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nicolemhewitt's review
5.0
This review and many others can be found on my blog - Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Right after I started reading this book, I glanced at the reviews on Goodreads and was disappointed to see that the first several reviews I ran across were either negative or pretty neutral. (I know - I shouldn't look, but I just can't help it - sometimes when I'm reading a book I haven't really heard of, I just like to get an idea of what I'm in for). So, I started the book with relatively low expectations, ready to be disappointed. But the further I got into the book, the more I found myself thinking, "What is it that those people didn't like? Maybe it gets worse as the book goes on." I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it never did. In fact, I found myself LOVING this book and kind of dreading the end (I'm really glad to see there's going to be a sequel)!
The book centers around Joy Malone, a 16-year-old girl who is accidentally marked by a Scribe named Ink - a supernatural being whose purpose it is to mark humans for the Folk (spiritual beings) who claim them. Her mark brands her as Ink's property and helper (and as his lover) and suddenly she finds herself being terrorized by faeries, monsters and spiritual beings who want to use her to get to Ink. And, as she becomes more and more deeply embroiled with the Twixt (the spiritual realm), she learns that she may have more of a place there than she first thought and that some of the Folk might have darker motives than either she or Ink ever imagined.
The negatives:
Slightly confusing in parts.
Okay, I do have to hand it to some of those naysayers - there were parts of this book that were a little confusing. It took a little while to understand who the Scribes were and what they did. (There are actually two Scribes - Indelible Ink and his sister Invisible Inq - okay, it seems a little silly, but after a moment's pause, I got over that). There were a few points where I had to read something twice so that I made sure that I understood exactly what was being said when it came to the Twixt. But, in the end, I SO loved the originality, complexity and mystery of the world that Metcalf created, that I didn't mind having to work a little in order to understand all of its details.
Mom issues?
I was worried at first that Joy seemed a bit irrational as far as her mom was concerned and I was hoping that she wasn't just going to whine about her miserable life for the whole book. Joy's mom left her dad (and Joy), but tried constantly to contact her and Joy refused to have anything to do with her. Because of her mom's desertion (along with her brother leaving for college), she had some major abandonment issues that needed to be sorted out. I'm happy to say that this ended up being an area of real growth for Joy throughout the book, though, and, while she did wallow a bit at first, she didn't let herself turn into a whiny victim. Okay, I know this negative kind of turned out to be a positive, but I'm stretching here. I hate to give glowing reviews with no criticisms what-so-ever!
Now on to the good stuff. What I LOVED about this book:
The Twixt.
As I already mentioned, I felt like Metcalf created a really interesting and complex mythology that drew me into the story completely. I loved the originality of the Scribes and the signaturae that they used to mark people with. I also loved the physical descriptions of the process - I felt like I could almost see the marks as they were being applied and Joy's fascination translated to me being fascinated by the process as well. I loved all of the interesting Twixt characters - some were incredibly frightening and some were endearing (at least once Joy got to know them), but they were all unique and intriguing.
Ink and Inq.
I loved both of these characters, even though in some ways they were polar opposites. Inq was full of energy and life. She strove to learn everything she could from humanity and didn't let anything get in her way. She could also be ferocious when she needed to be - so watch out enemies! Ink, on the other hand, had held himself apart from humanity. At the beginning of the book, he came off as sort of a Vulcan-type - very logical and aloof, unable to show true emotion. Still, instead of coming off as cold, Ink maintained a sort of childlike innocence that was completely endearing and because of this he won me over relatively quickly. Through his relationship with Joy, Ink grew and changed throughout the book, becoming more and more human (both physically and emotionally). I loved that this was a slow and sometimes difficult process rather than an instantaneous shift.
The danger.
Let me just say that there are some scenes in this book that almost read like a horror novel and had me on the edge of my seat. Joy was attacked on several occasions by some pretty nasty creatures and she did not usually escape scot-free. There were moments when I cringed because of what was happening to her, but it was in that "Oh my goodness, this is horrible and intense and yet oh so amazing all at the same time" kind of way. I was truly scared for her (and for other characters at times) and I had good reason to be. These were not friendly sprites she was dealing with!
Joy.
