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3.39 AVERAGE
3.39 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The book was so fascinating that I couldn't put the book down, I had this book read within less than 2 weeks.
Wow this book is some hot steamy garbage! There’s literally no point to the protagonist being American except whitewashing? Idk. And the writing itself... woooo boy. That was a train wreck. I haven’t read such a bad book in a longgggg time.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
2 stars
It is with a heavy heart that I sit down to write this review. You see, Ink was my most highly anticipated debut. In fact, it was one of my most highly anticipated 2013 releases. A book, set in Japan, about a fantasy world where ink drawings come to life? That sounded like everything I could ever want and more. And yet, it turned out to be something totally not for me. And despite how high my expectations were, it would have been no different if I had absolutely no idea what this book was about beforehand.
Let me start by saying that this book is stunning, design-wise. Not only does it have that beautiful cover, but given that it's a story about ink drawings coming to life, there are illustrations within the book and flip-book animations as well. The chapter headings are also stunning. All in all, it's one of the most beautiful books I've ever read - the design is truly a work of art.
Two of the best things about this novel are the setting and Amanda Sun's writing. She showed a deep understanding of the Japanese culture, and descriptions of the setting truly painted a beautiful picture. I felt like I was there, even though I've never been to Japan before. Her writing is beautiful and easily digestible. After reading so many debuts this year, I can only say the same for about two other books. I wouldn't have expected this to be a debut. So I'm excited to read more of her work.
But... perhaps not in this series.
Let's start with the characters. Katie, the main character, is, to me, rather unlikable. She is impulsive and extremely love sick. But we'll get to that second one in a bit. Her impulsiveness just caused her to make all the wrong choices. Aside from those two personality traits, she fell flat. She lacked character depth and considering her back-story of being thrust into a vastly different culture and just having gone through the death of her mother, I did not expect that. Tomohiro is... well, picture your basic drool-worthy anime character. Then minus some of the drool, because he also lacked the kind of depth that would really make him attractive.
The concept was still wonderfully unique and relatively well-executed. Amanda Sun's fantasy world had a ton of potential, which made for an intriguing plot. However, I felt like it was over before it began - and for 377 pages, that's a weird thing to say. I felt like the plot centered way too much on the romance. When the action scenes arrived, they were over just like that. The fantasy world was still left largely unexplored. And at the end, I felt extremely cheated. I didn't feel like I ever got to a climax, though it may have also been due to the fact that around 50 pages at the end of the book consist of the glossary, acknowledgements, interview, discussion questions, preview of the next book. The ending was completely unexpected, because I thought I had a lot longer to go. It just fell flat.
I feel I must also warn you that Ink features a lot of romanized Japanese dialogue. And even as someone who has watched so much anime and J-Dramas that I can understand all those phrases without a second thought, I found it to become a bit irritating. I feel like it often got in the way of the flow of the dialogue, especially as the Japanese phrases were usually translated into English right after. I appreciate the effort to include those phrases to make the setting more authentic and to show how Katie was still learning the language, but I can't help but wonder if there was a better way to accomplish that. If it even got on my nerves a little, I can only imagine how it feels for a reader with no knowledge of Japanese.
What bothered me a lot throughout the novel was the constant use of YA stereotypes. You have the helpless Katie, who is head over freaking heels for Tomohiro (we'll get there). You have Tomohiro, who seems like he has split personalities - is dark and scary one moment, and then the most romantic guy ever the next. You have the absentee parent - in this case, aunt. (I really didn't understand that - Katie's aunt gives her a cell phone, and then later, when Katie need to call someone for help, she doesn't have her aunt's number - are you kidding me?) You have the obnoxious best friend who almost yells to the whole school that Katie slept over at Tomohiro's house (seriously??). The list goes on. These all just give me a massive urge to *headdesk*.
Now, let's get down to business. The romance to me is baffling and ultimately the biggest reason for my disappointment. Let me take you through a chronological order of this romance, actually: Katie sees Tomohiro break up with a girl in a totally heartless way because supposedly he cheated on her and got another girl pregnant. He sees her and glares at her. Katie's friends warn her to stay away from him; he has a bad reputation. But no, she sees something in his eyes that would prove he's not so heartless. So she STALKS him. Seriously. Stalks this guy she's been told to stay away from because he's dangerous.
But yeah, then the cliché arrives, and he's really got a heart of gold but tries to keep everyone at a distance. At 41% of the novel, this little gem appears.
