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beytwice's review against another edition
1.0
The more the story of Dark Ink unraveled to me, the less I started to like it. The supernatural element it starts off with seems initially promising, with a female villain to the bar as well, so to begin with I was intrigued despite my difficulties with not having read the first book in the series. Dark Ink works as a stand-alone but I would advise reading both (that’s a lie, I wouldn’t recommend this one at all) to get a clearer picture of the characters’ histories.
It is in the details that I was lost on this one: victims of sexual abuse get turned into monsters of their own making multiple times (three out of the four main abuse victims proceed to reciprocate that abuse to others, with the fourth manipulated into committing crimes as well) just painting an awful picture of all involved. Speaking of sexual, this book is EXCEEDINGLY so and very rarely works in its favour. The majority of chapters have a sexual scene of sorts for no real gain. The characters were shallow and unlikeable to me and the ending disappointing, too.
It is in the details that I was lost on this one: victims of sexual abuse get turned into monsters of their own making multiple times (three out of the four main abuse victims proceed to reciprocate that abuse to others, with the fourth manipulated into committing crimes as well) just painting an awful picture of all involved. Speaking of sexual, this book is EXCEEDINGLY so and very rarely works in its favour. The majority of chapters have a sexual scene of sorts for no real gain. The characters were shallow and unlikeable to me and the ending disappointing, too.
thona's review against another edition
3.0
i loved it, the components building the plot was interesting and new but it all fell short some who which sucks cause the story could’ve gone far better but the pacing wasn’t set right unfortunately
jennabekah's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
readbydusk's review against another edition
2.0
After the events in Strange Ink, journalist Harry Hendrick is now investigating a string of suicides. His inquiry leads him into the path of Mistress Hel, a dominatrix and dark arts practitioner. Soon Harry finds himself trapped in her claws, his sanity - and life - threatened.
This was a disappointing read! I loved the details about witchcraft and dark arts but there’s very little of it. Harry is investigating suicides with occult marks but he doesn’t get far into it. There’s also a sideplot where he investigates a pedophilia ring but he doesn’t get far into it either. Instead we get scenes upon scenes of Harry being horny for Mistress Hel. There’s some BDSM scenes that felt kinda gratuitious - definitely steer clear if this isn’t your thing. I actually find the Mistress’s motivations interesting, I would’ve loved to get her POV. But this is Harry’s book for better or worse, and unfortunately it’s the latter. At least the cover looks great!
book blog | twitter | instagram
This was a disappointing read! I loved the details about witchcraft and dark arts but there’s very little of it. Harry is investigating suicides with occult marks but he doesn’t get far into it. There’s also a sideplot where he investigates a pedophilia ring but he doesn’t get far into it either. Instead we get scenes upon scenes of Harry being horny for Mistress Hel. There’s some BDSM scenes that felt kinda gratuitious - definitely steer clear if this isn’t your thing. I actually find the Mistress’s motivations interesting, I would’ve loved to get her POV. But this is Harry’s book for better or worse, and unfortunately it’s the latter. At least the cover looks great!
book blog | twitter | instagram
romireads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
scaredykatze's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
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