I really enjoyed Joy as a main character. She was incredibly strong, but still had weaknesses (her abandonment issues caused some of these). I loved that, even though she was thrown into a nearly impossible situation and was being terrorized at every turn, she didn't just throw up her arms and say, "I can't do this! Somebody rescue me!" Instead she took matters into her own hands and fought back no matter what was thrown at her (and, yes, she did sometimes need someone to rescue her, but she was also sometimes the rescuer).
The romance.
I was a little skeptical of the romance element of this story at first, I have to admit. I felt like Ink was a little too clinical for Joy to really fall in love with him and I wasn't completely on board at the very beginning. But, I think that Ink's slow transformation is what ultimately made the romance work for me. There were so many little moments between Joy and Ink that were just really sweet. They didn't have a torrid, passionate love affair - which in this case is a really good thing because it just wouldn't have fit with the characters. The relationship ended up feeling more genuine; more captivating in a sweet and charming way. I believed that Joy was falling for Ink and that she wanted more than she knew how to ask of him. And, more importantly, I believed that Ink found something in Joy that he had never realized he'd been missing. I believed that he was discovering his humanity through her and I loved the journey!
Indelible was an enchanting, scary, intense, imaginative story that, at many times, left me breathless. While this book could easily work as a standalone novel (we weren't left with any cliffhangers, thank goodness), I am so glad to see that Metcalf plans to write more books in this series. I will be looking forward to finding out what happens next in the Twixt!
**Disclosure: An ARC version of this book was provided by NetGalley and Harlequin Teen in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given. All opinions are my own***
Right after I started reading this book, I glanced at the reviews on Goodreads and was disappointed to see that the first several reviews I ran across were either negative or pretty neutral. (I know - I shouldn't look, but I just can't help it - sometimes when I'm reading a book I haven't really heard of, I just like to get an idea of what I'm in for). So, I started the book with relatively low expectations, ready to be disappointed. But the further I got into the book, the more I found myself thinking, "What is it that those people didn't like? Maybe it gets worse as the book goes on." I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it never did. In fact, I found myself LOVING this book and kind of dreading the end (I'm really glad to see there's going to be a sequel)!
The book centers around Joy Malone, a 16-year-old girl who is accidentally marked by a Scribe named Ink - a supernatural being whose purpose it is to mark humans for the Folk (spiritual beings) who claim them. Her mark brands her as Ink's property and helper (and as his lover) and suddenly she finds herself being terrorized by faeries, monsters and spiritual beings who want to use her to get to Ink. And, as she becomes more and more deeply embroiled with the Twixt (the spiritual realm), she learns that she may have more of a place there than she first thought and that some of the Folk might have darker motives than either she or Ink ever imagined.
The negatives:
Slightly confusing in parts.
Okay, I do have to hand it to some of those naysayers - there were parts of this book that were a little confusing. It took a little while to understand who the Scribes were and what they did. (There are actually two Scribes - Indelible Ink and his sister Invisible Inq - okay, it seems a little silly, but after a moment's pause, I got over that). There were a few points where I had to read something twice so that I made sure that I understood exactly what was being said when it came to the Twixt. But, in the end, I SO loved the originality, complexity and mystery of the world that Metcalf created, that I didn't mind having to work a little in order to understand all of its details.
Mom issues?
I was worried at first that Joy seemed a bit irrational as far as her mom was concerned and I was hoping that she wasn't just going to whine about her miserable life for the whole book. Joy's mom left her dad (and Joy), but tried constantly to contact her and Joy refused to have anything to do with her. Because of her mom's desertion (along with her brother leaving for college), she had some major abandonment issues that needed to be sorted out. I'm happy to say that this ended up being an area of real growth for Joy throughout the book, though, and, while she did wallow a bit at first, she didn't let herself turn into a whiny victim. Okay, I know this negative kind of turned out to be a positive, but I'm stretching here. I hate to give glowing reviews with no criticisms what-so-ever!
Now on to the good stuff. What I LOVED about this book:
The Twixt.
As I already mentioned, I felt like Metcalf created a really interesting and complex mythology that drew me into the story completely. I loved the originality of the Scribes and the signaturae that they used to mark people with. I also loved the physical descriptions of the process - I felt like I could almost see the marks as they were being applied and Joy's fascination translated to me being fascinated by the process as well. I loved all of the interesting Twixt characters - some were incredibly frightening and some were endearing (at least once Joy got to know them), but they were all unique and intriguing.
Ink and Inq.
