I finally sat down and read Ink in the Blood back in October. Once I finished I immediate looked into getting a copy of Curse of the Divine. Kim Semjkal has woven an incredibly imaginative story within this duology. You can see my full review for Book #1 HERE!
I always wonder how much of a difference writing a series into a duology versus a trilogy impacts a story. In the case of the Ink in the Blood series, I personally feel this would have been better received as three parts instead of just the two parts.
While Curse of the Divine, begins almost immediately where book #1 left off, the stories feel different. While the main plot has shifted, the ultimate goal is still the same in both books, undermine and get rid of The Divine. However, this shift really left me feeling that I was reading a new book and not a continuation of a series. Once again, I did feel that parts of the story could have been cut short or left out without impacting the overall story line.
Character wise, I really enjoyed getting to know both Griffin and Diavala much more within book #2 than in the first book. Their overall character growth and transformation was really well done. Celia on the other hand has a more stagnant personality and could have used a bit more growth. Based on what happened to Anya in the first book, I felt this would have had a greater impact on her personality but it didn’t seem to really make any difference. All the new characters we meet in this book also lacked a bit of depth and we really never get to know them.
Once again I’ll commend Smejkal on her imagery and uniqueness within the story itself. It’s incredibly original but I would have like to have seem more character depicts than environmental.
I was close to giving The Curse of the Divine, the same rating of four stars just as I did Ink in the Blood. The ending though didn’t feel like the closure of a series. If I didn’t know this was just a duology, I would be expecting a third installment at least to be coming out. Sure we find out what happens with Divalia but Celia and Griffin’s journey just feels so unresolved, that I knocked a star off.
This is still a highly entertaining story, and if you enjoy Dark Fantasy books or YA Fantasy books; than I would definintely recommend this series.
The Curse of the Divine hits shelves February 9, 2021. Huge thank you to HMH books for my Advanced Copy in exchange for my honest review. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof_books.
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