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A review by writerdgabrielle
Arcane Ink by Rachael Vaughn, Rachael Vaughn
3.0
Found family, strained familial relations, mysterious stranger, all things are connected.
Arcane Ink is a slow-burn mystery. For a series opener, it works to show the workings of the magical community and introduce the characters. The stakes are low, at least in the beginning, and they really should be in a first in series. Neither reader nor author should expect to start a series at 10 and have any room to increase stakes later on. First in series has to start no higher than 3 or 4 on the action scale in order to build. Vaughn does this well, providing a hook and catalyst to catch our attention then never quite letting up on the problem. She piles small inconveniences on Kass Leva, her main character, at a rate just fast enough for Kass to catch her breath and hope the worst is over . . . but, it's not and now someone is missing, and now someone is dead, and now . . . and now . . . Until the action really hits a stride, well past the halfway point.
My one gripe is highly personal and likely unpopular and that is the burgeoning romance that is sure to come from book 2. While I am intrigued by the ending of this first in series, I am not looking forward to any romantic feelings that may be brewing. All slaying, no laying urban fantasy applies here in the beginning but may not as time progresses.
Will I keep reading? Likely. Will I speed through the gushy parts if there are any? Also yes. But all in all, I would recommend this story to others and I think that, in and of itself, is as good as any star rating.
Arcane Ink is a slow-burn mystery. For a series opener, it works to show the workings of the magical community and introduce the characters. The stakes are low, at least in the beginning, and they really should be in a first in series. Neither reader nor author should expect to start a series at 10 and have any room to increase stakes later on. First in series has to start no higher than 3 or 4 on the action scale in order to build. Vaughn does this well, providing a hook and catalyst to catch our attention then never quite letting up on the problem. She piles small inconveniences on Kass Leva, her main character, at a rate just fast enough for Kass to catch her breath and hope the worst is over . . . but, it's not and now someone is missing, and now someone is dead, and now . . . and now . . . Until the action really hits a stride, well past the halfway point.
My one gripe is highly personal and likely unpopular and that is the burgeoning romance that is sure to come from book 2. While I am intrigued by the ending of this first in series, I am not looking forward to any romantic feelings that may be brewing. All slaying, no laying urban fantasy applies here in the beginning but may not as time progresses.
Will I keep reading? Likely. Will I speed through the gushy parts if there are any? Also yes. But all in all, I would recommend this story to others and I think that, in and of itself, is as good as any star rating.