I loved both of these characters, even though in some ways they were polar opposites. Inq was full of energy and life. She strove to learn everything she could from humanity and didn't let anything get in her way. She could also be ferocious when she needed to be - so watch out enemies! Ink, on the other hand, had held himself apart from humanity. At the beginning of the book, he came off as sort of a Vulcan-type - very logical and aloof, unable to show true emotion. Still, instead of coming off as cold, Ink maintained a sort of childlike innocence that was completely endearing and because of this he won me over relatively quickly. Through his relationship with Joy, Ink grew and changed throughout the book, becoming more and more human (both physically and emotionally). I loved that this was a slow and sometimes difficult process rather than an instantaneous shift.
The danger.
Let me just say that there are some scenes in this book that almost read like a horror novel and had me on the edge of my seat. Joy was attacked on several occasions by some pretty nasty creatures and she did not usually escape scot-free. There were moments when I cringed because of what was happening to her, but it was in that "Oh my goodness, this is horrible and intense and yet oh so amazing all at the same time" kind of way. I was truly scared for her (and for other characters at times) and I had good reason to be. These were not friendly sprites she was dealing with!
Joy.
I really enjoyed Joy as a main character. She was incredibly strong, but still had weaknesses (her abandonment issues caused some of these). I loved that, even though she was thrown into a nearly impossible situation and was being terrorized at every turn, she didn't just throw up her arms and say, "I can't do this! Somebody rescue me!" Instead she took matters into her own hands and fought back no matter what was thrown at her (and, yes, she did sometimes need someone to rescue her, but she was also sometimes the rescuer).
The romance.
I was a little skeptical of the romance element of this story at first, I have to admit. I felt like Ink was a little too clinical for Joy to really fall in love with him and I wasn't completely on board at the very beginning. But, I think that Ink's slow transformation is what ultimately made the romance work for me. There were so many little moments between Joy and Ink that were just really sweet. They didn't have a torrid, passionate love affair - which in this case is a really good thing because it just wouldn't have fit with the characters. The relationship ended up feeling more genuine; more captivating in a sweet and charming way. I believed that Joy was falling for Ink and that she wanted more than she knew how to ask of him. And, more importantly, I believed that Ink found something in Joy that he had never realized he'd been missing. I believed that he was discovering his humanity through her and I loved the journey!
Indelible was an enchanting, scary, intense, imaginative story that, at many times, left me breathless. While this book could easily work as a standalone novel (we weren't left with any cliffhangers, thank goodness), I am so glad to see that Metcalf plans to write more books in this series. I will be looking forward to finding out what happens next in the Twixt!
**Disclosure: An ARC version of this book was provided by NetGalley and Harlequin Teen in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given. All opinions are my own***
whatsmacksaid's review
4.0
I enjoyed “Indelible” more than I expected to. The romantic relationship was balanced out nicely by Joy’s relationships with her family and best friend. Additionally, there was no love triangle or at first sight. It moved along quickly, but not unrealistically so.
I found the pace of the novel slowed to almost a crawl approximately two-thirds of the way through the book, but picked back up to a satisfyingly exciting climax and ending. The notes of suspense and horror sprinkled through the entirety was wonderful and properly heart-pounding, though there were times when fewer words within a description would have done more.
Joy’s relationship with her best friend, Monica, feels slightly stunted in a (unfortunately) natural kind of way—Joy is keeping massive secrets and isn’t the best liar, so Monica’s irritation at being kept out of the loop makes sense. Their troubles aren’t precisely resolved, per se, by the end of the story, but neither are the two girls at all estranged. It is a realistic portrayal of a friendship in the midst of a rough patch, though I hope Monica is read in to the supernatural situation in the sequel.
Joy’s relationship with her father is touching and realistic, for how much time he spends at work or otherwise away from home. There is a great deal of not-saying-things that builds up between them, and Metcalf uses a delicate touch to portray the weight of their sorrow and love. The added complication of Shelley, her father’s new girlfriend, is a nice touch that showcases Joy’s maturity and desire to make things both normal and easier for her father quite nicely.
The biggest issue I had with “Indelible” is the confused portrayal of acceptable queerness. Joy’s brother comes out to her over instant messaging, and her first response is blank shock. Her second response is confusion and heavily tied up with her negative emotional response to her mother’s abandonment. Joy and her brother reconcile, but she responds poorly to a (literally) life-saving kiss bestowed by Inq (who is female) later on in the story. It freaks and grosses her out even though it was not a sexual action.
