing her decisions was relatable and I didn't have to like her to sympathize. The secrets she was keeping from Asra made me realize that my dislike and the oddness coming from her side of the relationship was well sensed. It was heartbreaking, the betrayal that she committed against Asra, so much so that I was yelling at the book for awhile.

Hal, child of the wind god, was a character that made me think of the nature vs nurture debate. His upbringing was rather difficult owing to losing his mortal mother at 3 years old, being raised as best as possible by his 14 year old sister, and otherwise surviving on the streets. Despite the thieving and the potentially corrupting nature of his silver tongue abilities, he is a good person when Asra meets him. His personality is an incredible balm in a difficult time.

Asra's magic was unique and interesting. There were dangers hinted at early on but we didn't get to see the effects until Asra used it "for" Ina. The limitations reminded me of wishes one might make with faeries or genies: you have to word your request really, really carefully or it will be twisted. Asra finds this truth out in a terrible, destructive way that ultimately propels her into a quest to rectify her mistake.

The magic system at large, at least when concerning demigods, was intriguing because they were not all powerful as I think I tend to see. Hal and Asra using their gifts took something from them that varied depending on the strength of the task. Their suffering was a direct reflection of using their various gifts and I liked that being the children of gods didn't make them perfect.

There is a lot of betrayal in this book, but there is also a lot of faith and a lot of love. There's a lot of pain, but the strength of the characters helps them to fight their way through it even when the darkness of both their powers and their own crushed feelings threatens them. This could have been a standalone, though it is actually a prequel of some kind to Of Fire and Stars, which makes me very happy because I'm curious to see what kind of effect Asra's blood magic has left on the world and whether she still has any part in it.





I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.