They are barely together at this point. But she can't live without him. Oh hello, Bella, I didn't know you became a blonde and moved to Japan. How interesting. Some odd number of pages after that, they say, "I love you" to each other, and THEN have their first kiss. Is it just me, or does this sound like it's totally out of order? I mean, okay, Japanese culture, confessing before a kiss is common, so I'll give you that one, but the can't live without him? Please. Please. Take your instalove and leave.
Wait-- What-- No-- I told you to leave!
Clearly, I didn't know what I was getting into. I didn't expect this book to be so romance-centric. And I didn't expect the romance itself to be such sickeningly sweet instalove with poor development. I think part of it stemmed from the fact that some of the more casual scenes where they were spending time together and getting to know each other were skipped (mentioned in passing later) in favor of getting to another scene where Katie annoyingly decides its her prerogative to stalk her boyfriend whenever he seems to be keeping anything from her. That all doesn't really make this an endearing, convincing, or healthy relationship. It totally lacked chemistry. (Oh yeah, did I mention the part where he forced her into a love hotel, acting like he was going to rape her--to try to break up with her?)
Don't get me wrong, I love anime and J-Dramas as much as the next Japanophile, and if this story were told in that format, I may have enjoyed it. But the addition of Katie's love sick inner monologues pushed the cliché and sickeningly sweet over the top, and I couldn't enjoy it anymore.
Summing Up:
I feel awful now. I loved the concept of this book (which was still relatively cool) and I love the author, who is unbelievably awesome. But the book didn't work for me. The romance made it almost unbearable and honestly made me consider giving up. Writing this review was seriously painful. But I always feel I must be honest, so despite my love for Amanda Sun and my hope that a shit ton of readers will love this book anyway, I had to write this review. (`･ω･´)ゞ
Recommended To:
Hardcore animanga fans (which apparently I am not) and people not as instalove-averse.
*ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the contents of the review.
It is with a heavy heart that I sit down to write this review. You see, Ink was my most highly anticipated debut. In fact, it was one of my most highly anticipated 2013 releases. A book, set in Japan, about a fantasy world where ink drawings come to life? That sounded like everything I could ever want and more. And yet, it turned out to be something totally not for me. And despite how high my expectations were, it would have been no different if I had absolutely no idea what this book was about beforehand.
Let me start by saying that this book is stunning, design-wise. Not only does it have that beautiful cover, but given that it's a story about ink drawings coming to life, there are illustrations within the book and flip-book animations as well. The chapter headings are also stunning. All in all, it's one of the most beautiful books I've ever read - the design is truly a work of art.
Two of the best things about this novel are the setting and Amanda Sun's writing. She showed a deep understanding of the Japanese culture, and descriptions of the setting truly painted a beautiful picture. I felt like I was there, even though I've never been to Japan before. Her writing is beautiful and easily digestible. After reading so many debuts this year, I can only say the same for about two other books. I wouldn't have expected this to be a debut. So I'm excited to read more of her work.
But... perhaps not in this series.
Let's start with the characters. Katie, the main character, is, to me, rather unlikable. She is impulsive and extremely love sick. But we'll get to that second one in a bit. Her impulsiveness just caused her to make all the wrong choices. Aside from those two personality traits, she fell flat. She lacked character depth and considering her back-story of being thrust into a vastly different culture and just having gone through the death of her mother, I did not expect that. Tomohiro is... well, picture your basic drool-worthy anime character. Then minus some of the drool, because he also lacked the kind of depth that would really make him attractive.
The concept was still wonderfully unique and relatively well-executed. Amanda Sun's fantasy world had a ton of potential, which made for an intriguing plot. However, I felt like it was over before it began - and for 377 pages, that's a weird thing to say. I felt like the plot centered way too much on the romance. When the action scenes arrived, they were over just like that. The fantasy world was still left largely unexplored. And at the end, I felt extremely cheated. I didn't feel like I ever got to a climax, though it may have also been due to the fact that around 50 pages at the end of the book consist of the glossary, acknowledgements, interview, discussion questions, preview of the next book. The ending was completely unexpected, because I thought I had a lot longer to go. It just fell flat.
I feel I must also warn you that Ink features a lot of romanized Japanese dialogue. And even as someone who has watched so much anime and J-Dramas that I can understand all those phrases without a second thought, I found it to become a bit irritating. I feel like it often got in the way of the flow of the dialogue, especially as the Japanese phrases were usually translated into English right after. I appreciate the effort to include those phrases to make the setting more authentic and to show how Katie was still learning the language, but I can't help but wonder if there was a better way to accomplish that. If it even got on my nerves a little, I can only imagine how it feels for a reader with no knowledge of Japanese.
