Review: Bound by Ink by Marcella Burnard
Bound by Ink by Marcella Burnard
Living Ink #1
National bestselling author Marcella Burnard’s first Living Ink novel, Nightmare Ink, was an “outstanding series starter.” Now she continues her “truly mesmeric and heart-stopping” story of magical tattoo artist Isa Romanchzyk…
After being kidnapped and forcibly Inked with a Living Tattoo named Murmur, Isa thought she’d survived the worst her enemies could throw at her. She was wrong. Murmur is walking around her world in someone else’s body, and without him, Isa is losing control of her magic.
Then, in the middle of rush hour, a Live Tattoo comes off its host, killing over a hundred people. Isa discovers that Murmur’s nemesis, Uriel—a demon she believed defeated—is responsible. He’s seeking the power to force his way back into Isa’s world. If he succeeds, everyone Isa loves will be destroyed. There may be a way to stop him, but it will mean sacrificing Murmur—or herself…
Boy am I glad I gave this series another shot. The previous book was a rather frustrating read for me due to the excessive lack of world building and overall confusion. However, this time around, I have a much better handle on things, and I was able to enjoy the series and the great characters a whole lot more. Isa started to really "find" herself in the previous installment, but in this one, she's hit her stride. I really loved how strong she was, and that despite everything going so wrong around her and being stuck in some pretty horrid conditions, she never once faltered, and I loved her for it. On a side note, I have to say that the world behind this series is rather insane, and after the events of this book, I'm very anxious to see what happens next and how Isa handles it.
While the world building and overall flow of the story improved from the previous installment, unfortunately the romance took a turn for the worse. To be honest I just did not feel any connection at all between Isa and Steve. There seemed to be so much more between her and Murmur and yet she's supposed to be madly in love with Steve. I just didn't get it. Sure there's the complications of Murmur being her "ex" tattoo, and really a demon, but again there was no spark on the Steve side of things, and there was more than plenty on the Murmur side. It frankly left me scratching my head throughout, but perhaps this whole romance debacle will play out more in future books.
As I said before, I'm really glad I continued on with this series after its rocky start. Unique worlds and storylines like this are hard to come by, and I love having something completely new and fresh to read. There's nothing predictable here, and it made for a rather interesting read. I'd recommend this to fans of Urban Fantasy that are looking for a fast paced and action pack series that's completely out of the box.
(Received a copy from the publisher)
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Previous Books:
1. Nightmare Ink
