Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torzs

This is the debut book written by Emma Torzs and I absolutely LOVED it!  I found it to be a bit of a slow start, but I'm so glad I stuck with it.  I came away from this book feeling the same type of joy and hope I did when I read The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow.

Part of me wishes Emma writes a sequel.  The other part of me is content to use my imagination with regards to, "What happens next?!?"  The book's last sentence, "Joanna opened the book.", left me with tingles going up and down my spine (in a VERY good way).

If libraries are on your list of favorite places and you love books and magic, this book is definitely for you.  There were quite a few interesting twists in this book that I did not see coming.  I especially loved the way various relationships within the book were portrayed, especially the relationship between Esther and her stepmom.

I visited the author's website and learned she is not on social media but you can sign up for her New and Mews enewsletter (she has a cat named Igor!).  She has written quite a few short stories.  I read The Path of Water (link provided on her website), which I found to be a bit dark and disturbing.  A very interesting read.  I plan to read more of her short stories and will be keeping my eyes wide open for future books by this author!

Here is the synopsis of the book from Goodreads:

In this spellbinding debut novel, two estranged half-sisters tasked with guarding their family's library of magical books must work together to unravel a deadly secret at the heart of their collection--a tale of familial loyalty and betrayal, and the pursuit of magic and power.

For generations, the Kalotay family has guarded a collection of ancient and rare books. Books that let a person walk through walls or manipulate the elements--books of magic that half-sisters Joanna and Esther have been raised to revere and protect.

All magic comes with a price, though, and for years the sisters have been separated. Esther has fled to a remote base in Antarctica to escape the fate that killed her own mother, and Joanna's isolated herself in their family home in Vermont, devoting her life to the study of these cherished volumes. But after their father dies suddenly while reading a book Joanna has never seen before, the sisters must reunite to preserve their family legacy. In the process, they'll uncover a world of magic far bigger and more dangerous than they ever imagined, and all the secrets their parents kept hidden; secrets that span centuries, continents, and even other libraries . . .