What bothered me a lot throughout the novel was the constant use of YA stereotypes. You have the helpless Katie, who is head over freaking heels for Tomohiro (we'll get there). You have Tomohiro, who seems like he has split personalities - is dark and scary one moment, and then the most romantic guy ever the next. You have the absentee parent - in this case, aunt. (I really didn't understand that - Katie's aunt gives her a cell phone, and then later, when Katie need to call someone for help, she doesn't have her aunt's number - are you kidding me?) You have the obnoxious best friend who almost yells to the whole school that Katie slept over at Tomohiro's house (seriously??). The list goes on. These all just give me a massive urge to *headdesk*.
Now, let's get down to business. The romance to me is baffling and ultimately the biggest reason for my disappointment. Let me take you through a chronological order of this romance, actually: Katie sees Tomohiro break up with a girl in a totally heartless way because supposedly he cheated on her and got another girl pregnant. He sees her and glares at her. Katie's friends warn her to stay away from him; he has a bad reputation. But no, she sees something in his eyes that would prove he's not so heartless. So she STALKS him. Seriously. Stalks this guy she's been told to stay away from because he's dangerous.
The more Tomohiro didn't want me to delve into his past, the more I needed to.
Ink by Amanda Sun
But yeah, then the cliché arrives, and he's really got a heart of gold but tries to keep everyone at a distance. At 41% of the novel, this little gem appears.
'Warui,' he whispered in apology, and I knew then that I couldn't live without him, even when he was infuriating. Which was pretty much all the time.
Ink by Amanda Sun
They are barely together at this point. But she can't live without him. Oh hello, Bella, I didn't know you became a blonde and moved to Japan. How interesting. Some odd number of pages after that, they say, "I love you" to each other, and THEN have their first kiss. Is it just me, or does this sound like it's totally out of order? I mean, okay, Japanese culture, confessing before a kiss is common, so I'll give you that one, but the can't live without him? Please. Please. Take your instalove and leave.
Wait-- What-- No-- I told you to leave!
Tomohiro's eyes met mine, and in them there was none of the darkness that I had seen in the hotel, no ugliness or hatred. I saw only our link, the axis that kept our worlds spinning, that kept us in balance. And I knew that neither of us could leave the other.
Ink by Amanda Sun
Clearly, I didn't know what I was getting into. I didn't expect this book to be so romance-centric. And I didn't expect the romance itself to be such sickeningly sweet instalove with poor development. I think part of it stemmed from the fact that some of the more casual scenes where they were spending time together and getting to know each other were skipped (mentioned in passing later) in favor of getting to another scene where Katie annoyingly decides its her prerogative to stalk her boyfriend whenever he seems to be keeping anything from her. That all doesn't really make this an endearing, convincing, or healthy relationship. It totally lacked chemistry. (Oh yeah, did I mention the part where he forced her into a love hotel, acting like he was going to rape her--to try to break up with her?)
Don't get me wrong, I love anime and J-Dramas as much as the next Japanophile, and if this story were told in that format, I may have enjoyed it. But the addition of Katie's love sick inner monologues pushed the cliché and sickeningly sweet over the top, and I couldn't enjoy it anymore.
Summing Up:
I feel awful now. I loved the concept of this book (which was still relatively cool) and I love the author, who is unbelievably awesome. But the book didn't work for me. The romance made it almost unbearable and honestly made me consider giving up. Writing this review was seriously painful. But I always feel I must be honest, so despite my love for Amanda Sun and my hope that a shit ton of readers will love this book anyway, I had to write this review. (`･ω･´)ゞ
Recommended To:
Hardcore animanga fans (which apparently I am not) and people not as instalove-averse.
*ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the contents of the review.
Loved the idea of Japanese fantasy, but read like a Japanese Twilight. It was all about romance for a dangerous bad boy and little else.
At first I was apprehensive about reading this book, but, in the end, I actually ended up liking it a lot!
A brave heroine, mysterious powers, an adorable and dangerous romance, and a whole lot of Japanese culture! This book takes everything I love and just mixes it together in a page turner book of amazingness!
Due to my overzealous love of Japanese culture, I was drawn in by page 1. I love Sun's quirky, humorous and sarcastic writing and instantly love Katie. I do appreciate anyone who can make me chuckle and I just love Katie's spunk. I really start to feel for her being in a new country and having to learn everything. It sucks being the new kid at school, but it sucks even more when you don't even know the language.
