Imagine a world without books…In the future, books are a distant memory. The written word has been replaced by an ever-present stream of images known as Verity. In the controlling dominion of the United Vales of Fell, reading is obsolete and forbidden, and readers themselves do not—cannot—exist.
But where others see images in the stream, teenager Noelle Hartley sees words. She’s obsessed with what they mean, where they came from, and why they found her.
Noelle’s been keeping her dangerous fixation with words a secret, but on the night before her seventeenth birthday, a rare interruption in the stream leads her to a mysterious volume linked to an underworld of rebel book lovers known as the Nine of the Rising. With the help of the Risers and the beguiling boy Ledger, Noelle discovers that the words within her are precious clues to the books of the earlier time—and as a child of their bookless age, she might be the world’s last hope of bringing them back.
Blood, Ink & Fire is a gripping, evocative tale that asks, who would we be without books?
- Goodreads
I was lucky to be a member of The Hundred, the first one hundred readers who read an advanced copy of Blood, Ink & Fire, a book about booklovers (or "boolos") for booklovers.
Just reading the summary made eager to read the book. Imagine a world without books? Just thinking about it makes me shiver. I just can't imagine it.
And that's the problem, after reading and re-reading the book I still don't have a clear idea of Noelle's world. How is the daily life of a Valer? What happens after the Immersion? The first chapters were confusing for me, Verity is introduced, the stream, the Vales and Sovereigns... I feel like the reader is just thrown into the action without some needed explanations.
In some aspects it's like another dystopian book, a girl that has something that makes her different (call it divergence or the ability to read) and she tries to fight the established government (call it the Capitol or Fell). The main flaw in dystopian novels is the world building, unless it's well developed the reader won't feel truly connected to the story and characters.
In some aspects it's like another dystopian book, a girl that has something that makes her different (call it divergence or the ability to read) and she tries to fight the established government (call it the Capitol or Fell). The main flaw in dystopian novels is the world building, unless it's well developed the reader won't feel truly connected to the story and characters.
Blood, Ink & Fire has some amazing characters with great potential didn't have much importance, Mac for example, a boy with an ego as big as Killem's army (huge). He's just the kind of character I love, a Jace Herondale type, but Mac only appears in 10 pages or so. Another character in a similar situation is Denmark, she seems pretty important to me. However, we only get a couple of chapters about her.
Regarding the main character, I'd have loved to see her transform from an insecure girl to the woman that can lead the Rising, let's say she's halfway there. Sometimes it seems like she could be the new Prospero but then appears the Noelle that only wants to surrender, I know it's for a greater cause although a little fighting spirit doesn't hurt anybody.
The way the book is set out is interesting, I usually love books with multiple points view but in Blood, Ink & Fire Noelle is the only narrator, with the exception of a few chapters told by Ledger. I think he could have added different perspectives and made the plot more dynamic.
I wouldn't say the book was slow-paced or boring. Nevertheless, the pace was irregular, the last part felt rushed while in comparison some scenes in the Sovereigns were too slow.
Overall, Blood, Ink and Fire was an enjoyable read with so much potential. I'm looking forward to a second book.
And thank you Ashley for this experince!
The way the book is set out is interesting, I usually love books with multiple points view but in Blood, Ink & Fire Noelle is the only narrator, with the exception of a few chapters told by Ledger. I think he could have added different perspectives and made the plot more dynamic.
I wouldn't say the book was slow-paced or boring. Nevertheless, the pace was irregular, the last part felt rushed while in comparison some scenes in the Sovereigns were too slow.
Overall, Blood, Ink and Fire was an enjoyable read with so much potential. I'm looking forward to a second book.
And thank you Ashley for this experince!
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