Scan barcode
mattyb's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
Minor: Sexism, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Miscarriage, and Deportation
bluejayreads's review against another edition
On the whole, Ink is unspectacular and uninspiring. It coasts by on the idea of a society where tattoos are a record of your life and your soul only exists as long as your tattooed skin remains to tell your story. Which is, admittedly, a really cool idea. However, there is zero worldbuilding that isn't related to tattoos. You get all the details about how the tattoos happen, are chosen or mandated, and fit into life, death, and belief, but there's nothing else that would let the world feel fully realized. What do they eat? What is the climate like? Traditional ceremonial dress gets described, but what do people wear every day? What time period is this even based on? It has a very "generic fantasy village" vibe, with a small-town feel, a village square where people gather when the mayor has something to say, and no hint of other modes of transportation besides walking, but then there's also some very modern-sounding house interiors and tattoo guns. I couldn't even get into the interesting parts of the world because I didn't know about anything but the tattoos. On top of that, none of the characters have any personality. The protagonist is an incredibly generic YA protagonist - misses her recently-deceased dad, likes to draw, a loner at school, and nothing else. Nobody else has anything distinguishing. I kept waiting for the plot to start to see if that was interesting, but it just didn't. It's like the story wanted to spend a lot of time with the setup but it never actually set up anything. The whole story was as colorless, ill-defined, and two-dimensional as a poorly done tattoo.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Grief, Xenophobia, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Torture and Gore
Needles, corpse desecrationmaisiepamela's review
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
I have mixed feelings. The book's plot was a bit all over the place and I felt it was very predictable and got stuck in one place a lot of the time. I did enjoy the sort of plot-twist and the ending because they were written quite well. I liked the concept but i just felt the story lagged a bit and the end was an anti-climax. Leora developed quite a lot however, i felt we didn't really see any other characters in the book. The story was okay, but not the best/
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
naomi_'s review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent
ilikebooks_okay's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
More...