Tomo hooks me in another way. I always love the big, brooding, dark character with a hidden soft spot, but Tomo takes it to a new level. On the outside he is rough and gruff, but on the inside he is hurting and is drawn to Katie, who might see him for more than the monster he thinks himself to be. All this is escalated when his strange ability to bring his drawings to life seem to be reacting to Katie.
And here is where the plot pulls me in. There are people with special powers, Kami (or gods), who can control ink. Tomo is haunted, literally, by his abilities and now him and Katie have to figure out why the ink is reacting to her so much. Throw in the Yakuza, Japanese mobsters, and others looking to use Tomo's ability and you got one heck of a plot filled with mystery and action. Add in a touch of romance too, and you got a trifecta!
Usually where I ding some books that I read is in the romance part. I don't go for the "love at first sight" kind of notion or the "Oh my god I can't live without him/her" act. Sun does a good job of avoiding the "love at first sight" for me. I actually really liked how Tomo and Katie started out hating each other, then becoming friends and then discovering something more (that stuff gets me every time). She comes close on the "can't live without you" bit, BUT! I understand where Katie is coming from. It's not the hopeless, needing the other person to survive, ordeal. Katie discovers that she could be "making decisions" based on Tomo (and I am saying "making decisions" to avoid spoilers. You'll understand it more when you read it!), but realizes that she is more making those decisions for herself and taking charge of her life, which I thought was awesome :)
Overall, this was a great book and I highly recommend it! I can't wait to see what happens in the next book and what other things Sun will come out with. Definitely an author to watch :) This gets probably more 4.5/5 stars from me!
Due to my overzealous love of Japanese culture, I was drawn in by page 1. I love Sun's quirky, humorous and sarcastic writing and instantly love Katie. I do appreciate anyone who can make me chuckle and I just love Katie's spunk. I really start to feel for her being in a new country and having to learn everything. It sucks being the new kid at school, but it sucks even more when you don't even know the language.
Tomo hooks me in another way. I always love the big, brooding, dark character with a hidden soft spot, but Tomo takes it to a new level. On the outside he is rough and gruff, but on the inside he is hurting and is drawn to Katie, who might see him for more than the monster he thinks himself to be. All this is escalated when his strange ability to bring his drawings to life seem to be reacting to Katie.
And here is where the plot pulls me in. There are people with special powers, Kami (or gods), who can control ink. Tomo is haunted, literally, by his abilities and now him and Katie have to figure out why the ink is reacting to her so much. Throw in the Yakuza, Japanese mobsters, and others looking to use Tomo's ability and you got one heck of a plot filled with mystery and action. Add in a touch of romance too, and you got a trifecta!
Usually where I ding some books that I read is in the romance part. I don't go for the "love at first sight" kind of notion or the "Oh my god I can't live without him/her" act. Sun does a good job of avoiding the "love at first sight" for me. I actually really liked how Tomo and Katie started out hating each other, then becoming friends and then discovering something more (that stuff gets me every time). She comes close on the "can't live without you" bit, BUT! I understand where Katie is coming from. It's not the hopeless, needing the other person to survive, ordeal. Katie discovers that she could be "making decisions" based on Tomo (and I am saying "making decisions" to avoid spoilers. You'll understand it more when you read it!), but realizes that she is more making those decisions for herself and taking charge of her life, which I thought was awesome :)
Overall, this was a great book and I highly recommend it! I can't wait to see what happens in the next book and what other things Sun will come out with. Definitely an author to watch :) This gets probably more 4.5/5 stars from me!
Kind of feel slightly disappointed, i loved the Japanese aspects, and the uniqueness, but the insta love really put me off.
The full review can also be found on my blog here.
---
*original rating: 2.5 stars*
Here's a short summary of what I thought about Ink:
I liked it. But then I didn’t.
Okay, I’m going to list the things I liked and didn’t like about this book, because it could have been so much better, but unfortunately it didn’t live up to my expectations.
What I Liked:
- The magical drawings. I loved imagining how Tomohiro’s drawings would come to life in Ink. It’s something I’ve never read in other books before. Plus, the photos that came with the book were very pretty as well.
- The way Japan was described/written. The description definitely made me feel like I was in Japan, and it was easy for me to imagine their surroundings by the descriptions given.It was even like watching anime in my head. (That’s a good thing, by the way.) (Well, as an otaku.)
- Jun. I love Jun. 'Nuff said 'cause he's the only one I actually like in this book. (And I love his blond streak.)
