Week 22 Review: Inkmistress

From Goodreads:
A sweeping, action-packed, and romantic fantasy full of dangerous magic and dark choices, perfect for fans of Tamora Pierce and Kristin Cashore—set in the same world as Of Fire and Stars.

Asra is a demigod with a dangerous gift: the ability to dictate the future by writing with her blood. To keep her power secret, she leads a quiet life as a healer on a remote mountain, content to help the people in her care and spend time with Ina, the mortal girl she loves.

But Asra's peaceful life is upended when bandits threaten Ina's village and the king does nothing to help. Desperate to protect her people, Ina begs Asra for assistance in finding her manifest—the animal she'll be able to change into as her rite of passage to adulthood. Asra uses her blood magic to help Ina, but her spell goes horribly wrong and the bandits destroy the village, killing Ina's family.

Unaware that Asra is at fault, Ina swears revenge on the king and takes a savage dragon as her manifest. To stop her, Asra must embark on a journey across the kingdom, becoming a player in lethal games of power among assassins, gods, and even the king himself.

Most frightening of all, she discovers the dark secrets of her own mysterious history—and the terrible, powerful legacy she carries in her blood. 

My Review:
I loved reading this book! I loved Of Fire and Stars, and I was so excited to be back in this world-to be in this world in a time before that story. And wow, it was such an amazing book! I loved getting to know Asra, and watch her adventures! 

Like the first book, this book is LGBT+ in a very positive way, Asra is bisexual, and the fact that she likes girls is not demonized, and nobody really cares, it's just there, which honestly should be how everybody is with everybody else's sexuality. It's none of your business unless you're in a romantic relationship with you, then they should at leash mesh together.

Oh, the fact that it was Asra's doing that caused the raider attack, that had me nervous. Because that fact was going to come up at some point, and I knew it was going to cause a lot of problems, and my anxious self had a hard time waiting for the fallout. 

The events in this book have a lot of long reaching resulting changes. Which is pretty epic, but also a little bit scary. Because the world, the magic, is very different from the first book, and I'm pretty sure (I'd need a reread of the first book, I think) that the events in this book caused those changes. 

I loved reading this book, and I can't wait to read Of Ice and Shadows! 

Author: Audrey Coulthurst
Series: Of Fire and Stars #0.5
Read: May 30th, 2021
Source: Edelweiss
Reason Why: Sounded good, and it's a Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2021 Book, RR Book and a Sophomore Challenge Book!
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Published: March 6th 2018

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars