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dreamerfreak's review
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Violence, Death, Cursing, Suicide, and Murder
sandygx260's review against another edition
3.0
Lovely writing, but everything happens too quickly. Blam, two men develop a connection, but I would think a human would wait and ask questions before letting his lover transform him.
Again, maybe I am too sensible.
The main character's development happens after the fact.
As I said, the writing is lovely but the logic is lacking.
Again, maybe I am too sensible.
The main character's development happens after the fact.
As I said, the writing is lovely but the logic is lacking.
teresab78's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 stars.... so the first part of this book was 1-2 stars. I like fated mate tropes but we didn’t have that excuse here for the instalove and so it fell flat. Everything seemed so easy until we meet Galen and even then I never connected with the characters. However I did like the ending which bumped up my rating. But had I not had this as a challenge book, I would have dnf early on.
joyousreads132's review against another edition
3.0
Ink is a story about an old vampire who fell in love with a human.
That’s not even remotely ground-breaking, isn’t it? Almost majority of the books dealing with these nocturnal creatures had them fighting off their bloodlust with the people they’re supposedly in love with. I must admit, the pull of this book lies in the fact that it’s an m/m PNR. And while I normally don’t put too much stock into how the book is packaged, the beauty of its cover was also an added bonus.
Surprisingly, this book was a bit more than just your average vampire drivel. It has a well-evolved history even if some of its elements were a bit pedestrian. Some vampire novels tend to try hard to be original but this one, I felt, kept closer to the lore.
Dominic spends his nights wandering Chapel Street; he sits at a café without ever drinking what he orders. Across the street, a young tattoo artist is unaware of the fact that he’s being watched. Until one night when a walk-in client decides to let his presence known. Plagued with self-loathing for what he’s about put Michael through and the possibilities of the harm he can do to him, Dominic pulls away. From the moment on, his connection to Dominic is all-consuming that it literally feels like he's missing a limb when he's not around. He also feels everything Dominic feels: loneliness, pain, love, and lust.
The next time they meet, Michael wouldn’t let him go until Dominic cut off all ties and decides to let his existence slowly perish by not feeding. But Michael made his own decision: he’d rather die than live without Dominic.
The love story is a little typical of the story line: an ancient vampire who fights off his nature (and fails) and a human with no sense of self-preservation. There was too much self-hatred on Dominic’s part and too much self-sacrificing affinity on Michael’s. They have such a staid connection and the author was very adept in making sure it comes off the pages. It’s in the way they communicate – telepathically and otherwise. It’s in every look and every touch and it’s in the way they feel each other’s presence, regardless of the distance. While I usually am not so forgiving when it comes to instant love between characters, I feel like I could give this book a pass. There’s just something about a supernatural being that’s hard to resist. And I get it.
Ink is dark and vivid, with a world that could give Anne Rice’s Lestat Chronicles a run for her money. The problem I had with this book was the lack of details on Michael’s change. It seemed so rush considering how much Dominic loathed changing him. Michael also didn’t seem to have struggled with it; his sharpened senses didn’t bother him too much. In fact, the only instance I felt like he had a hard time was when he was assaulted with the need to hurt one of his best friends. The author didn’t get hung up on Michael’s hunger especially when he was briefly separated from Dominic. I thought it wasn’t realistic. But then again, this is a vampire book. There's nothing realistic about that.
I also did not understand why Dominic would stay away from Michael when he knew it would kill him. I’m not being melodramatic either. I meant that Michael wouldn’t feed on anyone else but Dominic. Knowing this, he still chose to stay away because he thought he was doing Michael a favor.
Overall, I think this book was entertaining enough if you’re like me who's been looking to resuscitate her appetite for vampires.
That’s not even remotely ground-breaking, isn’t it? Almost majority of the books dealing with these nocturnal creatures had them fighting off their bloodlust with the people they’re supposedly in love with. I must admit, the pull of this book lies in the fact that it’s an m/m PNR. And while I normally don’t put too much stock into how the book is packaged, the beauty of its cover was also an added bonus.
Surprisingly, this book was a bit more than just your average vampire drivel. It has a well-evolved history even if some of its elements were a bit pedestrian. Some vampire novels tend to try hard to be original but this one, I felt, kept closer to the lore.
Dominic spends his nights wandering Chapel Street; he sits at a café without ever drinking what he orders. Across the street, a young tattoo artist is unaware of the fact that he’s being watched. Until one night when a walk-in client decides to let his presence known. Plagued with self-loathing for what he’s about put Michael through and the possibilities of the harm he can do to him, Dominic pulls away. From the moment on, his connection to Dominic is all-consuming that it literally feels like he's missing a limb when he's not around. He also feels everything Dominic feels: loneliness, pain, love, and lust.
The next time they meet, Michael wouldn’t let him go until Dominic cut off all ties and decides to let his existence slowly perish by not feeding. But Michael made his own decision: he’d rather die than live without Dominic.
The love story is a little typical of the story line: an ancient vampire who fights off his nature (and fails) and a human with no sense of self-preservation. There was too much self-hatred on Dominic’s part and too much self-sacrificing affinity on Michael’s. They have such a staid connection and the author was very adept in making sure it comes off the pages. It’s in the way they communicate – telepathically and otherwise. It’s in every look and every touch and it’s in the way they feel each other’s presence, regardless of the distance. While I usually am not so forgiving when it comes to instant love between characters, I feel like I could give this book a pass. There’s just something about a supernatural being that’s hard to resist. And I get it.
Ink is dark and vivid, with a world that could give Anne Rice’s Lestat Chronicles a run for her money. The problem I had with this book was the lack of details on Michael’s change. It seemed so rush considering how much Dominic loathed changing him. Michael also didn’t seem to have struggled with it; his sharpened senses didn’t bother him too much. In fact, the only instance I felt like he had a hard time was when he was assaulted with the need to hurt one of his best friends. The author didn’t get hung up on Michael’s hunger especially when he was briefly separated from Dominic. I thought it wasn’t realistic. But then again, this is a vampire book. There's nothing realistic about that.
I also did not understand why Dominic would stay away from Michael when he knew it would kill him. I’m not being melodramatic either. I meant that Michael wouldn’t feed on anyone else but Dominic. Knowing this, he still chose to stay away because he thought he was doing Michael a favor.
Overall, I think this book was entertaining enough if you’re like me who's been looking to resuscitate her appetite for vampires.
thatashgirl83's review against another edition
1.0
I found this book a little disappointing. It took too long to establish anything about the characters.
brittaniethekid's review against another edition
4.0
Dominic was a Roman Centurion that never wanted to be a vampire and, after several centuries wandering the world and running from his maker, he's tired of life and lonely. Out of curiosity and a sort of test, he slips into a tattoo parlour somewhere in Australia to get work done by Michael, a young artist Dominic has been secretly watching. Michael is able to tattoo Dominic's shoulder but feels there's something different about this client and is left feeling bereft and confused after Dominic leaves. Michael is able to keep something of his memories even though Dominic altered them and tracks Dominic down again. Despite not being in his plans, Dominic can't let Michael go but also doesn't want to kill him, and it disrupts his own plans to finally end his own long life. Instead, Michael saves him and Dominic lets Michael stay in his life to give it renewed meaning. When he turns Michael, Dominic's maker, Galen, is awakened and shows up in town. Galen is even older than Dominic and had been told throughout his own short human life that he was meant to be a god and, despite the amount of time that's passed, he still believes that and has shunned any humanity he may have still had in him.
I loved the mix of Roman, ancient Celtic/Briton, and modern Australia cultures merging here. This has a slightly different take on vampire lore, throwing out a lot of the regular tropes (garlic, Christian iconography, coffins, etc.), but still keeps the dangers of daylight and the dark allure vampires need to have. You'll not find any glittery skin here. It's never explained why and how the vampires end up in Australia but it was a nice change from other vampire books I've read previously.
I thought this book spent a little too much time on Galen's past but the flashbacks do make Galen and Dominic more dimensional as characters. Also way too much time with Scott and Abby, even if they're Michael's long time friends and owners of the tattoo parlour. However, because of that time spend off of the main characters/couple, this felt like a start to a series that will not be written so was slightly frustrating in that way. There needs to be more between Dominic and Michael to make their love story make sense.
If you don't like insta-love tropes, this might not be a book you'd enjoy. Michael really wants to be a vampire a night or so after finding out they exist, declaring his immortal love for Dominic. However, because of Dominic's powers of suggestion over humans, it feels like maybe this is more a stockholm syndrome situation and slightly uncomfortable. Michael's not the typical Goth that Dominic has dealt with, who fantasize about gothy things, so Michael's decisions don't make a lot of sense. Someone who has lived centuries wouldn't find Michael so endearing after so little time.
Overall, I did really enjoy this and am always willing to read some MM vampire books. However, it's not without its flaws.
I loved the mix of Roman, ancient Celtic/Briton, and modern Australia cultures merging here. This has a slightly different take on vampire lore, throwing out a lot of the regular tropes (garlic, Christian iconography, coffins, etc.), but still keeps the dangers of daylight and the dark allure vampires need to have. You'll not find any glittery skin here. It's never explained why and how the vampires end up in Australia but it was a nice change from other vampire books I've read previously.
I thought this book spent a little too much time on Galen's past but the flashbacks do make Galen and Dominic more dimensional as characters. Also way too much time with Scott and Abby, even if they're Michael's long time friends and owners of the tattoo parlour. However, because of that time spend off of the main characters/couple, this felt like a start to a series that will not be written so was slightly frustrating in that way. There needs to be more between Dominic and Michael to make their love story make sense.
If you don't like insta-love tropes, this might not be a book you'd enjoy. Michael really wants to be a vampire a night or so after finding out they exist, declaring his immortal love for Dominic. However, because of Dominic's powers of suggestion over humans, it feels like maybe this is more a stockholm syndrome situation and slightly uncomfortable. Michael's not the typical Goth that Dominic has dealt with, who fantasize about gothy things, so Michael's decisions don't make a lot of sense. Someone who has lived centuries wouldn't find Michael so endearing after so little time.
Overall, I did really enjoy this and am always willing to read some MM vampire books. However, it's not without its flaws.
roses_rose's review against another edition
3.0
The book was slow paced and was more angst than I would like. I didn't enjoy as much as I thought I would.
demonsreadtoo's review against another edition
3.0
This one left me feeling a little mixed as to whether I liked it or not. There were moments where I couldn’t get enough of Michael and Dominic’s growing relationship, and other times when I wished something would hurry up and happen. I enjoyed the first half a lot more than the second half of the book. The introduction of Dominic’s psycho ex, and maker, took the book off course, becoming more focussed on the past than on the interesting changes going on in the present. But the Australian setting was a welcome change, providing enough of a description without becoming lost in the words.
Read full review at Demons Read Too
Read full review at Demons Read Too
crtsjffrsn's review against another edition
2.0
Dominic has roamed the world as a vampire since the height of the Roman empire. But in all his years, he's never been as fascinated by a mortal as he is by Michael, a young tattoo artist. In fact, Dominic is so fascinated, he wanders into Michael's world to get a tattoo (knowing it won't keep) and finds himself in a world he doesn't want to leave. And as the two fall for each other, they find that there are forces that are conspiring to keep them apart.
This one just wasn't my cup of tea. There's nothing specific that I would say the author did wrong. It just didn't grab me as a reader, though that's likely due more to my own interests than any fault on the part of the writing or the characters.
This one just wasn't my cup of tea. There's nothing specific that I would say the author did wrong. It just didn't grab me as a reader, though that's likely due more to my own interests than any fault on the part of the writing or the characters.