The saving grace for all this, for me, is Monica (the best friend)’s reaction to Joy’s brother coming out. She clearly doesn’t see it as a big deal, and chastises Joy for turning it into a bigger deal than it ought to be. That reassured me that Joy’s squeamishness is her own, and not the author’s.
(And, I’ll admit, it is nice to see multiple instances within a YA novel dealing with the existence of homosexuality, and even two different examples. Joy’s brother goes off to college, realizes he’s gay, and settles in with a nice boyfriend, while Inq is bisexual—or something along those lines, perhaps pansexual—owing largely to her inhumanity and interminable age.)
All that aside, the romance between Joy and Ink is sweet and deep. We get to see several sides of them as a unit, from a beautiful moment when he examines her ear and hands’ details to the aftermath of her assault wherein she would rather send Ink to exact vengeance on her torturer than have him sit by her bedside. It is because of the varied scenes and experiences we see Joy and Ink go through together that it becomes clear that, while they are not necessarily two parts of a whole, they do balance each other and care for each other in a meaningful and moving way.
Overall, I enjoyed “Indelible” and fully plan to get my hands a copy of the sequel when it is released. (Which, according to Dawn Metcalf, will be sometime in May 2014.) I recommend it to fans of YA fantasy, of modern fairy stories, and of paranormal romances. “Indelible” is both sweet and scary by turns, and it is fully worth the paperback price.
I found the pace of the novel slowed to almost a crawl approximately two-thirds of the way through the book, but picked back up to a satisfyingly exciting climax and ending. The notes of suspense and horror sprinkled through the entirety was wonderful and properly heart-pounding, though there were times when fewer words within a description would have done more.
Joy’s relationship with her best friend, Monica, feels slightly stunted in a (unfortunately) natural kind of way—Joy is keeping massive secrets and isn’t the best liar, so Monica’s irritation at being kept out of the loop makes sense. Their troubles aren’t precisely resolved, per se, by the end of the story, but neither are the two girls at all estranged. It is a realistic portrayal of a friendship in the midst of a rough patch, though I hope Monica is read in to the supernatural situation in the sequel.
Joy’s relationship with her father is touching and realistic, for how much time he spends at work or otherwise away from home. There is a great deal of not-saying-things that builds up between them, and Metcalf uses a delicate touch to portray the weight of their sorrow and love. The added complication of Shelley, her father’s new girlfriend, is a nice touch that showcases Joy’s maturity and desire to make things both normal and easier for her father quite nicely.
The biggest issue I had with “Indelible” is the confused portrayal of acceptable queerness. Joy’s brother comes out to her over instant messaging, and her first response is blank shock. Her second response is confusion and heavily tied up with her negative emotional response to her mother’s abandonment. Joy and her brother reconcile, but she responds poorly to a (literally) life-saving kiss bestowed by Inq (who is female) later on in the story. It freaks and grosses her out even though it was not a sexual action.
The saving grace for all this, for me, is Monica (the best friend)’s reaction to Joy’s brother coming out. She clearly doesn’t see it as a big deal, and chastises Joy for turning it into a bigger deal than it ought to be. That reassured me that Joy’s squeamishness is her own, and not the author’s.
(And, I’ll admit, it is nice to see multiple instances within a YA novel dealing with the existence of homosexuality, and even two different examples. Joy’s brother goes off to college, realizes he’s gay, and settles in with a nice boyfriend, while Inq is bisexual—or something along those lines, perhaps pansexual—owing largely to her inhumanity and interminable age.)
All that aside, the romance between Joy and Ink is sweet and deep. We get to see several sides of them as a unit, from a beautiful moment when he examines her ear and hands’ details to the aftermath of her assault wherein she would rather send Ink to exact vengeance on her torturer than have him sit by her bedside. It is because of the varied scenes and experiences we see Joy and Ink go through together that it becomes clear that, while they are not necessarily two parts of a whole, they do balance each other and care for each other in a meaningful and moving way.