What I Didn’t Like:
- Katie Greene. Which is ABSOLUTELY NOT GOOD. Because, duh, she’s the protagonist here. Katie climbs up a tree just to tease Tomohiro for no reason. And she forgives Tomohiro after he attempts to rape her because he "did it to save her” (this is so wrong in so many levels, by the way). And, Katie hates Jun so much even though Jun is obviously the only character in the book that’s in his sane mind. JUN JUST WANTS EVERYONE TO BE SAFE AND MAKE THE RIGHT DECISIONS. LISTEN TO THE GUY, YOU BREADSTICKS. Love definitely makes some people stupid.
- Some scenes come off as “overly-cheesy.” Which, in my opinion, didn’t bother me much during my first few chapters. Then after a while, I got annoyed. Unfortunately, the book becomes too cheesy and the actions of the characters (especially Katie) become too irrelevant and nonsensical. Such scenes can be found in common shoujo animes/mangas, and sometimes those animes/mangas pull those scenes off properly, but Ink didn’t. Not for me.
- It focuses too much on romance. I feel like Ink focuses too much on romance and not much on the mythology this book also includes. I’d love to know more about the so-called “paper gods” because I think I was only explained a little about them, but unfortunately I feel like I’ll know more about it if I read the following books instead. Sigh.
- THAT. ENDING. (Spoilers ahead. Click the spoiler tag at your own risk.)
* * *
I have a lot of things I disliked about Ink than otherwise, which is a bit sad because I really thought I’d enjoy this book. I tried contemplating on giving this book a solid three stars, but I just don’t think it deserves that much. So… I’ll just lower it down to a 2.5. :/
---
*original rating: 2.5 stars*
Here's a short summary of what I thought about Ink:
I liked it. But then I didn’t.
Okay, I’m going to list the things I liked and didn’t like about this book, because it could have been so much better, but unfortunately it didn’t live up to my expectations.
What I Liked:
- The magical drawings. I loved imagining how Tomohiro’s drawings would come to life in Ink. It’s something I’ve never read in other books before. Plus, the photos that came with the book were very pretty as well.
- The way Japan was described/written. The description definitely made me feel like I was in Japan, and it was easy for me to imagine their surroundings by the descriptions given.
- Jun. I love Jun. 'Nuff said 'cause he's the only one I actually like in this book. (And I love his blond streak.)
What I Didn’t Like:
- Katie Greene. Which is ABSOLUTELY NOT GOOD. Because, duh, she’s the protagonist here. Katie climbs up a tree just to tease Tomohiro for no reason. And she forgives Tomohiro after he attempts to rape her because he "did it to save her” (this is so wrong in so many levels, by the way). And, Katie hates Jun so much even though Jun is obviously the only character in the book that’s in his sane mind. JUN JUST WANTS EVERYONE TO BE SAFE AND MAKE THE RIGHT DECISIONS. LISTEN TO THE GUY, YOU BREADSTICKS. Love definitely makes some people stupid.
- Some scenes come off as “overly-cheesy.” Which, in my opinion, didn’t bother me much during my first few chapters. Then after a while, I got annoyed. Unfortunately, the book becomes too cheesy and the actions of the characters (especially Katie) become too irrelevant and nonsensical. Such scenes can be found in common shoujo animes/mangas, and sometimes those animes/mangas pull those scenes off properly, but Ink didn’t. Not for me.
- It focuses too much on romance. I feel like Ink focuses too much on romance and not much on the mythology this book also includes. I’d love to know more about the so-called “paper gods” because I think I was only explained a little about them, but unfortunately I feel like I’ll know more about it if I read the following books instead. Sigh.
- THAT. ENDING. (Spoilers ahead. Click the spoiler tag at your own risk.)
Spoiler
And I’m not saying this as a good thing, either. Katie is finally flying back to her grandparents, but oh, she loves Tomohiro so much that she can’t leave him and runs away from the airport at the last minute and goes back to her home in Japan. Uhm, has anybody heard of Facebook? I’m pretty sure Facebook already exists from whenever this book was set in. Or at least the internet finally exists in this book’s world. THERE’S THIS THING ABOUT LONG-DISTANCE RELATIONSHIPS AND THEN MEETING THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE AFTER, LIKE, MAYBE TWO OR THREE MONTHS?? Poor grandparents.* * *
I have a lot of things I disliked about Ink than otherwise, which is a bit sad because I really thought I’d enjoy this book. I tried contemplating on giving this book a solid three stars, but I just don’t think it deserves that much. So… I’ll just lower it down to a 2.5. :/