Book Review: The Ink Witch

The Ink Witch
by Steph Cherrywell
Pub Date: Sep 16 2025

Read courtesy of netgalley.com

The transgender aspect of the main character was used to move the plot ahead without being preachy. For this reason, I enjoyed the rest of the book much more than I thought I would since at first I thought that the topic of gender was subterfuge a preachy story rather than ending up as a plot method. That being said, I also enjoyed that the book didn't start out as a witchy fantasy and allowed the reader to take the main character's journey with her. The storytelling was smooth and interesting, and I liked that I wasn't inundated with too many characters (i.e., names) to remember. The storytelling descriptions were enough to keep the twisting characters from getting muddy. Unique method of witchcraft (ink spells) was also a good way to keep the story interesting. Probably will get this for my middle school library collection. 

Yes, It's been a while... Book Review: The Unraveling

The Unraveling

by Keith Ward; Karl Buechner; Jeremy Mueller

Pub Date: 20 May 2025

read courtesy of http://www.netgalley.com

     Full disclosure: fantasy stories aren't my favorite, and it took me a while to get into this one. But once I did, I enjoyed the story. - at least until it ended abruptly. I understood the anthropomorphizing of the characters, but not the likening it to 'Watership Down' and a slightly derivative feel at times to 'Star Wars.' 

     I also understand the series appeal for this age of reader, but to not end the story as even a possible stand-alone is torturous and manipulative. I'd be really curious what the reading level (A./R. or Lexile) is because the vocabulary was really elevated: melee, attrition, accelerants, haughty, beleaguered, dirge, petulant, hubris, usurp, abattoir, etc. 

     I did enjoy the bit of humor that was peppered into the story: a crow-coo clock, cricket poppers, a stuffed parrot named Admiral Feathers, and some others. However, I did feel a little like I was being indoctrinated into a "humans bad/animals good" ideology, and it wasn't until at least 2/3 into the book that any concessions were made that an individual doesn't define a species.

I rated it a 2-⭐⭐