Overall, I enjoyed “Indelible” and fully plan to get my hands a copy of the sequel when it is released. (Which, according to Dawn Metcalf, will be sometime in May 2014.) I recommend it to fans of YA fantasy, of modern fairy stories, and of paranormal romances. “Indelible” is both sweet and scary by turns, and it is fully worth the paperback price.
nicholeb84's review
2.0
I believe the characters had more potential, but they all (more or less) ended up falling into cliches. The world building was poor. I wish I could have liked it better than I did.
beastreader's review
1.0
Joy is at a party when she spots a boy across the room. It was his piercing black eyes that drew Joy to him. The boy walks across the room to Joy. He reaches his hand out towards Joy. Suddenly, Joy feels a great deal of pain in her eye and the boy is gone.
Joy awakes the next morning to find that every time she looks out of her eye, her eye does a flash, flash. As if it is a camera. Other strange things start happening as well to Joy. She is receiving strange messages and people/monsters showing up at her house. They all have a common trend. They all mention someone named Ink. It seems that Ink is the boy with the black eyes and he marked Joy as his.
I got to chapter eight and said to myself “So where is the action? When are things going to pick up in the story?” This is a major bummer as I wanted to like this book a lot. I just was not feeling Joy or anyone else in this book. I picked a random spot in the book further in to see if I was not giving this book a fair chance. No I did give this book a fair chance. I still was not feeling Joy and Ink was not that exciting to keep me interested in finishing this book. Just goes to show you that there needs to be more than just a beautiful book cover.
Joy awakes the next morning to find that every time she looks out of her eye, her eye does a flash, flash. As if it is a camera. Other strange things start happening as well to Joy. She is receiving strange messages and people/monsters showing up at her house. They all have a common trend. They all mention someone named Ink. It seems that Ink is the boy with the black eyes and he marked Joy as his.
I got to chapter eight and said to myself “So where is the action? When are things going to pick up in the story?” This is a major bummer as I wanted to like this book a lot. I just was not feeling Joy or anyone else in this book. I picked a random spot in the book further in to see if I was not giving this book a fair chance. No I did give this book a fair chance. I still was not feeling Joy and Ink was not that exciting to keep me interested in finishing this book. Just goes to show you that there needs to be more than just a beautiful book cover.
laurenm2111's review
4.0
I picked this one up based soley on the cover - and I must say that I absolutely loved this!! Really looking forward to getting the second one when it is released! This is a fabulous YA telling of faeries - it was unusual but it worked really well.
postitsandpens's review
4.0
It's a rare thing indeed to stumble upon a paranormal romance that's different from nearly all the others out there. Thankfully, for me at least, Indelible was exactly that: different, fun, and extremely enjoyable. I'm calling this a paranormal mostly because I haven't quite found a genre that I like better. This is a hard book to classify, because the creatures that appear in its pages are different from those we're used to seeing - no vampires, werewolves, mermaids, etc. here - and in particular, our love interest, Ink, likewise cannot really be pushed into any usual molds. This was also a different sort of read for me because I actually loved the romance aspect the most. I just found it refreshingly different, with an inherent sweetness that's found throughout the entire book. Ink and Joy just made me smile, and definitely account for my overall reaction to this book.
Joy was not your typical high school student. She used to be a gymnast, but quit after her mother left her and her dad for a new (younger) lover and moved across the country. She's dealing throughout the book with feelings of abandonment, which pop up pretty much constantly at the start, and even towards the end whenever she thinks about her mom and her friend Monica, who has a new boyfriend and therefore isn't spending as much time with her. I actually found the dynamics of her and Monica's friendship to be really well done - she's not just a humorous sidekick, but an actual friend who's trying to make sure Joy fits into her life even when she starts dating someone. I liked their conversations, their shopping trips, and the way they tried to find time to meet up with each other. Their motto of "No Stupid" also gets mad props from me, because so often we see our paranormal heroines diving headfirst into stupid. While Joy makes some mistakes in this book, I never personally saw her veering into "stupid" territory, which just furthered my enjoyment of her character.
But this book would not have been anywhere NEAR as good if it hadn't been for the romance between Joy and Ink. Ink is a paranormal with a unique job that's actually too complicated for me to relate in this review. Through an accident, Joy winds up "bound" to Ink as his lehman, or messenger, and thus their relationship is born. Through starts and stops at first, they slowly get to know each other and Joy finds herself being pulled more and more into Ink's world, which is full of True Names and interesting creatures, as well as danger and intrigue and deceptions (thankfully not involving Ink). Because Ink isn't human, he watches others to see how he should act and react in certain situations, and I loved the scenes in which he studied Joy in order to mold himself more in her fashion. Because he has an inherent innocence about him, the romance is slow-moving and slow-burning, and I found it absolutely wonderful to read. There's something extremely enjoyable about watching two people fall for each other, and with Indelible we got a first-rate romance. I would recommend this story just for that aspect alone, it was so well done. There were several times when I was making flailing hand gestures and practically cooing because they were just so gosh darn cute!
