When I first cracked open Ink Blood Sister Scribe, I didn’t think it would be an appropriate pick for our sapphic book club. Then Esther fingered her girlfriend (tastefully) on page five and I was like bingo!!!!

Even though her family kicked her out, Esther has kept her promise to them: don’t stay in one place over a year. However, she’s really liking her electrician work in Antarctica and possibly dating her future wife. Surely, she can stay another season and it won’t matter...? Turns out it does matter, if the body in the bathroom is anything to go by. Meanwhile, Joanna finds their father dead, and the ultra rich, ultra isolated Nick feels way woozier than usual lately.

When Törzs’s Author’s Note stated that she was originally a literary fiction writer, I was not surprised. Ink Blood Sister Scribe feels like literary fiction and fantasy fiction had a perfectly average baby. Queer characters exist, but There’s an aggravating lack of queer labels said on page, which is especially irksome with bisexual characters. The Kalotay family are Jewish, but the identity failed to add much to the story besides bringing up the “Jewish people do blood magic” stereotype. Plot holes and inaccuracies contribute to an undercooked feeling–a random example is buckwheat honey is not light brown, but a deep, dark brown. Some of the holes and begged questions can be explained away by the main theme. This book is about how the older generation limits access to knowledge in order to control and consume their young. A stellar and juicy idea in theory, but in practice it led to frustration as all the POV characters struggled with mysteries I’d solved 50 pages ago.

Overall, Ink Blood Sister Scribe was a fine book. If you’re a fantasy fan looking to dip a toe in literary fiction, or vice versa, Emma Törzs’ debut could be a great novel to bridge the gap.