Ink Witch by Brogan Thomas:

4 stars

After losing the Immortal Games, Elenora (Elmo) Morris has made a living for herself as a bounty hunter. She specializes in children, earning her even more hate. Yet things are not as they seem—in Elmo’s life or anywhere in the city. She discovers this for herself when rescuing her dog, Mina, from an overseer’s personal kennel. Magic she hadn’t been able to see below suddenly becomes visible, along with a long-standing conspiracy to steal power.

I love Brogan Thomas. I love Creatures of the Otherworld and The Bitten Chronicles. I trust her craftsmanship…however, Ink Witch is not my favorite. Even though it’s not central to the story, I’m a bit over the “games” post-apocalyptic structure. I liked the bounty hunter lifestyle and Elmo and Mina’s dynamic, but it just didn’t land right for me.

When games come up, the obvious comparison is The Hunger Games. This is not that; the pace is faster, it takes place thirty-two years after Elmo was in the Immortal Games, and they serve mainly to explain her current circumstances and why she’s so socially isolated. It’s a lot of story to pack into a standalone, and the plot never slows down to explore much with any depth.

There are also a number of conveniences that pulled me out of the story: Elmo knows a secret way onto the Immortals platform that’s unguarded; her romantic difficulties are smoothed away with one well-placed marriage; she doesn’t know how to use her magic, having been denied access to it for three decades, but then she does.

I wasn’t feeling the chemistry, and I didn’t feel strongly attached to any character. The villains of the piece are messed up, but the top villain seems to particularly relish tearing Elmo down, and I don’t get why—if it’s personal history, being thwarted, or both. I’d like a concrete explanation beyond just being evil.

I’m being harsh, yet giving it four stars—a 3.7 rounded up. It’s still Brogan Thomas, and it’s not a bad story, just not what I hoped for. The world is interesting, and the tease for the next installment does have me curious. I have hope that it will be a better match for me.