Indelible has more going for it than just the romance, although obviously I just laid out exactly how much I loved that aspect of the story. If you're looking for something different, and don't mind some not-so-explicit world-building full of interesting side characters and back stories, then I think you'd like this book a lot. I personally found it to be a fairly quick read with plenty to keep me entertained, and even more to love. I will most definitely be checking out the next book in the series upon its release.
An e-galley was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
***
To see more of my reviews, please visit me @ Read and Reviewed!
Joy was not your typical high school student. She used to be a gymnast, but quit after her mother left her and her dad for a new (younger) lover and moved across the country. She's dealing throughout the book with feelings of abandonment, which pop up pretty much constantly at the start, and even towards the end whenever she thinks about her mom and her friend Monica, who has a new boyfriend and therefore isn't spending as much time with her. I actually found the dynamics of her and Monica's friendship to be really well done - she's not just a humorous sidekick, but an actual friend who's trying to make sure Joy fits into her life even when she starts dating someone. I liked their conversations, their shopping trips, and the way they tried to find time to meet up with each other. Their motto of "No Stupid" also gets mad props from me, because so often we see our paranormal heroines diving headfirst into stupid. While Joy makes some mistakes in this book, I never personally saw her veering into "stupid" territory, which just furthered my enjoyment of her character.
But this book would not have been anywhere NEAR as good if it hadn't been for the romance between Joy and Ink. Ink is a paranormal with a unique job that's actually too complicated for me to relate in this review. Through an accident, Joy winds up "bound" to Ink as his lehman, or messenger, and thus their relationship is born. Through starts and stops at first, they slowly get to know each other and Joy finds herself being pulled more and more into Ink's world, which is full of True Names and interesting creatures, as well as danger and intrigue and deceptions (thankfully not involving Ink). Because Ink isn't human, he watches others to see how he should act and react in certain situations, and I loved the scenes in which he studied Joy in order to mold himself more in her fashion. Because he has an inherent innocence about him, the romance is slow-moving and slow-burning, and I found it absolutely wonderful to read. There's something extremely enjoyable about watching two people fall for each other, and with Indelible we got a first-rate romance. I would recommend this story just for that aspect alone, it was so well done. There were several times when I was making flailing hand gestures and practically cooing because they were just so gosh darn cute!
Indelible has more going for it than just the romance, although obviously I just laid out exactly how much I loved that aspect of the story. If you're looking for something different, and don't mind some not-so-explicit world-building full of interesting side characters and back stories, then I think you'd like this book a lot. I personally found it to be a fairly quick read with plenty to keep me entertained, and even more to love. I will most definitely be checking out the next book in the series upon its release.
An e-galley was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
***
To see more of my reviews, please visit me @ Read and Reviewed!
aguazales's review
3.0
3.5 stars. Very interesting systems of magic, the author writes well, engaging plot. However, some plot points were confusing and not adequately explained (for me at least). Still worth the read. I definitely look forward to the next book in the series.
bookmarkedbysally's review
3.0
3.5 now that I think about it , It was a good book you just had to get used to the characters and world . 70-100 pages in and it might get you hooked !
bluebeereads's review
5.0
Istyria book blog - B's world of enchanted books
*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley for review. Thanks!*
4.5 stars
Oh my god… This book was incredible. A truly compelling story with fascinating creatures, realistic characters and a mind-blowing romance. And really the only thing that I didn't like was the big info dumps you get sometimes but I’m willing to look past that just for Ink. Sigh. My Ink.
Normally this is the part where I give a short summary of the story but with this book I can’t do that without telling you the whole thing and make it one giant spoiler. So I’m going to skip that part just to talk about the book itself. First off all, great writing. Dawn managed to suck me in right from the first page and she didn't let me go until the book was finished. Even now, an hour after finishing it, I’m still in the story with my head. It was so fascinating and wonderful. I love this book. But like I said, I got some big info dumps and while it was all very interesting and I wanted to know more the first time, but after a few of those dumps, I was kinda like… “Hmm. Okay. So when am I going to get more of Ink and Joy?”
