Thursday, July 23, 2015

Rachel Caine rocks the planet with Ink and Bone! Review time!

I tore through this story, not quickly, but with this hunger to be in the middle of Jess's world, to be inside his head and know the people around him. From the beginning your heart will pound. Even as a young kid his introspection crawled into my heart and took over. The world is an alternative here-and-now with this all-seeing, all-knowing Library that controls all information, even controls how, when, and where you have access to it. You can imagine not everyone liked that plan for society. So there are your activists, the Burners. Then you have the black market traders who like that plan because it's their bread and butter. The idealists are a danger to everyone, especially themselves. The bad guys range in degrees. But throughout there was this creeping dread that no one had it right yet. The Burners have some thoughts on the right track, but mostly they are a bunch of crazies. The Library scholars live in golden towers far removed from the real world. The young idealists who desperately want to become scholars fight to serve the Library, but fight even harder to hold onto their long held vision of an ideal run amuck.

Rachel Caine's Ink and Bone had a very Orwellian vibe all the way down to the feeling that this could have been performed over the radio with static and voices that drew you in. There was also a steampunk slash hopeless dystopian feel. The world building was phenomenal. The characters will be with me...forever. I'm hooked.

On a book girl side note, I remember reading an emotional post from Rachel Caine years ago about censorship. I think it was in response to hate mail or some internet troll and when I started reading Ink and Bone I thought of my walkaway feelings from that post of Caine's, that any kind of censorship is a suffocating band around freedom. She didn't say it like that, but I had to breathe deeply after reading it. If I was a betting girl I'd say Caine spun those feelings until an amazing intricate world was formed and created Ink and Bone.

11 comments:

  1. WOW, Robin! I'm so, so happy you loved Ink and Bone! I have it myself, but I haven't gotten a chance to actually read it again. It's excellent to know it, and Rachel Caine, rocked the planet though ;)
    I hope you're enjoying your summer!!

    Lexxie @ (un)Conventional Bookviews

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    1. I hope you enjoy it when you dive in. Did you finish the Morganville series? I know we were both putting that off. I think I will try not being up to date on my favorite book series because it feels better knowing I have a book waiting for me than me waiting for a book. That's more of a book girl problem then a real world problem I guess. I hope you're having a great summer too! It's always busier than I intended.

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    2. LOL, I'm still holding off on the last Morganville book, Robyn. Even if Rachel Caine told me at RT that there just might be a little something more coming in that universe...
      Lexxie @ (un)Conventional Bookviews

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    3. What?!!! Oh my goodness! I'm dizzy right now and yeah, dizzy! I think there should be more from the Morganville universe. That's my vote.

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  2. What a cover l,right? And I love the title. Reminds me a little of Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Need to read book 3! Anyway, this sounds good Robyn. I haven't heard this before and I haven't read Cane's books either. I need a book to pull me in the story.
    Thanks for sharing.

    Happy swimming!

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    1. I love the cover and title too! I haven't read Daughter of Smoke and Bone yet. Caine has a few different series, Weather Warden, which is so mind blowing with its take on genies and the weather. And of course her vamp Morganville series which has the best characters and bad guys. Okay, all done gushing. Happy reading, Athina! I hope the writing/editing is hitting the spot. Happy flying!

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  3. I absolutely want to read this one!! I love the description you gave of it...definitely makes me want to read it even more. I love that she probably took those strong feelings from the post you read and wove it into a book.

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    1. This is so up your alley! I'm still thinking about it and I might have to re-read it between now and the next release. Do you ever feel like you are bouncing from one release date to the next? Sheesh!

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  4. Oh man! I'm going to have to add this one to my collection. The Library...the Burners... I'm so curious! It sounds so good! And your book girl commentary...that's some good stuff. I wish you'd get to meet her so you could talk to her about it. But then, you probably wouldn't talk, would you? ;)

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    1. Ah man! You know I wouldn't talk to her, just smile and wave, smile and wave. I don't think the words will come out and I'll just end up smiling and staring. I'm so lame! Ink & Bone is so wonderful. I loved the world Caine created and the MC being young kid at the start and then a teenager was so interesting and not at all forced. You'll love it.

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