Ink and Joy. God, I love those two. They were so compelling and realistic and just awesome. Their relationship was a bit bumpy at the beginning, no wonder if you see how it started. Joy gets sucked into his world without even realizing what is going on just because of a mistake Ink made. And nobody else can see him so that makes it all the more complicated. But you feel the tension between them and after a while, I felt tense too every time there was a scene were they were so close to the romance-part. I waited long for the real romancy stuff to kick in and when it did… I felt like I was melting inside with the tension and everything. I constantly felt like I was about to faint when Ink and Joy were together. I felt lightheaded and compelled and it took my breath away every single time.
I loved Joy. She handled all this in a way that I can relate too. And she has some serious family stuff to deal with next to all that mysterious stuff. She was nice to read about and she’s a fun main-character. And Ink. God… He was so compelling and I had a strange connection with him. Weird to say, but I did. He was such an amazing character and it was so interesting to see him learning to feel like a human and I felt for him. It wasn't hard to like him. Same with his sister, Inq and Joy’s friend Monica. And her dad. He’s such a great dad.
And then the end. The last 40 something pages. Ooooh my god I was on the edge of my seat screaming and getting heart attacks and asthma and everything. And again, Ink and Joy… Swoon, Sigh, Faint, Die. I still feel tense.
Now this is a book where I wouldn't have minded if there was insta-love. I would've understood it 100% just because of Ink. But I loved the tension and everything. I loved the feels I got from this book. So I recommend it to everyone. This is an amazing book. It really is.
*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley for review. Thanks!*
4.5 stars
Oh my god… This book was incredible. A truly compelling story with fascinating creatures, realistic characters and a mind-blowing romance. And really the only thing that I didn't like was the big info dumps you get sometimes but I’m willing to look past that just for Ink. Sigh. My Ink.
Normally this is the part where I give a short summary of the story but with this book I can’t do that without telling you the whole thing and make it one giant spoiler. So I’m going to skip that part just to talk about the book itself. First off all, great writing. Dawn managed to suck me in right from the first page and she didn't let me go until the book was finished. Even now, an hour after finishing it, I’m still in the story with my head. It was so fascinating and wonderful. I love this book. But like I said, I got some big info dumps and while it was all very interesting and I wanted to know more the first time, but after a few of those dumps, I was kinda like… “Hmm. Okay. So when am I going to get more of Ink and Joy?”
Ink and Joy. God, I love those two. They were so compelling and realistic and just awesome. Their relationship was a bit bumpy at the beginning, no wonder if you see how it started. Joy gets sucked into his world without even realizing what is going on just because of a mistake Ink made. And nobody else can see him so that makes it all the more complicated. But you feel the tension between them and after a while, I felt tense too every time there was a scene were they were so close to the romance-part. I waited long for the real romancy stuff to kick in and when it did… I felt like I was melting inside with the tension and everything. I constantly felt like I was about to faint when Ink and Joy were together. I felt lightheaded and compelled and it took my breath away every single time.
Ink watched her with that shy, intense curiosity she’d seen when he’d inspected their joined hands.
“I felt you,” he said quietly. Joy hesitated. “Even before you called for me.” His eyes met hers. “Inq never said it would be like that.”
I loved Joy. She handled all this in a way that I can relate too. And she has some serious family stuff to deal with next to all that mysterious stuff. She was nice to read about and she’s a fun main-character. And Ink. God… He was so compelling and I had a strange connection with him. Weird to say, but I did. He was such an amazing character and it was so interesting to see him learning to feel like a human and I felt for him. It wasn't hard to like him. Same with his sister, Inq and Joy’s friend Monica. And her dad. He’s such a great dad.
And then the end. The last 40 something pages. Ooooh my god I was on the edge of my seat screaming and getting heart attacks and asthma and everything. And again, Ink and Joy… Swoon, Sigh, Faint, Die. I still feel tense.
Now this is a book where I wouldn't have minded if there was insta-love. I would've understood it 100% just because of Ink. But I loved the tension and everything. I loved the feels I got from this book. So I recommend it to everyone. This is an amazing book. It really is.
